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Any regrets from breaking up & mixing your stamps sets?
I would really love to make more space and be more organized without getting rid of any stamps and am thinking about breaking up my stamps sets as many here have and organize them by catagory. (I am not ready to go the unmounted route)
Has anyone done this and than regretted it or do you find it makes finding things much easier. Has anyone wanted to put the sets back together? I don't want to go to the trouble of making an index sample of each stamp set, numbering the stamps and storing the smaller boxes. If I take the plunge I will have to live with it.
Also do you prefer to keep images and sentiments seperate, or group those as well.
No regrets - especially when I'm searching for sentiments....
__________________ Heather ...... My Gallery You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." Ralph Waldo Emerson Founding Member of the Punchkateerz - "You don't have to be crazy to be one of us, but it sure helps."
me too i have them separated and works for me ;)
I will be honest sometimes i'm lazy and forget to write down where a stamp is from (what set) and cant remember after. but atleast I know what company its from ;)
No regrets at all. I do have an index but just an index of the sets the way they came and a listing of any individual stamps. But the index isn't for any type of future-putting-back-together or anything. It's only so I know what all I have for ease of flipping through my binder to see what I might want to use for a project. I haven't broken up every set because some sets I always seem to use as a set as opposed to grabbing an individual stamp out of it. Those sets are still together, but just about everything else is split up. So much better than searching through tons of sets to find just one thing, or carrying several sets to my work area when I only want one or two stamps from each of the several sets.
Eeek, I think it's a great idea but my brain won't let me do it yet, lol. I feel like I'd be commiting some sort of stamper sin! I love the idea though and hopefully one day I can do it.
Eeek, I think it's a great idea but my brain won't let me do it yet, lol. I feel like I'd be commiting some sort of stamper sin! I love the idea though and hopefully one day I can do it.
Dotto for me!
I am interested on what others say about this too. I have thought of doing it. But......
For those of you that may have clear cling stamps sets in addition to the SU sets, do you separate those too? I know one main reason to separate and group is to save space but with the cling stamps (PTI, Hero Arts, etc.) they don't take up much space to begin with. I do agree though it would be nice to find a butterfly or a tree or definitely a sentiment in one spot vs. figuring out which one I want to use in which set. I have my single wood mounts stored by category but so far SU and clear stamps are still in sets. I have no problem dividing up my wood mount SU sets to incorporate into my other wood mount categories but what to do with PTI, cling SU sets, etc. Space really isn't an issue for me. It's about the ease of finding them.
I only did my wood sets. I can reassemble them if I want....I did keep the set name on a piece of cardstock...each set has a letter (or two) and a number of/quantity marking on each piece of wood. I did not unmount any. I like the feel of the wood when I stamp mass quantities. And, I stamp mass quantities a lot!
The only thing I can think of is when/if you want to sell stuff off, that really complicates it. I sold off all of my SU a while back and I can't imagine what it would have been like if the sets were all mixed up.
It would probably take a ridiculous amount of time but I guess you could also create category indexes in addition to the set indexes. Every time you are stamping or photocopying a set for an index...if it had a tree, you could stamp it also on the "Tree Index" and refer to what maker and set it is stored with. Come to think of it...I think Patter Cross may do that. I am sooo envious of her! I haven't begun yet so I guess doing it all at once wouldn't be too painful. See how scary this is and why I never started!?
The only thing I can think of is when/if you want to sell stuff off, that really complicates it. I sold off all of my SU a while back and I can't imagine what it would have been like if the sets were all mixed up.
You're right, it is a pain! I kept all my sets separated like this for years, and it IS really easy to use stamps when they're stored this way. I had lots of categories and it never took more than a minute to find the stamp I had in mind.
But when I decided to sell off a few sets, it was really hard to pull all the sets together. I felt terrible a few years after selling them when I came across a stamp from a set I'd sold! By that time, I had no way to find the person to send it to them. GUILT!! :(
I only did my wood sets. I can reassemble them if I want....I did keep the set name on a piece of cardstock...each set has a letter (or two) and a number of/quantity marking on each piece of wood. I did not unmount any. I like the feel of the wood when I stamp mass quantities. And, I stamp mass quantities a lot!
It would probably take a ridiculous amount of time but I guess you could also create category indexes in addition to the set indexes. Every time you are stamping or photocopying a set for an index...if it had a tree, you could stamp it also on the "Tree Index" and refer to what maker and set it is stored with. Come to think of it...I think Patter Cross may do that. I am sooo envious of her! I haven't begun yet so I guess doing it all at once wouldn't be too painful. See how scary this is and why I never started!?
I got really lucky and saw one on Craig's List - the guy was a city librarian and had it in storage and felt bad he wasn't using it. It's my favorite piece of furniture and you'd be SHOCKED how many stamps it holds!!
Yes, I regret breaking up my Polymer Sets. I thought it would be easier. I don't like it at all. I wish I kept those together. I only have four sets of wood mount stamps. They were already in themes so I didn't have to break them up.
