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I color code my SU stamps by box size (how they are stored) and categorize the stamps in my binder by topic. I put a spot of the color on the box and on the index.
It is a life-saver for me especially having over 1,000 stamps. I have two Rolodex's now, and LOVE it. I can find anything I want in a split second! The notations on each card are key for me! I hope you find it helpful!
I love this idea and will likely use this!!! Already shopping for a rolodex. I need something better than what I currently have!
Pam
__________________ ...I'm just meandering through life; trying to have some fun along the way!!!
OK...you've convinced me! I am about to re-do my stamp storage before it grows too unmanageable. The last time I organized my stamps I scanned and printed a lot of them and did take a VERY long time, even when I put many of them down on the bed of the scanner at one time!
I love the Rolodex idea and have a yellow one in my cart at Overstock.com right now. Today's price is $25.99 and shipping is free! Sadly, they're out of pink...but it's okay because I love yellow too.
Thanks for the great idea!
Thanks for the idea to look at overstock! they have the blue and my room is beach themed!!! I am on a roll!
Pam
__________________ ...I'm just meandering through life; trying to have some fun along the way!!!
I have been thinking about using the bigger index cards, but I was going to punch one corner of them and have them on a ring. That way I could just hang them on the wall/from the bottom of a shelf/on the side of a bookcase.
Whatever I do, I need to do it NOW. ;)
My last post on the subject! This is what I have now and while it worked for a while, my collection has gotten too large. Also, I now like the idea of the rolodex since it will have its own stand. At this point, I will likely need two rolodexes but will start with one.
If you want a large ring, pm me...I'll toss it in the mail to you! :razz:
__________________ ...I'm just meandering through life; trying to have some fun along the way!!!
Hi everyone, I am a new card maker only starting at the end of last year. Reading all the posts on these boards tells me that I need to be organised right form the start, especially as I tend to collect sets of things.
A few years I asked my Hubby(IT Geek) to make me a poster on to go on the wall that was all colour coded for my garden planning. What I got was a colour coded data base on the computer. It works really great and I would never have thought of doing it.
Now he is writing me a data base for my craft collection (small as it is right now)
He will make so that everything is cross referenced and also have image editing eventually, so that I can import the stamp sets off the internet, and split them apart so that I can cross reference everything for easy finding in the future.
This is how I intend to catalogue not only my stamps but all my craft stuff. Can't wait until he finishes it.
He needs to market this....I'd be willing to buy the data base program if it worked with a program I already had!!
I thank all of you so much for the ideas on this thread. I absolutely LOVE the Rolodex idea and now that it's finished, I keep spinning the handle around enjoying the fact that each and every one of my stamps is at my fingertips.
I know some people wondered if you can stamp on both sides of the cards. You absolutely can, and I did. It doubles the space you have. Just flip the card over and rotate it 180 degrees before you stamp. I've attached a pic.
I also stamped very small stamps two, three or four to a side if I knew they would fit in the same category. And...because I am all about the shortcuts and saving time, if I still had the original plastic that the stamps came on (the part that shows the outline of the stamps in black), I cut that out and put it on the card rather than having to stamp each individual stamp. Also used my previous photocopies from my old system.
For me, using baby wipes to clean each stamp got old VERY quickly. Since I have two of the stamp cleaning pads I put them next to each other and sprinkled cleaner on one and used the other one to "dry" the stamp. Two quick swipes and the stamp was ready to be put away.
Hi everyone, I am a new card maker only starting at the end of last year. Reading all the posts on these boards tells me that I need to be organised right form the start, especially as I tend to collect sets of things.
A few years I asked my Hubby(IT Geek) to make me a poster on to go on the wall that was all colour coded for my garden planning. What I got was a colour coded data base on the computer. It works really great and I would never have thought of doing it.
Now he is writing me a data base for my craft collection (small as it is right now)
He will make so that everything is cross referenced and also have image editing eventually, so that I can import the stamp sets off the internet, and split them apart so that I can cross reference everything for easy finding in the future.
This is how I intend to catalogue not only my stamps but all my craft stuff. Can't wait until he finishes it.
