January 6, 2018
15 Comments
The first Saturday of 2018 is finally here! Was it just me or did this week seem to last forever? No doubt the weekend will whizz by, of course…
I always get the bug for organisation in January, and this year it is possibly magnified by the fact that we moved house in December. So, for this, the first Stamp It Saturday of the new year, I thought I’d open up a conversation with you about stamp storage and organisation!
While I admire the highly organised craft-rooms of some popular crafters, with their amazing and efficient systems for organising everything from stamps to sequins, it just isn’t me. I like to be reasonably tidy and organised, but can’t quite deal with things being too regimented.
My current stamp storage solution works well enough, but could perhaps do with a bit of a rethink:
There isn’t much space left in any of the boxes, and that is after weeding out all the stamps I decided I could live without in my last clear out! This stack of boxes only shows the Stamping Bella stamps.
Early last year I did attempt a little further organisation by creating an index folder showing all the stamped images and which box each could be found in. The intention was that I would be able to sit and flip through the folder to select the stamps I wanted to use, and easily locate them in the boxes. This is a great idea and could be really helpful, except that I found it hard to motivate myself and dedicate the time to keeping the folder updated! Consequently, this approach has now been abandoned.
NOTE: I store the coordinating dies together with the stamps. For the older ones, I slip the die in the stamp packet, for the recent releases I keep the dies in the new packaging.
So, what works for you? Binders, boxes, something else? Do you keep a stamp index or catalogue? If you do, is it a physical folder or a digital spreadsheet or list? If you don’t currently have a system, are you planning on starting one? Share your ideas and thoughts in the comments below!
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Until next time, HAPPY STAMPING!
MWAH
Elaineabella
I have a spreadsheet of all my dies and stamps. I have a ton of each and was always duplicating both cause I could not remember what I had. So the spreadsheet was my answer. I have a master sheet that list everything, then separate tabs for all the name brands plus I did a crossreference spreadsheet (pivot table) with holidays etc for easy access. This took time but now so easy to just add a new item. Everything is in clear bags and labeled again for easy access stored in clear boxes.
Sorry but I’m French and i don’t get what is a pivot table ? I’m asking because your method is really interesting. Thanks for your time and love from France, Marjorie
[margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]
I’m more like you better, I tend to keep themes together. I also still have a lot of sentiments that are wood block so display the in a Mary Engelbriet display shelf I got when a gift shop closed near me. Labeling sounds neat but I know I would not keep at it. I figure I’m doing well if I try to purge regularly.
Hi Elaine,
I organize much the same way you do. No system for me because I’m lucky enough to even find time to stamp and would never have time to make any kind of index, as handy as that would be! My stamps are in drawers, organized by theme, dies are with matching stamps, and my paper is organized by color and theme. Inks are handy, as are blocks, cleaners, adhesives, and die ctting essentials. I am ready to purge sets that no longer appeal to me, and now only add thngs I can’t live without!
I find Evernote works great as an electronic index for my stamps and dies. You can upload a picture/image to each note of the stamp/dies and put tags on each so it makes searching super easy when trying to find a certain sentiment,stamp, dies, etc.. It is a free application for laptop, phone, ipad, etc.
Evernote ! Great idea ! Can you make an alphabetical selection with it ?
[margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]
Living in a typical, think NYC, apt in a high-rise space is very limited. So when I see those awesome rooms folks have dedicated to crafting all I can do is sigh. I store the stamps in photo boxes labelled by brand and some by theme. Use the same system for my inks, dies, stencils,etc. These are stacked on some pretty yellow cabinets. And the whole kit and caboodle is jammed into a corner behind my dining table. Tight but it works. As for keeping track, I am old school with a composition notebook and I jot down each stamp and die as I get it.
While at a stamp show years ago, I saw the demo-artist using an acrylic block with different stamps. (Nowadays, foam cushion is “IN”..less bulk than wood mounted…but…still very space consuming.) So I asked the demo-artist how she was using the block. She had coated the rubber stamp backs with Alene stick it again and again adhesive. So, I spent a considerable amount of time taking every stamp off wood mounts and cushions, and applying the Alene’s. I purchased page protectors and regular binders at OfficeMax and Staples. I now have binders on a bookshelf, mostly separated by theme, but some (like my Stamping bella) by manufacturers. Each page protector has a sheet inside with a stamped image of what stamps are on the back of the page protector. It’s amazing how much space I’ve been able to reclaim in my artsy area. Now when I want to stamp a horse, I get the binder with domestic animals. Or the “exotic” animals binder for an elephant. Each new stamp gets unmounted, down to bare rubber, and then the adhesive.
