Memory Makers

How to Organize Your Scrapbook Workspace

Oh, this is a quandary.  How does one review a book if one is fairly well acquainted with the people who produced the book without one looking like a completely biased reviewer?  One can't... unless one starts one's review by revealing that one has moral issues with one's own impartiality.

But it's been such a long time since I reviewed anything, and this book is *so* worthy of a real review.  And scrappers everywhere seem to be bitten by the organization bug!  It's the right time to produce this book; therefore, it's the right time for scrappers to be asking themselves whether they should pay the $20 price tag for the book.

So, into the fray, dear readers -- How To Organize Your Scrapbook Workspace!

You can't surf the scrapbook websites without finding threads about organizing your scrap stuff.  People weigh in with various thoughts and opinions on furnishings, storage solutions, and the methods by which one should sort one's paper stash.  It has always been a topic of conversation, even when many of us were so new to the craft that we scrapped mostly on our dining room tables and our idea of "organization" was a well-stuffed Paper/Sticker Binder.

The times, they are a-changin'.  Now that scrapbooking is maturing into a *real* craft, scrappers are finding that they need a devoted scrap space in their homes to really maximize their creative time.  Thank heaven, someone produced a book to address just that process of streamlining our stuff *and* making the most of our time.

This book, which retails for $19.99 (Canadian $29.99) might give pause to more thrifty shoppers.  A twenty dollar book?  Oh, my.  I confess that I, myself, had a problem with the price tag when I hadn't actually *seen* the book.  There aren't even any *layouts* in there!!!!

I received my copy on a Saturday morning, and finished reading it by that evening.  It's a *glorious* tome, chock full of valuable info from advice to resources for furnishings and storage containers to pictures of real scrappers' rooms to defining "ergonomics."

It is, for the majority of us, worth every cent.  Why?  Because the bulk of the advice will still apply in 10 years.  Even if all the manufacturers of scrapbook storage furniture go out of business, *most* of what you'll find in this book are lessons to help you find your organization footing.

Split into five big, juicy chapters, and including a two-part introduction and three appendices, this book covers it *all*.  First up (in the intro) is "Finding Time to Get Organized."  Isn't that our main buggaboo???  We look at our massive messes of stuff and lament, "I can't do it all!  I have a life to lead!!!"  Take a deep breath, read the intro, and calm down.  You can do it.  The book will take you step by baby step through the process.

The first chapter is "Creating a Plan of Action."  Within literally 10 pages, the book *leaps* into action.  I have to first comment on Torrey Miller's scrap space, which is pictured on page 10.  The dear girl -- she is such a giver to let them take a picture of her messy space!!!!!  I have no doubt it will make less successful scrappers feel so much better about their own messy workspaces!!!  Many of us don't even have to look at the picture for more than a second to recognize the chaos.  If *Torrey* can clean up her space and get organized, so can we!!!

In any case, this chapter walks you through analyzing your space needs and then the possible spaces in your home that you can appropriate.  Then it goes on to tell you what furnishings are *essential*, and which ones are purely optional.  There are worksheets to help you figure out how much this is going to cost, and diagrams to help you sketch a plan, keep ergonomics in mind, and, in general, plan your overall space.  Already the pictures of real scrapspaces are coming into play -- these pictures are both awe-inspiring and envy-inducing.  Be prepared to want to smack some scrappers for having such wonderful workspaces!

The second chapter, "Taking Stock I: Non-Consumable Tools & Supplies," says it all in the second paragraph: "In this chapter, you will be gathering, sorting, cleaning, repairing, and labeling your non-consumable items."  This chapter, and the next, are perhaps my favorites.  I consider myself to be pretty well organized and tidy -- I must clean my scrap desk off between each project, or I cannot move on to the next.  But I still have issues with organizing within type groups.  My paper trimmers are on the right side of the desk, but my craft knives are in the drawer with my needles and needle threader.  I needed guidance to help me figure out the *logic* behind organizing.  It's here in this book!  Thank heaven.  My needle threader also thanks heaven, since I frequently lost it and cursed.

I think everything under the sun is addressed in this chapter -- photos, labeling, how to hold a swap of unwanted tools and stuff... it just goes on and on.  Amazing!!!!  The editors and writers really worked hard on this part of the book, and it's just glorious to read.

