whats next ma: 1/12/14

Hello and Welcome!

I'm trying something new this year ~ a series of posts about organizing that I've done in my craft room. I plan to publish one a month throughout 2014, and I hope that y'all will learn a few helpful tips before I'm done!

I'm starting with simple labels made from contact paper and vinyl...too easy, right? It would have been, if it weren't for my natural tendency for crafter disasters!

And I'm not the only one...at the end of this post you'll find links to all sorts of organizing goodness!

Here's what my finished labels look like ~ not too shabby, no?

I made the label itself from chalkboard vinyl ~ I normally have to order specialty vinyl from an online store, but I lucked out when wandering through Michael's one day and chanced upon some "sticky back chalkboard roll" in the school supplies...it is exactly like chalkboard vinyl, and even comes in colors! So the lesson there is to keep your eyes open as you'll never know what you'll find!

I knew that I wanted to fancy up the labels a bit, so I added woodgrain contact paper as an offset shape underneath the chalkboard ~ I think it adds a nice frame.

And here are the crafter disasters...I share, in the hopes that you will learn from my mistakes. ;)

First ~ take a closer look at your design on the mat in the program *before* you cut, because anything that is outside the red lines on the edge of the mat, will not actually be cut by the machine!

My two outside rows of labels ended up over the edge, so did not get cut ~ I guess its a good thing I bought a roll!

Alright, lesson number two ~ test cuts are great!

The goal when cutting vinyl (or contact paper) is to get a 'kiss' cut. This is when the vinyl is cut through, but the backing paper is left in one piece.

The best way I've found to figure the correct settings are to do a web search using the name of the type of vinyl you are cutting, and start from there. But keep in mind that each machine is a little different, and the sharpness of your blade can make a difference too.

If the cut is too deep, then the backing paper is cut out with the shape, making it more difficult to remove your cut, and also more difficult to keep the vinyl moving through the machine accurately. A kiss cut allows the backing to stay in one piece, making life simpler for you!

Once the labels were cut, I started applying them to everything that was standing still...

Not really...

But I did label my bins that contain most of my stamps for cardmaking. I used a chalkboard marker to write on the labels, since I use these containers a lot, and did not want to rub off my writing too soon.

And I love the way the labels make these jars filled with embellishments look!

So, are you doing any organizing or decluttering any time soon? Would you like a label shape to cut out for yourself? I'd love to share mine with you!

You can grab it here from box.net.

Chalkboard Label and Frame file

***Free file Etiquette*** You are welcome to use cuts made with this file for any purpose, personal or commercial. You may not share the file yourself or claim it as your own. If someone else would like to have this file, please direct them to this post, not to the box.net download directly. Thank you.

For the curious:

Here is the lowdown on the supplies and containers that you see in this post:

Chalkboard vinyl - Darice Self-Stick Chalkboard - Michael's
Woodgrain vinyl - Contact paper shelf liner - Dollar Tree
Great Dane dog - her name is Lily, isn't she cute?
Bins for stamp storage - Rubbermaid - Walmart (although they no longer carry this type)
Jars for embellishments - ? - Michael's
Shelves for jars - ? - Walmart

There is a whole slew of organizing goodness going on with the Silhouette Challenge group this month, I hope that you have fun visiting each site and learning great things along the way!