The dreaded bit ....

...of scrapbooking is ...

CLEANING UP! :p

Its not so bad if you could just vacuum up or sweep away the remnant bits and scraps of paper laying about and be done with it. Its the having to decide whether or not to throw the bits of scrap - its the "Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't bin that ... You never know when that could come in handy ..."

Honestly, just contemplating that question with each and every bit of scrap you see makes you want to stash the bits leaving the entire mess - more or less untouched!

So on some days I just have to grit my teeth and bin the bits of paper that I've somehow convinced self that I could still wring some 'use' out of them ...else I'd be faced with the unsightly chaos and inconveniences of 'papers sty'!

So how does one file those little bits away? By colour? By paper type? By 'potential use'? My present system (or lack of) is to dump every little bit is a spare plastic transparent lidded container. And when i run out of space,I'd bin the first one in (you know, the first in, first out system) or fold the bits into even smaller bits just to make space for more bits o' scrap! Not exactly the most organized, I know ...

Still on the broad subject of organizing. I've noted that specialized scrap paper and organizers that you find in the scrapbook shops don't come cheap. Come to think of it, the tool container i was eyeing last night (yes, yes, another spot of online shopping) - the sort that has many tiered compartments that turns was going for more than USD30 (?!?) That's equivalent to a nice stash of delectable designer scrapbook papers - of at least two dozen pieces or so!

I've so far managed with very practical and economical alternatives - clean empty shoe boxes for stickers, wicker laundry basket for stashing those present papers I've been collecting and those square relatively inexpensive clear lidded plastic containers of various sizes for paper and tools - all stacked on top of each other in one corner of my room.

Its not exactly the most convenient of arrangements - having to unstack the lot and rummage for the desired bits of paper whenever I want to scrap but I've managed - admittedly, in a rather haphazard way ...