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I don't have a lot of stamps. I think around two hundred general stamps. I probably own most of House Mouse though. Most of my stamps are unmounted. I keep them in pretty decorator boxes. I just recently organized my craft room again. I went from three pretty decorator boxes to six! It was taking me forever to find anything. All this week I have been unmounting some stamps, organizing and purging. I have all my general stamps in one box, organized by categories. I have my House Mouse in a separate box. I keep all my alpha stamps in another one.
I feel so much better. I would like to purge some more but with stamps I just don't know where to begin. I have over twenty floral stamps so I am thinking I might have a flower problem.
Thank you everyone for sharing your ideas here. Does anyone have a good storage system for paper? How to sort and categorize it, and also how to store it......any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Thank you everyone for sharing your ideas here. Does anyone have a good storage system for paper? How to sort and categorize it, and also how to store it......any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I've done two different things in the past. I had a bunch of clear acrylic paper sorter - used in offices. I just hung them all on the wall and I could see exactly what I had as they were sorted by color. They are expensive though. I also file mine by colors with a little tab of that color showing. It's more handy than having to get up and go get the paper, you can just reach down in the drawer and grab what you need. Just some thoughts....
I don't have a lot of stamps. I think around two hundred general stamps. I probably own most of House Mouse though. Most of my stamps are unmounted. I keep them in pretty decorator boxes. I just recently organized my craft room again. I went from three pretty decorator boxes to six! It was taking me forever to find anything. All this week I have been unmounting some stamps, organizing and purging. I have all my general stamps in one box, organized by categories. I have my House Mouse in a separate box. I keep all my alpha stamps in another one.
I feel so much better. I would like to purge some more but with stamps I just don't know where to begin. I have over twenty floral stamps so I am thinking I might have a flower problem.
Honey, you do not have a flower problem. Talk to me when you have 200 floral stamps. Each one has something unique and special, so one must keep them ALL!
Location: I live since 2004 in Bali, living in Paradise
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Thanks for all your advice, it is really very much appreciated! The only thing is I have too much stuff.!! When I was still living in australia 6 years ago, I had a teaching studio, Everything was available to my students to work with, my DH insisted that I took all my stuff with me, for which I am now very thankful. Living in Bali, means that you have to have maids and gardener,driver this is a condition of the retirement visa, giving work to the poor balinese people, that ,s why I have lots of leisure time, What would I have done without my hobbies!!
I moved across the country about a year ago and did a purge right after while setting up my new space - the local stamp store had a big sale that we could join in - I made $250 in gift certs to the store - I figure it was 'recycling' my craft money and I have LOVED having the money to spend on new treats I want!
Now I have cleaned again and REALLY have purged things I haven't used in a long while, if ever. I have a huge pile to sell again (its a spring and then a fall sale)
I also have a new philosophy to buying - I love the holiday time and do a ton of cards/ paper crafting for that and also for birthdays. I rarely use the stamps that don't go to one of those purposes, so I have kept a few for sympathy, get well, anniversary, but otherwise new purchases are only for the 2 mentioned purposes. It has really stopped me from buying things that will just sit around waiting for the next garage sale
I personally have a bad habit of impulse buying supplies for a certain project and then never get around to that project. By the time I come across the stuff in my supplies (like a year later) I can't remember why I purchased it :( Then it goes out to the yardsale!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
I actually decided I needed to get rid of stamps this summer, but it hurt cause I kept thinking what if I need them. Now, mind you, I am Miss Stingy, and I have never spent full price for anything--if it isn't on sale/sell or I can't get it at a garage sale than I don't need it. But still, I had a lot of stamps--at least I thought so. However, after reading some of your posts, I didn't have so many--giggle. Anyway, my children came for a little (I don't know if you can call 6 children and their mates and 14 little grand-babies a small group) family reunion. This gave me the push I needed. I boxed up all the stamps I haven't used, and on the day my daughters and DIL were doing crafting while the daddies entertained the little people. I brought out the box and told my girls to help themselves. Now, I knew that I had to do something in an-orderly fashion or one person would get all their favorite stamps and another would get the left overs. My solution I had them draw a number. Of course number one got first choice and so on. After the older girls got what they wanted via the number system, then they could just pick through them and chose what they wanted form the left overs. Still not every stamp was picked. At this point, I let my grandchildren go through the box. After the little people were satisfied with their "treasures". And believe it or not, I still had some stamps nobody wanted. Anything that was not chosen went to DI (our local thrift store). I didn't have to feel guilty because everybody was happy, and I had a clean craft room, which I might add, lasted a whole day before I messed it up again--that's another story--giggle.
