I spent a long time creating 2 binders to completely index and organize my stamps.
I have a full video
here on Youtube explaining this in more detail, but I will try to type out the basic idea here.
The first binder is very straight forward. It is simply a page for each of my stamp sets, listed in alphabetical order first by company and then within each company by name of the set. This is how I store my stamps as well, in DVD cases. I went ahead and did this binder so I can browse entire sets together any time I like.
The second binder is more unique and was more involved. I have it divided into 5 sections.
Seasonal and Holiday Sentiments
Sentiments
Seasonal and Holiday Images
Images
Basics
Within each category I have several pages that are specifically categorized.
For example the categories in my Seasonal and Holiday Sentiments section are as follows.
Valentine & Love
Spring
Flowers
Easter
Summer
Fall
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Winter
Christmas
Other Holidays
Here is an example of one of the pages open, to the flowers page in my images
On each page I stamp every stamp I have that fits in the category. It is perfectly fine with me to have stamps in 2-3 categories and I actually found that helpful in many cases. I draw a circle around all the stamps from one set in a category and then label it with the company and set name. This was helpful because some sets may have multiple sentiments in one category, but it works just as well for a single stamp. I squeezed as many as I could fit on each page front and back. When needed I added additional pages behind the original.
Why would I take the time to do all this? Several reasons.
One of the main things is that when I am ordering new stamps I can better compare what I am considering purchasing to what I already have. Sure a list of what I own prevents exact duplicates, but this more specific method ensures I will not buy a heart stamp almost exactly like one I have from another company.
This helps me find my stamps much more quickly, and avoid overlooking a stamp that is sort of "hidden" within a set. Some stamps that I find very versatile came with an image stamp and I might easily forget about it completely if it weren't for my binder.
It also helps me use my stamps in new ways. For example in one of my Halloween sets I found a cute little moon and stars. It occurred to me that this would be an adorable image on a baby card and I would never go looking in my Halloween sets when making a baby card. Now that stamp is also in my baby images category so I will always remember I have it when making baby cards. Any stamps I didn't think of this way while first making my binder can always be added to additional categories later if I find new and interesting ways to use them.
I hope this has given you a basic idea.
The video is really helpful because I show you inside the binders and give you lots more examples. So far as I know I can't embed a video in this post. If I am wrong please let me know and I will embed it here directly. Otherwise
you can view it here on Youtube.
I hope some of you may find this idea helpful! I have invested a lot in my collection. It was important to me to be able to use it to the fullest and save time when creating.
It was a lot of work to complete but I have found it well worth it.
My Stamp Index Binder System
