Problem storing wood-mount rubber stamps?
 

Hi all. I went crazy on wood-mount rubber stamps since December of last year. I ended up with a gazillion very tiny to huge rubber stamps. The plastic, storage boxes they came in don't really work because stacking them up like that would eventually tip them over. And I will end up with a mess. I've since placed them in my recycled shipping boxes. But, getting to one particular design is a read pain because I'd have to dig it up from the various boxes. Does anyone have a better storage system for wood-mount rubber stamps?

The clingy ones are great because they're flat and stores easily.

Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks for reading!

~ Rohana xoxo

I am in the process of considering unmounting my woodmounts. Which would be 98% of my stamps right now. There are tons of options for stoing once unmounted. But if you don't want to unmount, I use the clear Sterilite plastic drawers from Walmart. There are also organizers that have really shallow drawers you could use to lay 1 layer of stamps per drawer. My wood mounts are all Stampin up, so they are in their cases in my drawers... I hope that helps you out!

You sound like me! I have been buying SU! mounted stamps like crazy since this past July. And they are hard to store (especially because the cases come in so many sizes). Right now, I don't have them in a dedicated craft room (we've been trying to sell our house in Cali for two years, so we're just renting), so I put most of them in 34 quart plastic storage containers and keep them under the bed. I can fit about 28-30 sets of them per bin and I have all the bins numbered and the stamp set's location on an inventory sheet (excel spreadsheet). I also bought a small cabinet to keep about 100 of them in (it has glass windows on the top half, though, and I hate seeing how messily they stack).

One of my demonstrator friends has a great storage solution. She stores many of hers in a printer's drawer chest. It has really shallow draws in it, so you can only store them two deep; as a result, you don't have to dig through everything to find what you're looking for!

Honestly, I am looking forward to collecting their new unmounted sets! They take up so much less room! :) (not to mention, they are easier to position and use)

Thanks for the nice suggestions Michelle & Mama Jen(?). I don't know the first thing about unmounting wooden stamps. So, for the moment, I'm really stuck with storing them. I have considered shallow drawers. But, I just have too many! lol I wish I had started with the flat-tish clingy stamps. Then, I won't have this 'mess' to deal with ... sigh ...

Maybe I should seriously consider about unmounting the stamps. Anyone has a nice 'tut' to share? I'm afraid I might tear the rubber? I'm a bit of a klutz like that! hehe

Rohana --

Here's what worked for me . . .

I had a paper tower like this -- http://www.blisstree.com/articles/sc...aper-tower-29/ -- that I didn't really care for for paper because I always seemed to ding the corners. So I bought a bunch of these frames in the 11 X 14 size -- http://www.misterplexi.com/boxframes.html -- and put my stamps in them . . . one frame to a shelf. I even went so far as to disassemble my SU! sets -- heresy to some, I know, but I love it -- and put like things together in each "drawer". I started with my sentiments (all birthday together, all thank you together, etc) but went a step further with seasons and holidays, too.

Good luck!

I purchased my frames at AC Moore. They were $5.99 each, but for a while each week there'd be a "super Tuesday" 50% off coupon so I'd get them for just $3.00.

I have a bookcase and store my sets like books with large labels on the side of the box. I can get about 30 sets per shelf this way.

I bought the white shelves for shoes etc at lowes. I stack them along the wall like a bookshelf and add to it as I need . I have 338 stamp sets stored this way. Seems to work pretty well and not very expensive.

I just bought an Iris Photo Storage case at Michaels that has 12 of the small boxes that hold 4x6 photos. The 12 case stack in the carry case and I can layer one row of stamps in each box, depending on the size of the stamp. I can label what style/design is in the box and if I want to see one, I open the case and flip it over to look at the picture on the stamp. I like the fact that I can turn it were the stamps are lying not on the rubber side and not on top of each other.