Anyway, just thought I would share with you, and also proof that I do clean my craft room once a year even if it doesn't need it(who am I kidding?).
My friend and I are organizing a community-wide yard sale in our little neighborhood and I am really looking forward to purging through my craft supplies, closets, junk drawers and attic! The yard sale is next month, so I really need to get to work!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
I personally have a bad habit of impulse buying supplies for a certain project and then never get around to that project. By the time I come across the stuff in my supplies (like a year later) I can't remember why I purchased it :( Then it goes out to the yardsale!
ABSOLUTELY!! I understand! I do the same with recipes - I'll think that one sounds good, put the ingredients on my list, get them home, and then I have no idea what I was going to make; in fact, I look at the ingred. I purchased and wonder what I was thinking? I guess this comes under the category of TMI!!. Nothing in particular to do with stamping, except for the good ideas and lost, forgotten projects taking up space in my stamp room. And in my forgetful brain!
ABSOLUTELY!! I understand! I do the same with recipes - I'll think that one sounds good, put the ingredients on my list, get them home, and then I have no idea what I was going to make; in fact, I look at the ingred. I purchased and wonder what I was thinking? I guess this comes under the category of TMI!!. Nothing in particular to do with stamping, except for the good ideas and lost, forgotten projects taking up space in my stamp room. And in my forgetful brain!
I guess it tends to spill over into other areas of our life, not just craft or hobby related, LOL! For example, a few years ago we started to remodel our bathroom and put down new vinyl flooring and I started to pull off the wall paper. Well, I never completely removed the wallpaper because I could not make up my mind on how to finish off the bathroom - what color to paint, border or no border, theme or no theme.....now a few years later and the bathroom is still not finished but I have purchased 2 different borders, picked up dozens of paint chips, bought a new shower curtain and rugs, and also have a new picture and shelf to hang....in several different themes!!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
I guess it tends to spill over into other areas of our life, not just craft or hobby related, LOL! For example, a few years ago we started to remodel our bathroom and put down new vinyl flooring and I started to pull off the wall paper. Well, I never completely removed the wallpaper because I could not make up my mind on how to finish off the bathroom - what color to paint, border or no border, theme or no theme.....now a few years later and the bathroom is still not finished but I have purchased 2 different borders, picked up dozens of paint chips, bought a new shower curtain and rugs, and also have a new picture and shelf to hang....in several different themes!!
LOVE THIS!!! A soulmate in indecision!! I have various dabs of different colored paint on my bathroom walls, nice towels and accessories for whatever I decide on, but after 3-4 years I have decided on nothing.
I use vertical storage for paper and card stock, whenever possible. I have a bunch of Iris carts with drawers, which horizontally contain collections and the embellishments that go with them, though, just cause. The best things I have are vertical storage file carts - I believe they are from Cropper Hopper. Then, the vertical storage plastic things sold at Michaels, and other places, will work for vertical storage as well. You can line these up on a shelf and find what you want without the corner damage that most horizontal, drawer-storage containers sometimes cause. Horizontal drawers have their uses; alcohol inks, ink pads, tools, markers, brass stencils, etc.
GOOD LUCK!! Let me know how you decide to sort your paper/cardstock. I sort mine by color sometimes, and by collection other times, which can be confusing!
LOVE THIS!!! A soulmate in indecision!! I have various dabs of different colored paint on my bathroom walls, nice towels and accessories for whatever I decide on, but after 3-4 years I have decided on nothing.
GOOD LUCK!! Let me know how you decide to sort your paper/cardstock. I sort mine by color sometimes, and by collection other times, which can be confusing!
Thanks for the suggestions and I have really enjoyed chatting with you! I thought I was totally alone in the bathroom remodel that has lasted like 4 years so far and still not completed! It drives my hubby nuts - silently of course - but I know it bugs him, LOL!
Good luck with your bathroom!! I am leaning towards a beachy theme (this year)....LOL!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
You all have inspired me! I just filled two large plastic totes with mostly paper, some misc. tools, etc and will take to my church for use in various programs. It feels wonderful! I had so much 12x12 paper - and I make cards, so just don't use much of that size because the scale is usually too large.
