More Studio Organization

  

First up today is my jars of water for rinsing out my brushes. This idea to use a planter box to hold my water jars was a combination of 1) having a planter box that I got clearanced at Target and 2) knocking over many many many jars of water. I stuck the three jars in the planter--they look prettier, you can't see the dirty water, I can carry all three to the sink at the same time to get refilled, and I can't knock them over. (Nothing interrupts the artistic flow like having to stop what you're doing and get out a mop).

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Next up is my method for storing my unmounted stamps. I mount them using the heavy duty velcro that I buy at WalMart in the craft section. I use the fuzzy side on the stamps and the loop side on heavy cardboard. I cut the cardboard to fit the file drawer that is directly to the left of where I sit and work. I've even UN-mounted some of my regular wood-mounted stamps, as this makes them use so much less space and makes them much more accessible. I group similar stamps together on the cardboard. It's easy to get a whole group of stamps out.

I'm not nuts about the self-cling stamps, as I've found them hard to store--they fall off the plastic they are mounted to while they're in the file drawer. I know they sell pretty books for storing unmounted stamps--but I really like my method.

Sometimes I even use the cover of an old book to use for my storage system--I like to save wherever I can--

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Last for today is a storage solution that ranks right at the top of my list. It all started with my first set of colored pencils. They couldn't be sharpened in a regular big pencil sharpener. Neither could my crayons or my charcoal. At that point I was still in the garage and Jenny was just a toddler, so no sharp knives. What to do? My solution was to velcro one of those small metal pencil sharpeners to the underside of my desk. I don't have to hunt through the pencil cup for the sharpener, and it doesn't get lost in the clutter (ahem) of my desk. I just reach under the desk, pull it out, use it, and put it back. I never even have to move. Really, it's one of my all-time favorite ideas.

 Hope you're finding some ideas to use. As you can see, I'm rather enamored with velcro--great stuff.

Katie has a tennis match this afternoon (she's playing number one right now--huge step up from last year) so my time in the studio is limited today. Off to paint!