Organizing your Scrapbook Nook...and keeping it that way

As much as I like to proclaim myself as being a purging queen when it comes to getting rid of "stuff" that no longer has a place in our home, I still am finding a virtual ton of things to get rid of since moving into this new house. Of course there's the bedding from our bedroom (the queen size Americana Quilt with matching quilted pillow shams) and Andrews' Nature themed quilt (another queen size) with matching pillow shams- yup that fills a big box. But there's also other things like shower curtains (there's a couple of those) and those plastic rings that go with them. But I'm talking about my scrapbooking space today. Oh my gosh how many of us have gotten things for FREE from scrapbooking events that we look at and never have used? I know that I have. There are those scrapbook albums in odd sizes that I knew that I would never use but they looked rather cool in their pretty packaging displayed in my nook. They are in the garage sale box! I'm also pushing myself to make the purge of tools that I just do not use, trust me I have tools that I have not touched in ages! Part of my problem is that I'm filling my space up with stuff that looks good but it isn't being used. I tried pulling stuff out and seeing if I would use it before the move and did I use it? No of course not, LOL! I don't know what I was thinking with that one.

Bags- Oh do I have oodles of little crop type bags. Do I use more than one or two at a time? Heck no. So those are being purged as well. I think that there will be some scrapbookers out there that will be VERY HAPPY to see them for sale at our garage sale.

Lettering Templates - I thought that I had gotten rid of them ages ago. The look on my face was one of surprise when I opened a box and saw that they're still around as are a ton of alphabet stickers that I never used. Yup more garage sale merchandise. You know what they say..."One mans junk is another mans treasure".

Paper Trimmers- I love using rotary paper trimmers. So all of those sliding paper trimmers by Fiskars are going into the garage sale...along with all of the spare blades that I have. I have 2 large rotary paper cutters and having them for crops comes in very handy! The other ones, they're outta here! Then ones I tuck away for crops on the go are my Cutterpedes and I will keep them around. They're great to tuck into my crop bag on wheels.

Embellishments- more things to go through and purge items that I am no longer interested in using (because my scrapbooking style has evolved past using those items). But hey... some is going to find a virtual treasure trove of scrapbooking goodies when they come to our garage sale :-)

So when it comes to organizing, really look at your tools, what ARE you actually using? What are you keeping that you haven't used and it taking up valuable storage space. Are you using those decorative scissors? Then put them where they can be easily accessed, same goes for the Xyron that you bought but hardly use. I use mine quite a bit so I put it in an area where I can get to it without difficulty. Do you use the Xyron 250 more than your 550? If so, then sell of that 550! Organizing your space is about keeping things that you actually use versus things that look good and impress others. So get on the band wagon and clear out that old stuff!