Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
This week (in addition to working on past weeks if you still need to) lets try and deal with all those cards/fronts from swaps. I love swaps, love the ideas, have found sets that I *must* have that I never even looked at before - did not even see them in the catalog!
But, what do we do with some of these cards afterwards? My latest swap is still sitting in the envelope under my desk - got it back in the mail, opened it, ohhhed and aaahhed over the cards, then was like "now what do I do with them?"
So, I headed into M's and J's and got some of those photo boxes. I took the thin cardboard you get in packs of Vellum and such and made tabed dividers to fit in the photo boxes. I then used them to sort my cards by catagory or stamp set - depending on how many of them I have. I have one box for cards I have made - and one for ones I have recieved in swaps.
I find this works great for me. I even got solid colored boxes so I could stamp the box to decorate it myself - of course, I still have to do that!
The bouns I see in using the photo boxes is when I become a demo, a photo box will be easy for me to transport to demos.
How do you deal with all your cards and card fronts?
As I am making my log I am inserting a photo page (divided in 4s) and am inserting samples of that stamp set. This way I know what I need to make set samplers for too. Until book is complete, I keep them in photo boxes as well. I have one for cards that I have received and one for new cards.
I hung up cork board strips on my craft area walls. This way the cards can inspired me to create my own. I only hang up the cards I really like and toss the others this way I am not hanging on to clutter.
Okay, I just accidentally stumbled onto this challenge! I've been keeping up with the others, and I don't know how I missed it! So, as you can imagine, I am 6 (count them - six) weeks behind all of you guys! My workspace varies from the computer desk to a card table to the dining room table to the breakfast table to the coffee table to a TV tray. I don't have a designated stamp space. That makes it hard! I will try to be brave enough to take pics and actually post them. Maybe I will be embarassed enough that so many "strangers" will be seeing my mess it will motivate me to do something about it! So far, my friends seeing my mess doesn't really "bother" me (TOO MUCH)! I waste time looking for stuff and moving stuff, maybe you know how that goes! I walk in this room, look around, and think "Where do I start?" Then, I turn around and walk out because the task seems too daunting. Enough about that...
As for my card fronts and extra cards, I keep them in a hinged box, easily accessible, to use when I need a card in a pinch. Cards that I've received are kept in there as well for inspiration. I also use those small 4 x 6 photo albums to store cards in. That way, they're ready to go anytime I visit family or someone who might be interested in stampin'!
Okay, I have to go now to see about working on Organizational Challenge Week 1!
Thanks for "listening"!
__________________ LaKrisha [email protected]
Mom to 2DD Kiersten and Kaitlyn
I have the clear Rubbermaid shoe-boxes that are labeled into 8 categories:
1)Birthday
2)Holidays
3)Thank you
4)Friendship
5)Love
6)Other
7)Blank (no sentiment on front) Get Well
When I get a swap back, after I am done enjoying and looking at them, I place them in the appropriate box. So, whenever I need a birthday card, I don't have to look through them all.
__________________ Meet the cutest apricot pug ever...Honey!
You have ***EIGHT*** boxes full of cards??? Oh my....
what a brilliant idea, though. Maybe I could clean some space on my closet shelf to do that same thing. Oh, wait....I can't GET to my closet shelf because all of my scramping stuff is in front of the closet on the floor!
Oh my, this is the first time I've actually looked at the "organizational" challenge. All of my stuff is in storage as I'm still not moved into my new house. I packed up everything in January, moved to an Extended Stay Hotel with my DH and two labs, and we got the keys to our new house on April 15. However, we still have most of our stuff in storage because we are laying a tile floor. So ... my issues are that I downsized from a 28 foot wall of storage space and a 22 foot x 18 foot stamping/classroom to a considerably smaller storage area (haven't even figured out where yet) and the kitchen table, I won't be able to record my stamps until I unpack them again, I have over 3700 swap cards in 32 different categories that I am going to have to purge somehow, and since I moved to a new community, I have to start building my SU! business again.
I already have an Essentials Tool Kit (it's a kitchen tools spinner) and a Putaway Basket. I already keep all of my scraps in hanging folders and use them frequently. What I need to do is the stamp set logging and storage and the swap card storage.
I'd welcome ideas for the swap cards. If I put them in the photo boxes, there'd be a lot. Right now I keep them in 12-1/4 x 12-1/4 x 3 inch deep clear plastic boxes from a local office supply store. I actually have over 100 of them (breathe, just breathe ...) and some of those I use to store my 12 x 12 tag sheets, die-cut sheets, non-SU! scrapbook paper, class templates for classes I've given, class templates for classes I've taken, scrapbook layout ideas, and then the rest are my card fronts.
I forgot to ask in my previous post ... how would the swap cards be organized? By type of card (babies, brides, juvenile birthday, adult birthday, masculine, feminine, sympathy, get well, love, etc.) or by technique or by stamp set? There's GOT to be an ongoing, manageable solution. This is my number one organizational problem (as you can see, I'm ignoring the fact that I currently have no place to stamp).
