taming creative chaos

Hi everyone, this year one of my goals is to tame the "creative chaos" by getting my studio space more organized. I spent some time at the beginning of the year cleaning, organizing, and quite honestly, simply putting things where they belong. It seems that the more creative I am, the more of a mess my studio space becomes and the harder it is to find things that I have set aside for a specific purpose. To that end, I need a place to keep all of my handmade cards. I seem to have quite a pile and yet when a birthday or holiday rolls around, I am always searching. 

Today I am sharing this Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts organizer with you. There are so many ways that it can be used. The trim organizer is very generous in size. The base measures 11" by 5" and has a central divider creating two equal compartments. These compartments easily fit A2 cards, and even slightly larger. The organizer comes with 12 dividers. These are shaped like flat bobbins, so could technically be used to store ribbons or trim; however, I am using them as simple dividers between types of cards. The box arrives arrives flat (6 pieces) and requires assembly. The twelve bobbin cards can be used as bare chipboard or finished with paints or papers as I have.

I always find it easiest to test assemble the piece, this way I can better understand what areas will be visible as well as facilitate the order in which things should be glued. I sort through my paper stash and select a design that I think will work well for my purpose. The interior surfaces can be covered with smaller sized pieces; however, a 12x12 sheet will work best on the long exterior sides (one sheet will cover both the front and the back.)

Before I begin adhering my chosen papers, I paint all of the edges with black soot paint. This will create a finished appearance along the edges where the different papers meet as well as conceal any cuts that may be just a bit too short. Then I begin cutting the papers to size. Oftentimes, when there are multiple sized pieces and they are close in size, I turn them over and give them a designation (letter or number) then also write that onto the chipboard at the location it will be adhered. It helps to keep everything from getting mixed up when it is time to assemble.

I like to add may papers to the Chipboard pieces white they are flat. I find it easier to adhere the papers correctly and, when necessary, weigh them down until dry to keep the edges from curling. On this particular piece, I realized that it would work better to attach the two long exterior paper pieces after the box was assembled. There are no "right" and "wrong" ways to assemble the Gypsy Soul Laser Cut pieces, generally whatever works best for your project. The main piece of advice I always follow is: to ensure the tabs are able to connect easily, do not cover with paper, the added thickness generally does not allow for the tabs to insert into one another.

Once I have all of my paper pieces adhered to the interior surfaces of the box pieces, I begin to assemble. I spread clear, quick dry multi-purpose glue on the tabs and flat areas to be joined, then insert the tabs into the corresponding slots, beginning with the central divider. Next, I attach the front and back box sides and clamp together at the central divider until dry.

The final pieces I assemble are the two end pieces. I use clamps to secure these as well; however, it is not necessary.

With the box assembled, I add the final papers to the front and back exterior sides. (Note: I always ink the edges of any cut pieces so that the white does not show.)

I consider adding feet to the base of the box for a more decorative look, but decide on adding a piece of crafting felt to the very bottom of the organizer. This will allow the box to be situated on a solid or wire shelf, as well as protect any surfaces that it will be set upon. Once assembly is complete, it is time to begin work on the bobbins. 

 My original thought was to divide by months of the year (there are 12 dividers/months), but I believe what would work best for me is to sort by occasion or theme. To this end, I keep the dividers simple. I have learned over the years that my storage solutions are often evolving and this will allow me to change things up easily (if necessary) at a later date. I select some of my favorite worn wallpapers, and paper stash designs for the bobbins. The edge of each bobbin is painted with black paint and allowed to dry. One side of the bobbin is coated with collage medium, I secure the desired paper in place, and weigh down until dry. Once dry, I trim the paper edges with an Exacto knife. All of the bobbin pieces are covered on both the front and back sides.

 

I finally have a special place where I will be sorting and storing miscellaneous cards I have made. There will be no more searching amidst the piles, only flipping through my organizer to find the correct one.

I hope that you are finding time to get creative this year, I have found that even in organizing there are ways to exercise my creativity. Thanks so much for stopping by, I truly appreciate it.
~Ann
  xx


Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts:
trim organizer

Shabby Chic Trim Organizer by Amylove

Hi everyone! Amylove here to share one of my favorite storage systems from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. This is the Trim Organizer.  I have two of these and they are perfect for storing my laces and trims.

Follow this link to the video tutorial:

Shabby Chic Trim Organizer

Trim Organizer

Trim Organizers

Hello everyone! Mary here with two more trim organizers. I did one awhile back (click HERE if you want to check it out!) and realized one was not enough for my happy stash of lace. These boxes are quick and easy to put together! Once the boxes where assembled, I painted them both on the inside with brown acrylic paint.

Both boxes were covered with paper from the KellerKurtz & Company paper stack, lace and box feet from Tim Holtz. For the button borders, I first applied gesso. Once the gesso was dry, I embossed both the button border in the above picture with Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel by Stampendous. Once cool, pink twine was inserted into three of the buttons.

For the button border in the pictures below, I started out the same way. This time while the Aged Ivory was still in it's melted state, I added some sprinkles of Aged Rose Embossing Enamel and applied heat.

