Daily Blogs : organization

Creative ways to organize and display your favorite jewelry

Leslie — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:57:00 GMT

It's in the bag!

We make lots of jewelry but we wear even more. Wearing jewelry is energy in motion–– put it on, take it off, change outfits, change jewelry. Did you ever get all decked out and then spot a piece you forgot you had peeking out from the clump of stuff in your jewelry box? Or you want to wear something but can’t find it in the mess piled on your bureau? I really want to have all my jewelry out, because everything gives me ideas for new pieces. I came up with solutions that work so well, a co-worker once asked me if I had my jewelry hanging with my clothes in my closet, because I always matched! (I considered his thought but didn’t want my jewelry hidden in the closet!) I also asked a few other jewelry-makers how they organize their jewelry. Once they stopped laughing, they sent me pictures of their solutions. And though I suspect some cleaned up for these photos, they clearly offer good storage ideas especially for strung pieces, to preview, protect and prevent tangling. So peek at the pretty, witty, clever, handy, but oh, so practical ways we keep favorite pieces safe, on hand, ready to wear, and in view, to delight and inspire us.

Outside the box

A real jewelry box holds small bags of jewelry for Merle White, the editor in chief of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist and the editorial director of Interweave’s Gem & Jewelry Group. As a frequent traveler, she protects things in small plastic bags and silk drawstring bags, sorted by type of jewelry or by what she last traveled with. She packs jewelry right in their bags, and when she comes home she puts the bags back into the jewelry box.

Just sew cool

Marlene Blessing is the Editorial Director for the Interweave bead magazines. Most her of treasures are in a vintage sewing box--organization in an heirloom!

Hanging out

I have a ton of jewelry-literally! To keep the heavy pieces from damaging smaller works, I hang the big beads on a clothes tree, and pile bulky bangles on it, too. I love looking at the cascade of color!

A room of their own

Being a prolific jewelry designer, Denise Peck, editor in chief of Step by Step Wire Jewelry and senior editor of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, needed something very large. The various baskets and boxes on her dresser were overflowing. This full-length mirror armoire was just the thing. Only problem now––it's full and her dresser is again piled with baskets and boxes!
(Tell me about it, Denise––this is my dresser!)

Separate and equal

Compartmentalized boxes are great for small pieces. Sort earrings and more delicate bracelets and necklaces in a sectioned floss box. Or, as shown here from Jane Dickerson, editor of Creative Jewelry and Bead Star, lay strung pieces in a utensil tray. She found a nice one made from bamboo.

Color coordinated

As my co-worker suspected, I do have a way to keep my jewelry organized to be easily coordinated with my wardrobe. First I sort like-color suites (necklaces, bracelets, some earrings) in clear baggies, and store those in a clear chest of drawers. Each drawer contains specific colors to match the colors of clothing I wear most.

Public displays of affection

Danielle Fox, editor of Stringing and Best of Stringing, uses select, commercial jewelry displays for a stylish way to keep her favorite jewelry handy and organized. Why not? The same decorative stands used by jewelry artists at shows and exhibits look just as lovely on a dresser or table, and are available in so many styles. These birds and branches suit Danielle and her fashionable flair so well!

Marlene also displays jewelry as part of the décor of her home. These bulletin boards were creating for hanging jewelry and other interesting bits. But only her most favored pieces get worn by an antique dress form from St. Louis, the gilded "Mrs. Hudgins!"

Keep these great jewelry storage ideas in mind as you create the latest projects in Stringing magazine! Share your storage ideas below and on our Beadingdaily.com forums!

Create a Beadwork Portfolio

Michelle M. — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:51:00 GMT

Most people that know me will tell you that I’m horribly forgetful. And it’s not something I can blame on age or too much partying. It’s just the way I am and always have been. Age has become a factor, though, so it’s been necessary to come up with some tricky memory recall methods. The easiest one is to instantly respond to emails so I won’t forget to later. I also cut up recycled copy paper into fourths and use the little slips as endless memory jogs all over the house (“Dentist at 4:00”, “Buy cat litter”, “Turn off oven”). Names are the worst! The best thing I’ve come up with is to think of a song or movie title with their name in it and somehow assign that to them forever, so if I ever start singing when I meet you, you’ll know why!...(read more)