I have many brands of stamps and instead of worrying about keeping them separate I simply stamp the image/s in the appropriate category, then write in pen next to it what the set name is, or what stamp company it is from, so I know where in my collection to look for the stamp. I store sets together, then companies together. Its worked really well. Also, because I know ME, I stamp onto regular 8-1/2x11 pieces of paper, in a neutral color (chocolate chip, by SU), and seperate each image, or set of images, with yellow highliter, then put them into plastic page protectors, so I can re-stamp a page if I don't like the way the stamps were layed out (I'm ADD, so colors and layout really need to be clean in order to work for my way of seeing and thinking). The Reminder Binder, as I've heard it called, is essential for me, since SU and similiar companies have so many sentiments, flowers, and the like spread across so many different sets. I wouldn't remember a third of what I have if I didn't have the binder.
OK, I started doing a master index at the end of last year, & sort of never finished it. After reading these posts I am now going to finish the job!!! To tell the truth, I am actually looking forward to finishing it!
Good luck, Tiffy! If you are like me you will be happy to have your index, even though it does take a bit of work to set up. I use my index all the time.
One rule I have is to never use or put away a new stamp or set until it is in my index. It seems a pain at times, but my index is always current and I don't have a backlog of stamps waiting to be indexed.
Come back and let us know how you like your index after you finish it!
I have mine organized in a couple of different ways. Clear/Unmounted stamps are in a basket in their original packaging or in jewel cases. The SU sets are all together. Then seasonal/holiday sets are in a separate bin (so I can put them away for an extended period of time when not using them) and I pull out the current ones. The rest are stored in those Ikea wooden drawer organizer thingies by:
Holiday
Birthday
Sentiments/Words
Children
Nature
Graphic (i.e. miscellaneous)
I also have all the images stamped on paper and stored in trading card protectors (with the exception of SU which are stamped together by set and in a regular page protector) in a big binder. They are organized in there by manufacturer.
For now, only my sentiment stamps are catalogued. They used to be in a big notebook, but it started filling up so I transfered them to a 3-ring binder, so I can easily add pages. You can see it here: Tinker Planet: Unmounted and Clear Stamp Organization. They are categorized almost the same way as the ladies above.
Now I'm thinking I should catalogue the rest of my stamps now, following the categories already mentioned (thanks ladies!). But that's just too much work! *sigh*
I'm in the process right now of redoing my index. I have my stamps in CD's and DVD cases and they're numbered with stamped images on the front so I can see what's in each one. My book has each CD/DVD number with an image of what stamps are in it. I also note the name and who made it if it was available. It was a job but it's easy for m to find what I'm looking for. I'm just redoing it because I need to have categories. Rather than redo the pages I'm just going to cut out the info, paste it on another sheet of paper and scan it. I just CAN'T redo the whole thing and restamp etc.
This is an older post but I wanted to say thanks for the great ideas and inspiration! I thought a lot about putting together a stamp inventory this fall and spent some time reading through many forum threads. I finally started the process over the holidays. I've only just started to catalog all of my stamps but at least I have a system now. I've attached a thumbnail of what the pages look like. There is more information on my blog for those who are interested.
I store all my nestabilities in a cd case with a magnet sheet on one side so they don't slide around and cut the picture from the package and put it on the front, so I can see what I have. the magnet pieces I by at menards they have them in sheets to cover furnace registers, and I cut them to size.
I found an app KRAFTS that so far seems VERY promising.... KRAFTS app
I'm slowly adding my inventory....I started with my embossing folders (since I seem to always duplicate those!)!! It's nice that I can add the items on my iPAD, and then copy the file to my iPHONE! That way, I have the same information on both and always with me!
It is a life-saver for me especially having over 1,000 stamps. I have two Rolodex's now, and LOVE it. I can find anything I want in a split second! The notations on each card are key for me! I hope you find it helpful!
I love this. I currently stamp all my sets onto notebook paper in a 3 ring binder. Sorted alphabetically. Not the best way to look for something I may want. I will be getting a Rolodex and going with this. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi everyone, I am a new card maker only starting at the end of last year. Reading all the posts on these boards tells me that I need to be organised right form the start, especially as I tend to collect sets of things.
