The children’s story is not the perfect analogy, but when my Storage by Stampin’ Up! arrived last week, I needed to clean off the surface where I thought I’d set it up. But first, I needed to clean out the current color storage, which led to cleaning out of other storage areas, which led to cleaning behind the rolling drawers – and I’m not finished yet. But here’s the progress I’ve made so far:
This is one of three bookcases in my studio, part of our finished basement. I bought the bookcases around 35 years ago; they are ridiculously heavy but have served me very well in various settings in various homes.
This shows the Color Caddy I’ve used for many years. You’ll notice that a significant number of ink pads are not in it, however! After I changed to “rainbowetical” color organization last summer, I’ve found it challenging to recall the order of the colors. I have an idea to help me with that, but meanwhile, I have been challenged to keep the ink pads under control.
The Caddy was not big enough to hold my neutral pads, as I have duplicate pads of several colors, so they have been in a drawer in the plastic holder to the right. The two little buckets held extra ink refills and the neutral refills. More refills were here, in my very first rolling cart that held nearly all of my stamping supplies around 16 years ago:
Here’s where I kept my Stampin’ Blends, in one of the drawers on the top shelf. Oy. It was a pretty task to sort through the colors looking for just the right marker, but not very efficient.
And finally, this is what it looks like now.
Stampin’ Up! clearly states that the “Ink Pad & Marker Storage Trays are designed to fit our new-design Stampin’ Pads only.” I found that they fit very tightly; perhaps that is stressing the plastic and I will regret storing them there. I do not recommend that you store the old-style ink pads in the new trays. Some day I’ll replace all my old pads. Some day.
I love the spacious top tray for ink refills; even my backup bottles fit up there. I haven’t decided if I will put In Color pads and markers in this storage. I have already ordered another set of Stampin’ Blends Storage Trays in anticipation of more colors in the new Annual Catalog (I hope!). I have duplicate Blends in the drawer I showed before. The cracker basket holds the Ivory, Bronze and Color Lifter markers.
I love having my colors right behind my work table; I just swivel around and grab what I need — and put it back immediately when done! However, I always thought it was a good idea to get out of my chair as much as possible, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on my fitness tracker!
