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I can see from pics of all the stamp rooms posted how you store your stamps ... but how do you organize them. Do you organize them (if you do) by category? Stamp case size?
I would like to categorize my stamp sets ... but not sure where to start. Any input or advise would be greatly appreciated!
I organize mine by stamp set size. I have 2 tall bookshelves that I got at
Wal-Mart and each size case has it's own shelf, some sizes even have 2 shelves. I don't break them down into any categories. It works for me.
I do mine is alphabetical order. That way I don't have to think about what catagory they are in. I also lay them on there side so that none of them are getting smashed. I works well for me. I hope this helps.
I organize my sets by the categoies in the catty, such as holidays, all occasion, background, words, florals, etc. I also put a bright orange dot on the side of the case that faces out of the book shelf to indicte a retired set. I'm a demo and I don't want to use a retired set, that I can't sell, at a workshop.
I'm looking forward to hear how others organize. I'm sure there are better ways to do this.
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So far, I've more or else catagorized mine. The ones I let DH see (less than half) and the ones I don't let him see!!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
So far, I've more or else catagorized mine. The ones I let DH see (less than half) and the ones I don't let him see!!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
LOL
I hear ya! Men....what do they know for sure, anyhow?! LOL
__________________ ~Debbi~
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. ~Author Unknown
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Quote:
Originally Posted by qcbetty
Quote:
Originally Posted by heresrita
So far, I've more or else catagorized mine. The ones I let DH see (less than half) and the ones I don't let him see!!!!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
LOL
I hear ya! Men....what do they know for sure, anyhow?! LOL
Yup, not much fer sure!!!!! He knows I'm my best customer, but he doesn't know how good a customer I am!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
I do mine by theme. I bought those 7 drawer plastic things from Sams that you can see into and made labels for each drawer. Example: Christmas.....Kid things.....nature & fall/Thanksgiving......wedding & valentines and so on. I then have a large 3 ring binder I then label each page with a different theme and stamp those sets that belong under that theme on the page. So when someone wants to do a birthday card they pull out the 3 ring binder and look under birthdays find what set they like and then go to the drawer that has birthdays labeled on it and pull out their set they wanted. It really has been a time saver on finding what you are looking for.
I kind of organize mine by type: I have all my background stamps together. I have all my brand new sets together, and my other "current" sets that I'm using most frequently. I try also to keep like sizes together, but they get mixed up easily. I'm in the process of making larger, easier to read labels for the sides, and I think I might color code them, something like red labels for vintage sets, yellow for sayings, etc. Most of the time I have a stack of sets on my table that I've been using for the last few days, and pretty soon no room to stamp!
Gretchen in SC
I use a large book case and organize by catagory and each stack is stacked by size.
- backgrounds
- hostess sets
- fillers
- verses
- alphabets
- florals
- nature
- occasions (birthdays, getwell, etc.)
- vintage
- kids
- seasonal (holidays or winter)
- masculine (sometimes these fall into the vintage category too!)
- sports
I put the clear SU! lable on the top of the case so that when it is out on the table I can see the name. I use a labeler and put the name and Number of stamps in the set on the end of the case so that they are visible when stacked on the bookcase.
I also put a red spot sticker on all of the retired sets so that at a glance I know if it is retired.
I also put a green spot on all Mini sets and then remove it when it makes it into the big catty.
I like to be able to see all of my stamps at once because if I am at a loss of creativity I stand infront of the shelf and read the names and usually an idea pops into my head.
I like having all stamps together (currrent and retired) so that when I am stamping for pleasure I can see them all for ideas.
I tried the drawer thing but that sooo did not work for me. I hate having to dig for something.
Also my customers know that I have a "lending library" available to them. This is the most organized way for them to choose a set to borrow. (limit of one week or you are banned from borrowing)
Hope this helps
__________________ Sylvia - Stampin Woman
x~x~x
If you want to leave an impression - send a card.
If you want to leave a great impression - stamp the card yourself!
I know there are organizational freeks out there, I need help. My husband always says that time is money so he'll pay for this. Anyone interested in making me a notebook showing all my sets in all the categories thay can be used in? I have a list of sets I could email you. Lets talk terms. [email protected]
too funny about not letting hubby seeing ALL your stamps...One day MY hubby says "thats all the stamp sets you have??" im like well i do have like thirty sets or so (not that many compared to you demos hehe)... WELL HEY ill go ahead and order more to make him feel better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
This is what I have been doing so far ... I cannot take credit for this ... but after I receive my stamp set, I make a copy of the sticker sheet to place in the bottom of the stamp set. I then make a file folder label and write the name of the stamp set and the number of stamps.
