Organizing your Jewelry-Making Stash
13 March 2009
Author: Dale Nicholson
OK, I will admit it. I am an extreme organizer, especially when it comes to my jewelry-making hobby. The process of organizing my creative space is an exploration of color, contrasts and texture that I find soothing and satisfying. There are times when just sitting in my bead space makes me feel good. I don’t even have to create anything; just touching, sorting and coordinating the bead supplies feeds my creative soul and brings harmony to my life 
So, I am here to say “Embrace the Art of Organization”. It can be a fun and relaxing part of any craft. For example, if you are into paper crafting, then you know what it means to sort out stacks of decorative and colored paper or to gather together stickers or embellishments by themes or stories. Looking at all the colors and styles is both enjoyable and inspiring. And, once you have everything in its place, then your creative time becomes much more productive. Being organized allows you to have more time to work at your craft and less time searching for a color, style, tool or accessory. Well the same holds true for jewelry-making and beading. Actually, an organized jewelry-making space is very important since so many of the components are small and can get easily lost.
If you have been beading for years and years with never a thought toward organizing and you have no trouble finding your supplies, then you probably have a special system that works for you and there is no need to change what is working! The ideas and suggestions presented here are directed to those of you that admittedly need help putting order into your space and for those that desperately need a system of finding items easily and quickly. And if you are like most people, the thought of organizing everything in your collection can be overwhelming. Not to worry, just break it down into small pieces and tackle one area at one time – don’t feel that you have to do everything at once.
Let’s first talk about bead storage. There are many styles of bead containers available on the market. The most popular choices are round stacking containers or plastic boxes with flip or slide open lids – both are available in a variety of sizes to accommodate many bead types. My suggestion is to experiment first to determine which one works best for your style of bead collection. If you work with crystals a lot, then choose the clearest container possible so that you can easily view the color. This saves time when designing so that you don’t have to pull out beads. If you work with lots of large chunky gemstones or natural beads, then you might need to find a storage system that holds larger types of beads. Whatever bead container style you decide on, use it for as many of your beads as possible as a unified system is easiest to work rather than a range of container styles.
Beads can be sorted by color or by size or by style. As with deciding on the right style of bead containers, the choice is up to you depending on how and what you work with. Some people design more by size and might want to sort their beads by size. I find that sorting by color works best for me because that is how my mind thinks. It is important to know that bead storage is an on-going process and one that will change over time. As your collection grows, so will your needs for additional storage, so be aware that your organized space requires maintenance to keep the system working like fine machinery.
When sorting out your beads by color, start with the color that you work with the most or that you have the most selection in. In my case, my dominant color is green and from there, I branch out into blue/greens, browns and then neutrals such as clear and black. The new box style from Jolee’s™ Jewels is perfect for storing my selection of crystals as I can assort all my colors nicely with the twin-ended containers. I use the AB versions of crystals quite a bit and I find it works really well to have the color and the AB version paired up.
A well kept secret to organizing small spaces (and small pieces) are turntables. Many of the home storage areas offer a range of sizes and styles. Turntables take up a minimum of space and work well for managing most any type of collection. They are also a good option for high or deep spaces as you only need to worry about what shows at the front. Many years ago, I found some large round stackable containers in a scrapbook store that makes great bead containers. To further maximize my containers, I have used acrylic gem stickers to note the dominant color so I can make easy selections. I have used this color guide on many of my storage boxes and find that it helps for easy access.
Don’t forget to organize your jewelry projects for on the go crafting too! Popular mint and candy boxes are the most perfect travel size boxes. Once emptied of their original contents simply wash them out and glue in a soft lining fabric to protect their new contents. The lids usually shut tight and are perfect size to include in a purse or keep handy in a travel bag. I have also utilized the storage boxes that jewelry components come in to keep my ongoing projects together. This works well for projects that you work on in bits and pieces or when watching television with the family.
Remember that you organization is a lifestyle that will help you increase your productivity over time. Don’t look at the process as a burden, rather look at is as a support tool to allow more time for creative expression. Once you start to see the value of an organized work space, you will understand what I am talking about – and you, too, will be spreading the word about the benefits of getting organized!