It was funny though, because I started out with the "keep" pile larger than the "donate" pile, but kept going back and pulling more out to donate.
Thanks for the encouragement, all!
__________________ Accountant by Day, Scrapper by Night
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McDeb
You all have inspired me! I just filled two large plastic totes with mostly paper, some misc. tools, etc and will take to my church for use in various programs. It feels wonderful! I had so much 12x12 paper - and I make cards, so just don't use much of that size because the scale is usually too large.
It was funny though, because I started out with the "keep" pile larger than the "donate" pile, but kept going back and pulling more out to donate.
Thanks for the encouragement, all!
Hi,
I still have not started, I do not know where to begin. when I look at it, I think to-morrow etc.
Hi,
I still have not started, I do not know where to begin. when I look at it, I think to-morrow etc.
I wrote a reply in another forum that might help. Most important: SET A TIME LIMIT AND STICK TO IT!!! Do NOT work past your time limit. Don't say,"I'll get all my stamps organized today", but instead, "I'll work on gathering my stamps together today, for 60 minutes." If you still have time within your 60 min., you could start with Alpha stamps. Then maybe next 60 minute session, work on Animal stamps, etc.
Keep me posted
Go to "Ever Thought of Just Chucking It?", and scroll down - there are actually lots of other posts there that may help also.
Hi,
I still have not started, I do not know where to begin. when I look at it, I think to-morrow etc.
YES!! My thoughts exactly! All of my scrappy stuff is intermingled and I often pull out a pack of paper and find a stamp set I had not seen in months! So, I think what I am going to need to do is take everything scrappy related and pull it out into the living room floor and sort it into paper, stamps, tools, embellishments, etc..... with a yard sale box in the middle for stuff I have not used in years.
And since the yard sale has a definite date, I have a goal to work towards which should help me!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
I love organizing. Am I crazy? I have a stamp cabinet built by my DH. I separate all my stamps by theme--flowers, trees, leaves, shells/feathers, snowflakes/suns/moons/stars, ethnic, transportation, buildings/architecture, hearts/Valentines, Christmas, birthday(cakes, candles, gifts, bows), Halloween, St. Pat's, Baby, graduation, wedding, textures, backgrounds, and three drawers of greetings. All these sections have sub-sections, if necessary, and are repackaged into clam shell boxes that stack two high in the drawers. I do write the stamp set they came from on the end of the wood mount. I don't want to mess with mounting a stamp each time I use it, so I carefully mount it on the wood, so that positioning is easy and I'm always ready to go. If I didn't have this cabinet, I would use one of the many drawered systems available and do the same thing. This is all the storage for stamps I have, so when they don't fit, I purge those that I haven't used in a long time or don't like anymore. I purge immediately when I buy a new set if there are stamps I don't want right away. For paper I use two large file drawers under my work table--also built by DH, but if I didn't have that, I would still use file drawers. Inside I use accordion file folders from Levenger that have 12 sections each with tabs on each section that can be labeled. I arrange by ROYGBIV, so can easily move and re-label as necessary. I have a small craft room and love working in it as everything has a place and I know where it is and can easily find what I need. The bottom line is, you must glean from all the great ideas here and find what works for you. I learned a few new things by reading this thread, so thanks to all!
I am thinking that I can use those milk crate cube things and get 12 x 12 folders to stick in them to sort my paper. I am going to look for those to try. I have several of those plastic drawer towers and I need to empty them out and start with a fresh organization plan for my stamps, tools and embellies.
I am hesitant about breaking down my SU stamp sets to store them individually by theme, and plan to store them standing up in their clam shells on a shelf. So I need to come up with a way to remember what stamps I have, maybe start an index binder. It will be extra work to create, but I think it will save me time in the long run.
Thanks for all the great tips!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Location: I live since 2004 in Bali, living in Paradise
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I still have not started, have visitors, cannot do a thing! After 13th.September I will make a start. It is here written in black and white, so I really have to make a start. Where shall I begin first??? I have no idea.!
jeanne3579- I organize the way you do. I loved reading your post. I love organizing too. Don't make the mistake I did and organize when your sick & upset. Big No No. I love to look through Flickr, magazines & books for craft rooms.
