SU Stamp Storage - Help please

[RCarter]

I'm getting ready to "move" into my new craft room. I'm looking for better ideas on storing my numberous SU stamp sets. I don't want to unmount them though - just can't get comfortable with that. I've also heard not to store then "book" style as the rubber could shift. I currently have them in clear container store boxes (as you can see in my gallery), but it never fails the stamp set I need is at the bottom. Having lables with the names of the sets on the box helps. I was thinking of putting them in my elfa drawers on their side, but worried about the shifting.

[jackie1]

I have all my stamps in a cabinet that DH built for me, I store my SU sets stacked from larger to smaller size and 10 high, I have the name of the set facing the front so that I can see at a glance what it is. This has work really well for me. HTH.

[Julie in Indy]

I've never heard warnings about storing the stamp sets "book" style - mine are stored book style on shelves. I've not had any problems with them. But they've not been stored that way for a long time....should I be concerned?

[Adalia Disa]

I have mine stacked 8 deep, with labels I printed off myself facing forward. it works great for me. As for shifting, you need to be careful if you live in a warm climate, or if your office/stamproom is warm. I keep mine warm as I suffer from circulatory problems, and I pulled out one of my sets the other to find that one of the stamps had shifted. It was the 'i' in the collage alphabet, and that individual stamp had fallen onto it's side. The rubber had slid to the edge of the stamp. I used my heat gun to lightly heat it up again, peel it off, and then re-stuck it using crystal effects. seems fine since then, but I know i'm not the only one who has had this problem.

Good Luck to you! I'm moving in July after my wedding, and my Fiancee has promised me a bigger stamp room, so I'm already on the look out for good ideas!

[Robin Lee]

I have all my stamps stored book style. I love it, real easy to organize. Think how orderly a library is. I've never had any problem with shifting. There's a picture of my stamp storage here http://stampingcountry.typepad.com/s.../stamp_studio/

[cjbapp]

The only people who have to worry about if the rubber will slide on the wood block are those who live in very hot, humid climates. Even then, it would take a long time for the rubber to start to slide off the wood blocks.

I have mine all stored in large wicker baskets, book-style, label facing up and I love it. It's so much easier to pull one out without re-stacking a pile!

[Lilliann]

I have about 250 sets of stamps and I have taken to a Ikea metal baskets things there are 4 basket/drawers and have them stacked for a total of 8 drawers. I have each one in a catogory and then logged into a 3 ring binder to match each drawer/catogry. Heres the link you would be surprised to how many they will hold, though I have never counted.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90120022
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10120021

[lynnewithane]

This looks very interesting, Lillian. Do you have a photo of your storage with the stamps in it that you can share?
I have mine stored book style in wrought ironlike CD storage towers. The largest cases have to still go sideways, and yes, the one I need is always on the bottom!

I thought I had a photo in my gallery, but I don't. I'll have to take one and upload it.

[RCarter]

Originally Posted by Lilliann

I have about 250 sets of stamps and I have taken to a Ikea metal baskets things there are 4 basket/drawers and have them stacked for a total of 8 drawers. I have each one in a catogory and then logged into a 3 ring binder to match each drawer/catogry. Heres the link you would be surprised to how many they will hold, though I have never counted.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90120022
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10120021

Lilliann - I too would love to see a picture with your stamp sets in them. I already have wire drawers just like those from the container store. I was thinking of putting them there (but on their end so I didn't have to "dig to the bottom." I do live in Texas so it does get very hot (which makes me concerned about the stamps shifting.

[Lilliann]

I don't know how to do that but I have taken pics of my stamping room, the ladys in my stamp group want to see it too. Give me some time maybe I can get a friend to help me

[Lilliann]

I call it my stamp tower and it works great for me

[RCarter]

Load them to your gallery - there is directions here on splitcoasters. they need to be small sized, the easiest way I found to do that is email them to myself and sellect "smallest sized" when asked in my email program. Then save that file somewhere were you can link to it when asked for your gallery.

[Lilliann]

yikes!!!.... I don't have a gallery hmmmmm......I will ask a stampin friend. but gotta run. talk to ya later

[RCarter]

You have a gallery with splitcoasters - left click on my user name and u will see an option to "visit RCarters gallery."

