Organizing Studio AE/Technique Tuesday Stamps

I have been re-organizing my stamps over the last few days. Like you, I find it very easy to forget about them. For wood mounted stamps, I am using a metal silverware container, with spray inks (mists) and alcohol inks in the wider end units. My acrylic stamps are in a two-up photo binder, and alphabet sets are going in either their own boxes (Stampin' Up, Hero Arts, etc.) or old videotape cases. I think for my unmounted wood stamps, I will use CD jewel cases with temporary adhesive; not sure yet (I don't have many of those).

I don't have very many stamps yet - just started getting into stamping recently and I'm hooked! I only have about six or so wood mounted stamps and for now I keep them in a photo storage box. I LOVE the clear stamps that you design Ali. Again only have a very few but I joined Studio AE this month so I'm very excited for new ones to start arriving! I just (last week) bought a "Clip It Up" (base unit + upper tier unit) which I'm in love with! I'm using the bottom (base) unit for my clear stamps and longer sticker sheets, and the upper tier for smaller embellishments. I'm loving the functionality!

I store my wooden stamps on a custom shelf that my dh made for me. All of my acrylics are stored in cd cases which I labeled on the side. They are store on a store bought cd/dvd stand.

I did a major stamping organization overhaul about a year ago, and it has been SO helpful. My clear stamps are now stored in clear plastic flexible DVD holders that are the perfect size for most stamp sets. (They're made by Wilson Jones and have three-hole punches so that they fit in a binder, two to a page.) I have a few large size binders, organized by topics. So, for example, travel stamps are all in one binder. At the end of each binder "topic," I have a few pages of white cardstock that feature stamped images of other stamps that are in that same theme but are stored elsewhere, with a note about where they're stored. (So, let's say I bought a stamp set that is predominantly in another theme, like "Flowers & plants" but it includes one great travel stamp. I would store the stamp set in my "flowers & plants" binder but create a stamped image in my "travel" binder of the one travel stamp with a note that it's stored in the flowers & plants binder). All of my wood stamps are referenced on these white pages at the end of a specific theme, which allows me to store them out of sight, but not feel as though they're out of mind. When I did this major organization blitz, the commitment I made to myself was that anytime I got a new stamp, I'd fit it into the system immediately so that I wouldn't get backlogged with unorganized stamps. It has worked so far! :)

i always pick up the little boxes when target has them in the dollar section. i use them for lots of storage in the my craft area too! i hadn't thought of the tabs on my acrylic stamps though - great idea!

I primarily store my stamps in CD cases, as well as some of the clear DVD cases the SU sells....it seems to work best for me...i have pretty much broken up sets & organize by theme or what not...i also had scanned the sheet into my computer, and using Bridge created a "contact sheet" of my stamp sets, which lets me look through them all w/o having to take them all out per se....for the most part the system works for me...as for my inks, I got a great ink pad holder from scrapbook.com that I love...i set it up whre it's back to back on a carousel, and the top is where I keep my reinkers...works great!

My clear stamps are in a binder that I thumb through. Actually, 2 binders, everything thinks growing. My wooden stamps are in a drawer in unit from Container Store. Also, noticed, that everything (all things) keep getting heavier. This is a sturdy unit with strong drawers. I suggest not buying if you can not buy sturdy. Love your locker unit, now, that is sturdy. Love seeing your work space. I just designed a new Studio sign for my door.

What I am currently using is a binder and page protectors. It works really well because I can see the stamps and for those larger stamps I create my own pocket for them by sewing parts of the page protector and customizing them to fit.

I have been buying stamps for 20 years and was having a hard time remembering what I had, so I sorted then and took over half of my laundry room for stamp storage. I mounted two large stamp wall shelves I got from ebay years ago. Bookcases below the wall shelves house all my other stamps in plastic boxes sorted by categories. Big categories like Halloween and Christmas are in two iris carts in the corner of the room. My clear stamps are stored on a Clip It Up that sits on the counter across from the wooden stamps. I LOVE my new system!

