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I am organizing using the Jennifer McGuire method with Gregzgurl laminated sheets. I am going to bare rubber. I have 20 years of SU stamps (demo/hobbyist). Purged out 20% about 2 years ago. I am splitting up sets (other than current ones). So far I have separated the sentiments/words into categories and I am very happy with that.
But now I have the images to categorize. How many categories do you recommend and do you have sub-categories within a group? Such as flowers - would you create sub-categories for them? Such as singles; multiples; line image; solid image;
The categories I am planning are: Flowers - Nature - Baby - Female - Male - backgrounds - Celebration - Faith - and of course the various seasonal ones.
Any suggestions and recommendations would be greatly welcomed.
Regardless what system you use, the number and names of categories depends on how you think and what stamps you own, so is very individual. For example I wouldn’t know what a Male or Female category would include, but they have meaning for you. Same with seasonal categories, I’m guessing.
Similarly, I have categories that might not fit your collection, like Animals - Birds - Things - Alphas. : ) Things includes objects, like a typewriter and a baseball set. If I had lots of sports stamps, baseball could go into Sports. But I don’t. : ) One of my biggest categories is Shapes - geometric sets.
For me, having too few stamps in a category makes the category fairly meaningless and forgotten, but if someone had 1000 stamps, for instance, that probably won’t be a problem.
And nothing is written in concrete - if you find you have too many or too few, you can consolidate or expand.
As for the floral images, since I have so many, I did sort them out, mostly by style of image. I did realistic, watercolor style, in vases or bouquets, extra large, solid, whimsical, etc. You need to sort by what you have, how you would look for them, and how you would use them.
Beth, I didn't think of shapes. That could definitely be a category. Diane, I like your names for the flowers. Realistic, watercolor, whimsical. Definitely, will need sub-categories for flowers. Thanks for the suggestions.
My categories are kind of broad sometimes and kind of specific sometimes, depending largely on how many stamps I have for that category, as Beth was saying. My sentiment categories sort of drove the image categories, because I grouped them - more or less - by how I would use them, including which sentiment I was likely to pair with that image. For example, my "on the go" category includes cars and bikes and such as well as globes, maps, and region-specific stamps, like the Eiffel Tower or southwestern petroglyphs, but planes and hot air balloons are in the "up and away" category along with sun, moon, stars, and clouds, and boats are in the "seaside" category, along with beachy images and fish. Anything food, clothing, furniture, etc. is included in the "household" category. Books, toys, sports, craft-related (quilting, for example) are in the "pastimes" category. I do like Diane with the florals. I have a "flourishes and accents" category for those types of things that don't really fit well in any other place. These are just a few examples of how I process...
I also have a couple of anomalies: I have quite a large collection of "Angie Girls" from Unity, and they are in their own category. I also have A LOT of Stacey Yacula Stamps (Purple Onion Designs - on sale right now for 25% off) and they work really well interchangeably, so I keep them all together.
As Beth also mentioned, it matters most which categories make sense to YOU and the way you are likely to look for any given stamp. Also, I can tell you from experience that you will likely rearrange a time or two to tweak the system until it functions how you want it to...
It�s asking how you talk to yourself when deciding the type of stamp you want. It can be as organized or not as in real life. Style, size, whatever.
So while one person may think �autumn,� another (me) would think �leaves,� because in my brain it's color that differentiates autumn leaves from summer leaves.
If I had tons more leaves I might separate them into abstract and realistic, because I�d be deciding if I wanted a more modern versus realistic card. But I might not separate them because flipping through a bin inspires me and may send me in a different direction. (Or it could provide too many options so I�d make nothing.)
Like Sue, I have a category for a company (though hers are for two) - Rubber Moon, the only time my mind thinks company instead of Animals or Buildings, maybe because I�ve taken classes the owner has taught? But stamps may be merged into the regular categories. Like Sue pointed out, you�ll likely tweak a time or two - or seven. :shock:
You could also keep a list to catch what you are thinking when selecting stamps for your cards.