You can see it here but I didn't buy it there.

http://www.spacesavers.com/double-photo-keeper.html

If you prefer something smaller, they have these also, I got some of these for photos at Office Depot for $9.99, HL has them at $14.99 but the clerk there considered them photo storage and not scrapbooking and I got them for 50% the other day.

http://www.spacesavers.com/photokeeper.html

My new motto, if it's not clear and easy for me to see what's in it, it's getting tossed. Al this clear storage is getting pricey but I sure like being able to see what I have at a glance rather than pawing thru all kinds of stuff and not finding what I want.

Cyndi

Thanks for the feedback Suzanne, Claudia & KC. I will have to hit the pages you guys recommended when I wake up in a coupla hours...

~ Rohana xoxo

I store all my stamps mounted and unmounted in tall iris carts you can see here.

Since I store all my stamps by categories I can have a drawer(s) for each category. The only stamps I store in their sets are the stamps in the current catalog as being a demo it's easier, but once they are retired I break the sets apart.

I have about 100 sets stored on a small shelf. I don't store them on their sides, but stack them. They really don't fall over. I have the smaller ones on the top shelf. I stack from largest to smallest. I will never unmount! I do like the new SU clear mounts, and I have some clear sets and just rubber/foam mounted sets. I love my wood mounts, but if I didn't I can't see myself ever tearing them apart. The time, the expense, etc.

I store mine in alphabetical order in clear sterlite shoeboxes without the tops. I have them on a bookshelf. Each shoebox is labeled with a letter of the alphabet. It has worked up to this point, however, I am running out of space. Not sure what I am going to do next. An addition on my stamping room is probably not an option!
Kay

I will probably never unmount my wood mount stamps. All of them live in clamshell boxs. The box is labeled on the end with a Dynomo labeler so it is easy to read. The boxes stack in a large DVD storage unit purchased from Hastings. I keep seasonal/holiday sets grouped together, all the wildlife are together and alphabets, setiment sets and so forth are together. It is very easy to find exactly the set I want. SEntiments are stamped on GP cardstock and kept on a ring file. This lets me try them out for punch fit and because the stamped image is labeled with the set name or box if an assorted group purchased one at a time,,,,it is also easy to find the sentiment I am wanting.

Also, I have mine numbered and I also have been making an inventory binder. I stamp the set and number it in the binder. It has been so helpful. It's such a no-brainer, but if it hadn't been for an idea here at SCS, I would not have thought of it.

I have unmounted all my wood mounted stamps. Best decision I ever made. I went from an 8X12 shelf down to (2) 3-ring binders. It was actually pretty easy once I got started. I was very nervous at first and debated it for a few months. You can find many tutorials and storage ides for unmounting on this site if you search for it.

I have unmounted all of my wood mount stamps. It was the best decision I ever made. I now have them all stored in (2) 3-ring binders attached to laminated cardstock. I was nervous about doing this and debated it for a few months beforehand, but am glad that I amde the decision. If you search this site for unmounting stamps, there are a lot of good ideas and tutorials.

I do not (nor do I want to)unmount my wood sets. I buy the Sterlite 12x12 three drawer units and store the clamshells and loose stamps in them. I can store two high in the drawers by catagory and they are pretty easy to see and find. I can stack several of the units up on a table or whatever. I also can get several sizes in each drawer. I love those drawers!
Sue

I used to keep mine in Iris 3-drawer carts. I stood them on end so I could see the set labels. Now that I have a dedicated room, I have repurposed a DVD storage shelf unit (kind of like a shallow bookcase with lots of adjustable shelves) that is perfect to store all of my sets.

I have several Iris Cart drawers and store my loose stamps (including those that I have seperated from thier original sets) by category, like one drawer for flowers, one for animals, one for small backgrounds, etc. I have two drawers for sentiments since I have so many of them. In the sentiments drawers I use small plastic baskets so I can divide my sentiments by theme. So a basket for "birthday", a basket for "thank you", etc. This not only makes my stamps easier to find, but I find that I use them more often because I see them every time I open the drawer.

Great ideas!

I have my wooden stamps sitting on a stamp shelf hubby made...mounted behind my door. I have my unmounted stamps on laminated pages in Gina K. binders. My seasonal (i.e. Christmas, Easter etc.) I keep in Iris cases along with the respective embossing folders and dies.

Cathy