I finally got all my stamps unmounted yesterday. It feels so good. I decluttered the ones I don't want any more and have already let them go.
I have my stamps organized the way you do. I even made sub-categories like my animal stamps I have horses, ladybugs, butterfies, etc... Fantasy: Mermaids, Fairies, Gnomes, Castles, etc...
Every time I buy something new I purge. I do the ROYGBIV thing too with my paper and a lot of my other crafting items. Designer Paper is in categories like music, fantasy, flowers, animals, etc.. Specialty paper has their own categories too.
Oh wow that sounds so like me, wouldn't have thought anyone else did that! If I see a tutorial using stuff I don't have I then buy it - usually from ebay or the UK or US (I live in Aussie) which takes a few weeks to arrive and by then I've forgotten why I purchased it. Gotta stop doing that.
EELS
I still have not started, have visitors, cannot do a thing! After 13th.September I will make a start. It is here written in black and white, so I really have to make a start. Where shall I begin first??? I have no idea.!
My starting plan is to drag everything out of my scrappy area and if it is out dated and has not been touched in years or I can not remember why I bought it, then it will get tossed into the yard sale bin. Then when I have my stuff purged and sorted out into categories then I will decide on a storage system that will best work for my space and the stuff I am keeping...hopefully in the process, I will find my desk and a permanent place to set up my Cricut That's my plan in black and white - verbalized - so now I have to do it!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
I love love love to organize. I think I spend more time organizing that scrapbooking. I need to purge too. I have mine all unmounted and in cd cases by sets but there are some that just need to go bye bye. I plan on doing it the last week of Aug. The hard part is I feel bad getting rid of them after spending the money on them. How do I feel better about that part. Oh the guilt! Thanks, Jaime
__________________ Jaime Clemens
Blog:jaimescraftroom.blogspot.com
Website:Funstampersjourney.com/492
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I would love to do this, but I just can't seem to break up my sets! I'd like to keep them in the clamshells still, but maybe I will break up any all occasions sets. I also have some that are tags...to be use with the tag punch. I forget about those all the time. So I may break up a few sets.
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
I can't bring myself to breaking up sets either.......and it also bothers me to get rid of supplies that I paid full price for when I bought them.
I am taking a tip from the TV show Clean House and the money I make at my yard sale will go towards organization supplies for my craft/computer room. I will feel soo much better with a clean and organized space to enjoy my crafting, and if that means giving up some of my stuff to make that happen, then I think it will be a fair trade
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
jeanne3579- I organize the way you do. I loved reading your post. I love organizing too. Don't make the mistake I did and organize when your sick & upset. Big No No. I love to look through Flickr, magazines & books for craft rooms.
I finally got all my stamps unmounted yesterday. It feels so good. I decluttered the ones I don't want any more and have already let them go.
I have my stamps organized the way you do. I even made sub-categories like my animal stamps I have horses, ladybugs, butterfies, etc... Fantasy: Mermaids, Fairies, Gnomes, Castles, etc...
Every time I buy something new I purge. I do the ROYGBIV thing too with my paper and a lot of my other crafting items. Designer Paper is in categories like music, fantasy, flowers, animals, etc.. Specialty paper has their own categories too.
I make the sub categories as well for animals, flowers etc. just like you do. Think we would be at home in each other's craft rooms. Want to come play?
My starting plan is to drag everything out of my scrappy area and if it is out dated and has not been touched in years or I can not remember why I bought it, then it will get tossed into the yard sale bin. Then when I have my stuff purged and sorted out into categories then I will decide on a storage system that will best work for my space and the stuff I am keeping...hopefully in the process, I will find my desk and a permanent place to set up my Cricut That's my plan in black and white - verbalized - so now I have to do it!
This is exactly what we did when I helped my friend reorganize her craft room. She was surprised how often she found 3 of the same thing (all unused) hidden away here and there. It took a full week and we could have done more, but that's all the time we had. She was pleased that she could actually use the nice-sized room she was unable to craft in before.
I sold some of my sets on the BST forum, but I'm lazy so it is all going to Goodwill. I just smile and hope that some lucky Goodwill shopper gets a great deal! It is just a small donation on my part. Now, back to my cleaning.