I don't own a lot of SU sets but I could see the appeal in breaking them up especially if you have hundreds of sets. I keep my SU sets together since I have very few.
I can't wait to own enough stamps to have this problem.. hehe... right now I have so few one little basket holds the lot... and i remember every single one... lol
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I've broken up most the sentiments, birthday, & thank you. I have a hard time doing that but it really helps. I couldn't stand to have all my sets broken up. It just unnerves me! Most people have stated they love it. There was a thread in the organize forum awhile back.
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
I unmounted mine a couple of years ago, and also split them up into categories. No regrets. As others have already said, it makes it so much easier to find what you're looking for and saves a ton of time. My only regret is that I never kept track of set names and manufacturers. I do now.
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
I think I'm going to start with baby steps. I haven't stamped in almost a year (gasp, I know) I've forgotten about so many stamps that I've had stashed. I already had all the stamp set names & # of stamps & cost on an excell sheet. Seeing so many sets or images that I had forgotten about made me decide that I should do an image binder as so many do and have suggested. I've been making copies of label or stamps and bput them in a 3 ring binder. I LOVE the digital copies that someone made but that is too hight tech for me. Next I am going to break up the sets with images for several different occasions or holiday and group those together. I'm taking any single images that come with the sentiment sets and put those in the groups that they go with. A lot of sets I will keep together. Some I will combine 2 similar sets in small cases to 1 large case. I will add any non SU wood stamps to sets that they most go with. I think I will also need to mark each stamp with the set name as Lydia suggested. I'll still have the boxes by category and alphabetically as much as I can on my shelves.
I've already removed some sets from my inventory that I will plan on selling/trading so I'm already some space ahead!
For my unmounted or clear stamps I am loving the new SU cases with the pictures on the side. As new SU sets will be UM rubber. I'd like to put all the clears that I have now in those as well. I am currently using the Gina K Binders, but also forget what I have.
Keep the great comments, opinions and ideas coming.
One thing I do is that I have a binder with all the thank yous stamped in and the number of the set by it. Then I have all birthdays stamped too, and the # beside them. This works so you don't have to split them up. But I haven't done trees, or things like that just the sentimens.
I have all my sets numbered, and indexed, so I can just look in the index and then know what drawr it is in. The trouble with this, is I have fallen behind as I have bought new sets!!!
I am really learning a lot on this thread, hearing what every one else is doing.
No regrets. I broke them up, put most of them on cling and put them in the CD-type stamp cases that Stampin' Up sells. If there were several flowers in a stamp set, I kept them in the same case so like items in a set are still together. They are easier for me to find and use, especially the sentiments. And I can store about four times more stamps in the cabinet I have this way. I did keep some of my tried and true stamps that I use all the time on wood because I really like wood better, and I also kept some of the really small stamps on wood. But I have so many stamps after 20 years of stamping this is working much better for me.
I'm with the group that says "EEK, I can't wrap my brain around it" I would really like to make some kind of index for sentiments. When there is just 1 or 2 in a set, I can't remember which set had the what sentiment or word. Now that the stamps are on the edge of the SU! cases, it makes it easier though. Love that!
I have been thinking of doing this, but what do I do with all my CTMH stamps? I have many sentiments that I forget about, since they are in a set with images.
Those of you who split up your CTMH sets, how did you store them?
I keep all my sets together, but I unmounted everything. I did make indices of all my sets and then a separate index of each category. My reasoning behind keeping the sets together is that often there are sentiment stamps or complementary images in the set that go with the image that are in the same style or feel. I might not think to use them if they weren't with the set when I pull the image to use it.
I have been thinking of doing this, but what do I do with all my CTMH stamps? I have many sentiments that I forget about, since they are in a set with images.
Those of you who split up your CTMH sets, how did you store them?
Thanks.
Trish
I'm in the middle of this project (actually, close to the end, thankfully...) right now and it has been a MAMMOTH undertaking! Of course, I waited until I had a ridiculous amount of stamp sets - both wood-mounted SU! sets and photopolymer CTMH sets and Inkadinkado sets, and WhipperSnapper and Stampotique and PaperTrey and a bunch more.
I'm a little bit ridiculous on how I organize EVERYTHING, so that carried through to the stamps. It bugs me to have to purchase "special" storage pieces for my supplies, so I chop down most of my 12" papers to 8 1/2" x 11" so they can go in a regular file cabinet, etc. I used the same approach with the stamps. ALL of my rubber is unmounted and has Sailor 2-in-1 glue on the back, so they are now (essentially) the same size/weight as the photopolymer, so I treat them the same.
I laminated the inside of regular old manila file folders (the inside back only) and the stamps will stick to it just fine. I stamp the outside front of the folder with the stamps in the same position that they are inside the folder and number them. On the back of the folder, I list all of the numbers and write which set/manufacturer that number stamp is from. The file folders go into hanging folders in a regular old file cabinet. Two drawers contain EVERY stamp I own, which is - at last count - 198 Stampin'Up! sets and wheels (yes, the wheels are unmounted, too), 178 Close To My Heart sets, 52 Inkadinkado sets, 133 miscellaneous other companies' sets, and too many singles that never got listed, as well as about 120 Studio G dollar stamp sets. That's a lot of stamps...