(Or it could provide too many options so I’d make nothing.) Like Sue pointed out, you’ll likely tweak a time or two - or seven. :shock:
You could also keep a list to catch what you are thinking when selecting stamps for your cards.
I edited down to the items that resonated, lol:
I would be making nothing - I have to have limited options and virtually NO visual clutter or I remain completely static (deer-in-headlights-frozen, for real). I kind of laugh (at myself) when they say to take a photo of your desk during VSN or whatever, because I clean as I go or I can't keep going...
Or twelve or fifteen or so... Seriously, I've sorted and stored my stamps in at least five different sizes of panels or pockets or DVD cases or whatever. I've also broken up sets, restored them, broken them up, restored them... Right now they are sort of a mix of broken up and restored, depending on stamp set and intended use - sheesh!*
Organize things the way you use them. There is no one perfect way of sorting because we all have different ways of creating.
I'd go with the bare minimum number of categories to begin with and then specialize only when the group gets too big to easily look at. If you have 50 pages of flowers that's probably too many to easily find something fast. If you only have two pages, 'flowers' might be too small a category for you and maybe you need 'nature/floral' instead or something even broader.
You can also create secondary categories that you might not use as often (something like borders maybe, where the examples could be spread throughout your sets/collection) by doing an index sheet for that type.
Or twelve or fifteen or so... Seriously, I've sorted and stored my stamps in at least five different sizes of panels or pockets or DVD cases or whatever. I've also broken up sets, restored them, broken them up, restored them... Right now they are sort of a mix of broken up and restored, depending on stamp set and intended use - sheesh!*
I would say the same thing! But I *have* stuck with one style of storage, and upgraded to nicer sleeves. I've put some sets back together in sets if I am most likely to use it all together. Paper Smooches comes to mind.
My birthday stuff, sentiments and images both, is all in one place. If I need a cake for something else, at least I know where to look. Same with love/wedding/anniversary.
I like your "depending on stamp set and intended use". So true!
I would be making nothing - I have to have limited options and virtually NO visual clutter or I remain completely static (deer-in-headlights-frozen, for real). I kind of laugh (at myself) when they say to take a photo of your desk during VSN or whatever, because I clean as I go or I can't keep going...
Or twelve or fifteen or so... Seriously, I've sorted and stored my stamps in at least five different sizes of panels or pockets or DVD cases or whatever. I've also broken up sets, restored them, broken them up, restored them... Right now they are sort of a mix of broken up and restored, depending on stamp set and intended use - sheesh!*
Excellent plan!
I really get the deer-in-the-headlights stance. Too many options in stamps, dies, designs, techniques. So. I. Just. Stop.
Maybe that's why the one week I did challenges every day I actually made a card a day - first time ever - because the challenge eliminated so many choices.
One of these days I'm going to close my eyes and pick two stamp sets and have to use one. Or maybe just one stamp set. (I first typed three but got anxious!) Or do that with dies. My husband can hold bins so I don't know what is front or back (since I know the categories) and just grab-n-go.
And if I don't clean up and clean stamps as I go I get lost.
I also need to find a better way to keep inspiration cards/designs/ideas. But that's another thread.
I noticed the categories for Sentiments, and Quotes/Sayings not in your list. For sentiments, I have them broken down into individual pages- Birthday/Congrats/ Thanks etc. Quotes & Saying sort of covers the inspirational quotes and verses. The sentiment stamps, which are often quite small, go into Coin Collector pockets- there are a huge size range of these, so they also a lot of others too. I find the Trading card size very useful.
First, I am old school. I am not on Evernote, etc. I would rather flip through pages than scroll.
My first question is do you keep an index? I do so that is one path. If you don't, it might be another.
I am VERY split out for categories. Dozens of them. I use 3 ring binders for my indexes with dividers. I generally do not sort by company-only by subject. They are THE key to my stamp world and without them I would be in deep trouble. They do get re-done if over time I have enough of a cat to qualify for it's own. So they are a living thing.
