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How does everyone organize their Stampin Up stamp sets?? Alphabetical, theme, size? Please advise, for I need to do something with my bajillion sets!!! Thanks!!!:p
__________________ In HIM, all things are possible!
I saw on another thread someone who organized her sets according to theme/style (though for the life of me I can't find it now). She broke up the sets (but labeled then with a fine tip marker on the wooden block) and put them into larger (like 81/2 x 11) cases. I'm thinking about going this route myself. Now that I'm no longer a demonstrator, I don't really care if I have the sets together properly and I think I would use my different stamps more if, say, all of my line-style flowers and birds or my Christmas themed greeting/sentiments were together in one place. I have a lot of sets like All Year Cheer - an oldie but goodie! - and sincere salutations that I forget to get out at certain times of year.
I'll keep searching to see if I can find that thread again. It wasn't that old. She said she saved quite a bit of space, and, because she labeled the individual stamps, she could still put the sets back together again if she wanted to later.
I found that thread. The person I was talking about was SweetMissDaisy. See the other thread here.
I also forgot to mention that I currently have my stamp sets organized by SU! catalog category (roughly), and I have some of those plastic five-drawer storage units to put them it. I label the cases at several different places (on the top and on both the long side and the short side of the box if that makes any sense) so that the name of the set is visible no matter how I stuff it into the drawer. This has worked fairly well. I don't have to deal with a "land slide" when I try to take one case out (like I did when I put the sets on a shelf). The down side is that it still takes up a fair amount of space, and I am looking for a way to find a particular image more quickly than opening and closing a gajllion drawers and pull out a million little stamp sets. My DH suggests that I could PARE DOWN the number of sets I have .... silly man.
I follow SweetMissDaisy and it is awesome. I really recommend it. You use stufftainers and you can fit 3-4 sets or more per container. You can keep the sets together or separate them. I separate some, like holidays and birthdays, but others I keep together, like Artifacts etc.
It uses the space much more efficiently than clamshells.
I have to say that I have well over 130sets plus individual stamps. I also seperated them all and grouped them by themes (flowers,kids,boys,girls,scenery,nature,etc) and love it!!!! I don't need them in sets for any reason but I am keeping all the clamshells which are still labeled by set. I keep all my wood mounted stamps in Iris 6drawer units, more like containers. I have 3 of these so far and the 3rd is not full yet. They were regular $34 sale $29 at Target awhile ago. Joann has the black units and sells them for $79reg but I haven't found anything worth the price difference unless you want black, but a can of spray paint is still cheaper I can take pics later if you want.
I keep them in the clamshells. I have separated sentiment sets. I alphabetize according to size of the clamshell on bookshelves. I keep my Christmas sets separate. I'm thinking of downsizing and putting away sets I know I won't use. Then maybe I won't be so overwhelmed.
I also follow SweetMissDaisy's way. I got 210 SU sets into 56 Stufftainers. I like it so much better, it is easier to find things. But I have to say, to realize how many Christmas stamps I have was a real eye opener, I don't need to buy another one in my lifetime. LOL!
__________________ �It�s never to late to have a happy childhood�
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Mine are by theme. I've also broken up a few sets (mostly sentiments) and that's hard for me to do but I end up using them more often. I've kept all my sets in the clamshells.
Most are wood mount...I'll never unmount. I still love wood mount. I am buying clear mount now because of the price.
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
Last edited by Allistamps123; 04-10-2011 at 02:35 AM..
I store my stamps by theme. If there is a greeting, quote, phrase, ect. I remove them from the set and put in the themed place. e.g. Happy Birthday is store in a birthday drawer. Some of my theme's are:
Inspirational
garden
single flowers
bold images
bold line floral
female
image w/words
Birthday
quotes
thank you
architectural
ethnic
hearts
containers
kids
male
vintage
nature
fish/sea
animals
comical animals
friend phrases
halloween
Christmas (these are divided by religious, santa's, tags, tree's, words, etc.)
I keep 2 larger binders with a copy of each of the sets in themed order. If I pull a word phrase, I note it in the binder where where I put it.
My stamps are well organized, but paper, ribbon and buttons, oh my!!
I broke up my sets not too long ago and LOVE it. Of course, now that SU! has made CM available to us, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Guess I'll wait and see what's retiring.
__________________ Jac-ee Former FSJ Founding Coach and SU! Demonstrator, now crafting for myself. "There is a fine line between 'HOBBY' and 'MENTAL ILLNESS'"
I used to organize by theme but that didn't work for me. I tend to trade a lot or sell what I'm done with, so it's beneficial to keep the sets together.
I separated mine by sizes and keep them alpahbetically in a bookshelf. My husband made some extra shelves so they are stacked 5 sets high.
I have a separate place for background stamps, very small sets, and now clear sets.
I keep all my sets in the clam shell boxes. I have them in alphabetical and according to size placed on my wire rack shelves. I also have a small strip of white card stock inside (behind the label) so that I can read the name of the set easier.
I would never break up any of my sets to organize by theme, holiday, etc. because I would think it's very difficult to put the sets back together again if you decided to trade/sell some of your stamp sets, but that's just me.
I tend to sell or trade some of my sets so if my system is too involved it becomes more of a hassle for me. I also keep a list on my computer of my sets and wheels (in alphabetical order) so that I know what I have and I don't worry about which sets are current or retired. I'm pretty up to date with that information and I can always look in my catalog for current sets if I had to.
I posted 2 pics so you can see how I organize my stamps. Don't mind the junk/stuff on my second shelf.
Very nice system. Since I've only been at this a little over a year, my collection is still quite manageable as is. Someday, when I strike it rich, I plan to splurge big time and get a mess that is quite out of control that will need organizing. Hey ... a girl can dream, can't she LOL!
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
Very nice system. Since I've only been at this a little over a year, my collection is still quite manageable as is. Someday, when I strike it rich, I plan to splurge big time and get a mess that is quite out of control that will need organizing. Hey ... a girl can dream, can't she LOL!
Hey! On what else would we spend our millions?! Cars? Boat? Vacations?!
Naw! Stamps and ink pads! ;)
(I can picture the headlines now: Man wins $35 million in a lottery and says he can't wait for the next Papertrey Ink release). :P
__________________ "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint on his knees."
I broke up my SU sets too but....I do have a list of set names, assigned a letter to the set and labeled each before breaking the set apart into 12 drawers. I also have a little thumbnail of the set in the spread sheet on the computer. My breakdown works for me: Floral, Animals, Food, Single words, Phrases, Sentiments, labels-frames-punches...you get the drift.
EX: Vintage Vogue may be labeled as ZZ (been through the alphabet twice) and each stamp has ZZ 1/6, 2/6, 3/6 (play-like there are 6 in the set ;) ) If I see a card I want to copy but I must used a certain set, it does not take long for me to locate the stamp.
I have used ALL and EVERY stamp this past year...more than when I kept them in the sets. The clamshells just confused me...now they are used for parts and pieces of cards. Some days I just punch a bunch of stuff, pre-cut mats, stamp a few things and poof! I have an 'emergency' card kit!
Stamp Sets Organization