Organize Your Bead Studio

Michelle M. — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:58:00 GMT

I woke up this morning and the ground was covered with snow. Even after all the signs of spring had come--robins, worms, one robust thunderstorm, and the premature donning of t-shirts and shorts in 45° weather—this is what we get? Yes . . . a big reminder of why Minnesota isn’t over-populated....(read more)

Get Organized: Bead Storage Checklist

Michelle M. — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:25:00 GMT

If beads are so small, how could I be running out of storage space? For the last year or so, I've been buying random containers for beads and creating a bead tower in my basement. Sounds cool, but it's actually a little scary! When I was working on submissions for Stringing a few weeks ago, I realized that it was taking me twice as long to design pieces because I was spending time hunting down beads, rather than playing with them. I thought I was organized, but I really wasn't. ...(read more)

Top Organization Tips from Readers

Editor — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Organization Tips Large and Small

Sometimes a small organizational tip can make a huge difference. My headpins are stored in tiny plastic bags and as a result, they are bent every which way. When contest finalist Susan Jacob mentioned that she kept her headpins straight by storing them in vials that was a light bulb moment for me!

Other tips made me rethink my whole notion of the creative process. Many beaders, for example, mentioned the importance of using containers like glass jars that let you see your collection. I never realized it before, but I do get more ideas when my beads are spread around me than when they are tidily tucked out of sight. No wonder I've been resisting the typical opaque storage containers!

Small Spaces = Organized Living?

Another surprise for me was the number of contest entrants live in studio apartments, motor homes, or other small spaces. By necessity, these folks are masters at organization.

Frequent travelers also made up a large portion of the entrants. It's hard to think of a beading space that's smaller than an airplane seat nowadays, especially one in coach!

At right: Betty Neve and her daughter's solution to beading on airplanes--handmade twisted needles and a floss container cutter.

Popular Containers for Beads

Beaders love containers for other crafts like embroidery floss boxes and scrapbooking carts. They also are terrific recyclers with all sorts of containers from lunchmeat trays to an old wooden television case finding new life in the bead world. Tackle boxes were hugely popular, so make sure to check out the hardware and sporting goods stores in addition to craft stores when looking for suitable storage. No matter what kind of container you select, labeling is key--not just for you, but also for everyone in your household who might otherwise claim that container for their own. A few ideas for containers:

Tic-Tac boxes
Cigar boxes
Spice racks
Pasta racks
Tie racks

Food containers
Pill boxes
Egg cartons
Muffin tins
Watchmaker cases

Recipe card boxes
Cosmetic bags
Ice cube trays
Shoe boxes
Jars (baby food, jam)

And the winners are . . .

Author Laura Levaas and I had a very challenging time selecting the winners from the 500+ entries in the Beader's Stash contest. Be sure to also check out the list of 30 finalists for more organization tips and ideas.

Beyond the Bead
Marjorie Oxman
To keep my tools organized and easily accessible, I hung magnet knife blocks (from IKEA) on the wall, next to where I work. They hold quite a few beading tools within easy reach, and they cost only $14.99!

On the Cheap
Elizabeth Gorman
I sticky-tape a freezer bag to the side of my beading desk to put all the rubbish ends of threads, broken pieces of wire, etc. I only empty it when it is full. This saves time—you don’t have to look for ends of threads on the floorand it means no more stepping on broken bits of wire/metal! It is also very cheapyou can purchase a bag of 100 or more freezer bags for only $0.40 (AU)!

Your Beading Place
Susan Nelson
Since I’ve just recently become a “professional” myself, measuring the length of pieces has become important. I decoupaged one of those sewing tape measures to the front edge of my beading table, so it’s easy to know how much wire used and the finished length.

On the Road
Betty Neve
Current restrictions on what you can take on a plane have presented the beadaholic with the challenge of what you can use to bead with on a long flight. Tip: Make your own safe needles out of 28 gauge twisted copper wire. Make a safe thread cutter by pulling the top off a dental floss packet, round and smooth the edges, drill a hole in it and attach it to your key ring along with some beads.

