Welcome Back
Here’s a question for you, do you know what stash you’ve got? or is it hiding away, bits n pieces scattered throughout the house?
I started off with a modest size plastic box for my crafting stash, then a set of drawers, I think in America they call them Iris carts. Things started off being stored together, then as time went on they got separated into what will survive being stored outside in the unheated studio, and the rest indoors. Trouble is, I keep loosing stuff! While it’s still a bit gloomy and not at all motivating me to create, I’ve decided to have a dig round and see if I can get related things back together again. If you mojo is a no-show, how about joining me for a virtual crafting challenge to forage around your stash and see what hidden gems you can find.
Rediscover your forgotten stash
Step 1. Corralling your stash
Get thee to the supermarket and gather a few empty cardboard boxes. On each box write a category of craft, so that could be a hobby ‘Art’ or a sub section such as paint or pencils if you have lots. Depending on the number of people you can get to help or the time/space you have available, pick an area to clear. This could be a shelf or a cupboard or a room {shudders}.
Step 2. Foraging
Go through you chosen area and take out anything that belongs to a given category and put it in the relevant box. If you are storing things in ‘strange’ rooms, put them in the box for the hobby. (Anyone else stashing paint in the wardrobe, or is it just me?)
Step 3. Life Laundry ‘Optional’
If you are doing your own stash foraging, (rather than the family ditching precious stash!), you could be really ruthless and ask of each item as you go, ‘Do I love it, need it, or want it?’ If you get a yes to any of these it goes in the box to keep, if the answer is no, put it in a different box and donate it to someone else to love. Sure there are lots of after school or groups that would make use of art/craft materials.
Getting my creative space back
Personally, because my stash has got out of hand, I’m need to go large with this plan.
I need to know; How much stuff relating to each hobby I have, then I can work out what storage boxes etc I would need to put it in. I want to keep paint with paint, pencils together etc.
Rubber stamps are on the whole sorted, mounted ones are in drawers outside, unmounted ones in drawers inside. I have hoarded LOADS of embellishments, which are taking up a lot of room in nicely laid out DIY kinda boxes. In the last 5 years I’ve not touched them! Why let them take up all that space? So my plan is to dump the lot into a cardboard box, with any other embellishments I can find, then I get the storage box back for something else.
After the foraging is finished and there are no more embellishments to add to the box, I can sort through and pick out the things that still interest me and get rid of the rest, one way or another. This is the concept I’ll follow for glues, tools, papers etc till I know where stuff is. My theory is that as long as things have somewhere to go, and they are in a big box together, its MUCH harder (tho not impossible, anyone seen my little bells?) to lose a whole big box of things.
If weather and health allow me to, this is my project for the coming months. I hope by the time the weather improves, that I’ll have a tidy space and know just where to find things. Its driving me mad to spend all my creative time trying to remember where something is! We live in hope!
Does this sound like your house too? How do you store yours, I’m really nosey and love to see what clever ways people find to store their stash. Do share your pictures of your ingenious ideas for storage. Sure there was a blog dedicated to this somewhere? Lucky I forgot where it was, I tended to go and drool and the lush spaces some people have. I love my creative space, just wish it wasn’t so cold out there so I could use it more often. Winter= too cold, summer= constant BBQs from people over the back of us who burn right by the window/door of the studio. Call me strange but I’m not a fan of projects smelling of burning! Especially if they are created for gifts.
Best wishes and thanks for reading, hope you find some long-lost stash that you love
Billie 
Read Full Post »
