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I am trying to organize my stamp sets. I bought cheap canvas storage boxes from Dollar Tree that are exactly the width of the SU boxes. I want to organize them by the types they are-Flowers, baby etc. Anyone who has done this can they send me a list of what catagories you did. And what about the ones that have multiples types in them(I don't wan't to seperate them. Do you have them numbered and pictures in a book. I just feel so overwelmed at the moment trying to do this. I have been in SU for about 7 years so I have a lot of sets. I am not sure how much longer I will stay so I have really cut down on buying and am trying to use more of my old sets. I just never know what I have! Thank-you for any input.
Location: wishing I was in London but you'll likely find me on my couch
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Wow---if you find a great way let me know. I am always rearranging them. My most current thought is to copy every set in a 3 ring notebook and put it in alphabetical order and then somehow organize my sets in alphabetical order too--but then I have some small boxes, some bigger boxes etc. so that didn't work. Love to hear someone's great plan that works for them
Well, I have the same problem with my rubber mount sets.
BUT since I have been buying the clear mount stamps I find they fit perfect..standing upright.... in a plastic shoe box from Wallmart...without the lid on. The shoeboxes fit perfectly on my shelf and I can flip through the stamp sets quickly to find what I am loooking for. I am organizing them by Holidays, flowers. etc. For my non SU clear mount stamps I am using the SU cases and plastic shoeboxes too.
I would like a good idea for the rubber mounted stamps though!
The more sets I own, the more that I find my index is my best friend. I have stamped an index sheet for each stamp set that I own and file these index sheet under either a specific holiday, specific event (birthday, new baby, etc.) or in my "general" notebook. All my sets are stored in alphabetical order so that once I flip through my notebooks and find the stamp(s) that I want to use, finding the actual set is easy-peasy.
A couple of things that make it easier for me:
1) I index each set as soon as it arrives at the house. That way I know it's in the notebook.
2) I also have a separate notebook for sentiments. While I'm indexing each stamp set, I also stamp any sentiments from that set on the appopriate page in my sentiment notebook, making a note of which set the stamp is from. That way all my "Happy Birthday" stamps are in one place even though they come from hundreds of different sets!
3) I have unmounted, so every stamp set I own is in one or more CD cases no matter what the original packaging. That way they all store neatly in alphabetical order since they are all now the exact same size:p
Just some thoughts. Some folks might feel that indexing is a boring waste of time. For me though, it's invaluable. It only takes a minute when you first get the set (even if you do the sentiments twice - once on the set index sheet and once in your sentiment book), but you always know exactly what images/sentiments you have and exactly what set they are in!
Stampin' Success magazine had an article on setting up a stamp room and they set up their stamp sets by category and by size of box. At first I thought that that was a confusing way to do it, but I tried it, and it is great.
For each category, (Nature, sentiments, Christmas, elements, etc) I place the large boxes (in alphabetical order), then place the next largest ones, then medium and small.
I have made labels (colour coordinated with each category) that fit perfectly in the box, so they are easy to see.
It is so much easier to do them by size, because you aren't having problems with smaller boxes getting lost between two big ones.
Give it a try with one of your categories and see if you like it.
I am working on organizing mine differently and have decided to group them by Flowers, holidays, Man stamps, Kids stamps, woman stamps (like friendship ones, etc), animals,sea,scenic, etc. I have an index binder used for locating, but mainly I just store my stamps in their clamshell boxes on an open shelf and am thinking of punching colored dots to label each catagory by a colored dot. Pink for flowers, red for holidays, brown for man, etc. Hoping it works well. I mainly use the index for locating a word stamp that I can't remember what set it's in. My all word sets get emptied from their cases and put in the word stamp drawers. I tried alphabetical by the name of the sets and found I couldn't always remember the name! Hope this helps as I found that most of the time, when I went to make a card I already had a theme in mind.....like child's birthday.
I have a photo album that holds an index cards stamped with each set - that gets used at least once a day - as for the sets they are alphabetized by box size on bookshelves - of course they don't stay alphabetized for long - but having them by size helps to find them once I pick the set out of the book to use. Each stamp company has their own album and there is one for odds and ends stamps.......... my dream stamping room would be better organized - but seeing that is not going to happen any time soon - that is what works for me!
