Organizing Your Works-in-Progress

As my children get older and I'm adding more kids to the mix, it seems that my projects double. There's the baby book, the pregnancy album/journal, the school book, theScouts book and the what-you-did-when-you-were-three book. I'm only naming a few! But, what about my family albums such as Christmas, Disney, and albums about my husband and me. What about design team assignments? A few projects are quickies completed in a weekend, but what about ongoing albums such as school? How do I keep my photos and products matched and together? Where do I store them in sight, but out of my way?

I have found a system that works for me. I also asked Scrapjazz's founder, Andrea Steed what works for her. You decide what works for you.

Tower of Tasks

My tower is made by Sterilite and is sold at Target. It is composed of two drawer systems (seven drawers each) with top closers, and one three-drawer system.

How it works

Each drawer is labeled according to what the theme is. Inside each drawer are photos, papers, embellishments, pamphlets, and whatever is going into that album. This is so easy. I don't have to think about it. I just print my photos, match it with papers and throw them in a labeled drawer. Besides themed projects, I also store all my design team products (purchased for assignments) in a drawer. I love not having to sift through products trying to find what I bought. I store rub-ons, papers, embellishments and photos in there and mark it "Design Team."

Why I love it

Each drawer has a secure "snap" latch to keep the contents contained. The best part of this is I can pull a drawer out and work on my project immediately. Everything I need is right in my container. When I'm done, I throw whatever is left back into the container, close it, and put it away in my tower. An added bonus is I always have something to take for a crop I didn't plan for.

All Within Reach

Andrea Steed has been scrapbooking long enough to know what works, and what doesn't. Rather than pack away her products and projects where they might be forgotten, she keeps them in view.

Her workload

A basket at the end of her L-shaped desk contains some of her "to-do" projects including notes and materials that she'll need when she finally gets started on them. She keeps track of her projects with a 3-ring binder, filled with different project ideas. It's currently divided into two sections: to do, and done! She keeps a hanging folder in her paper bins for products she needs to use for upcoming assignments.

Her theme albums
Her in-progress albums are kept on an upper shelf on her desk with photos already in page protectors ready to be turned into layouts. Otherwise, she sets stuff in a pile on her desk until she decides to do it. The fact that her pile is taking up precious desk space is motivation to get it done!

I love how different our organizational systems are, yet they're the same: keeping photos, products and themes together for quick and easy access.

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