Bakers Dozen Studio Challenge September! 8-)

For my Tuesday Throwdown Post Please click HERE or just Scroll down.. 8-)

Hi All! And a Very Happy Tuesday to you! 8-) It's time for the Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge.  This is a monthly opportunity for us to share what makes our stamping studios hum.  Each month we will have a fun, crafty question so we can share our favorites, some tips and tricks, stamping advice and more.

The Question for September is:

Within Arm's Reach - What do you keep within arm's reach at your stamp table?  Show us what you have access to without leaving your seat.  What organization methods do you use?  Tell us which ones you love and which ones you'd like to change.

Hmmm... What a Great Question!! And my response is going to be pretty lengthy, and you'll see why in just a bit, so hold on to you hats, lol ...

Well this is what you see when you walk into our home office that I share with my DH... Just for reference sake, lol.. 8-) 

My crafting area takes up a whole wall in our shared office, lol  So as you can see, I keep just about EVERYTHING within arms reach..8-) And I guess my organizing style is to make the most of my little space & organize it as effectively and efficiently as possible...8-) Here's the front view when you are sitting at my crafting (stamping) desk..

See, I wasn't kidding, lol I kind of keep everything within arms reach. 8-)... Directly in front of me you will see most of the things that I use the most..  I have a couple of Copic color combination charts  & my two favorite cloud templates accessible under my clear desk mat at all times.. My Favorite Coffee Mug filled with Coffee! ( Very important lol! ) My most used inks Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, Desert Sand & Distress inks, Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo and foam applicator are always right there in front of me.. You can also see my white gel pens, and a couple of erasers right next to my inks and that's pretty much where they stay.. In the Copper bin behind these things I keep my paper trimmer, Score Pal, and cutting mat, along with my schedule of projects, my Splat Mat and various doo-dads and embellies that have found their way into the bin cause I haven't found a better place to put them yet, lol.  And as you can see, my collection of ribbon is always at arms reach on the rod above...

To the left you will see my Cricut, the stack of stamps, stamped images or digi's that I am either working on or hoping to get to in the Very near future.  Just beyond my Cricut, you can see a peek of my wall unit that holds binders & magazine holders that store the majority of my stamps and baskets that hold all my 6x6 dp collection pads.  Back at my crafting desk you can see my caddy that holds all different types of pens, scissors, paint brushes, exacto knives, etc.. And then above that, my magnet board that holds various magnetic containers that hold all different types of embellies.. etc..  

Now to the right you will see my stack of containers of Cardstocks from Taylored Expression and some 6x6 dp collection pads that I am currently working with. I always keep a roll of painters tape on my desk too, to hold die cutting plates in place, or to keep dp in place for digi paper piecing purposes, etc.. Next you can see my SU ink caddy and inks, However I use the top of my Ink Caddy for items I used the most often and like to have within arms reach, my stamping blocks, various twines, my most used Copic ink refills, Stardust Stickles, cause it goes with everything, lol and various glues and adhesives too. Next to that you will see lots of little drawers, they hold more adhesive, ribbons and embellies.. plus they are great to stack some of my 8x8 dp collections on, my washi tape that I haven't figured out where to put yet and a big envelope that I keep all the left over extra die cuts that don't get used, cause I might be able to use them sometime down the road.. And my funny little mustache mug that holds more crafty utensils, lol 

Moving directly above my crafting desk to the cubbie on the left hand side, I keep all my Copics in empty paint cans grouped by color family, for the most part anyway lol.. It's really nice to be able to reach up and grab them as I need them..  Directly above, on top of my cubbies, are more containers with more ribbons, twine, paper flowers, and various embellies as well, that I may not use as often as those that are closer to me...   

In the middle cubbie, I have metal containers filled with more inks, border punches, my Corner Chompers and my big roll of TE Foam Tape.. In the  right hand side cubby I have my Cuttlebug, more metal containers that hold my Cuttlebug's sandwich stack plates, various dies, embossing folders, impression plates etc..

That brings us to directly underneath my crafting desk in the Big basket on the left, I keep my 12x12 patterned paper sets and CS, along with some 8 1/2 by 11 packs of CS, page protectors etc.. In the middle you can see extra large punches and packages of felt... In the Big Basket on the right I keep all my shipping supplies, padded envelopes, bubble wrap, lightweight cardboard, packing tape etc.. 

See, A lot of stuff within arms reach and all in a compact space lol... 8-)  I guess if I could change anything it would be to have an extra table to work on for die cutting or to actually be able to haul my sewing machine out of storage and have it set up all the time, so I could sew on my projects too.. Right now, I pretty much take over my Hubby's desk when he's at work for die cutting etc.. But I need to have it all cleaned up and tidy by the time he gets home, lol..

Usually my crafting desk is Not this neat lol... It usually looks like a hurricane hit it and the piles on either side of my clear desk mat are usually much bigger.. 8-) But for the most part, there is plenty of room to work on my projects.. I do have a tendency to have the supplies for a few projects out on my desk all at the same time...lol Not always the best thing for having an organized work space, but I think it's due to my tendency to think 'out of sight,out of mind', so I try to keep all the projects I'm working on in sight lol..

Thanks so much for hanging in there with my rather lengthy tour of my crafting desk.. Now hop on over and see how the rest of the Baker's Dozen organize their crafting (stamping) desks.. 8-)

• Charmaine Ikach
• Cammie King ( Guest Desingner)

• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Hope you all have a Fantastic day & thanks so much for visiting! 8-)