I also highlight the stamp set name in my catalog so I know which stamp sets I own. This year I highlighted what I had in yellow and anything I purchase this year I am highlighting in pink.
I used to store my stamp sets by case sizes.
This is what I would like to do:
Here is what I was thinking ... I am in the process of organizing them by categories ... alphabets, seasons, holidays, backgrounds, fillers, occasions, verses, etc. I would label each shelf according to category. On file folder labels, I will print the name of the stamp set and what category you will find that stamp set in. Then maybe make an excel spreadsheet to keep in a three ring binder.
The problem is, for me ... alot of the SU! stamps have verses combined with images. I use my ALL YEAR CHEER's all the time ... but sometimes forget about Simple Sayings and how about Good Times & Mini Mates, etc.
So, one of my good friends recommended the following (thanks seewah27) ... and this will take time of course ... stamping all my verses/sentiments and keeping a file/log of where it is located. So, I have bought business cards ... I plan on running them through the printer with the following information and then I can stamp on the business card and file it into a plastic business card hold and keep it all in a 3 ring binder, separated with tabs.
So under the thank you tab I will have all my thank you stamps and I hope the business card will look like this:
Stamped Verses/Sentiment will go here
Name of Stamp Set
Location of Stamp Set
This way ... I will remember that there is thanzzz in Cute as a bug ... plus I thought this would be great b/c I have started to make cards and not stamp any sentiments on them and when I need a card ... I can stamp it when I need it ... and now I would be able to see all my thank you's and choose one to fit appropriately.
Does this all make sense? The problem I am having is how to categorize my sets ... so you have all given me plenty of insight ... I cannot thank you all enough.
OK - current sets are on the bookself stacked in size order.
Retired sets are hidden in drawers and under the table, so that DH doesn't see how many new ones I really had to have.
Set I use all the time are usually out on my table.
So much for organisation, but the paper is all ordered neatly and so are the accessories.
Cate
I noticed a lot of you separate according to size. Instead of using the clear cases the stamps come in, you could use clear video storage cases to store your sets. ( I used them to store all kinds of things when I taught Kindergarten.) This way they are all the same size and you can stack them easily in any direction. You can buy video labels inexpensively and use them to label the top, bottom and spine of each case so that you know what set it is at a glance, no matter which way the case is laying.
Mine is pretty simple. I have my sets in drawers. One for hostess & retired, one for words/alphas, one for backgrounds, one for Christmas and the rest for all the others. I like the idea of keeping all the words from all the sets in a file for easy reference. I have almost as much fun organizing as I do stamping. My DH thinks I'm mental!
Teresa
I have my sets in closed cupboard shelves alphabetically. I typed little labels to put inside the sets, taped so I can read the name of the set and how many are in it. (The labels that come in the stamp sets are on the top of each case, but my typed labels are larger, thus easier to read). Then I put the boxes on edge so that the typed label shows. Quite a few sets fit on a shelf this way, and it doesn't matter what size the plastic case is. I used to do them by size, but got tired of lifting out the whole stack to get what I wanted. I do have sets that only have words separated from the others, also alphabetized. HTH, and it is interesting reading how everyone stores their stamps!
I know there are organizational freeks out there, I need help. My husband always says that time is money so he'll pay for this. Anyone interested in making me a notebook showing all my sets in all the categories thay can be used in? I have a list of sets I could email you. Lets talk terms. [email protected]
Wow. I wish I had time to take you up on this. I love organizational projects like this, but between working full time, being a SU demo and SCS (LOL) I don't even have time to get my own stuff that organized!!! Maybe a good business opportunity for the future.
My sets are currently loosely organized by theme. I love the idea of a colored dot for retired sets. I've only been a demo for a year. Keeping track of what's current is getting more difficult. And I absolutely love the idea of having a record of all the sentiments in various sets!!! Love reading everyone's input!!!
I organize my stamp sets in the same order that they appear in the catalog. This way they are by category and I learn my way around the new catty easier. These sets are placed on their sides. I received a file that has labels for every set in the catalog. The labels include set name, page #, price, # of stamps in the set and item #. I printed these on white labels and stuck them to the outside of the box. I can see them all the way they're stacked. The exception are the smallest cases such as Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Shape-Ups, etc. These are on the top of my book case stacked in order by page number. I do this because if they're on their sides along with the bigger boxes, they just kinda get lost on the shelf.
My retired sets are on the bottom shelf and all have 2 small red dots on them. They don't take up much room because I'm only keeping 7 retired sets (3 of them are my daughter's horse sets).