Then you get to the next chapter, "Taking Stock II: Consumable Tools & Supplies," and you realize you're only halfway there.  Oh, good heavens!!!!  Now I can ask: What are eyelets?  Are they just decoration, or are they adhesives?  Or are they both???  Where do they fit in with my other stuff?  Oh, lookie here... it's in the book.  Happy sigh!!!

Even magazine and idea book organization is covered, along with poems & quotes, for heaven's sake.  Is there anything the editors *didn't* think of????  No.  They thought of everything.  It's in here, dang it.  If you can find something they skipped, you better tell me about it so I can stop planning to go to Colorado and smack them for being so much smarter than I am.

But ooooo, the next chapter is the one that's gonna trip your zizz wheel.  It's "Alternative Workspace & Storage Options."  They might as well have called it, "How to Be a Cheapskate."  WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!  This is the chapter for me.  They sent three staffers to the a *flea market* with $100 to furnish a working scrap space... and they did it!!!!  And they came home *with change*!!!!!!!  Check it out -- it's ultra-coolio.  Hilde on "Trading Spaces" can eat her heart out.  MM *really* knows how to be cheap.  :D  If you love to reclaim useless things and turn them into organization pieces in your scrapspace, this is the chapter for you.  If you love to save a buck, this is the chapter for you.  If you don't have a huge budget and can't buy the pre-fab big hunks o' cabinets... this is the chapter for you!!!!!  Spend $20 now, save $1400 later!!!!

Oh, there's also a section in this chapter to make the antique collector drool.  I really, desperately want to smack the scrappers with antique pieces that are perfect for organizing our scrap stuff.  Tricia Renner leads the pack of scrappers who need a smack -- her optician's cabinet is *to die for*.  If Tricia is out there, someone, please... give her a little tap on the noggin.  I will not rest until I can find a similar object for my own space.  Man... that's just *mean*.

The final chapter is "Maintaining Workspace Efficiency," and it isn't just an after-thought.  It's necessary.  Once you've gone through the work of setting up your space, you have to keep it organized and well-stocked.  Remember, in the long run, organization will save you time *and* money.  Think about it.  How many times have you *lost* something, and then had to buy another?  Or worse, how many times have you saved something precious, only to find it ruined under a pile of punches, so you had to go surf eBay for a replacement of a retired piece of Club Scrap paper and you ended up paying 500% more than you did the first time you bought it?

In any case, this is a *great* and interesting chapter, including info about portables and shopping lists, and a *really* cool bit where two scrappers traded spaces!!!!!  What a great lesson!!!!!!!!!  Kudos to the MM editors for thinking of this fabulous exercise; bigger kudos to Julie Labuszewski and Maureen Behnke for being the brave pioneers into this frightening frontier!!!!

The chapter finishes with a gallery of scrapspace pictures sure to make you drool all over the book, so get a napkin or a bib before you start looking.

The appendices include a bibliography of related book topics (general organizing and cleaning books), websites, credits, sources, and resources, as well as a thorough and helpful Index.

The Upshot & the Lowdown:
"How to Organize Your Scrapbook Workspace" may be difficult to find in your LSS -- my favorite LSS received a shipment on Christmas Eve and had sold them all by December 27th.  This is a matter of the right book at the right time -- it's kismet, serendipity, and fate all rolled into one.

This book is perfect for scrappers who:
- Want to create a permanent workspace in their homes.
- Already have a workspace that isn't working for them.
- Have issues with identifying the categories of organization basics (i.e., what are eyelets and where do they go in your scrapspace for maximum efficiency?)
- Want to spend a ton of money.
- Want to spend practically nothing.
- Fall anywhere in between "rolling in dough" and "dirt poor."
- Have real difficulty identifying a possible workspace in their home (i.e., usually scrap on the dining room table and can't find a closet to stuff their tools into).

This book is less necessary for scrappers who:
- Don't crop at home and don't want to.
- Don't want a *permanent* workspace in their homes.
- Already have perfect workspaces.

And -- many smacks of envy go to the staff at MM who put together this wonderful book.  I'm sure they had to endure many arduous hours of playing with various toys and tools designed to help one organize.  I really cannot find something to *criticize* about this book -- they thought of things that never occurred to me, including a bit about how to reward yourself for a job well done!

As I said, I thought I had a pretty good grip on the whole "organization" thang, but I managed to identify several areas in which I could improve.  I'm just *really* glad I got the book, and I think many more scrappers could benefit from it.

That's my two cents' worth -- what's yours?

  

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