Create a craft supply color catalog

Knowing what you’ve got, and where to find it, can make the difference between being joyfully creative and creatively frustrated.

One way to avoid being frustrated and maximize the use of what you’ve got is to create a catalog of your supplies. This is obvious for things like dies, stamps, and punches, but you can do the same with your “colors.”

Creating a color catalog can be fast, easy and fun.

You’ll need a couple of supplies; paper, a pen, and a way to store your catalog. I created my personal catalog on 12×12 paper and store it on my ScrapRack. In this example I used index cards. There are benefits and downfalls to both sizes.

Follow these 3 easy steps:

Step 1 – Load craft supplies

It seems counter-intuitive to put your supplies away before you create the catalog, but if you want to maximize the space you have (in this case in our Stash and Store boxes) you need to fill them first.

Step 2 – Label your drawers

I used a D in front of the numbers to indicate “Drawer” – as I also store some things in BB – “Buddy Bags”.

This code will direct you to the correct storage container for your supplies. You may have just one storage container, in that case you can skip the letter code.

Step 3 – Work drawer by drawer

Take the drawers out, bring them to your workspace, and add each item in the drawer to a color catalog sheet – in this case an index card. Start a card for each color group.

Put a sample of the colored item (e.g. glitter glue), the name of the color, and the location (e.g. D2).

The big benefit happens when you’re working on a project and you want to add green glitter glue. You can consult your catalog for the perfect color of green, and then go directly to that bottle.

The catalog also comes in handy when you’re shopping and project planning.

Thanks for stopping by today for a quick lesson in how to create a color catalog of craft supplies.