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Has anyone ever regretted breaking up their sets? I'm seriously considering changing how I organize my stamps but am REALLY apprehensive. Currently all my stamps are by set. period. I'm thinking of changing to move all Thank Yous together, flower images together, flourish images together. Even though I have a book of all my stamp sets, I find that I can't find the "Happy Birthday" that I KNOW is in one of the sets. And I make cards for occassions...not "just because"...I think it would be easier just to got to my Birthday collection and find what I want.
So, has anyone who broke up their sets regretted it later? I'm not worried about wanting to sell a set later and having to find all the pieces.
__________________ Jennifer, SU Demonstrator
"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment" -Ben Franklin
I used to break up sets into categories like backgrounds, greetings, floral, celestial, bugs, etc. But, true to your concerns, it was really hard to find all the pieces (and a box) to sell a set later. I suggest keeping them in the original packaging as a set. You might be more likely to use stamps you might not normally reach for if it's in the box with the main stamp you want.
Mary Beth
Location: prolly in my 'rubber room'... in the mid-west
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i can't say i have regretted it because i haven't done it
and i don't want to be negative BUT...
my mind thinks in terms of sets. that is how they are 'stored' in my brain.
the thing that i LOVE about SETS is that they coordinate, they tend to have a focal stamp, then some to use to create backgrounds and sentiments. the style is the same within the set.
plus for example if i put all of my 'flower' stamps together they wouldn't fit into one case. i would have to be going thru multiple cases to find 'that one' and then i would hate to think my storage system would be defunked.
Why not do a stamp inventory instead? Stamp all your thank yous on a page in a notebook and all your happy birthdays on another, etc. Note what sets they are in. That way, you don't have to separate your sets, but you can always find the sentiment you're looking for in a reference book.
Why not do a stamp inventory instead? Stamp all your thank yous on a page in a notebook and all your happy birthdays on another, etc. Note what sets they are in. That way, you don't have to separate your sets, but you can always find the sentiment you're looking for in a reference book.
Why not do a stamp inventory instead? Stamp all your thank yous on a page in a notebook and all your happy birthdays on another, etc. Note what sets they are in. That way, you don't have to separate your sets, but you can always find the sentiment you're looking for in a reference book.
I have taken all the greetings (Thank You, Happy Birthday, etc) and sentiments out of my sets and leave the rest of the set intact. I store all the Thank You's together and all the Happy Birthday's together. That way I can use whichever greeting suits the card I'm making without having to search through all the sets for the perfect one. I don't sell my sets so that is not an issue for me.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stamp2u
I have taken all the greetings (Thank You, Happy Birthday, etc) and sentiments out of my sets and leave the rest of the set intact. I store all the Thank You's together and all the Happy Birthday's together. That way I can use whichever greeting suits the card I'm making without having to search through all the sets for the perfect one. I don't sell my sets so that is not an issue for me.
now just taking out the sentiments might be the best idea yet!
I also take the sentiments out of my sets. They are all stored in an appropriate category....ie thank you, birthday, etc. The sets are also stored in the original containers in categories. This has worked extremely well for me. I also photocopy the sticker sheet as soon as I receive a set. One copy is kept in the box and another goes into a binder. This way I can put the sentiment back into the box when necessary.
I could not break up my sets....my hubby keeps saying I am OCD. Anyway, I would feel all out of sorts if I did only one set....It is driving me crazy that one of my sets is missing a stamp.
Blessings.
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I haven't broken up any of my sets, however, I do photo copy the sheet when I buy a set and put it in my binder, then I can just check out my inventory. However, taking the sentiments out wouldn't be a bad idea, think I will have to think on that one. Thanks for that idea.
Hmmm, just the sentiments...that might work! I do have an inventory book (copy of sticker sheets), but it's by sets!! LOL And I've found I don't really use it too much. I just pull open the drawers and browse that way. And I like the idea of keeping a copy of the sticker sheets IN with the sets. I will continue to mull over the ideas. Thanks for the great suggestions gals!
And to Karen, it IS scary to think of breaking up sets! I get kinda panicky! LOL :p
__________________ Jennifer, SU Demonstrator
"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment" -Ben Franklin
I find I use them so much more now that all my happy birthdays are on one page. I don't have to try to remember that tucked in with some flower set there was a pretty font/sentiment I liked.
I find I use them so much more now that all my happy birthdays are on one page. I don't have to try to remember that tucked in with some flower set there was a pretty font/sentiment I liked.
I second this! It was the best thing I did. I found that I was spending too much time looking for something and forgot what I had. Also, by breaking them up, I found some stamps that co-ordinated with others that I didn't know went together. Selling is not really something I worry about, so that wasn't a factor, and I am essentially a hobby demo, so that isn't much of a problem either. Good luck in whatever you decide!
