Paper scraps have been one of the most difficult parts of my supply stash to organize. Over the years I've used an accordian file, separate file folders, and at the beginning of this year I was still keeping plain colored scraps in big zip top bags in a basket under the bed while patterned scraps were stored by manufacturer in an American Crafts album (see more on that here).
None of those methods worked for me, especially the "by manufacturer in an album" method. Sometime in March I split all of those patterned paper bits out by color and placed them in bags along with their plain cardstock counterparts. That helped a little, but there was still the whole "bags in basket under the bed" mess to contend with. It was just too many steps to go through to find the appropriate scrap (my rule of thumb for organizing is that if something isn't getting used for some reason, like that it's too difficult to get to, then it needs to be reorganized).
For the last couple of months, I've had my paper scraps stored in these 12x12 drawers that I used to use to sort embellishments and it's working out great! I've got a drawer for each color plus white, black, brown, and a multi-colored drawer for those scraps that just refuse to be categorized.
The papers are so easy to get to now, and I'm reaching for my scraps a lot more often while working on projects. I should have done this years ago!
I've also done a little tweaking on my paper stack storage. The stacks are all still together by line (as is most of my patterned paper), but I've gone through and physically separated each page from its binding before adding the whole stack to a thin Cropper Hopper storage sleeve. It's now very easy for me to thumb through the papers while they're on the shelf, rather than having to get them out, flip through them, and put them back.
I've also kept the covers and put them into a spare American Crafts 12x12 D-Ring album so I can quickly flip through and see what stacks I have available in the first place.
I use the same method for storing my Basic Grey and other collection pack covers, as well.
Are you wondering what became of the embellishments that I evicted from my storage drawers to make room for the paper scraps. Wondering what those mystery Expedit shelves from yesterday's post hold? Check back tomorrow when I return with my final organizational post for the week. Can't wait to share it!