I organize mine according to size and then I alphabetize them within the size. Small, medium and large.
I have my Background stamps in their own category, alphabetized.
I have a separate shelf for retired sets, but they are organized the same way.
I also keep my Stella, Business Memos and Angel stamps separate because those are my "business" stamps.
__________________ Dee
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me".
Erma Bombeck
i really love the idea of knowing teh "words" of all your sets..I know that ive dug through a few to get out a couple of the word sets to get out a few of them (other then the greeting ones hehe) but NOW I actually sat down and went through all my sets and wrote down what WORD or PHRASES that I have so I can better utilize them! I put mine on 3x5 cards and i put them in my drawer with my color swatches that I made ... Once in a while I have a brain fart and cant figure out what the heck color paper something is, so i made myself color swatches hehe...
Color swatches ... i punched out a square of every color of SU paper (well colors anyways) and put them on a loop of hemp in the familys and labeled them all with the color, the family and the re order number so when i have my brain fart i can just open my drawer and figure it out...also is nice for projects so i can pull them out instead of full sheets to see what colors i want to use
I organize by category like in the catalog- holidays, seasons, occasions ect. It works well because I can flip through the catalog and then just look on that page to see what catagory it's in.
So, one of my good friends recommended the following (thanks seewah27) ... and this will take time of course ... stamping all my verses/sentiments and keeping a file/log of where it is located. So, I have bought business cards ... I plan on running them through the printer with the following information and then I can stamp on the business card and file it into a plastic business card hold and keep it all in a 3 ring binder, separated with tabs.
That is a great idea! Time consuming....but organized!
I received a file that has labels for every set in the catalog. The labels include set name, page #, price, # of stamps in the set and item #.
Hey, busybunny, where did you get this organizing critter??? Sounds like a keeper.
heresrita....I received the file from an uplines uplines uplines upline (or something like that). I can't remember who the demonstrator is who actually took the time to type them all up....but she did a fabulous job! I love having these on my sets. It makes it so easy to read the name. Also, with the labels I have all the important information about the set in front of me when I'm doing a demonstration. The only downfall is that now DH can see how many $$$'s I have in stamp sets! :?
If you would like a copy, just send me an e-mail requesting the file. My e-mail address is [email protected].
I continue to arrange my stamp sets differently, trying to fiqure out the easiest way to find the sets I need.
I do have a list I can update as I get new sets and list the year and whether they are from a promotion, catalog, SU gift, etc.
One thing I do is that when I get a set I color the end of each stamp so that if many sets are being used at the same time, I find it easier and faster to put the sets back together.
My demo got me started with making a copy of the stamped images sheet, before I assemble them, but now I have had a change of heart & am going to actaully use the stamps to make a copy. That way I can use the set & make sure that all of them are ok. Other than that I don't really have enough sets to have an organizational problem...
I also organize by theme or category....some of them expand as my collection grows. Smaller categories can share the same drawer (I use the three drawer sterlite chests mostly). These are some of the categories I have:Baby,Dog,Winged Things,Angels,Butterflies,Bees,Flowers,Backgrounds ,
Borders,Shapes,Frames,Alphabets,Sentiments/Greetings,Vintage,Women,Wedding,Home,Farm Life,Trees & Leaves,Winter,Patriotic, Birthday,and a Misc.
Then I have a couple by Manufacturer like the Holly Berry House snowflakes and the Serendipity Months. Those I kind of like to keep together.
Finally I have drawers for all the holidays (and in some cases multiple drawers for the same holiday).
Over the years I found that this worked well because I could take the whole drawer with me to the craft table to do my work. Sadly there are multiple sets on the table waiting to be re-filed.
Good luck with building your system.
__________________ Have an awesome day!
Loretta Rathert~
I have one under bed tote that I have limited myself to for my stamp sets. Any time I buy a new one, if it doesn't fit I sell or trade one I haven't used in a while. I don't have a "room" for my stuff so it is all very portable and can't take up much room. I have all my stuff in my closet and bring it out and set up on the floor to do my stuff.
I noticed a lot of you separate according to size. Instead of using the clear cases the stamps come in, you could use clear video storage cases to store your sets. ( I used them to store all kinds of things when I taught Kindergarten.) This way they are all the same size and you can stack them easily in any direction. You can buy video labels inexpensively and use them to label the top, bottom and spine of each case so that you know what set it is at a glance, no matter which way the case is laying.
If you go to redcastle.com (I think that's the site) you will find a download for a video case insert for keeping your stamp sets!
? on Organizing Stamp Sets
