Back to School, Back to Scrapbooking
By Jennifer Wohlenberg

Ahh, September. My favorite month, because the kids are safely back in school. I always laugh at that commercial with the Burl Ives song playing, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” because I heartily agree! As much as I love my kids, it’s nice to have some “me” time again. But I also love back to school because it reminds all of us to make a clean slate and start fresh. Before my girls are allowed to have their back to school clothes, we have to go through all of their drawers and clean out anything that doesn’t fit or they don’t like anymore. Not only does it make space for the new, but also it gives me a clearer picture of not only how much my daughters have grown but also what styles no longer appeal to them. It helps a lot when I shop for them in the future.

All of this applies to our scrapbook supplies too. As the new lines from CHA Summer start rolling in to your scrapbook stores, what better time to do a sweep of your own scrapbook supplies? Give yourself a good chunk of time and go through all of your papers, embellishments and stickers to see what needs to be weeded out. I was even given a little bit of “help” last week when I had an iced tea mishap and dumped a whole glass onto my 12 x 12 Expo which held all of my letter stickers. As my daughter and I wiped down each individual sheet, it really gave me an idea of which ones were most important and which ones weren’t worth saving. I wish I hadn’t had that accident, but honestly, it may have been the best thing that could have happened, because letter stickers are the hardest things for me to give up.

So even without messy accidents, you can still touch all of your supplies, one by one, and ask yourself the important questions - “Does this make me happy or does it cost me space?” If it’s just costing you space, put it in a box and decide if you plan to donate the supplies, sell them at your own garage sale or one put on by your scrapbook store, or if you want to give them to your children to use (although this may not solve the space issue, it just moves them to another area of the house). It can be difficult to purge, but remember, you’ll only feel guilty every time you move past that item you no longer want - better to get rid of it now and learn lessons from those items. Maybe you really aren’t into shabby chic or big patterns, or whatever it might be. It’s only wasted if you don’t learn from it.

Once you’ve purged, you’ll not only have room for more goodies, but you also may have learned that your storage is not helping you find the items you need when you’re ready to use them. Cropper Hopper has new storage to help you with some of these problems. The new 2-Drawer/4-Pocket Binder has storage space for large embellishments, holds embellishment boxes, ribbon cards, and photo holders. You could store all the supplies you need for one project, or store everything for one theme (such as Halloween) or by one supplier (such as Heidi Swapp), all together in one place to make it easy to find everything quickly.

The 3-Drawer/6-Pocket Binder is great to store stamps, ink pads, and large embellishments. This is a great place in particular to store your foam and acrylic stamps and ink supplies.

The Canvas Pro-Files are also very helpful in storing lots of supplies together. The 12 x 12 is a personal favorite of mine, as I can store an entire line - papers, embellishments, and stickers - together in one holder, or you can store all of your stickers and rub-ons in one place. One side of the Pro-File is 12 x 12 expandable divided tabbed pockets, while the other side has a 6 x 12 set of expandable tabbed pockets, and two 6 x 6 expandable tabbed pockets. All of this is fabric covered and securely closed with an elastic band and button, and it has a sturdy handle for carrying. The Pro-File also comes in two other sizes - 5 x 7, and 7 x 12, perfect for storing chipboard, grunge board, rub-ons, stickers, and other embellishments.

While we’re talking back to school, it just wouldn’t be back to school without a cool backpack to carry all our goodies. AMM (formerly All My Memories) has our carrying needs covered, whether it’s their Tote-ally Cool Totes, Vituri Urban Line, or the Vituri Lifestyles, every single item has been made with a scrapbooker’s needs in mind. I know that I feel way too cool for school with my Raspberry Shoulder Bag!

With these tips, hopefully once the kids are off enjoying their new classes, you can carve out a day for yourself and indulge in your own passions for a bit - once it’s organized, it will be even more enjoyable, no matter how much (or how little!) time you have!