A few years I asked my Hubby(IT Geek) to make me a poster on to go on the wall that was all colour coded for my garden planning. What I got was a colour coded data base on the computer. It works really great and I would never have thought of doing it.
Now he is writing me a data base for my craft collection (small as it is right now)
He will make so that everything is cross referenced and also have image editing eventually, so that I can import the stamp sets off the internet, and split them apart so that I can cross reference everything for easy finding in the future.
This is how I intend to catalogue not only my stamps but all my craft stuff. Can't wait until he finishes it.
How is this going? Have you got anything to share with us? Pictures, actual software?
Hi everyone, I am a new card maker only starting at the end of last year. Reading all the posts on these boards tells me that I need to be organised right form the start, especially as I tend to collect sets of things.
A few years I asked my Hubby(IT Geek) to make me a poster on to go on the wall that was all colour coded for my garden planning. What I got was a colour coded data base on the computer. It works really great and I would never have thought of doing it.
Now he is writing me a data base for my craft collection (small as it is right now)
He will make so that everything is cross referenced and also have image editing eventually, so that I can import the stamp sets off the internet, and split them apart so that I can cross reference everything for easy finding in the future.
This is how I intend to catalogue not only my stamps but all my craft stuff. Can't wait until he finishes it.
I also would love to buy a copy of his program considering it is reasonably priced. Please let me know when he is finished! Thanks so much!
I use a program called Bento. I know there are other apps like Evernote that can do the same thing. I either take a picture of the stamps or get one from the Internet. I then have a keyword/note section where I write down anything related to the stamp set and even complete sentiments. I also include addition information like location, stamp name, number, manufacturer, etc. I can then do a search and it will pull up all the stamps I have. The beauty of Bento is that you can design it any way you want to. It maybe took a weekend to set it up but now it is easy to add to. I love it and it is so much easier than a manual system.
Yay I can update that Hubbys data base is almost ready for testing, I have been nagging at him to do an app to coordinate with it so when I am shopping I will know what I have got so all is good.
I also have asked if it can have an emailable wish list, but he tells me that that will have to be done after the rest.
Over the years I've tried different methods only to let the index fall behind so it was no longer useful. Recently, I'm starting over as I have thousands of stamps so it's going to take quite awhile to finish.
I've unmounted my stamps and store them in Unikeep binder boxes by category and each box has an index, but now I want a book l can look through. I'm using white inexpensive cardstock so the stamped images don't bleed through and it lets me use both sides of the cardstock.
I can't say what system is best but here are some things to consider for a paper based index:
Make sure you have room for growth - using a wire bound binder doesn't allow you to add pages. For me the Rolodex looks cool but I'd several.
If an image can be used for multiple things, I note next to the image what box I can find the actual stamp. It's a little more work to stamp in multiple categories, but it does help.
Don't fall behind - everytime you get a new stamp, update the index
If you sell a stamp -- update your index or you'll think you've misfiled a stamp
I tried stamping in different colors but for me, I've found that black is the best so I don't get distracted by the colors
If you buy SU stamps, consider getting an extra catalog that you can cut out the images. It saves you a lot of time. When the catalog retires, a lot of demos have left over catalogs so you can get them free or really cheap.
I store my stamps in categories based on how I look for images.
Because I'm a demo, I don't breakup my sets until they retire but I do keep set together where you need all the parts like Loads of Love - I keep all the little parts for the truck together.
Consider breaking out for holidays - if a word set has a Christmas stamp, the stamp is stored with similar sentiments (ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings, etc.).
My Sister stores sample cards/projects with the stamp images so when she needs an idea, she can go to the index.
Yay I can update that Hubbys data base is almost ready for testing, I have been nagging at him to do an app to coordinate with it so when I am shopping I will know what I have got so all is good.
I also have asked if it can have an emailable wish list, but he tells me that that will have to be done after the rest.
