When I meet other crafters and quilter one thing we all have in common is books and magazines dedicated to our passion. Make sure you are leaving room for books and magazine storage in your crafting area. Magazine holders (plastic or cardboard) you can find at office supply stores are perfect for keeping magazines standing upright. Again, having a set size container (magazine holder) will help limit the amount of magazines that you can collect. Once the holder is full, it is time to pass on some of those magazines that you don’t need any longer.
I also have a space on my shelf for projects that I am working on. Often I want to start a project only to find that I am missing a component necessary for the project. I can put all of the items together in a 2 gallon Ziploc bag along with the magazine or pattern. (Caution: do not store fabric in plastic Ziploc bags for too long as fabrics need airflow.)
Once I have the missing item, I can retrieve the bag that has the rest of the fabric needed for that project. Sometimes I get bored with a project and I need to put it away for a short time. Having a space for projects pending has kept me from totally ignoring them. Keep this space small as you want to have more projects done rather than started.