KellyRae (and anyone else with a lot of swaps) --perhaps you could/should create cards with them and donate them to *nursing home/recovery center, *our armed service personnel, *local inmates (try a prison ministry?), *your college-age son/daughter/niece/nephew/friend...any other suggestions from anyone?
Jan :cool:
KellyRae (and anyone else with a lot of swaps) --perhaps you could/should create cards with them and donate them to *nursing home/recovery center, *our armed service personnel, *local inmates (try a prison ministry?), *your college-age son/daughter/niece/nephew/friend...any other suggestions from anyone?
Jan :cool:
Okay, I'll be honest ... I have HUGE separation problems with giving them away! I'm a collector, not a giveawayer. There's got to be some type of 12-step program for this.
I think I'd do better if I can organize the true keepers because I do have a source for the armed service personnel angle. So with my keepers, do I separate them by stamp set? by theme? by technique? Some of the stamp sets are multipurpose, so how would those get separated? See my problem?
As I was purging my room last weekend I went through all my swaps. I kept the ones I really loved, could be used for stamp camp ideas or that had sentimental value. I cut it down to one full shoebox that I just need to divide and label. All the others I put in the burn barrel, otherwise, they would end up back in my room!
I decided for the cards that I really love I'm going to hang a "clothes-line" around the top perimeter of my room and used mini-clothes pins to hang them up for inspiration all the time!
I am a few weeks late, but here is how I have organized my cards that I have made, or recieved in swaps.
the system is primative, took a large drawer, took two of those plastic boxes ( larger than the showboxes ) made index dividers from recycled cardboard.
not too attractive, but cheap and it seems to work fine.
Critter, I like the burn pile idea too... over the years I have some of the most hideous creations known to man all filed away... most are from me, but once in a while I get some really butt ugly cards from swaps.
I think after I get all the rest of my areas organzied Iw ill go and weed out the rejects!
If I love the card and plan to CASE it, I keep it with my cards in drawer files (found at a used office furniture store) in the appropriate categories. If it's "not my thing" I donate it to a local charity....American Cancer Society, Red Cross, or send it to soldiers overseas to use to send to their loved ones. If it just isn't "up to par" or was trashed in the mail....to the "circular file" it goes. I hate to throw things away, but clutter kills my creativity!
__________________ Kelly
Wife to JP, mom to Faith (03/17/05) and Abigail (3/27/06)
I went to Home Depot and bought some white, long strips of some type of plastic floor molding that has a slit in it (kind of like a piece of 3" plastic folded over) for CENTS. Then nailed them on my wall in 8 ft strips and Voila! A perfect place to place my swaps! I change them out for each stamping session I have in the basement and it's also very pretty! I just silp them in the slit!. If I knew how to send a pic, I would....
Jeri Holm
I store my cards in an accordian file, but it has proved too small.
I like the idea of the photo boxes and also the idea of separate boxes for each catagory.
Thanks girls.
P.S. You do get some butt ugly swaps. Come on people.
There are some organizations on the net where they take cards and send to them kids who are ill for their birthday, etc. One is based in Hawaii. I can't remember the name off hand, but I am sure if you did a search you could find it. Also, remember that some of the gals here are sending them overseas to the military guys to use to send home to their families.
I hate to throw something away that could be used. BUT, you do have to weed out the baddies.
I know this is last weeks org., but, I'm just now getting around to reading it.
I bought a couple of fairly large plastic photo keeper boxes. Sorry, I don't know where I got them, it was a couple of years ago. Anyway, I have cards and card fronts organized in catagories like: swap 7/7/05, to me from others, made by me at workshops, made by me for DH, christmas cards from others, my christmas cards, demo. samples (these are from parties I have done, I put the dates and other information on the back). I put each group in SU gusseted cellophane bags and lable them with a post-it lable that sticks up beyond the side of the bag and then file them in the plastic box. I enjoy going thru them occassionally and pulling a few out to do different variations of them. Oh! I also put a category for cards that I have made to be given on short notice. Hope this helps a little.
THis message is to KellyRae who needs to purge some of her 3200 cards. When my demo sells off her retired sets to her customers, she also purges her cards with those sets (or sets she doesn't own, I guess). She offered that we could take three cards for every $X we spent. I don't remember the amount. Maybe $30?
This one was easy. I only have one card front at the moment, but it my collection may grow pretty fast. Right now it is with my stickers in a container with see through lid. I'm sure it won't take long for me to graduate to a photo box.
I just attached folded paper to about 90 of my card fronts that I collected over the years. Added envelopes and donated them to a united way craft sale that we are having at work on 8/31. Can't wait to see if they sell.
I use the Power Sort Box from Creative Memories. With 12 compartments, you can easily divide your cards by theme: birthday, thank you, baby, wedding, holiday, seasonal, etc. The boxes will accomodate cards up to 5X7" in size so it's perfect!
Organizational Challenge - Week 6
Great Idea COW
Give away the extras
Purging Your Swaps