Bead Stash
Christine DeLio
To store my crystals, I purchased 100 10ml clear plastic lip balm jars with lids and small rare earth disc magnets. I used E6000 to glue a magnet to the bottom of each jar. I then purchased a large dry erase magnet board. I mounted the board on the wall and arranged the jars of crystals by size, shape, and color. You can label your sections on the board using a dry erase market. It’s easy to see your inventory and pick colors since the jars are clear, plus it uses vertical space.

Congratulations to our five winners, each of whom will receive an autographed copy of Beader's Stash by Laura Levaas. This is a fun beading book with 40 projects of all types (stringing, wireworking, loomwork, felting, bead embroidery, weaving, soldering) from the top bead shops in the United States and Canada. Learn more about the book.

Glass Bead Design Challenge - One Week Left

Have you submitted your challenge entry yet? Design a necklace, bracelet, or pair of earrings with any type of glass beads and you could win a cool new beading book or a beautiful starfish lampwork pendant by Stephanie Sersich. Deadline is Sunday, March 2, 2008. Enter the Glass Bead Challenge.

Michelle Mach shares beading news, contests, reader galleries, and other beady stuff every Monday on Beading Daily. If you have comments or questions for Michelle (or organization tips to share), please post them on the website.

New Contest: Share Your Organization Tips

Editor — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:00:00 GMT

It's easy to be an organized beader--if you've only been to one bead shop in your entire life and your entire "stash" fits in the palm of your hand. Now that I'm a "professional" beader, I can't get by with a tiny plastic bag of beads or even a single bead box. It's not complete chaos yet--but it sure is getting close!

At left: My highly organized personal bead stash.
(Just kidding--I wish this is what it looked like!)

I knew things were getting bad when I woke up one morning recently knowing the perfect square magnetic clasp for a necklace I was making and couldn't find it in my bag marked "clasps." I knew I had bought it, but where had I put it? Turns out, I had another bag of new findings and beads (not labeled, of course, and nowhere near the rest of my bead stuff) that I had set aside to use for another project. That's when I knew I had to do something. (About the lack of organization, anyway, the designing necklaces in my sleep is another discussion entirely!)

Announcing the Beader’s Stash Contest

Do you have trouble remembering where you put your pliers? Is your thread a tangled mess? Does your beading area look like a cat sprawled out and took a nap on it—but you don’t own a cat?

Then this contest is probably not for you!

This contest is for those Beading Daily members who never buy the same tube of black seed beads over and over again because they can’t remember where they put tubes 1-28.

Whether your beading friends call you an “organizational genius”—or whether you’ve simply discovered the best way to tote your beads while traveling—then please, please, please enter our contest. The rest of us want to learn from you!

Submit your best beading organizational tip (100 words maximum) and win! Up to 25 of the best tips will be published in Beading Daily and 5 lucky winners (one per category) will each receive an autographed copy of the book Beader's Stash by Laura Levaas.

This is a beautiful book with 40 projects of all different kinds--stringing, wireworking, loomwork, felting, bead embroidery, weaving, soldering, and more! It also includes an illustrated technique glossary, a bead shop directory (U.S. and Canada), and lots of insider tips from bead shops. Learn more about the book.

The Rules

You must be a member of Beading Daily to enter. (It's free to sign up if you're not already a member.)
One entry per person total (not per category)
Categories:
- Your Beading Place
  Tips for organizing your work area, whether it is a small lap desk or an entire studio.
- Bead Stash
  Tips for organizing your beads.
- Beyond the Bead
  Tips for organizing your other beading items--stringing materials, tools, and other necessities.
- On the Cheap
  Tips for organizing your beading without spending a lot of money.
- On the Road
  Tips for being a well-organized beader while traveling.
Deadline to enter is Friday, January 25, 2008 at 12:00 midnight Central Standard Time. That's 2 weeks from today!
Winners will be announced on Beading Daily by February 25, 2008. If two similar tips are selected as finalists, then we will award the prize to the tip submitted earliest--so get your entries in!

Good luck--and thank you!

Michelle Mach is the editor of Beading Daily. She can't wait to see your organization tips! This weekend she is working on a brick stitch bangle ("Round About" by Dottie Hoeschen) and hopes she can find the focal bead she needs to complete it!