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Monday, March 24, 2014

Craft Storage Ideas Spring Blog Hop

**If you are looking for the Cat's Pajamas Blog Hop it will be 2 posts above this one, thanks for stopping by!**
Welcome to the first ever CSI Blog Hop!

We're showcasing our favorite craft storage or organization. The hop starts at Craft Storage Ideas so if you would like to start from the beginning head on over to CSI. There's lots of great giveaways all week long and several of the blogs are offering blog candy. You should have come here from Laura's blog.

Here is my storage idea that I wanted to share with you:


Hi there all you crafty storage mavens! It’s Noelle with a peek at my new unmounted stamp and die storage. This article was originally posted by me on CSI a couple of weeks ago. 



A few months ago, I was chatting with some other designers about keeping it fresh and someone brought up that reorganizing their stash helps them clean out the old gear, see what they have, and inspire that creative “zip” once more. What say you, dear readers? Do you feel that some reorganizing can light up that creative fire under you? I have been struggling with some “stamper’s block” over these last weeks. Just SO much going on, and when I have time to stamp I have no idea where to start. I know that in the past, reorganizing and cleaning has helped me a lot! So, I decided to tackle a project that’s been on my mind for a while now.
I had read Jennifer McGuire’s article on how she stores her stamps. I decided to look around for a similar method for mine. I didn’t want a letter sized binder or something that when open was going to take up a lot of precious “flat space real estate” on my small desk. I have so many different kinds of stamps; acrylic, photopolymer, and cling rubber. All are from dozens of different manufacturers. Plus, the sets I have range from a tiny single stamp to large sets that might include 30 or more stamps on a 10” sheet. So, I figured that mine might not be quite as pretty as her photos show. I knew I would definitely need different sizes of pockets but still loved the idea of being able to quickly flip through them.
I ended up going with some CD sleeves from Office Max that are similar to these (see photo below for the exact ones I used) for the smaller ones which covered the bulk of my stamps. They don’t have the ones I bought online, however. These sleeves have a clear plastic CD pocket on either side of the sleeve, and some white fabric-y stuff in the middle. They were 10.99 for a pack of 50. At 21 cents a piece, that’s a pretty affordable solution! I ended up buying 4 packs of these with some leftover sleeves for the future. You may not have the stamp multiplying problem that I have and may not need nearly as many! ;) I’m grateful for the crafty design work I do, because it means I get a lot of fun free stuff in the mail.
Since I did this, I’ve seen the CD sleeves even cheaper (I believe the link I sent you to shows them cheaper), but it was a side load sleeve, meaning that seam that I ended up using for the labels would be on the side of the sleeve, not the top if you stored them so the pocket opening is at the top. If I had started out that way I wouldn’t have minded, but since I was already 70% of the way done when I had to buy more, I decided to stick with the original ones I had already purchased.
For the medium and large pockets I got these plastic pockets from Office Depot in 4×6 and 5×8 sizes. I have heard great things about the Avery Elle Stamp Storage Pockets too. But I had a lot of sets that were 8” tall, and I did not want them to stick out the top of the pockets. The ones I got are a bit more expensive that the Avery Elle ones, coming in at about 49-59 cents a piece. But I like that I can pick them up at the local office store, and they are really nice heavy plastic, with a notch at the top so you can easily pull the set out. I think I ended up buying 40 4×6 pockets and 60 5×8 pockets, which added up quickly. Can you say cha-ching? ;) Throw in 4 rolls of label tape for my label maker, and this was not the cheapest project. But I love it SO much, that the cost was worth it for me. You could also do something like this buying a pack or 2 of pockets every week until you had as many as you needed to keep your budget on track.
One thing I decided to change from my former storage solutions was that I opted to store the stamps and dies together this time. I used to keep stamps and dies separate, with stamps in their original packaging in metal bins. The small ones always fell to the bottom, and inevitably the cello packaging would tear. Some of my dies were on magnetic cards, but the cards would tangle, and the small dies tended to fall off. In many cases, I ended up slipping the magnetic card right into one of these pockets, so my cards are still valuable.

A few of the sets were too large even for the 5×8 pockets. A few sets got cut in half and fit into the pocket anyway as to keep with their original manufacturers . The rest of the random large sets went into my Tim Holtz Unmounted Stamp Binder. They fit perfectly!

I now have everything arranged by manufacturer, so all my Paper Smooches dies are with my Paper Smooches stamps, etc. If there was a coordinating die and stamp set, I included the die in the sleeve with the stamps. On these CD sleeves, I actually could use the pocket on the backside of the sleeve, but on the larger sets with dies, I just dropped the die/s in with the set. I have these arranged mostly alphabetically by manufacturer. But, The Cat’s Pajamas product took up two entire baskets! Since I design for them, I have almost everything they make, so they get their own 2 baskets.

I used my own shorthand to label the manufacturer, so “TCP” is The Cat’s Pajamas, “PS” is Paper Smooches and so on. I know what each one is, so it’s all good. I labeled each one with the manufacturer shorthand and the set or die’s name. This way when I’m linking readers up to specific stamp sets, I have the right set name to find the link quickly.
One way to save space and money on this project is to put two single stamps or mini sets into one pocket together. I utilized this a lot. If there was a contact card, I sometimes put the card in the front pocket and the stamps in the back pocket.