I use a program called Bento. I know there are other apps like Evernote that can do the same thing. I either take a picture of the stamps or get one from the Internet. I then have a keyword/note section where I write down anything related to the stamp set and even complete sentiments. I also include addition information like location, stamp name, number, manufacturer, etc. I can then do a search and it will pull up all the stamps I have. The beauty of Bento is that you can design it any way you want to. It maybe took a weekend to set it up but now it is easy to add to. I love it and it is so much easier than a manual system.
I looked at Bento on-line and it doesn't seem to be for regualr PCs. Are you using yours on your ipad or Mac?
My categories are somewhat similar to those others have posted. You have to make the groupings fit your collection.
However, because of the way that I store my stamps, my catalog is designed around my storage. Here's the way that it works.
1. I have 36 drawers for stamps. 8.5 x 11 sterilite drawers in a cabinet.
2. All my stamps are unmounted and are stored on 4x6 laminated cards. I can fit a lot of sets in each drawer.
3. I needed indexing in a catalog as well as small pics on the front of each drawer so that it would be obvious what was in each drawer. What I did was stamp each set on an 8.5 x 11 paper...multiple sets on each sheet. Then I scanned those pages into my computer. I reduced to 20% placed the small pages for each drawer together and printed. Those strips are in the front of each drawer.
4. The original stamped pages are in page protectors in a binder...in drawer order...which means in category order.
I've attached a photo of the front of several of my drawers. Hope that helps.
Reading through these posts inspired me to create my own catalog.
ARRGH! Curse you all! (said with great affection, really!)
Spent the entire day scanning all of my stamps into the computer. Not a big deal until you realize my printer is in the basement; my craft room is upstairs.
I now am going to go throughall of the images and put them into a document that will tell me the title, company, what punches/dies, and anything else I want to make a note of. That will be the easy thing. My back is killing me.
So thank you for kicking my tush into action. Really. Thank you all.
__________________ - Happigirlcorgi Shyla P Middleton
Fan Club Member
I retired 4 years ago, and updated my stamps. I had a notebook with them all alphabetically listed. All very organized on computer. Beside the name of the stamp, was the company, how many in set, and a number where I could locate them. I mostly had wood mounted at that time and drawers of them, with the numbers on the outside. Then, I also, had a notebook where they were all stamped on pages, but in no particular order, but with the number where I could find them. Good. Then I begin to accumulate more stamps quicker than I could catch up with. Now, a big mess! I have read most of the thread and have a lot of work to do. Will try of these ideas!
One good thing I saw on Pinterest and have done, is to stamp all my smaller Thank you, HB, Sympathy, thoughts, etc (for the fronts of cards) on what shapes they fit on. Then on the back the number where they can be found, and the size punch I used. I put them in little sandwich baggies. So if I need a HB, I take that baggie out and look for the size of sentiment I need, then it tells me where it is and also, what punch I can put it on. That has been a God send. Keep them handy right in my top left drawer from where I sit at my craft table.
Anyway, I have a lot of work to do. I am not going to tackle the job of unmounting, though.
Thanks for all the ideas.
I have a lot of stamps. I keep them in sets of plastic drawers that are on wheels. I remove the wheels, then stack 2 sets, one on top of the other. (Each set has 6 drawers.) I use the following categories:
Backgrounds, Borders and Fonts
Christmas
Flowers
Nature (everything sort of realistic except Flowers, really cute ones go in Whimsical)
Occasions (all except Christmas)
Ocean and Tropical (I love seashells and ocean things so I have a separate category, most could go under Nature or Other if you don't have many)
Whimsical
Words/Sentiments (any verbage)
Other (this is the catch-all for things not fitting into the other categories but includes things like food or recipe, windmills, boats, vehicles, keys, cowboys, etc.) I label each drawer with the category and a drawer number.
I put one layer of stamps, then I buy acrylic (clear hard plastic) picture frames of 9" x 11", fill with more stamps, put this on top of the first layer making 2 layers of stamps in each drawer. You can pull out the picture frame with all the stamps in one motion to see what's underneath.