The hanging folder is the "main" folder for that category, with the file folders being sub-category folders. For example, "Flowers" takes up several hanging folders, and the sub-categories are: Borders and Corners, Elements, Flourishes, Line-drawn, Realistic, Silhouette, Stylized, Whimsical, and 2-Step. I also make a copy of the front of the folder to put in my binder so I can flip through it for inspiration and to see which particular image I might want to use. I have another binder with all of the sets shown in their original intact state.
I haven't taken any pictures yet, but if this post is confusing and you need a visual, let me know...
As far as regrets - only that I wish I had done it before I had so many stamps. I also forgot how many great stamps I had that were lurking unloved because I had a few "go to" sets that kept me from remembering..
As far as putting things back into sets to sell - I just did that with some sets for a yard sale at our LSS last weekend, and I found every stamp SO FAST that I was really impressed with my "new and improved" system!
Sorry about the long post - didn't mean to get so wordy!
I got really lucky and saw one on Craig's List - the guy was a city librarian and had it in storage and felt bad he wasn't using it. It's my favorite piece of furniture and you'd be SHOCKED how many stamps it holds!!
Hmmm....I have a card catalog, but I currently use it for all my punches. That is an awesome idea to store the stamps in there. And the drawers would be so easy to mark. TFS!
I just broke apart (cut) all my clear stamps that had sentiments because I had such a difficult time when I wanted a "Thank You" or a "Happy Birthday". I put them in Stampin up cases by category. I have NO REGRETS about doing it and I love that I can find what I want quickly. I have taken just a few clear containers and have isolated some of my wood stamp sentiments the same way. It is a LOT of work but worth it.
I just reorganized all my unmounted and cling stamps and changed my storage method. All are now in empty CD cases (about 50). The cling stamps adhere to the cases themselves. I put a thin coat of Aileene's Tack It Over and Over on the inside of the cases so that my unmounted stamps would adhere. This was easier that putting the glue on the back of each stamp. Originallly I was going to put them in the same groups I have my mounted stamps, but found that to be a nightmare. So I decided to put the stamps in the cases randomly, but created a catalog so that I would be able to quickly locate a stamp. My catalog is organized the same as my wood mounted stamps so if I'm looking for a flower I only have to look two places; my wood mounted stamps and my catalog section for flowers. Each image in my catalog has the number of the CD case where it resides. The numbers are on the outside of each CD case. Sorry this got lengthy; it is a little hard to describe.
Oh - I forgot - I did break up my sets in this process. I've also broken up my wood mounted sets, but to keep track of where the stamps originally came from I made a section in my catalog that has the name of the set and an image of all stamps in that set. If I do want to use the set together I can just go to the catalog, look at the images and pull the stamps from my collection.
I have been breaking up sets since I started stamping (no unmounting here, I want the stamp ready to use right away without the bother of mounting them each time and then unmounting). I have lovely drawers my DH made, but there are many ways to store them by category or theme. Like Understandblue, I can go right to trees or stars or cars and find what I need. I have now nearly completed writing the name of the stamp set on the block (so I know where it came from and can look for ideas in the gallery for it) which I didn't do at the beginning (there was no SCS at that time), so I would suggest that step. Otherwise, I don't spend the time to catalog my stamps.
For those of you that may have clear cling stamps sets in addition to the SU sets, do you separate those too? I know one main reason to separate and group is to save space but with the cling stamps (PTI, Hero Arts, etc.) they don't take up much space to begin with. I do agree though it would be nice to find a butterfly or a tree or definitely a sentiment in one spot vs. figuring out which one I want to use in which set. I have my single wood mounts stored by category but so far SU and clear stamps are still in sets. I have no problem dividing up my wood mount SU sets to incorporate into my other wood mount categories but what to do with PTI, cling SU sets, etc. Space really isn't an issue for me. It's about the ease of finding them.
I have very few cling stamps--one is a corner stamp that I bought to make intricate designs and it came with it's own little handle, so actually it is not unmounted as it stays on it's handle. The only set I have is of lovely flourishes (a gift which I love) and I have them in with the rest of my flourishes actually mounted on wood! Precise stamping is not my bag usually, and if it needs to be, I use a positioner. Just works better for my style.
I wrote the set name on the side of each block with a sharpie, and I just use Splitcoast as my index - all the work is already done here, and I don't have time to redo it, as *ahem* I might have a set or two hundred...
But really, the stamps that go into this system are ONLY the stamps I really love and can't bear to part with so I don't worry too much.
This is what I do. Didn't read far enough before I put in my Two cents worth! Understanblue, you would be right at home in my craft room. Want to come play?
Any regrets from breaking up & mixing your stamps sets?
I bought an old library card catalog and I broke up all my stamps into categories. You learn a lot about what you like to buy this way 