One place I saved a little coin was on the containers. I found these blue baskets at my local Dollar Tree, so they were only a buck each. I can honestly not believe I got all these stamps and dies into 6 baskets. 238 stamp sets, plus dozens of dies. It saved a lot of space in my studio and each basket takes up only a small amount of room on my desk when I pull them out to flip through. The baskets also work nicely for my 6″ paper pads, so I used the two I had leftover for that. They also fit perfectly on my shelves. that was a happy accident, since I didn’t measure. But I love that they don’t overhang the shelf. :) After much debate, I kept my Stampin’ Up stamps in their original containers, as I wasn’t interested in “un-mounting” the wood stamps. Their cling stamps come in nice cases already. I may eventually move the Stampin’ Up! cling stamps to this kind of storage, I am still on the fence about that.

All in all, I am LOVING this, I can see so much better what I have, and it’s much easier to find what I’m looking for. I also love having things arranged by manufacturer, and keeping dies with coordinating stamps in the same pocket has been wonderful. I hope this helps you “stash your stash” a bit better today. 


Hop on over to Cicily's blog to check out more storage ideas. 

And be sure and check in with Craft Storage Ideas all week long for some amazing giveaways!


Here's the complete lineup

Rebecca - Scrapista
Hazel - Play As You Go
Noelle - paper & ICE (you are here) 

43 comments:

Annette Allen said...

yay for organizing.. thanks for sharing..

Maria said...

Great organizational tip! Everything looks so organized on your shelves...well done!

Karen Buchanan said...

I too think re organizing can give a creative jump start! |Only problem is being able to finish the clean up first! Love the stamp storage ideas.

McStamper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
McStamper said...

Great ideas. I need die organization.

Marie said...

Thanks for sharing these marvelous storage ideas.

Margaret said...

Thanks for sharing. I like the idea of storing stamps and dies in the same envelope when they go together.

Amy said...

Great idea! Thanks for the chance to win!

Gretchen Wilson said...

I too watch Jennifer tips and I have use some but still need sleeves that won't fit hers. I am going to check into Office Max. Great organizational skills there.

Pokey Puppy said...

I saw your original post and you inspired me to re-organize my stamp collection. Still a work in progress but you gave me such a great start. Thank you!

ScrapaDiddle said...

Great organizing! I have some of these little baskets like yours in pink!

Kathy G. said...

Thank you so much for sharing the sleeves you use for storing your dies and folders. I'm definitely heading over to the office supply store for these. They will make life so much easier.

Dana said...

Very nice stamp and die storage!!! Love!!

Dana said...

Awesome storage!!!

Crafty Loops said...

I saw Jennifer Maguire's stamp storage too and thought it was a fabulous idea. What a great way to organise your stamps. Im in the process of redoing my craft room and need as much help as possible. So this blog hop is perfect. Lee x

Mary O.K. said...

Oh. My. Gosh. (!!!) This is astonishing! The time and effort you've put into this system is remarkable-- and I'll bet it's worth every second, whenever you sit down to create. Beautiful!
Best Wishes,
Mary

Lara said...

Great Idea. I like the idea of flipping through what you have.

zehra said...

Awesome idea, I love how neat it looks

Grammy Goodwill said...

Those baskets worked great for you. I'm sad to say I've never used any stamps - and I have a box filled with them. I keep buying them but then i don't use them.

Unknown said...

I watched her video and have been thinking of going to the same system! Love to see how someone else made it work!

flowerdisco said...

what a great idea. i will give this a try.

Erika said...

Thanks for sharing your stamp storage. I also store mine in plastic sleeves but needed ideas for the larger ones. I especially appreciate the links to the products you discussed.

MJ's Kraze said...

That is a lot of stamps.. I store mine in cling pages that fit in a binder.

Judi said...

Great ideas! Thanks fir sharing.

Jennifer H said...

I love to organize to get back in the grove too

Anonymous said...

Great storage ideas. Thanks.

Anne said...

Love the baskets-they add some texture to the whole area!

Unknown said...

Love your blue baskets -- I use the same idea from Jennifer McGuire! It is so rewarding to have your stamps, dies, and folders so organized :)

Denise Bryant said...

wow... those really hold a lot! Love the way you can group each manufacturer together, stamps and dies. Thanks for sharing your storage system ideas!

just me said...

I have pockets like these on my wish list at simon says stamp but your idea is cheaper. Thanks for this.

Beth said...

You have done a great job!

Unknown said...

so many cool stamps!

Unknown said...

Love the basket idea especially with so many stamps!

Pokey Puppy said...

Went to Staples yesterday and found some larger plastic pocket pages. Am going to work or organizing my stash. Yours is incredible!

Unknown said...

I store in binders now but I really like the basket idea. Thanks for the tips!

Miriam Prantner said...

Looks great! one of these days I'm going to get myself together!!!

Sabrina said...

Love all your baskets and their color!!

Kim Heggins said...

Wow...this is so fun to see, you are so organized, I love the blue bins!

NinaS said...

Awesome idea.

Beatrice Lawson said...

I remember seeing this post and thinking I love it as much as Jennifer's... I need some CD sleeves, my stamps are a mess and I keep buying!

Lisa Petrella said...

Nice work! I ordered some sleeves and such from Simon Says for organizing my clear stamps this way too! Now I just need to buckle down and actually put it all together!

Sabrina said...

I love you set up!!

carft storage services said...

Nice blog !!! i just love to read this .