How does an addict organize and store so many stamp sets???

[iml8agn]

I am in search of the best way to store and organize my stamps. I've tried doing it by name and that worked for a bit but didn't feel right. Then I tried to sort them by the catagories they use in the SU catalog. That didn't work either...so I'm putting this out there to see what you all have found that works. Thanks in advance-

Sincerely-
Lost in my stamps :confused:

[Heidi Kimmerly]

I'm a demo so I have mine sorted by the ones that are retired, the ones that are from the minis and then the ones that are current. I write the name of the set on white paper w/ a black sharpie that I have taped on to the side of the box and I have them all standing up the same way by height. It makes it easy to find the ones I am looking for.

[Heidi Kimmerly]

I'm a demo so I have mine sorted by the ones that are retired, the ones that are from the minis and then the ones that are current. I write the name of the set on white paper w/ a black sharpie that I have taped on to the side of the box and I have them all standing up the same way by height. It makes it easy to find the ones I am looking for.

[Joan B]

I write the name of every set in big letters on the box. I put them alphabetically. Only way that works for me. I pretty much know my collection inside and out~~

[Beth D]

I am a demo,too. I use white or vanilla cardstock and a 3 ring binder. Each time I get a new set, I stamp the whole set on cardstock and put the name of the set under the pictures, I also put the catalogue year & page number and I note if it gets retired right on the page. I note if it was a Sell-A-Bration set or special exclusive set that is no longer available....I can usually fit 2-3 sets on one sheet and you can use both sides...then I put the label on the box and store them all alphabetically. When I am looking for ideas, I pull out my notebook and flip through the pages...when I see something I like, I just go find the box from my alphabetized stacks in the cabinet I use...That has made my life so much easier, I actually got that idea from here at SCS on the demo forum...I wish I could remember who gave the idea, I would love to thank them;)
Good Luck

[stampnangel]

I recently just sorted mine and have them sorted kinda by the catalog sections. I have a floral/nature, holidays/seasons, birthday, backgrounds, alphas, words.

[dianerh]

Maybe this seems too odd, but mine are unmounted and in CD towers. I honestly keep them in the order I get them (except for alphas and Limited Editions). In my mind I remember if a set is old, new, etc. So it's easy to remember how far back it should be. Plus I have a notebook "index" for them (see other thread somewhere) so I can flip thru that. I can start at the beginning, middle or toward the end based on how recently I acquired the set.

Odd? Maybe but it works for me! ;-)

[nabush]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beth D

I am a demo,too. I use white or vanilla cardstock and a 3 ring binder. Each time I get a new set, I stamp the whole set on cardstock and put the name of the set under the pictures, I also put the catalogue year & page number and I note if it gets retired right on the page. I note if it was a Sell-A-Bration set or special exclusive set that is no longer available....I can usually fit 2-3 sets on one sheet and you can use both sides...then I put the label on the box and store them all alphabetically. When I am looking for ideas, I pull out my notebook and flip through the pages...when I see something I like, I just go find the box from my alphabetized stacks in the cabinet I use...That has made my life so much easier, I actually got that idea from here at SCS on the demo forum...I wish I could remember who gave the idea, I would love to thank them;)
Good Luck

I do almost the same thing, except I have them all stored in a large 5x8 index card box. It is nice to be able to go through this instead of pulling out each of my stamp sets!!

Nancy

[APandi]

Keeping them in alphabetical order works for me but I do keep the background stamps in their own section and just recently started putting sets with words only in their own section. Saw a stamp room on SCS where a shelf had been put all around the room, low enough to reach but high enough to be out of the way and the stamps were set upright. Hope that makes sense.

Andi

[cdjkssss]

I have all of my current sets alphabetically on my shelves. The retired sets are on a different shelf, but not in any particular order. I have a label maker which I use to put the names on them - black on white is much easier to read than the labels that come with them.

I also use round colored stickers on some of the boxes. Red for retired; blue for 'in limbo' (i.e. past mini that may or may not be in the next IB&C), yellow for hostess or current mini or SAB. When the retirement list and new IB&C come out, all I have to do is add red stickers to the retireds and take off some of the blue stickers when past mini stuff makes it to the big catty.

[ninatar]

I am not a demo, and I keep my SU! stamps in the plastic boxes, stacked by the size of the box with the description label facing me, the non-SU! mounted stamps in ArtBin containers by theme - asian, butterflies, dragonflies, architecture, tea, greek and roman, daVinci. And the unmounted in CD cases with an index stamped on the outside (it's hard to see an unmounted stamps image otherwise, especially writing...)

Nina

[Cat]

I am not a demo. I keep my sets mounted (except for alphas), and sort by category; I made my own: background, sentiment sets, angel policy, holiday, all others. Then, alphabetically. My alpha sets are all in CD cases (I use Aileen's TIO&O), then alpha by company & name.

It's the easiest way for me to find what I'm looking for. But, I have fewer than 75 sets.