I posted a picture of my room at 2peas if anyone is interested.
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/gallery/member/312011-mm786/1741452-stamp-storage-in-laundry-room/

I have an Iris cart that I have filled with my stamps. I have them divide by theme. I don't use stamps quite as much as some do. I would use them more if I could find the sayings I want. I try not to buy too many stamps with figures because I find I don't use them over and over. But those with verses or phrases or single words I will use over and over and over.

Love the basket idea for the Technique Tuesday stamps - think I will have to steal that one!

I am in the process of removing my rubber stamps from their bases, putting them on EZMount sheets so that I can put them in a binder and downsize all the wooden stamps I have. It is definitely a process and I have definitely learned restraint on picking stamps to buy.

Overall I find the organizing an ongoing process as I constantly try to refine and simplify my process. I do find that this is also an inspiring process as well.

i LOVE the idea of the mesh basket for clear stamps. I just have mine in a giant heap and it is hard to find anything.

My husband made me a simple wood storage rack for my wooden stamps. It is great, doesn't take up too much space and is really pretty simple! :)

I don't seem to have a great photo of it, however it is in the background of this photo from my blog http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zl7CFQQwGkU/TknoZkVnirI/AAAAAAAACSU/WDhxzr_L8XU/s1600/IMG_9908.jpg

I have an ALEX drawer unit from IKEA. It has 6 rather shallow drawers that are perfect for layering my stamp sets. I have a drawer labeled Alphabets, Holidays (Christmas, Valentines, etc.), Occasions (birthdays, weddings, etc.), Circles, Flowers and Assorted. This has proven to be a fabulous way of storing all of my stamps flat so that I can see them. In some cases, they are stacked in two layers, but easy to move a stamp set aside to see what is underneath. The entire unit is short enough to fit under my desk. It was well worth the purchase.

Enjoying this discussion, as I need to organize my ever-growing collection of stamps. I have several wooden stamps and notice one or two or you have removed them from the wood. I'm not sure if I'm ready to do that yet. What do you ladies do with the wooden mounts after taking off the stamp?
Ali, I think I need to hear a discussion about punch storage, too! My cup runneth over with those babies ;-)

I have lots of wood mount stamps, mostly Stampin' Up so they are in plastic cases. I put them all in 12 x 12 craft envelopes - I cut sturdy cardboard to make them ridged. Each envelope holds up to 4 sets. All to the envelopes are in a big wicker basket and I can easily flip through them.

I love your ideas and the way you spell it out so carefully (and show us with pictures).
Any thoughts on long term photo storage? My computer is getting full and I'm aware that it could crash at any time... an external hard drive would be nice but isn't there that same risk of crashing? Anyhow, I've been doing DVDs and CDs for now but feel that is cumbersome. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Ali - just curious what brand of ink do you use for stamping?

Ali---check out Close to My Heart's storage envelopes! You can purchase just the enevelopes that their stamp sets come in--p.135 of the current catalog--you can get the 6x6" and those enves fit in the storage containers they have (same page.) I purchase the plastic for stencil making (craft store), cut to fit, stamp the sheet with the images using Staz-on, and store the stamps that way. I just label the sheet as well as the enve with the stamp company name and set name. This really streamlines my storage system!!! They also sell the 8 1/2x11" envelopes but I tend to like the smaller ones and the containers. A container will hold up to 15 filled envelopes! I make a label for the front of the container so I can see what themed sets are in that container: sayings and sentiments, holiday, summer, etc. Hope this helps! ; )

Ahhhhhhhh love to see where you create...LOVE that!!! Oraganization is a constant battle in my scraproom. I think I do more than that than I do scrapbooking:) BUT when its a mess I can't create. I was SO lucky to have come across a old shop class/drafting file cabinet. Its big and takes up so much room but I painted it, its full of skinny drawers (used to store house plans) So they are wide but skinny. The BEST place to store stamps. One glide and they are all right there. Another nice tool is the Close to my heart boxes to store their stamps. They have a handle and are very nice, exspecially for on the go. Thanks so much for sharing. I always enjoy a peak inside your everyday world:)

Great idea for the stamps.