I'm in the process of cataloging my stamp sets from stamping up. I have way too many to be moving around. first I assigned each set a Number in excel (separate column from name of stamp set) Now I am putting that number on the stamp set and on a page that has a copy of the stamps in that set. Once I get every thing cataloged up to date, I will go through the notebook and make separate notebooks for each catagory. When I want Christmas stamps I'll go to Christmas book, check the number and go to the drawer (full suspension filing cabinet) and pull that set. It will also be easier to replace that way so I will know where it is next time I need it. Main catagories start out Holidays ( with dividers for Valentines, St.Patricks, Mother's Day, Father's Day, July 4th, September, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas,Later to be divided into separate notebooks for types of Holidays if needed) Birthdays, Sympathy, Thinking of you Dividers for get well, sorry, women, men, ) Thank you just to name a few. ONce I get that small task done (600, hee, hee) I'll start on the individual stamps that I am keeping in shoe books and sweater boxes. sounds like a lot, but in a very short (hopefully) time I'll be retiring and will be on a very limited income. Oh yes, some sets I have twice so I'm labeling them for example 352A 352B so I will know I have 2 copies of the same set. Actually I don't. the second copy is my granddaughters to use now. Just didn't want to buy a third set by mistake.
sam
PS. another thing about numbering your stamp sets is that if a set will fit under 2 different catagorys you just need to make a second copy of the page with that number and a picture of the stamp on it. One for a man catagoryy and one for a family catagory. But you will always know where the stamp set is when you need it.
sam
Fortunately, I never mounted my SU sets, so I have all the original label sheets. I keep these because they show which stamps are in each set. The label sheets are filed by set number. They are my fall-back in case I ever want to sell a set (not likely lol!).
The actual stamps are on clingmount, on plastic storage panels, in Univenture binders. The binders snap shut (so if a stamp falls off a panel, it'll at least stay in the binder) and sit flat on a shelf either on end or on their side. Love 'em.
The binders are sorted by theme. I did split my sets up because I'll (probably) never sell them, so why keep them together? (If I do sell them, I have the label sheets showing all the stamps in the set and the set number.)
I have a master index in Excel, but I rarely need to look at it because the stamps are stored by theme. I may have to check two themes (a stamp of a gift may be in the Birthdays binder or it may be in the Christmas binder), but I kinda know what I'm looking for most of the time.
The big decision is whether or not to split up your sets. If you don't, my feeling is you need a lot more cross-referencing because many sets have images/sentiments that can fall into multiple categories/themes. This is why I broke up my sets. If I want a tree, I go to the Trees & Leaves binder and see all the trees I have. I don't have to look in multiple sets/places, nor do I need a micro-detailed index system. It works for me.
Oh, one thing. There are a couple stamps that make me think of two things, like the cat sitting on the Adirondack chair in a recent set. I have the stamp stored with Household Items, but I also stamped it on paper and put the paper in the Animals binder with a note that the stamp is on the Household binder.
__________________ Hi! I'm ISO the Fun Stampers Journey stamp "Say Cheese" AT-0167. Thank you!
LOL I have a headache from reading all the ideas above! Two years ago when I started packing up 'bits' of my stash for storage in preparation for selling our house, the rubber, wood mounted stamps were the first to be stored because I wasn't stamping anymore. I was scrapbooking. At that time I had them stored in pizza boxes (perfect depth) by theme, with an index folder which matched the themes in which every stamp was stamped. Those stamps are still in storage and I have since taken up card making again (sadly my scrapbooking is sitting by the way side begging me to return LOL) and have been buying SU sets. The thought of splitting them up makes me feel quite literally ill LOL! But then I love the idea of being able to go to 'trees/leaves' especially if I have the name of the original set it came from with the stamped image. I'd also need to have a list at the back of my index of which stamps belonged to each set and where I could find them. Okay so now I have an even bigger headache! We're moving in a few weeks after which time I really, really need and want to organise my stamps from pre and post scrapbooking into some semblance of order so that I can actually use them and especially in my scrapbooking. Best go take some advil I think!!! Alz
Organizing of Stamp Sets (SU)