Each stamp is stamped onto paper with the name of the set or name of stamp if single, an abbreviation for manufacturer, and if a set, how many in the set and the drawer number. These are in a notebook that is divided by the same categories as the drawers. So for example, this is fictional but in the notebook, in the Flower category, I have 3 flower stamps from a set called Tall Stems. It is made by a company called Pretty Stamps. There are 4 stamps total, 3 flowers, 1 sentiment. They are in the second drawer of my Flower category. So in the notebook I would write PS "Tall Stems" - 4 [inc 1 word] F2 (Flower category, drawer 2) The word would be stamped in the notebook in the Word section, or sometimes I also stamp it with the pictures so I know there's a coordinating word. Hope this helps.
I recently found an iPad app called "List Master" that I am in love with for my stamp inventory. I have so many stamps I haven't been using because I forget what I have. With List Master, I am going through my stamp sets taking photos of EACH stamp using the camera in my iPad and then cropping it. It's then easy to put the photo in the "Stamp" list I created, along with fields for Set Name, Stamp Description, Category, # of stamps in the set, Manufacturer, and Box #. ( I will later number each box once I have organized them on my shelf). I am loving this system because it is so customizalbe. I can enter words that are key to me in the description or category. For example, I'll label a stamp with hearts in it with "Valentine," "Love," "Holiday," etc. I do the same with sentiments, plus I type in the exact words surrounded by quotation marks. Then when I sit down to make a card, I can search for "Love" and get all the images and sentiments that fit - AND see images of them in a list! It was free to download the app, and you can back up your whole list online free for 30 days to see if you like it. After that, it's only $15/year to keep it, and then you can access it from any computer!
__________________ Cindy McVey Proud VIRGINIA TECH ALUM
Please visit My Gallery & My Blog, Crazy For Crafting
I support my habit by being an SCS Fan Clubmember!
How I organize my stamps is by having a stamping binder which has sections such as Birthday, Wedding, sayings, Christmas, etc.. What I do is when I get a new stamp I figure out which category it belongs in, stamp it in there, and then store it with the others from the same category.
I looked at Bento on-line and it doesn't seem to be for regualr PCs. Are you using yours on your ipad or Mac?
I have both Bento on my mac and my iPhone. It is available for iPad but I don't own an iPad at this time. Never had any problems syncing them. Bento is for apple based products but my CTMH consultant does the same thing with a program called Evernote. She is PC based. Any database program should work.
To save time, I have tons of stamps from other companies and I put them into their specific categories. Took photos of them, and placed them in a folder on my computer i.e.: Stamp inventory, then animals, people, furniture, flowers, scenes, etc. This made it really easy to see what I had at a glance and then it is terrific for insurance purposes. Trust me, I took out insurance on these babies. Hope this helps
I almost started a thread about this and then saw that there was one already active. Very serendipitous. I'll just post here....
Okay, I have read through all these great posts. I have been wanting to start indexing for months and have instead done all kinds of other organizational things (all of which were useful) because I can't decide exactly what to do. Here's where I am so far:
I don't want to just stamp images on a page, like a page of birds or leaves or the like. I want my images each to be separate, so that I can hold them against each other to see how they work together. Thinking that this was what I wanted, I bought a lot of unlined 4X6 index cards but have been having a hard time finding something to hold them. You wouldn't think this would be hard, but I can't find anything. Where did all those metal file boxes with the flip back lids go to? That's what I saw in my mind's eye when I bought the index cards. I thought I could fix my categories and then stamp on the cards and use dividers in the boxes.
But maybe the 2X4 rolodex would work fine. Looking at it on that great blog post (thanks, Patter, :-) but how do you put the openings in the bottom of your home made kraft dividers?) I realized maybe 4X6 was overkill. How many stamps do I have that are 4X6?
I also wonder about how to work with stamps that are part of a set, where you can put them together more than one way. Do I take the set, and make an example of every flower (it's usually flowers, and I have a disproportionate amount of my collection devoted to flowers) that set will let you make?
And finally, is there anyone who did this and then felt like it wasn't worth the work?
