Hi friends! It’s Amber here, and I’m so excited to be sharing my very first project on the Crate Paper blog! It’s an honor to be on the Crate Paper team this year and I hope that you feel inspired by this post I have for you today.
We are officially well into January, which means everyone is trying to get organized and make progress on goals for the new year. My goal word for this year is “Simplify.” This applies to so many areas of my life, but one of the biggest places I wanted to start with was my scrapbook space and supplies.
I really wanted to create a simple and sustainable organization system for my scrapbook supplies. So often, I find that my scrapbook supplies – my ephemera and embellishment pieces in particular – end up in different places tucked in the torn and worn plastic packaging that they originally came in. Instead, I wanted to have all my ephemera and embellishments kept in one specific box and organized based on their collection.
To bring this concept to life, I decided to create specific envelopes for each scrapbook collection I have. And inside, I would tuck in the corresponding ephemera, embellishments, and other little paper pieces to keep it organized.
I used a simple template I found on Pinterest to create the envelopes, but an easier and more efficient way would be to use the American Crafts 1-2-3 Punchboard! I didn’t have one at the time when I made these envelopes, but I did just get one for Christmas and I’m over the moon excited to use it.
For the envelopes, I used patterned paper from the same scrapbook collection of the ephemera that I would be tucking inside. And of course, I just had to add some embellishing to the outside of the envelopes as well. This is totally optional though – you can simply write the name of the collection on a plain white envelope and tuck in your scrapbook pieces. However, using patterned paper and embellishments made it much more fun and beautiful! This way, I could tell which envelope stored which collection’s ephemera simply by looking at them.
One of my favorite collections from 2018 was the Hooray collection. I had some leftover papers to choose from and went with the blue and multi-colored dot Sprinkles patterned paper for the envelope. I tucked in the Hooray ephemera pieces inside the envelope, but kept a few out to add to the front side of the envelope.
I love the two banner flags and the Happy Birthday tag with the rainbow stripes! I also stuck down a yellow thicker party hat, and a pink chipboard party hat on top of the yellow one. This added some nice dimension. Not that I’m working on a layout or anything, but a few pretty paper pieces and dimension never hurt anything, am I right?
I did the same thing for the envelope storing my La La Love collection, which is another gorgeous collection from 2018. I have some fun Valentine’s Day projects I’m dreaming up using this collection, so I definitely want it to be organized and ready to use when I need it.
For this envelope, I used the Sugar Sugar paper with those adorable little cherries! On the front side, I stuck down a few cute embellishments. The La La La Love ephemera piece was the perfect center for my envelope. I tucked the XOXO ephemera piece behind it and stuck down a few cardstock and thicker hearts.
I couldn’t resist adding that cute little strawberry cake cardstock sticker to the right, and the So Sweet puffy sticker to the bottom. To top if off, I clipped on one of the “x” paper clips to help keep the fold closed. One again, I tucked the rest of the ephemera and embellishments inside the envelope.
I repeated this process for several of my other scrapbook collections by Crate Paper including Wild Heart and Good Vibes. The best thing about this technique is that you can keep adding envelopes for new collections as you grow your scrapbook stash! I still have a couple Maggie Holmes collection envelopes to make myself.
Once my envelopes were completed and my ephemera pieces were all tucked inside, I put the envelopes inside a pretty pink keepsake box I have. This box is big enough to store so many more envelopes, so it works perfectly to help keep everything in one place. Yet still, the collections are separated and organized.
You can store the box on your desk or nearby as décor, just somewhere to keep it handy. And there you have it! A simple, yet sustainable and functional organization system for all your gorgeous scrapbook ephemera and embellishment pieces. I hope you feel inspired by this fun and productive New Year’s project and that it helps you make progress on any organization goals you have!
Supplies: Crate Paper Hooray - Sprinkles (344568), Ephemera pack (344583), Cardstock stickers (344584), Chipboard stickers (344582), Washi tape (350766), Thickers (344581), Crate Paper La La Love – Sugar Sugar (344543), Rubber Paper Clip (344561), Small Embellishments (344560), Puffy Stickers (344559), Ephemera pack (344555), Cardstock stickers (344554), Thickers (344552), Crate Paper Wild Heart – Roar (344426), Ephemera pack (344436), Crate Paper Good Vibes – Girls Night (344299), Ephemera pack (344313)