I am in the process of unmounting, and when I do, I break them up into categories. It's much easier to find what I want that way. A good compromise is separating the sentiments. Especially if you make an index sheet first.
I've done it both ways... and taken the hours it takes to figure out what was in each set originally and put it back! Although I was more creative in combining sets, I also spent a whole lot of time searching for a coordinating stamp - a step I could have skipped if they were still in their sets.
I do like the idea of just separating out sentiments, that is a good one!
my system is if the set fills the box completely, I keep it as is, otherwise I break up the set and put the pieces into catagories (birthday, birds, flowers, etc). Space is too valuable. Many of the sets have too few pieces to fill the box and I can store more without the boxes. I do photo copy the stamp sheet before I cut my rubber, so I know what the set had.
I save my extra boxes and use them to store small SU papers by color to use with punches, or small stamp projects.
Most of my sets are together as they came, but I've split up certain ones. My niece is head over heels with cows. Anything cow related is a good gift for her. I've gone through and pulled out all my cow designs regardless of manufacturer/designer and have put all together. Saves me sooooo much time when designing cards for her. I've also done that with a few other categories depending on how much I use something. All my cat designs or dog designs are the same way. I was spending so much time pulling out set after set to basically get one stamp out of the set, that it became much more efficient to group all those together into one new "set". I still have all the rest of the original set in it's case so I know where to find those parts if I need them, but usually don't need them!
I broke my sets up years ago and have no regrets. However, there are some sets that I keep together like the little SU! truck and all its parts, or flower sets that have stems and leaves.
I find that I am much more likely to use all of a set if its in with similar stamps. Also, it helps me to remember what I have as when I go to the assigned drawer everything is right in front of me. My drawers are by categories (hearts, shadow, thank you, birthday, etc.)
I do have a catalog with images of the full sets and since I don't plan on selling my stamps so putting them back together is not a probllem.
I have broken up my sets and then put them back together again using the SU cataloges. I like them both ways. I guess it depends on how many stamps you have. I have hundreds of stamps soon I will not no what to do with all of them IE together or split up. Give it a try with a few see how you like it. Happy Stamping!!
__________________ "Some girls were just born with GLITTER in there veins"
My sets are broken down by category as well. It works for me. My brain thinks better this way. I find it to be very easy to put them back together again to sell/demo, etc. When they retire, I unmount them if I decide to keep them. I store them together by category in the photo box frames by category. What I have found is that there are a lot of SU sets that coordinate beautifully together and I will use them together on a project. When I share the concept with others, it sometimes sells two sets. I mix manufacturers, too. I've never had a problem puttting them back together. I'm able to look at a stamp and know where it came from. A great stampy skill to have, I guess. I also organize all the unmounted stamps by category rubber with clear. If they are all together, I use them more. It has taken me a long time to figure out what works. When they are all over the place, I felt like I was just collecting stamps and not using them. Now, I use them.
There have been a lot of great ideas here. I think you should try to do what works best for the way you work. Lisa
__________________ Lisa Hetrick, Indigojade Art Website + Blog
Illustrator Gina K Designs
I haven't done this yet either but have thought about it often. My only thing is I haven't kept up with an inventory book so would never remember what the set was called when I go to give the recipe for my cards in the gallery! I may only be 48 but I swear my brain is 98!
I keep an inventory book of the sets that I have. However, I found I didn't like going through the book every time I made a birthday card so I took all of the b-day sentiments and put them into their own case (or cases). I found I used more variety that way and have since done thank you, etc. I use way more of my stamps that way. Plus, like you, I never plan to sell mine so it doesn't matter if I never put them back with the original set.
Also, GASP, I throw away stamps in a set (especially sayings that I know I'd never use) if I simply don't like them, which frees up space. I combine sets into one case sometimes. For example: Riveting and Circle of friendship are together. I have almost 200 SU sets and had to do something to organize then in a more user friendly way.
I went back and put them back together. Took a while.
One thing I will do though. I store my stamps in the CD cases (I'm almost all unmounted) so if a set won't fit in one case I'll try to make the images fit in one and the words in a second. I like to have my just word cases right on my desk in a special holder. I will sometimes seperate them that way.
But my hanful of SU sets I don't seperate. And if they all fit in one CD case I don't seperate them.
__________________ My BlogMy GalleryAll dog's feet smell like Fritos. I know you don't believe me, go check... See, I told you so.
It largely depends on how you use your stamps. Keeping them in sets didn't work for me because I don't use them that way. If I'm looking for a stamp, I'm usually looking for one that suits my project and I have an idea of what I'm looking for (such as a flower, a butterfly, a word, etc.) but I might have to look through a lot of sets to find what I want to use. I have reassembled sets second guessing my own style but then promptly disassembled them again.
Breaking up sets