LOL my DH sees me doing this in front of the tv at night and thinks I got more stamps and I am like "no honey, just resorting the organization". Of course sometimes I DID get new ones ;)
I keep general sentiments in their own binder-thank you, miss you, happy birthday, etc. But I put some niche stuff with it's images like food, baby, women,...in which case I have them at the front of their image index section and storage in cling.
Flowers is so huge for me I have a lot of categories. There are sets, mixed, and so on....and then I have by letter for the flower. Like I might only have 1 Rhodie, so that would be in general R at the front, but a ton of roses so they have their own pages. Hope that made sense. Christmas is like that too. A lot of subsections.
I agree, it is ALL about how your mind works. What "cues" you. I am very KISS principle, so I tend to want a very literal system. Ie I want girls...I don't want to have to look under children for example. I go right to girls.
I do make lots of sub-categories. It depends on how many stamps I have, but for example, flowers are divided into roses (I have two large clamshell boxes- one with buds and one with open. Then I have a smaller one that has stamps with more than one rose/bouquets.) I have two large boxes of daisies, I have two medium boxes of tulips, two medium boxes of lilies, sunflowers, mums and magnolia-like, 3 medium boxes of poppies, one medium box of dahlias, iris, daffodils, pansies/violets, hydrangeas, delphiniums, and a whole drawer---2 large boxes, 6 medium boxes and two small boxes of what I call posy like that includes fruit tree branches, dogwood, etc. I wont even start on the drawer of weed-like stamps but divide them more or less into seedy, puffy, leafy or branchy. Of course I also have animals (3 drawers), fruit (1 drawer), leaves (2 drawers), trees (1 drawer deciduous, 1 drawer evergreens), plants (ferns, cactus, grasses,cattails, bamboo, wheat), suns/moons/stars/snowflakes, land/water/weather/clouds. That is one half of my stamp cabinet. The other half has greetings, alphabets, textures, designs, ethnic, containers, transportation, buildings, people, birthday (balloons, gifts, cakes, candles, banners), baby, wedding/anniversary, July 4th, St. Pat's, Easter, toys,) Hearts, and Christmas. I know I left things out---just going mentally through the drawers, as I know where everything is, but may have left out a category or two. Here's a picture.
I noticed the categories for Sentiments, and Quotes/Sayings not in your list. For sentiments, I have them broken down into individual pages- Birthday/Congrats/ Thanks etc. Quotes & Saying sort of covers the inspirational quotes and verses. The sentiment stamps, which are often quite small, go into Coin Collector pockets- there are a huge size range of these, so they also a lot of others too. I find the Trading card size very useful.
Ah, me...! I had a dickens of a time finding sentiments so I separated those out of the sets waaaaay before I started splitting up the sets. Then I tried several different sizes of laminated panels and sleeves and got frustrated there for various reasons. When you mentioned the pockets it turned a key in my brain and I immediately started that project. I now have seven 2 1/2" binders with 9 trading card pages apiece full of nothing but sentiments! I guess I've figured out my particular addiction, eh? I do have some larger sentiments that are in photo pages instead, but most often there are multiple sentiments in each trading card pocket. They are categorized and I can usually find whatever-it-is quickly, but there are a couple of categories that need further tweaking...
The best storage solutions are often those made with readily available materials, like standard 3-ring binders and trading card pocket pages. I'm using two 8x8" albums right now for my stamps, but that's mostly because I have a very tiny collection. Imagine eventually I'll have to move into a bigger binder. Not looking forward to that day!
Thanks for all the ideas. Sentiments didn't bother me. In fact, separating and organizing the sentiments started the whole process. I have them separated by Birthday, sympathy, thank you, thinking of you, friend, love, encouragement, baby, wedding, faith, etc. Verses are a good idea. I haven't tackled the quotes, phrases and verses that generally would be on the inside of a card. (Other than birthday which is subdivided between greeting and inside {now called 'verse'})
I haven't sorted images that have words with them yet, but I think they will pretty much go into sentiment. Unless the image calls out it's place.
