Die-Cut and Photo storage

I have several types of die cut machines...a Cricut Expression, Cuttlebug and a Zip-E-Mate. I started out with the Zip-E-Mate, which has now been discontinued, but I still love it.  I purchased the cuttlebug so I could have a current machine with replaceable parts (plus it's easier to travel with), and the Cricut was a gift, and I love it! :) 

There are several places I store all my supplies for my die cut machines. At my stamping station, I store my long cricut 12x24 mat hung on one of the 3M hooks.

In the cabinet just below my stamping station are my 12x12 cricut mats. This is where I also store my crop totes, croper hopper file folders and long stencils.

My Zip-E-Mate is stored in this drawer just to the left of my stamping station. This drawer is under my cardstock cabinet.

My Cricut Expression and the Cuttlebug both sit on top of the bookshelf and are plugged in and ready to use right where they are.

This section is just to the left of the door to my kitchen. It houses my machine dies, Cricut cartridges, idea books, photos, etc. I found the tall black cabinet at Hobby Lobby and originally thought it would hold my 12x12 papers, but the cubbies are a little short for my Cropper Hopper folders, so I store my idea books in the top and use the wider bottom cubbies for my machine dies.

Here are my idea books:

My machine cutting dies are stored in a silver tray I found at Goodwill. It is made by IKEA, but I haven't been able to find these locally at my store. The large dies are stored standing up on their sides with labels showing, and my cutting plates and shims are stored behind those.

My smaller dies are stored in this Snapware case. It has a green lid so I can easily see that this stack is for my green Cuttlebug machine.

The top section of this stack holds my Cuttlebug embossing folders--both the larger A2 size and the smaller sizes along with the embossing borders.

The second section down holds my thin dies. I am able to easily flip through to find the shape or alphabet I'm looking for.

The third section down holds my platform mats for my Cuttlebug die cut machine.

The fourth stack down holds my sets of Nestabilities. I have these stored in a plastic pencil case and they are stored on magnets attached to chipboard. I labeled the back of each set with the set name and numbered the set from the smallest to largest shape, so they are easy to use and then store away.

This blue stack of Snap 'N Stack (sometimes also called Snapware) holds my Cricut supplies. I purchase these holders from Joann's Crafts and Target.

I found the idea for creating these dividers from this site.  I liked how she created the dividers with the plastic canvas. The only thing I did differently was to take some crochet thread and "stitch" the corners of the dividers together so that they did not come apart when I pulled cartridges in and out. Now the dividers are all one piece and they stay put really well.

My tools are stored in the section just below the cartridges. I did remove my cricut tools from the holders so I could use them quickly and also store my liquid glue in the same section, but the green zippered tool holder did fit into this section.

My cord for the Design Studio is stored in the 3rd level down along with some other misc. shapes cut from my cricut.

The bottom section is the deeper ribbon holder from the set and I use it to store my booklets and keyboard pads for the cricut.

The nice part about this storage system is that you can always add more layers as needed and customize it to meet your needs.

Now on to photo storage, I use the 4 drawer Jetmax cubes from Michaels. They hold 4x6 photos perfectly, and I store them in separate drawers by year or theme.

I made dividers with cardstock and homemade tabs. I was able to write the month and year on a tab, or include details from a special trip or other theme.

I also store some of my photos in the Cropper hopper photo storage boxes when I have multiple photos from one event. My 5x7 photos are stored sideways in a drawer all together and I make a note that I place in with the regular 4x6 photos, so I know to look in that drawer also for any larger pictures. My 8x10 size photos are stored in a Cropper Hopper vertical file in a cabinet nearby.

If you have any questions of these storage ideas, please leave me a comment.  The next post will include my embellishment drawers and printer area storage.