Art and Craft Supplies: Artbin Super Satchel Series Organizer

This is a product review of an Artbin organizer from Artbin's Super Satchel Series. Mine is the Slim Super Satchel measuring 15 inches by 14 inches by 2 inches. I can envision that this organizer could be useful to store a number of different types of items. It would be especially useful to artists, rubber stampers, scrapbookers, quilters and other crafters.

I purchased 2 of these organizers to use as storage containers for my collection of wood mounted rubber stamps. This artbin is a bit shy of being the ideal container if rubber stamps are what you have in mind to store in it, because it has pronounced ridges along the bottom; with time, the ridges could possibly damage your stamps.

This can be remedied by cutting a liner for the bottoms out of cardboard (which is what I did). However, it is an inelegant solution that kind of bothers the perfectionist in me. Otherwise this organizer meets my needs quite well. It fits more in it than I anticipated; I was able to fill it full of stamps and then put all my ink pads on top of the stamps too and they all fit comfortably. This was such a pleasant surprise, because I thought I was going to have to get another storage container for my inks.

The artbin Slim Satchel is made out of see-through plastic. This is advantageous because it means that you won't have to open it up to see what's in it, and if you own more than one of these organizers you will be able to tell at a glance which one is holding the item you are in search of. It is also acid free, which is an asset to any artist or artisan who is concerned about preserving archival quality supplies.

The quality of the artbin satchel is not outstanding, but not terrible; one of the clasps popped off the first time I used it, but the clasp was easily re-attached. The plastic is sturdy, and I am sure that the artbin satchel will adequately protect my rubber stamps from harm.

The measurements of this artbin organizer are ideal for scrapbookers who want a rigid storage container to use for storing their 12" x 12" scrapbooking papers.

For quilters, I imagine this would make a handy storage space for fat quarters, quilt blocks that you haven't pieced together yet, fabric scraps or trims. Threads and bobbins fit inside it as well.

Of course I am certain that artists could find all sorts of uses for it. This would be a great organizer for various types of ephemera used by mixed media artists; it could also be useful for storing various papers, paints and other art supplies as well.

These organizers can easily be stacked on top of each other, which is great because it means that you can stack them up on a shelf if you need to make the most of your shelf space. You could just as easily stack them up under your bed or in some other out of the way corner if you are short on space.

This artbin organizer was made in the U.S.A.

I purchased my artbin organizer at Joann.com. I have seen Artbin products available at a variety of art supply stores. If you need more information about where to purchase an Artbin organizer, you can call their toll free number for consumer inquiries, which is 1-800-232-3474. Or you can visit their web site at www.artbin.com. They can be contacted by mail at the following address:

Flambeau, Inc.
P.O. Box 97 Middleffield, OH,
44062

Overall, I am satisfied with this product and I would gladly recommend it to others.