Flowers are a bug-a-boo. But I will use the idea's you've all suggested and really consider how would I look for a flower stamp? Would it be by type (daisy) or design (watercolor). Hmmm. I think I'll need a sub category of flowers that are in a container of some sort, whether a basket, vase, wheelbarrow, ect.
I can see rearranging them occasionally. I've tried Evernote a bit, but the layout just confuses my mind. I think I'm a flipper.
My stamps are in broader categories..stored in plastic sleeves, in baskets on shelves.
Floral, words & verses, backgrounds, Christmas, female, birthday, nature & Miscell.
I used plastic notebook dividers, (cut to the size I needed) as dividers and have a small tag tied to each basket as to what is in each. I can pull the basket I need off the shelf and pull out the stamps needed. I too have to clean up my work area as I go when making a card or journal page. Can't live with the clutter style, zaps my creativity. Don't get me wrong...I have lots of "stuff" but it is organized!!
__________________ Have a creative day, every day.
[QUOTE=bjeans;21687280]Regardless what system you use, the number and names of categories depends on how you think and what stamps you own, so is very individual. For example I wouldn�t know what a Male or Female category would include, but they have meaning for you. Same with seasonal categories, I�m guessing.
Similarly, I have categories that might not fit your collection, like Animals - Birds - Things - Alphas. : ) Things includes objects, like a typewriter and a baseball set. If I had lots of sports stamps, baseball could go into Sports. But I don�t. : ) One of my biggest categories is Shapes - geometric sets.
Beth!
We think the same way!! I have very similar categories to yours!! I have my sentiments separated as well.
I have misc. sentiments, for those clear sets with multiple sentiments, Thank you, birthday and now sympathy since I have acquired a few of those over the years
Regardless what system you use, the number and names of categories depends on how you think and what stamps you own, so is very individual. For example I wouldn�t know what a Male or Female category would include, but they have meaning for you. Same with seasonal categories, I�m guessing.
Similarly, I have categories that might not fit your collection, like Animals - Birds - Things - Alphas. : ) Things includes objects, like a typewriter and a baseball set. If I had lots of sports stamps, baseball could go into Sports. But I don�t. : ) One of my biggest categories is Shapes - geometric sets.
Beth!
We think the same way!! I have very similar categories to yours!! I have my sentiments separated as well.
I have misc. sentiments, for those clear sets with multiple sentiments, Thank you, birthday and now sympathy since I have acquired a few of those over the years
Great minds! ;) I have a separate sentiments category, too, but have left sentiments that are part of a non-sentiment set in their original set. (Ex: a set with birthday candles and other birthday stuff still has �happy birthday� in that set.) Did you remove yours?
Great minds! ;) I have a separate sentiments category, too, but have left sentiments that are part of a non-sentiment set in their original set. (Ex: a set with birthday candles and other birthday stuff still has �happy birthday� in that set.) Did you remove yours?
Yes, I leave them in their original set too! Even if there are balloons and RSVP for party, it goes in Birthday, since that is all I would usually use it for. I have just started thinking about separating the Birthday, Thank You and Sympathy messages from misc. and putting them into the categories, not sure yet.
Do any of you put the image on bare rubber? I’ve seen one way to do it but am not sure I want to go through the hassle of tissue paper/Tombow/vinyl. I don’t have many rubber stamps so it’s not an enormous job, but... lazy.
Do any of you put the image on bare rubber? I�ve seen one way to do it but am not sure I want to go through the hassle of tissue paper/Tombow/vinyl. I don�t have many rubber stamps so it�s not an enormous job, but... lazy.
No, too much work! Not lazy, just more time for stamping.
Bare rubber stamp catagories