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
Last edited by Rachelrose; 05-13-2013 at 02:44 PM..
I almost started a thread about this and then saw that there was one already active. Very serendipitous. I'll just post here....
Okay, I have read through all these great posts. I have been wanting to start indexing for months and have instead done all kinds of other organizational things (all of which were useful) because I can't decide exactly what to do. Here's where I am so far:
I don't want to just stamp images on a page, like a page of birds or leaves or the like. I want my images each to be separate, so that I can hold them against each other to see how they work together. Thinking that this was what I wanted, I bought a lot of unlined 4X6 index cards but have been having a hard time finding something to hold them. You wouldn't think this would be hard, but I can't find anything. Where did all those metal file boxes with the flip back lids go to? That's what I saw in my mind's eye when I bought the index cards. I thought I could fix my categories and then stamp on the cards and use dividers in the boxes.
But maybe the 2X4 rolodex would work fine. Looking at it on that great blog post (thanks, Patter, :-) but how do you put the openings in the bottom of your home made kraft dividers?) I realized maybe 4X6 was overkill. How many stamps do I have that are 4X6?
I also wonder about how to work with stamps that are part of a set, where you can put them together more than one way. Do I take the set, and make an example of every flower (it's usually flowers, and I have a disproportionate amount of my collection devoted to flowers) that set will let you make?
And finally, is there anyone who did this and then felt like it wasn't worth the work?
I did this....or at least I started the process. I used business card holders in a 5x7 binder....I found that it was much more time consuming than I thought was beneficial.
I've switched to Evernote....all my stamp sets from the current SU catalog and the upcoming catalog are already logged. (I'm a SU demonstrator) I'll work on the rest of my collection as time permits.
I like that you can search for keynotes (your categories) and it will show a pic of all stamps that have that label....
I've started/stopped/restarted many, many times with many, many methods/sizes/whatever. What I've found is that my brain just does NOT operate this way! I have this...gift?...quirk?...I-need-a-new-word? that allows me to see entire sets as they appear in a catalog, so I kind of already know what I have (yes, it takes a while for new ones to "stick" in my brain).
I find that what I DON'T remember is sentiments and phrases, so I'm going to create a Rolodex JUST for those. I will note right on the Rolodex card which punches they fit, etc., as well as where to find them.
If/when I'm at a loss as to which image I might possibly want to use, I like to flip through my binders of stamps for inspiration (I currently have 36 binders, with 7-9 pages in each, with 2-4 sets per page). I don't have to flip through all the binders every time, though. Six of the binders are Christmas stamps, five of them are alphabets, two of them are Halloween/autumn/Thanksgiving, one is all the other holidays, and then the rest are general/everyday stamps, organized alphabetically by manufacturer and roughly alphabetical within manufacturer. Since I'm familiar with which types of stamps are in a particular manufacturer's binder (like The Cat's Pajamas or Stamping Bella, for example), if I know those won't work for what I'm making, I won't flip through those, either.
Having said that, I will also say this: of the many methods I've tried, my favorite was 4" x 6" cards in cheap photo albums. Fun to flip through! If/when I decide to "get organized" (again), I'll probably try one of the digital methods mentioned above...
I think it's worthwhile (and smart) to think about what exactly one might need or not need to index, Sue. After all, this is what I call "second-level organization". First level organization is really about storage. I have files for all my paper, each color in a hanging file. Lots of people stop there, or with some other way of storing. But then I have my ring sampler of all my current on-hand card stock, and it allows me to make creative decisions about what colors to use with much more ease than having to go through files and pul out paper to hold up against each other.
So I have my stamps at this point totally organized on the first level on panels in bins. The question is, what second (or creative) level system will enhance my use of my stamps?
I am now thinking binders of pages divided in some way is going to be a better use of my energy and probably my original idea of separate cards for each stamp is overkill. Patter's system looks intriguing, but I'm don't think I need to go that far.
I feel happy to have at least made a decision that feels right to me, (with some help ;-))! One thing I am convinced of is that you need to move past storage-level organization and into creative organization in order to be able to have any command over the many many supplies that you accumulate!
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
