Die - Decluttering and New Work Station

 All my die cutting stuff has been in storage for a year and half.  I knew that I wanted to get rid of a lot of them so I decided to unpack the 10 boxes and make the hard decisions.

My sister helped me as she was going to chose from what was left and was willing to liquidate the rest.

I brought 4 boxes home out of 10 which was really good.  I had worked out how I was going to set up the station when I got home.  I set up the shelving unit on July 1st. 

We had scoped out some clear containers at Dollarama while I was at her house. Once I looked at what I had brought home and purchased a few more.  These were all original thick dies so they are really heavy for plastic containers.

The containers had feet and the shelving has gaps between the boards so I needed something to on the shelf to allow the containers to slide.  

I dug into my plastic placemat stash which were just the right depth so I needed 2 to make it wide enough for the shelf.  I used clear packing tape to join them and that solved that situation.  The placemats sometimes have textured surfaces so I had to turn them upside down so the smooth side was facing up.

I had to do the same thing for the diecutting shelf where I was putting my Big Kick machine.  I used some wonderful yellow striped ones and again taped them together. The machine has feet which may be a problem with the gaps and I don't what to lose small pieces of paper in the gaps.

There is lots of room on the shelf for my work light, a small garbage can, and a wooden box that holds my spacers and cutting plates.  These need to be close at hand everything I cut something.

I love the yellow stripes on the work surface.

Generally, the thick dies in either original or Bigz size fit in old style CD storage containers.  I had these wooden storage boxes from IKEA and the dies fit in perfectly. Luckily most of them were empty so that was a win.

I have not labeled all the drawers yet but I will. One drawer contains the amount of embossing folders I kept.

The wood boxes are much sturdier than plastic but I still have to be careful  I used to store dies in plastic pop crates which were very sturdy.

The red drawers will hold thin dies which are stored in CD cases.  Those have not been unpacked yet.

The black case was designed for the Sizzix original dies so that is where they are stored.  I have a really hard time using stuff I can't see so I may have to put die cuts on card board and hang them in the space to at least remind me what I have.

The second shelf has the small yellow and green dies and sizzlets, and movers and shaper dies in clear containers.

I am using this translucent corrugated plastic sheet from IKEA on my die cutting work shelf to provide a neutral background for taking photos of my cards for my blog.

The plastic is stored on the top shelf above the red wicker baskets when not in use.

Here you can see my grey IKEA lamp in it's super heavy white base which sits on the left.  The shelf is by a window but there will be times that I need a light to work.

The wood shelf is from IKEA as well is was called STEN when I bought it 20 years ago.  The shelves are 11 inches deep and about 33 inches wide.  With the cross brace on the back it make for a very stable work surface.  Strong enough to hold the weight involved with storing these dies.

Here's my die cutting work station.  There is still some space on the bottom shelf which I am not planning on filling.

It works really well and I am so happy to have it back.  It may have to be dismantled if I move this year but at least is way more manageable.  Now it lives in the craft space which is wonderful.

The dies I did not keep were gone through by my sister, then my niece and the rest will go to my sister who runs a daycare.  There are about 30 dies going to her.

They will have good homes and I have just so much less to manage.  Many dies I had purchased when I was running card  making classes and card club.  Many suited that situation but I no longer need them as I don't do classes anymore.  I am retired.

Recent Photos

It snowed again yesterday, but not as bad as in the eastern provinces.  No huge problems here in my area.  I should have taken a photo yesterday when it looked like Christmas but I was in the middle of a calendar photo shoot and missed the opportunity.  More about the new calendars to come.

A Drifters and Dreamers Romance is a good way to start on this book.  The story's main character is a woman doctor in 1917 Named Addison Carter. Just graduated and headed to her first job in Oklahoma but she is rejected because she is a woman.

She is rescued by a woman with a brother Tucker who has just fallen off the barn roof.  He broke a leg and cut a hand pretty bad. They don't have a local doctor and could she come and help.  Needless to say she stitches him up and then is hired to care for him for 6 weeks.

The house is a bachelor mess which gets cleaned up, meals are prepared, chores on the ranch are done and Addison is happy to serve.

I won't give it all away but it was a great way to spend a cold afternoon.

I was in to help a friend clean up computer stuff and found a box of old 3.5 inch diskettes.  These were of excellent quality.  The diskettes I destroyed but the cases were headed to the second hand store until I decide to see if I can use them to package a collection of Photo Art I am working on.  Think it is going to work.  More about those when they are ready for craft sales.

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosted Mosaic Monday #81.

How To: Storing Thin Dies

Now that we have a few sets of thin dies, the question becomes how to store them so they don't get bent and damaged and yet are easily accessible.  In my opinion magnet sheet is the answer.  I have presented a couple of ways to store them.  Keeping the really nice envelope from Stampin Up! or using CD cases.

1) Original Pkge - If you are going to keep the SU envelope I propose just adding a piece of cardstock the same size as the original cardboard.  Apply the exact same size sheet of adhesive magnet and voila your framelits are easy to get to, protected, labeled and can be organized.  For those thin dies sold in clam shell cases likely you will need to go to plan 2.

2) CD Cases - You must find the old style (thick) CD jewel cases.  Can still be found in thrift stores and some dollar stores. Carefully remove the black inserts which hold the CD.  Cut to size and apply adhesive magnet sheet to both sides of the case.  Now the thin dies will adhere well but will be easy to access.  With a label maker I placed identification information on the outside of the case.  Now I store them in regular CD storage rack. I can quickly see which ones are sitting there.  My niece gave me some of these for Christmas ready to go.  It was such a nice idea.  Thanks.
How are you storing your thin dies?  Leave me a comment.