[6Ficks]

I would love to see the pictures also. I made a spreadsheet of my stamp sets yesterday and was surprised at how many I have. Good thing my dh has a more expensive hobby than I do.

[Lilliann]

Originally Posted by Lilliann

I have about 250 sets of stamps and I have taken to a Ikea metal baskets things there are 4 basket/drawers and have them stacked for a total of 8 drawers. I have each one in a catogory and then logged into a 3 ring binder to match each drawer/catogry. Heres the link you would be surprised to how many they will hold, though I have never counted.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90120022
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10120021

Yikes! I was mistaken, I have three of these stacked to make a Stamp tower of 12 drawers when I typed 8 it didnt feel right and it wasnt haha.

[scherry]

I put shelves in the closet to store my stamps. Labels on the ends make the sets easier to locate with my aging eyes. They stack about 9 high also.

[STAMPINGODDESS]

Originally Posted by Julie in Indy

I've never heard warnings about storing the stamp sets "book" style - mine are stored book style on shelves. I've not had any problems with them. But they've not been stored that way for a long time....should I be concerned?

I have stored mine this way, in their plastic cases, in drawers for the past 5+ years without any problems or issues.

[ablack311]

I bought a Billy Bookcase from Ikea and have mine stored bookstyle and I LOVE it. I got the inspiration from someone's gallery on here in the stampin spaces link. I love having them like that. I organize them by the box size and then alphabetically.

[MSBetsyZ]

If your stamps are in a climate-controlled setting, you shouldn't have any problem with book-style. I've had mine like that for years. The only time I had a problem with the rubber sliding was when they were stored out in my garage for a time. That was a HOT summer, with stretches of 100+ degrees F temperatures. So yeah, in that situation, the adhesive softened and gravity took over. In a normal environment, though, that shouldn't happen.

[Lovin_CTMH]

I've had some shift when on sides but they have always been inside in ac. I live in Louisiana so ac does no good for the humidity and heat mixture in the summer. For now my sets are stacked in the containers with the label facing out. It isn't the greatest storage but it seems to work. My collection is growing so I need to work on an index and filing system to make it easier to find. I also use ctmh stamps which are easier to store but I can't pass up a cute stamp no matter the brand. I purchase su stamp containers(you have to get a consultant to order from their side now though) for all of my others that I purchase at lss too. I then group them by theme and label that container with the name of the theme since the set doesn't have a name.

[polargirl]

Originally Posted by scherry

I put shelves in the closet to store my stamps. Labels on the ends make the sets easier to locate with my aging eyes. They stack about 9 high also.

I do this too. Then I can see the name of the set easily from a distance. I generally I don't like my SU sets where I can't see them.

[ronnilee1]

Originally Posted by Lilliann

I have about 250 sets of stamps and I have taken to a Ikea metal baskets things there are 4 basket/drawers and have them stacked for a total of 8 drawers. I have each one in a catogory and then logged into a 3 ring binder to match each drawer/catogry. Heres the link you would be surprised to how many they will hold, though I have never counted.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90120022
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10120021

I have the metal baskets also and i LOVE them. I have have the sets i use most set art arms reach when sitting at my crafts table. Now that I can easily get to all of my stamps i use them so much more than I ever thought possible. This is by far the easies way i have found to store them.

[RCarter]

If you have the stamp sets in the baskets, can you show me a picture?

[rj77]

Originally Posted by ablack311

I bought a Billy Bookcase from Ikea and have mine stored bookstyle and I LOVE it. I got the inspiration from someone's gallery on here in the stampin spaces link. I love having them like that. I organize them by the box size and then alphabetically.

I love it organized by size of the box and then alphabetically! That's exactly what I do!

[snowcountry311]

one suggestion is to put a pc of white paper behind the title of the stamp set. i use avery address lables-stick it inside the SU box. having white makes it much easier to see the title.
as for a picture of my stamp/craft room. a friend took several photos on her last visit. check out gayla's stamp room in diane617 gallery
if i wait for my dear son to put photos in my gallery- i will be too old to stamp!

