how do you organize your stamp sets?

[helenrx]

As my collection of stamp sets grow, I need to find a better way of organizing them so I can find them when I need them.

For you, do you organize them by categories (e.g., florals, christmas, backgrounds, sentiments) or alphabetical or both?

Or maybe not at all... LOL...

[snowcountry311]

my new favorite is to takje bgs out of their cases as stand up like books(put lable directly on wood) saves space. plus by having them right at my fingertips i tend to use them so much more. i never separatemy stamps---my upline takes all words/phases out of their sets puts them in on cotainers YIKES!!!!

[myhappyplace]

I have a ton of stamps so I turn them on their side (like files in a filing cabinet). I keep the part of the case that opens (with the tabs) facing up and I put all of my labels on that side of the box. I can just flip through them and I have them in plastic drawers from Lowe's. I have them broken down into: Backgrounds, Holidays (Halloween towards the front, then fall, then winter/Christmas. After Halloween I will move those to the back), Flowers, Kids stuff (Pocket Fun, All Wrapped Up), Words and Alphabets and Other. Living Large would fit in to other, Create a Coupon, stuff that pretty much can be used for different things.

Why not use the catalog to get you started breaking things into categories and go from there. I did that and realized I didn't have enough Vintage or Nature sets to have them organized like that so I just did other.

HTH!

[evequilts]

I have mine on shelves, most of them sorted alphabetically - one stack per letter of the alphabet. But my bg stamps and my Christmas stamps are in separate stacks.

[Faereygirl]

ALl my sets are unmounted....and I'm horrible and I have them just in CD cases in stacks in my cabinet. If I had them sitting out, I would probably use them more! I don't separate by categories really...I have a stack of TAC, SU, and then a stack of House Mouse, and other stamps I got at Michaels. Prolly not the best system, but it works for me. ;)

[Doodlepie99]

I sort first by company, then they go into a very old bookcase that I can not bare to part with.(sentimental value) Coinsidentally it manages to hold 3 stacks of S.U. Boxes side by side perfectly. I am new to TAC, so I sill have a modest amount of thier stamps. I keep those seperate in a plastic filing case. The rest of my loose stamps I keep in drawer picture up so I know what they are. I have certain sets of sentiments that I use ALL the time. I keep those on a shelf where I keep my markers and pencils.

I am still new to thhis, so I do not have a huge collection of anything but clutter. I am sure I will have to refine my system as I aquire more.

[kristransue]

My SU sets are in 6 drawers in Iris carts. They are categorized in Backgrounds, Florals, Sentiments, Seasonal, Alphabets, and Images (the catch all drawer)

I keep them in their cases and labeled the end with a dynmo labler so I can read the names more clearly. Then I stack them according to case size with the smallest cases standing up so I can see their names. If I know I am looking for petal prints I know about how big the case is so it doesn't take me too long to find it in the flower drawer.

I have all my big background stamps out of their cases and in a separate drawer. They lay on their side so can just flip through them and select the one I want. I labeled a couple on the side, but I figured that was silly because I was looking at the picture on top, not the sides.

[PattiLynn]

I have my stamps separated into BG, words/verses and then all others. They are all then placed on their sides (i.e like the file folders concept mentioned above) and arranged alphabetically.

[stamping_jen]

Oh these are some great ideas! I love the idea of taking out all my sentiments and putting them in one container! I am now going to go organize my stuff by flower sets etc. like you all said. Right now I have all non SU! stuff together in plastic pull out draws and I try to group like things together like fruits, sayings, Judaica stamps etc. Then my SU! sets sit like books being displayed on my bookshelf. I hadn't thought of making my own labels so I could read it better (definitetly going to be doing that now). And all my House Mouse stamps are in 3 seperate special House Mouse shoe boxes. All my TAC stamps are in CD cases in a CD holder. I used a Sharpie to write on the sides of them so I can quickly pick out the set without having to take each case out to see the paper where I stamped each image of the set.

[danssister]

Mine are on shelves along one wall in my stamping room. They're organized into categories like Borders/Tags, Celebration/Birthday, Celebration/New Baby, Celebration/Multi, Nature/Beach, Nature/Flowers, etc. I have an index book that each set is stamped on, with the title of the set written at the top. By the title, is a sticker telling what category it's found in, and in the front of the book is a Storage Index with the categories and sets.

I know, but I have an English minor and worked in a library for 4 years! ;)

[4stampin]

I've been stamping since 1998 and my collection has grown quite some. I too was in your shoes. I have carts, and I've labeled them the following:

Feminine (flowers, girly sets, baskets etc.)
Masuline
Kids
Religious/Weddings/Showers
Sets w/Multiple Uses (a set that contains a stamp with wedding, birthday, graduation etc.)
Backgrounds
Seasonal (Valentines, Christmas, Halloweeen)
Wheels
Then I have a Miscellaneous for sets I'm not sure where I want to put them yet. :-)

[4stampin]

I've been stamping since 1998 and my collection has grown quite some. I too was in your shoes. I have carts, and I've labeled them the following:

Feminine (flowers, girly sets, baskets etc.)
Masuline
Kids
Religious/Weddings/Showers
Sets w/Multiple Uses (a set that contains a stamp with wedding, birthday, graduation etc.)
Backgrounds
Seasonal (Valentines, Christmas, Halloweeen)
Greetings/Sayings/Such
Wheels
Then I have a Miscellaneous for sets I'm not sure where I want to put them yet. :-)

[uk79ee]

I have mine sorted by box size. I should probably organize them by type but then they don't stack as nicely. I have a binder that I put an index of every stamp set I have, so by looking at that I can usually tell which size box the stamp I want will be in. As I read everyone elses post it makes me realize how strange it is that I sort them this way.

[acurnutt]

I have mine by box size also. I do try to put similar catagories together within that box size like holiday, floral etc. I like the clean look.

Amy

[jtax]

My are in alpha order, sorted by box size

[Motherof6]

I have my BGs out of their cases and setting like books on my shelves. The rest are organized by size in stacks with tags on the front stating name, pg, item#, $ & set #. I've stacked the Alphabets & word sets seperately.