I plan to stamp all my sentiments (even those in mixed sets) on a large sheet of cardstock, and post in my stamping storage room so I'll know what I have at a glance, and where to find it. But, I just haven't done it yet.

[stamp_cat]

I too keep mine in CD cases on shelves. Each shelf or two for a company and then each shelf alphabetically ordered. I also have a binder with pages for occasions- bday, thanks, masculine etc etc.. and I stamp each set when I get it on the appropriate pages. I dunno call me weird but the organization is fun to me? go figure!! ;)

[cincimom]

For those with large collections... If you keep your stamps on shelves, do you stack the boxes on top of each other? How do you keep them from toppling when you pull on out? I just doubled my stamp collection (from a very kind former demo) and I don't know how to store all of these stamps.

[pigfingers]

I am not a demo anymore and bravely and a little painstakenly divvied up the stamps to their approrpriate category last year (yes I divided up sets, oh the horror).

All the sentiments came out and are together. I use them SO much more now.
Categorized, all birthday together, all Christmas, all occasion, wedding, baby.

I put all the stamps that had flowers together and all the birthday together all baby, all just leaves together.

Shapes all together. All kids together. Animals together. Hearts together.

I can't tell you how freeing it is. The other day DD and I made valentines and she wanted animals. BAM, two boxes went on the table. The animals and the hearts. No rustling around, no looking through books or indexes. I had every heart stamp I own in a box and every animal stamp.

There you go, another way. Not for the faint of heart, LOL but works for me.

[mytime]

My stamp sets are on open shelves above my work space. I organize by sentiments, backgrounds, flowers, baby, wedding, kids....you get the picture. No special order to the stack. I have the labels facing out so I can find what I want fast! LOL!

Retired sets are on a seperate open shelf.
I'm a Demo, so after a mini is done I put those "pending" sets on another section.
My unmounted sets are stored in a DVD holder, also on a shelf. I use SU clear boxes (the ones the sets come in) to store other brands of stamps, like Michaels, inky antics and what not. I label them as well.

[iml8agn]

Thank you so much. I am definately going to begin the task of bringing order to my stamping chaos! I actually think I am going to combine a few of the ideas together. I was thinking of doing the binder idea in conjuction with the making a section for the binder that would show froups for a quick reference. i.e. all of my words and phrases from different set, flowers, animals, sports, shapes, etc. This will take me forever, I'm sure, but in the long run it will make my life easier. That's the goal at least. Then for storing the sets, I think the alphabetical route will work best for me. I would love to hear any other ideas that people have these are fabulous! THanks!:-D

[KimberlyinMN]

Prior to unmounting my stamps, I had them sorted by categories in drawers on my stamp cabinet. Holidays, Snowmen, Babies, Cats, Dogs, Bears, People, Backgrounds, Flowers, Solids, Borders, Thank you, Friends, Birthday, Wedding/Anniversary, etc. I had a couple of "catch-all" drawers labeled "Cute Stuff" because they didn't really fit with any of the other categories. I also have a program on my computer and PDA with a listing of all of the stamps by set with the number of stamps per set. (And all of my individual non-set stamps are listed as well.)

Now that they are unmounted, I'm still working on how I want to catalog the stamps for viewing purposes. Currently they are in CD cases in sets for those purchased as sets and then by category for the individual stamps. I have a cover insert for each of the CDs with the images of the stamps on it with a label on the spine for the company/set name or the category. If a set uses two CDs, then I have a 1 of 2 on one and 2 of 2 on the other. For the individual stamp categories, I don't have the CDs numbered like the sets because I will probably always be adding on so having a 1 of 2 CDs might be obselete in a month or two because I may end up with 3 or more CDs for that category. (By the way, this paragraph makes sense in my MIND, but to anyone else it might just be a jumble of words. ;))

Kimberly

[stagccva]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heidi Kimmerly

I'm a demo so I have mine sorted by the ones that are retired, the ones that are from the minis and then the ones that are current. I write the name of the set on white paper w/ a black sharpie that I have taped on to the side of the box and I have them all standing up the same way by height. It makes it easy to find the ones I am looking for.

I do this, but make labels with my label maker. I am currently making a binder with "pics" of each set - as I pull a set out to use it I stamp every image on a piece of paper, note whether it is retired or not, and am putting it in a notebook so I don't have to root thru the sets to find one particular stamp. Also, my holiday sets are separate all together (by holiday I mean Christmas) and they are also separated by retired/not.

To keep a running total of what sets I have, how/where I got them (bought ot traded), and when I have an Excel spreadsheet. It has different tabs - one for stamp sets, one for wheel, and one for supplies. That way I can track how often I go thru stuff, when the last time I ordered, etc. It helps to not forget little things when I put in an order (like more dimensionals, stampin mist - whatever).

[StampinOma]

I've been reading a book about organization and it suggests that you go with a system that goes with how you think. For example if you were filing business cards and you are bad about remembering names you might file a business card for a plumber you used under "P" for plumber rather than his name.

Just thought I would throw that out there as food for thought.