While the border was cooling, I worked on the five loose buttons (these are included when you order the button border!). I left the chipboard in it's natural color and just applied Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the outside edges. Pink twine was then inserted into all five. When the border was cool, I glued them onto the button border.

 

Now all I have left to do is put my lace on the paper covered cards!

Gina's Designs Products

Trim Organizer

Button Border

Elegant Chic Trim Organizer

Even though I'm not exactly the most organized person in the world in a lot of ways, I LOVE organizers!! Lynne here with my version of the trim organizer from Gina's store. My scraproom is painted pale grey, so these FabScraps papers were perfect for this project.

After assembling the box (which is delightfully easy!) and papering it all, I sanded the edges, then inked them with Ranger distress ink in Weathered Wood. After adding a strip of lace and the word tag, I painted the Feathery Flourishes and the wooden beads (which were used for feet) with acrylic paint and attached them, then finished the project with strands of clear iridescent pearls.

The cards were papered and inked with the same products, then I had fun filling them with some gorgeous laces and trims from my stash (which incidentally freed up a drawer for more chippies! yay me!)

I kept the decoration of my organizer fairly simple, but the sky's the limit! You could use any papers or mediums to cover it, and you could add all sorts of different embellishments to create any look you want. I hope you stop by Gina's store to have a look at this and other great organizers! Have a terrific week!

Gina's Products Used

Trim Organizer

Feathery Flourishes set

Other Products Used

FabScraps papers

Ranger ink-weathered wood

Wooden beads

acrylic paint

pearl strands

Trim Organizer by Kim C.

This week I put together this trim organizer. 

 Let me start with telling you my funny story.  I was in the process of finishing up this project when I accidentally hit my cup of coffee.  I have never moved so fast trying to move stuff off my desk!!!  I was able to save about 90% of my project but still lost some very nice paper in the process.  

I love the way it turned out even with some coffee stains on it!!

 

First I adhered paper from my stash, and then used a clock stencil and modeling paste to give texture.  Some lace and trim from my stash was then added and then some ornate metal feet to the corners of the organizer.

 

The hanging clock has about 4 coats of gesso on it.  If you look really close you can see it has also been coffee stained!!!  Not the look I was going for, but it works!!

I then started layering flowers to make this beautiful flower spray.

On this corner of the organizer I added some more flowers and a metal clock piece.  You can see some of the texture I added with the modeling paste and stencil.

I added paper to the lace dividers, but only to two of them.  Due to the mishap with the coffee, I was unable to save the rest of the paper.  But these two look great!!

 

I hope you like my project this week and had a little chuckle!!

Gina's Designs Items Used:

Trim Organizer

Hanging Clock Set

Other items used:

Graphic 45 Ladies Diary Paper

Wild Orchid Crafts Flowers

Modeling Paste

Clock Stencil

Tim Holtz Box Feet

Lace/Trim

Gesso

Vintage Trim Organizer

Hello friends, welcome to Gina's Designs Laser Cuts Blog!  Today I'm sharing a project with you that every scrap room needs.  It's not only a fun project to create but it's useful too.  If you've shopped around Gina's Shop, you would find many useful storage solutions for your scrap room.  The storage solution I'm sharing is the Trim Organizer that stores several laces and trims.  I chose to decorate with vintage papers to coordinate with my scrap room.

It comes with 12 cards/spools for your trims and fits into two slots in the trim organizer.

This is what it looks like before I covered it with patterned paper and lace trims.

It will require a little assembly but it's very easy to put together.  The notches simply fit together and all you will need to do is adhere them together.

After I adhered the patterned paper to the box and the cards/spools, I inked all the edges and added my trims to each card.  I also made stick pins in coordinating colors to match the lace.  I also added some sewing shapes such as a sewing machine, needles and thread, scissors from the Vintage Seamstress Shape set.  I simply inked them with chalk ink and adhered them to the cards.

To add a finishing touch I simply added a button.

Thanks for stopping by Gina's Blog today!  Make sure you pick up your own lace trimmer from Gina's store!  You will adore this project!!

Debbie

Gina's Designs Supplies Used

trim organizer

Trim Organizer

Trim Organizer By Bonnie

Hi Everyone, and Happy Friday! Today we have Guest Designer Bonnie, who has created this stunning Trim Organizer. She has created something very beautiful, and used several of our chipboard items to decorate it.

You can see above here that Bonnie has created a lovely shabby vintage look and used some of the words and phrases, cardstock doilies,  clock hands, tulip scroll corners and even half of a steampunk heart on the right hand side and adorned it with some beautiful flowers as well!

Here are more of the words and phrases used on the lace spools that come with the trim organizer, and she has also added some more of the tulip scroll corners in the back.

Here is a side view of the box, where Bonnie has decorated it with one of our flourish pieces and more lace and flowers. She has added some feet to the bottom of the box for a finishing touch.

Thanks so much Bonnie we just love it!

Gina's Designs Items Used on this Project
Cardstock Doily Set Intricates
Clock Hands Set
Words & Phrases 2
Steampunk Heart
Trim Organizer
Tulip Scroll Corners
Flourishes 2