I keep track of all of my stamps in a spreadsheet, then found an app for the rest of my supplies, but it no longer works with the new iPhone upgrades, so I need to find something new. Several years ago I unmounted my wood block stamps to become cling stamps and now store them like Jennifer McGuire in the Avery Elle clear pockets by company and then alphabetical. My craft space is what we call the breakfast nook here in Texas so I do not have much wall space. It is about an 8 x 10 area. I have the Michaels cube system for storage in my craft room. I took out the shelves so they are open cubes and I store paper and stamps in this unit. Any of my stamp sets that have coordinating dies, the dies are with the sets. But… I have almost 200+ Spellbinder dies and other company dies that I keep in the artbin magnetic die storage cases especially made for metal dies. I have about 5 of those cases I keep stacked in a cabinet above my desk. I have kind of outgrown my space and my overflow is now in my space under my stairwell. I am fixing that up and working on organizing it right now. Sometimes I keep wishing my son would hurry up and get older and move out so I could get his game room for my craft room (ha!) He has a bigger room with lots of wall space to utilize (and a door where the dog can’t get into things)!!!
I store all of my stamps using the Jennifer Mcguire fridgzbins and clear pockets. I store by themes (nature, monsters, birthday, misc wording, etc). So I don’t duplicate buy when I am out and about, I have an online folder with an image of the stamp set on. I tag them all with their theme and any other thing that is relevant (E. G nature, flowers, sentiment, birthday) and then I can use it for 3 things. 1) reminder of what I have, as all images are labeled by company and set name. 2) looking for a specific thing? Like butterfly… Then I can type that in and all the things with that tag show up 3) challenges, if I want to enter a Stamping Bella challenge then I can search by company and see what I have that would be relevant. It’s made a huge difference a d my orderly project manager mind loves it. But it is not for everyone. Essentially I really believe you have to figure out what you want and then use bits of other tried and tested systems. I think a big fun part of crafting is the constant evolution of my space. Claire xx
That’s a great storage system, but if you want a stamp that’s in the bottom box or your looking for a certain stamp, you have to unpile the whole thing.
I know for me, when I pile boxes on top of each other like that, the item i am looking for is ALWAYS in the bottom box. It’s a pain having to unpile them all.
Oh, I have tried so many storage solutions, but have ended up using the Jennifer McGuire system, adjusted for my stamps. I keep the dies that match a stamp in the same pocket. For those other dies, like rectangles, circles, fancy borders, etc., I found the best way to store those for myself was to put them in DVD cases, or the Stampin Up cases work great too. I have magnetic sheets in the DVD case that the dies stick to and adhered a piece of card stock to the back so I could write the name of the company and die name on the back. Then I bought a DVD stand and slipped the DVD cases filled with dies in the stand. Works perfect. It doesn’t take up much space and can stand right next to my workspace. This takes up a lot less space than my old system of using the Art Bin magnetic storage system. I organized them by squares, rectangles, circles, trees, city scapes, different shapes, etc. and just put a simple label on the side of the DVD case so I could quickly grab the DVD case I wanted. 🙂
I use empty Kleenex boxes and file them. I have a ton of Stampingbella and they fit perfectly. I reinforce the tissue boxes with duct tape.
I have a rack in a closet with plastic pull out drawers. Stamps are put in CD cases, categorized and and labeled. for example
G-SB-UP – FIONA is Category:
G = Girls
SB = Stamping Bella
UP = Uptown Girls
FIONA (name of stamp)
another category is Critters
CR – Bear
CR- Bunny – Dog – Otter (if more than one fit in CD case)
You can have as many category’s and use your own abbreviations. This works really well for me
( I have made several attempts to try and get a picture to print here but I can’t see to manage that – sorry)
I also use the Jennifer McGuire system with the fridge bins. I have tried lots of different ways and for me I need easy access. If I have to dig to much I just don’t use the. I keep dies with stamps and keep those in DVD cases. I use the same system for my individual dies. I have also found a way to make sure I use those stamps, when I get a new set and am putting them into this new system I keep a stack of copic paper or other simular paper cut down to A2 size. When I’m storing the set I stamp the image onto the paper and leave it uncolored. Then they go into plastic 4×6 plastic photo artbin containers. When I get the itch to be creative but don’t have a ton of time or am watching tv I bring those out and color. Finished cards go into a different colored plastic 4×6 and then when need a card I already have colored images I just have to put the card together. I have found for me it saves me a ton of time, I get my crafting fix at times without the hug mess, and when I have those last minute oh I didn’t have time or totally forgot I don’t end up buying cards since the hard work has already been done and just have to slap a card together. I’m not a super organized person at ALL but this works for me