I'm sorry, and not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but my first reaction was "nnnnnnnooooooooooo" (said in slow motion)! The purging isn't the problem, that's good, if you like it. It's just that I can't bear the thought of good SU stamps going to Goodwill when there are plenty of us SCSers who would love a shot at them, and would give you good money to spend on new goodies.
Ok everyone, I need your advice. It might be hard without pictures but I'll give it a try.
I am also purging my craft room. I have aboout 300 stamp sets, no that number is not a typo, that I need to sell. I actually have more than that but was getting over whelmed so decided to stop there and then I could have another sale later if this went well. They are unmounted on ez foam cling. All are in perfect condition. My question is how much do I sell them for? Let's see if I can describe them. They are in cd cases, so some take 2 cases and some are singles. So I was thinking the full sets a price the med a price and the singles a price.
What do you think? And what do you think is a reasonable price? I was going to have a craft/garage sale and put it in the paper and before I did that I would let my friends have first pick.
I figure you gals are right, if I make some money from my investment I will feel better and I can buy new goodies and or better organize.
Thanks, Jaime
__________________ Jaime Clemens
Blog:jaimescraftroom.blogspot.com
Website:Funstampersjourney.com/492
Barbara Jay - what do you mean? I don't want to jump to conclusions but I'm sincere in my question. I'm not trying to sell them here on the board. I guess I should have added that I'm planning a craft/garage sale in a couple of weeks because of this large purging that I'm doing. I'm not sure if I should do a whole garage sale though. I would rather do something like a Friday night from 4-7 or a saturday for a few hours. Jaime
__________________ Jaime Clemens
Blog:jaimescraftroom.blogspot.com
Website:Funstampersjourney.com/492
I love all crafts, so my room is filled with all types of stuff!
I have boxes of stamps to get rid of and I don't blame someone for taking them to Goodwill. I have spent hours trying to sell stuff here on SCS only to get rid of one set. I just don't have the time. I debated just selling some as a big lot on CL.
Love the ideas of places to donate too. I'm going to do some research in my community. I also go to Jazzercise with several teachers, so maybe they could use stuff or have teacher friends that could.
Now to get moving on cleaning up my mess!
I laughed at the comments about forgetting what you bought it for! I so resemble that comment. Or you make one and hate it some much you give up on the other 3 you planned to make.
Barbara Jay - what do you mean? I don't want to jump to conclusions but I'm sincere in my question. I'm not trying to sell them here on the board. I guess I should have added that I'm planning a craft/garage sale in a couple of weeks because of this large purging that I'm doing. I'm not sure if I should do a whole garage sale though. I would rather do something like a Friday night from 4-7 or a saturday for a few hours. Jaime
I just thought it was very interesting what people are keeping and what they have decided to get rid of. It will help me to know what not to buy that I won't use much .
I have to learn from other's mistakes I don't have time in one life time to make ALL of them myself :lol::lol:
Sometimes I feel like I do more organizing than crafting! I have been purging stuff. Somedays I can rid of stuff and other days I can't. Does this happen to you?
Ok everyone, I need your advice. It might be hard without pictures but I'll give it a try.
What do you think? And what do you think is a reasonable price? I was going to have a craft/garage sale and put it in the paper and before I did that I would let my friends have first pick.
Thanks, Jaime
My LSS hosts a cardmaking and scrapbook supply yardsale at the store twice each year and each person brings all of the gently used stuff they want to sell with the prices marked on it all and whatever gets sold equals store credit for the person who brought it in.
When I take stuff there to sell, I mark it really cheap in hopes it will sell so I can earn store credit for new stuff. I price individual stamps at 25cents up to $2 for the large background stamps. On complete sets, I usually price them around $5 each set, unless it is a large set then it will be $8. Cricut cartridges usually sell for $25 at the yardsale.
My yardsale here at home is set for next month, it's a community wide yardsale so hoping it will draw a good crowd. I plan to price my stuff really cheap so I do not have to bring it back into the house which defeats the purpose or purging, LOL!
Good Luck with your yardsale!!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Sometimes I feel like I do more organizing than crafting! I have been purging stuff. Somedays I can rid of stuff and other days I can't. Does this happen to you?
I totally understand! Some days I have to hold on to every little scrap of paper no matter how small it is - other days I am tossing stuff in boxes to give away or sell. It's weird!
__________________ ~ Jaime ~ New Stampin' Up Demonstrator!
Matt 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
