Thanksgiving gift, 6x6/12x12 Organizational Tips, Teacher Treats, and a Crooked Stamper Sketch challenge

My Big Shot broke again, and my wonderful dhDH (dear husband Doug Houck) fixed it for the fourth time.  He gave me permission to buy a new one if it happens again.  Meanwhile, I decided it was time to re-organize some of my 12x12 and 6x6 collections.  After all, there is no way one can live without a Big Shot, right?  I had to find something creative to do...

Organizational tip:  (6x6 papers sorted by color)

I took my really thin 12x12 collections (some actually had no 12x12, some had maybe two sheets) and cut them down to 6x6.  I also took some of my really thin 6x6 pads and threw away the front and back covers of the pads and re-organized all of these papers by color with the cut down 12x12.  I also sorted 6x6 papers from retired card kits in there too.  Many of my 6x6 were double-sided; I had to decide which side I liked best and filed it that way.  In a couple of cases where I loved both sides, I filed each piece under two different colors.  Make sense?

I created dividers with colored card stock cut to 6x7; red, pink, green, yellow, blue, orange, black, grey, kraft, and beige.  I made a decision to put all aqua papers in the blue section.

I also chose to make a few other categories:  text, gingham, multi-colored stripes/dots/chevrons, music, scenic (e.g. hot air balloons, clouds, bikes, maps), colorful florals, and school/office (e.g. grid/graph papers, typewriters, numbers).

This was a lot of work, but I wasn't really using those paper scraps and old collections anyway.  I am anxious to see if it was worth the hours I spent organizing.

I have thought of doing this for about 5 years now, and I fought it because I enjoy working within a collection since the patterns are already color-coordinated.

I wanted to play along with Leslie's sketch, and I gotta say I threw this pie card together in less than 30 minutes.  My pie and cutting board die cuts and sentiment came from the November Simon Says Stamp card kit.  I knew I wanted red gingham paper, so I went right to my newly organized 6x6 to the gingham section.  Score!  The new system is working already…of course I had a great sketch as motivation.  I added some MME burlap ribbon and frayed both ends a bit.  Done.

Every year right before Thanksgiving our realtor gives us a gift certificate for a pie at a local pie shop.  This card is for her.  Perfect, right?

I came across some ancient 12x12 in autumnal colors, so I decided to make some "Happy Thanksgiving" teacher treats with peppermint patties.

 Here is the front and the back:

I am probably the only parent that does little treats throughout the school year, but I am sure other parents help in other ways.  This is what I choose to do.  I like to let them know they are appreciated and I love using my stash.

Happy Sunday!