Organizing Stamps

[Kiminwi]

Can anyone give me some pointers on how to organize my stamps? I have several dozen and I have them in a cabinet, but just don't really know what I have any more! :rolleyes: And I certainly dont' want to stop buying!!! LOL Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, Kim

[chitterychat]

u could do them by seasonal themes, or by holidays??

[sparkscrapper]

I know someone who has a whole bookcase of stamps and I always wondered why she did not keep a binder where she wrote the name of a set, then stamped onto the paper. Then she could list what shelf of what bookcase it was on. I wish she did that so that I could SEE all her stamps without having to look at each box. Just selfish on my part ;)

[StampingShawn]

This is what I have done, but it's a lot of work if you don't start doing it until you already have a boatload of stamps. I've got a small yachts worth of stamps so it was a fair amount of work.

I also included the price of the set on the paper so if I decide to sell/trade the set in the future...I will know how much I paid for it.

Shawn

[mamaof3insd]

I organize mine by size in teh drawers. I found I can get many more sets into a drawer and hide how much I acutally have from DH. ;)

Database:
Since my addiction has grown quite considerably since I first started, I have a database that keeps track of my stamps, scrapbooking, all supplies and ultimately the overall value I have. DH knows I have this disk, but not how much!:twisted: Seriously this is something to consider. I have it for homeowners insurance reasons mostly. I was shocked at what it would cost to replace it from fire, theft, etc.

Binder:
I also have a binder that I have each stamp stamped into it. It goes alphabetically. Since I have mostly SU stamps, any other brand goes to the back of the binder. I use regular copy paper (cheap) and Going Gray ink (easier on the eyes and the rubber). I do 1 set per sheet. That way if I get rid of the set, I can pull it out and use it as my drop sheet when I'm stamping.
For any set that is Retired, It has a sticky dot on it, so I can recognize it right away. Works great if I'm doing a swap or when I was a demo what I could/coudln't use.

Storage: I have plastic drawers.~ the extra wide ones. It works for the time being. I have young kids so it also deters them from getting into them.

[Kiminwi]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I do have a binder with all the sets in. Well most of them. I didn't start doing that until I had quite a few of them. That needs to be updated too! But the season, holiday order may be the best.
Thanks again for the help......Kim:p

[colee_dupont]

Wow! Mine are all on the shelf in my closet stacked by size... but, I don't have nearly as many sets as some, so I'm fairly good at remembering what I've got... but, the collection grows slowly, so I may have to think about starting a database/binder of some kind!

[Jenmouer]

I keep mine in a cabinet and I have them in the Sterlite bins (the white one with the holes) I have a basket for current SU image stamps, one for current SU scentiment stamps, one for retired SU stamps and lastly my Mish-Mash basket where I have stamps from other sources -

I have combined stamp sets where I could - like I put all three of my Tag sets together in one box and I combined my Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories together. I also have a SU box for my Micheals $1 stamps and another SU box with various wooden mounted stamps and then the few unmounted ones I have are in either thier orginal box (most are from TAC) or in an small SU box...

[ljdigeso]

subscribing

[guidinggirl]

I ez-mount all of mine and put them in CD cases (jewel size) and label the spines of the cases with the name of the stamp. They are spine up in alphabetical order of a drawer. I also you dot stickers to mark the stamps and supplies that I have in the catalogue - that way when I go to place an order even if I forget that I own it, it's right there marked off to remind me. HTH

[Kim Manders]

I have an Excel spreadsheet that lists all of my stampsets. Each time I purchase a new SU set, I add it to the spreadsheet and print it.

I keep my sets in those Sterlite drawers. I think there are 2 big deep drawers and 2 standard drawers. I organize by things such as holidays, flowers, background, sayings, etc. I use a label printer and will print the labels onto an index card and then put that in the front of the drawer so I can see what sets are in each drawer. I have several sets, enough to nearly fill 2 sets of these Sterlite drawers and I think it's pretty organized as well as pretty cost efficient.

Good Luck!

[Hoth2os]

I have over 400 SU! sets and two big drawers of singles stamps. I organize mine by category. i.e; flowers, birthday, sayings, baby, girly, masculine, misc., etc. It works great for me that way. I have all of my single stamps that way as well, but they are together in empty large plastic SU! boxes.

[stmpsusan]

I keep a binder with a page for each stamp set. I used to stamp each image on the page until I got an idea from someone else on here. Now when I get a new stamp set, I immediately copy the sheet that has the labels on. That saves alot of stamping. Each retired set has a red round label on the page for that set as well as on the actual case the stamps are in. Then I also make a white label for on the end of each stamp case that indicates the name, price and page in the IBC. The white labels are so much easier to read than the ones provided by SU.

[mochamap]

I have my sets in drawers. I just recently separated my "sayings" stamps into a seperate drawer so they are easier to find. My christmas only stamp sets are in a separate container. I also plan on coding the stamp sets that might have a christmas image or saying with a red dot.