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My new triple unit is here and I am having a small meltdown over breaking up my SU sets to put in the drawers. This was my main purpose for this unit. I am a little concerned that if I break up sets I have to search for other stamps in that set in other drawers. Holy OCD huh? I have gone over my sets and the sets I am keeping I do use. I am just adding in stamps from other companies. I have also been able to take out some stamps from a set that I know I would not use and put in the sell pile. So why am I having a hard time taking the stamps out of the plastic boxes and putting them into their sorted drawers??? Maybe I am not ready to really organize the area--that would mean I have to stick by my objective to really get down to scrapbooking and stamping on a regular basis.
Just go for it!! I am very OCD/**** and I separated mine. Mine are unmounted in binders, but I wanted all like stamps together. Do you have any record of what is all in each set? That way if you ever sell them, you can find them. I did keep some sets together and that binder is labeled "Sets", I know how original!! The ones there are Loads of Love and those types of sets.
I divorced my sets months ago and LOVE it! I was hesitant at first but it was actually harder to find the stamps when they were in sets that were unrelated to each other. You will be happier this way!
Thank you ladies, want to come over for the intervention? What I really need is a friend to scrap and stamp with so I can get motivated again. I did not quit my job so I would ignore my crafting area.
i have mine that way and then last year i started buying sets and keeping them together again, and right now i am in the middle of re-sorting and pulling those stamps i dont use and will never use. I bought them because i wanted something in that set and i have decided there is no point to keeping things i wont use.
you can do this, if it really makes you feel bad, just put the ones you think you need to hang on to for resale purposes down the road in the closet in in an under the bed box in a guest room..
I took each set label and put it on a sheet of paper and then gave it a letter. I then labeled all the stamps in the set. For example--Always (set name-not really, I think!) is "A" and each stamp in the set is A 1/6, A 2/6, A 3/6 etc.
Then my drawers are say--floral, single words, food, christmas. All the floral stamps from each set are in there but should I need a complete set of "Always" I go to each drawer and pull them.
So far that has worked perfectly for me! I am up to GG right now.
Wow Linda that organizing. I am right now going through all my stamps sets and really purging. I have two large boxes ready for a garage sale. Now I just have to find a way to stop buying more stuff until what I have is very low.
Stacy, hiding things under a bed would be called hoarding, ha ha ha ha. his must be tough love.
Lorri
Looks over shoulder... have you been peeking into my room???
:mrgreen:
yep, my get rid of stamp box is hiding in the closet... (its an under construction thing... eventually i will go through every tray of stamps and be done.... figured i want to only have to do the sale thing once so it would be easier to wait till Im done sorting, and ive also told my self since Im breaking sets i dont care what it does to the re-sale so i dont have a stash under the bed...
it was just an idea incase the idea of it made your heart race ;)
I can't help you - just thinking about separating them makes me break into a sweat. I thought hard about it when I unmounted all of my sets, but just could not do it. Maybe someday - good luck to you, I know you are a much stronger woman than I!
I can't help you - just thinking about separating them makes me break into a sweat. I thought hard about it when I unmounted all of my sets, but just could not do it. Maybe someday - good luck to you, I know you are a much stronger woman than I!
i'm with you. to separate the sets would be like breaking up a family. i just can't do it.
I am still in the process of organizing and now have only one shelf of boxed sets. /this freed up enough space to put some stuff from the desk to the shelves so I have more room to work. I am finding that with separating some sets I have been able to toss some stamps into the sale pile. I know for sure these are stamps I am keeping and will keep for a long time. The sets I am a little unsure of I am storing on the shelf to look over a few times. I really have to be diligent with the purge. Thanks for the comments ladies. It feels I am not alone in my time or organizing.
I want to sort all my stamps this way too..want to put all sayings in one drawer; flowers in another etc..but right now having trouble finding the perfect drawer unit (that is inexpensive).. I know I will have the same "second thoughts" when I actually go to do this; but it just seems to me that it would work better for me...
I have sorted about half of my sets (separated and put into the new unit.) I am finding that if I do a couple each day it is not so hard. I was watching hoarders last night and thought to myself that the way they are with the garbage (and truly they have garbage they are hoarding) is the way I am with separating my sets. But once this is done and what I am not using is out of the house I will be feeling better.
Lorri
P.S. Since starting this sort and the new unit replacing three other plastic towers and an overflowing shelving unit my hubby is amazed at how much organized the scrap area is. His desk sits right next to my area so he had to look at the mess for years and now he is happy.
I just separated my stamps. I saw a cabinet in this forum that a husband built to hold the acrylic box frames. The frames are exactly the right depth to hold the wood mount stamps. And I can't bear to unmount them. I have all my floral together, my sentiments, etc sorted into the boxes and I've stored my stampin' up clam shells stacked unfolded in a closet. Just in case I change my mind. I'm constructing a shelf system using pre-drilled bookcase sides from the Menard's near me. When I get it finished I'll post a photo.
I have separated all of my stamp sets except for two, one I might get rid on in this garage sale and another that just belongs together (simply said). I took pictures of each drawer, printed that off and now am putting into my binder that has my card ideas, sketches and now stamps all shown so I know what I have.
I have also come to the conclusion that I do not need anymore stamps unless they really talk to me (yes, I admit it crafts items speak to me) So I am hoping that I can keep my stash down to the minimum. It really is very freeing to find stuff easy and I even made a card last night with a piece of scrap I refused to throw away.
I broke my sets apart years ago and never looked back. the only sets I keep together are those that are in the current catalog (easier for demos) but once retired, they are stored by categories.
When they were in sets, I had stamps I never used because I would forget to look at the set. I had a catalog of my stamps but never used it. If I want to stamp a tree I just go to the drawer with trees and shop for the stamp I want.
Go for it but keep your boxes just in case you want to fall back to having them in their original sets.
I also have stamps stored for specific seasons/holidays. Of course Christmas, but also for Spring (Mother's/Father's day, valentines, etc), Summer (pool party, 4th of july, BBQ), Fall (thanksgiving, halloween, etc) , & Winter. It's so easy that when I want to make cards for that specific season the sentiments are in one place.
I'm kind of OCD in that I store the seasonal stamps in colored Iris project cases (orange - Fall, pink - spring, blue - summer, etc. I also store embellishements and paper for the specific season with the stamps as I might buy Easter brads in October but since they are in the correct project box I don't forget that I have them.
I have seperated many SU sets when they contain images that don't necessarily work together. I do two things to keep track of what goes together though just in case I change my mind and want to put them back in a set again. I use a fine point, black permanent marker and write the name of the set and the year on the side of each wood block. I also stamp the whole set on a page together and put that page in a stamp index three ring binder. I find that I use a lot more of my SU stamps, in particular the sentiments, when they are in my loose stamps drawer by category than I did when they were in their set boxes.
I personally have not separated any of my sets...but I have bought incomplete sets (unknown to me from eBay). Researched AFTER I bought the sets to only to find out they were incomplete. Now, my point is. I still love the NON-sets, but if I wanted to, I could buy the single stamps to complete the set either here or eBay. I have bought single stamps and I bet if there is a stamp you don't want and want to sell, someone here most likely does want it.
Organizational Meltdown with my new unit
