Time to get organized

This past week has been quite a blur - things have been so busy (as they are for all of us crafters this time of year!). A friend of mine took some of my jewelry into her office and sold a number of pieces, as well as some custom orders - done - check. I set up my new light box for photos and experimented to get new photos in my shop before holiday - done - check. Cleaned house - done - checked. Managed to get about halfway through the fall yard checklist - done - check. Well, you get the idea.

In the midst of all of this, I decided it was time to get my jewelry tools/materials/shipping goods/displays all organized since it always feels like I can't find exactly what I want without wading through a ton of other materials. Fortunately, I have a label maker that I bought when we first moved into the house for all of the boxes we had to store (geeky I know, but I LOVE my label maker!) and decided to put it to good use.


So, I sorted and packed this last weekend and here are the results:

Beads and stringing materials sorted by color and labeled. I found this awesome little rolling rack and put all of my little boxes on it so I can roll them to and from my workspace (i.e. kitchen counter) easily. The boxes are inexpensive little tool boxes from Home Depot with moveable dividers - cheap but oh so effective! How did I manage to accumulate all of these beads?? I think they multiply on their own at night while I sleep!


I sorted my jewelry by type - earrings, bracelets, necklaces, sterling - into shoebox sized plastic bins. The bins all fit snugly into a bigger plastic tote, which I can take to home shows, craft shows, etc pretty easily. The nice thing - very lightweight.


And finally, I recycled one of those little inexpensive drawer units into a small shipping center. Each drawer holds something needed for shipping - envelopes, thank you cards, business cards, labels, packing material, jewelry boxes - and the list goes on. I couldn't bear to mark up the front with labels - LOL!


I finally feel like I'm ready for the holiday rush - bring it on!