You'll love the notebook index. I use mine all the time. It's a great way to see all you have without pulling out all your stamps. You could just do a little each day and you will "get ur done" in no time.

[bonbonstamps]

I keep mine in the boxes they come in and shelve them on a bookcase alphabetically. I don't stack them because then you always seem to need the one of the bottom of the stack. To label them, I use the label that comes with the set and put that on the side of the box that will be showing (like the spine of a book). To make it easier to read, I put a small Avery return address label on the inside of the box behind the stamp set label. This makes the black letters show up better because they are now on a white background. I thought I was so clever when I thought of this, but then discovered many others had beaten me to it.:oops:

[bumpercropper]

StampinOma:
what is the name of the organization book that you read? It sounds like what I need!

Thanks!

[Happy Heart]

I store my cases on open shelves. I put cases together according to size, one on top of the other, in alphabetical order. I label them all using a label maker which makes them easier to identify. I also use a system of colored dots for different categories....pink for floral, brown for masculine, etc. I keep all my word sets separate, and recently took all my BG stamps (about 25 or 30!) out of their cases and store them by themselves. That saved a ton of room, and I'm using the extra cases for all my non-SU! single stamps.
I've always meant to index my sets in a binder, but I find I'd much rather stamp than spend time organizing! I do wish I'd done that from the beginning, though! It would make it much easier to remember where a particular stamp was than to try to look through hundreds of boxes![IMG]//www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/images/icons/icon11.gif[/IMG]

[StampinOma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bumpercropper

StampinOma:
what is the name of the organization book that you read? It sounds like what I need!

Thanks!

I'll PM you so I don't hijack this thread.

[laciann]

I have pics of them in a binder, so I can see what I am looking for, as close to Alpha order as possible. I store them on an open shelving unit...first by size so they stack nicely and then in alphabetical order. It works great for me. Have the names in labels on the side facing me. Must try using the colored dots!!!!

[martello]

I store my sets in those iris cart type things. I have them somewhat sorted according to catagory and also what fits in the drawer together. I have a binder with everything indexed in there and colored stickers on each page that correspond to the drawers. (One drawer per color) Then I have a colored sticker on each box that tells me where to put in away. I've tried alot of different methods, but I don't think titles and alphabetically, I think in terms of themes or types of stamps. My binder is basically organized like the catty. This is the only system I've been able to stick with and keep things neat. With everything else I dreaded putting things away and usually let it go till the my desk was covered.

[Donna Cook]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninatar

I am not a demo, and I keep my SU! stamps in the plastic boxes, stacked by the size of the box with the description label facing me, the non-SU! mounted stamps in ArtBin containers by theme - asian, butterflies, dragonflies, architecture, tea, greek and roman, daVinci. And the unmounted in CD cases with an index stamped on the outside (it's hard to see an unmounted stamps image otherwise, especially writing...)
Nina

thanks for this organizing tip! i am a demo, and I do the box size thing...it does get unorganized periodically, but I need to do the unmounted in the cd cases with an index....

[serialpurrs]

I am currently storing mine in plastic drawer units. Some are sorted by background, some by alphas and some are just put where I could find room for them.

However having just finalized my SAB/Winter Mini order and Spring Mini (To be submitted after March 1st) and between the two orders I'll need to find a different way. I think I will probably go with what I have already started ie backgrounds, alphas, flowers, sentiments etc. Seems like the best way to go for me.

[jeanstamping2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iml8agn

I am in search of the best way to store and organize my stamps. I've tried doing it by name and that worked for a bit but didn't feel right. Then I tried to sort them by the catagories they use in the SU catalog. That didn't work either...so I'm putting this out there to see what you all have found that works. Thanks in advance-

Sincerely-
Lost in my stamps :confused:

Well since most of my stamps are unmounted they take up less room.

I store all of them in Old style CD cases and have them in CD tower.
Right now I have 54 stamp set from TAC The Angel Company.

And then my Stampin Up! stamps I have in another corner of my stamp area. Right now I only have 15 sets.

And other wood mounted stamps I have them sitting on a wood shelf on my peg wall in my stamp room... there only about 20 of them.

[STAMPINGODDESS]

I use a label maker to add the stamp set's name to the side of the box and then store all of the sets, generally alphabetically in drawers from Store-N-Style (Target also sells modular storage that is similar) The exceptions to the alphabetcal rule are my background stamps, which are all together in one drawer, and my alphabet sets, which are also all together in one drawer-which happens to be the same drawer as the background stamp!

[annheidel]

I actually have TWO stamp index/inventory binders. One is basically an inventory with dividers by company (CTMH, SU, etc). I stamp the set in the next available spot and then write in the name, number, and any extra info (like hostess set, sellabration, etc). The other notebook has dividers by category. (Christmas, Halloween, love, nature, words, etc) In this one, I stamp each image in the categories where it fits. (can be multiple categories, like "Best Witches" would go in words and Halloween) Hope this makes sense and is helpful! It took me forever to do it initially, but now it's easy to keep up.