[ronnilee1]

The pictures of my baskets are attached. I have not yet labled all of my stamps. I am planning to do that when i update my index book. Also someone on here told me to put gripper cabinet liner stuff in the bottom of the baskets so that the stamps do not slide all over. It works great!
I have 2 baskets right now and they hold 50+ SU stamp sets in different sizes

Originally Posted by RCarter

If you have the stamp sets in the baskets, can you show me a picture?

[total scrapper]

Originally Posted by jackie1

I have all my stamps in a cabinet that DH built for me, I store my SU sets stacked from larger to smaller size and 10 high, I have the name of the set facing the front so that I can see at a glance what it is. This has work really well for me. HTH.

I do mine this way too; however, I bought a lable maker to label the ends as the SU titles are not easy enough for me to see. My DH didn't build my cabinet, I purchased an expensive "pantry" from Target. Good luck and have fun! Angela

[kwallace]

I have many stampin up sets. I made an index card for each set with all of the images for each set stamped on the card and numbered the card and the corresponding set . I have all the cards on binder rings so I can go through the cards and pick out the set or images I want for a project. It has also made it easier to use more sets than my usuals. I can't remember all the images in each set or what words come with the sets. I store the sets on shelves in a closet with the numbers showing

[total scrapper]

Originally Posted by kwallace

I have many stampin up sets. I made an index card for each set with all of the images for each set stamped on the card and numbered the card and the corresponding set . I have all the cards on binder rings so I can go through the cards and pick out the set or images I want for a project. It has also made it easier to use more sets than my usuals. I can't remember all the images in each set or what words come with the sets. I store the sets on shelves in a closet with the numbers showing

I like this idea! I'm assuming you did this as you acquired the SU sets. I have so many, it'll take me forever to accomplish this. Did you use the 4x6 index cards? Angela

[stampincrazyjen]

I have mine in a cabinet; however I've color coded them with scraps of SU paper behind the label. For example all of my fall/Halloween stamp sets are coded with only orange paper, Christmas/winter are glorious green, word sets are barely banana etc. This system has really saved me time searching for the right set since I have over 150 sets.

[RCarter]

Originally Posted by kwallace

I have many stampin up sets. I made an index card for each set with all of the images for each set stamped on the card and numbered the card and the corresponding set . I have all the cards on binder rings so I can go through the cards and pick out the set or images I want for a project. It has also made it easier to use more sets than my usuals. I can't remember all the images in each set or what words come with the sets. I store the sets on shelves in a closet with the numbers showing

love your idea - I have a digital index - I scan all the image sheets before mounting my stamps - then copy the jpg to a word document. But I do need to code images with something or at a minimum store my sets alphabetically. Maybe do a number code for box size (A, B, C . . .) then alpha. Keep the ideas coming they are helping me a lot.

[stampgirl4]

I store 90% of my SU stamps "book" style and have never had my stamps shift. I have been card making and scrap booking for about 5 years. I think if you rotate them and use them as much as i do--you should't have a problem. Good luck with your new room!!

[RCarter]

I'm so excited, the construction is done & I can start moving in. I put up my shelves in my closet this weekend. Since I'm in TX, I think I've decided to store them flat on shelves about 8 high. I have a lot of work to do to set up my room, but I'll post pictures in my gallery of the finished product.

[RCarter]

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. I decided to go with storing them flat on my shelves in my closet. See pictures of my new room in my gallery. I'm still working on my punch storage solution.

[casslarson]

great thread - enjoyed all the options.

[csmilham]

I made a bigger label on the computer. Black on white and bigger type. Taped on end of boxes and can see them MUCH better.
I have all 167 boxes stacked on a wire rack used for over a washer/dryer. It has 2 long shelves. It sits over my desk. Got it at Mennards. I have a stack of Christmas, one of outdoors.......birds, trees, leaves, etc.

I will NEVER unmount mine. I'm a lazy stamper and I want to grab the stamp and stamp. With the unmounted I can't do that and that's why they NEVER get used. Just me and just my opinion.

[csmilham]

Originally Posted by RCarter

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. I decided to go with storing them flat on my shelves in my closet. See pictures of my new room in my gallery. I'm still working on my punch storage solution.

Your room is just AWESOME. I will have to say, at my age, I'd never be able to do the cubes of papers on the floor. LOL I'd never be able to get up.

[poths77]

I store mine in a toolbox type thing that has 16 drawers then I put them by shapes, phrases etc.