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A friend recently gave me a lot of old wood-mounted Stampin' Up sentiment sets and I'm torn between keeping the sets together and splitting them up so they're easier to find. The sets consist of assorted sentiments that span a variety of holidays and occasions. I don't know how I'll know to look at a specific set for an Easter sentiment, if I just have assorted sets stacked on my shelf .
How do others deal with this? I've never split sets up in the past but I'm spending way too much time rummaging through all my different stamp sets to find one that I want to use. Most of my stamps are clear stamps, but I have a lot of really old SU sets as well. The SU sets aren't being used much because I don't know what I have.
The images aren't as much of a problem, but it's the sentiments I can't ever find. Help!
Karen
I unmounted the majority of my wood-mounted stamps a few years ago, and continue to do so with any recent acquisitions. I find new-to-me “old” sets regularly through Facebook marketplace, so continue to add to my collection. Sentiments in particular are divided up by category, such as thank you, birthday, sympathy, valentine/love/anniversary/wedding, scripture verses, encouragement, etc. I find it to be much more practical than going through multiple boxes or pouches looking for an appropriate sentiment. Image stamps are for the most part also divided into categories and subcategories, such as flowers, then subcategories of roses, tulips, peonies, springtime blooms, etc. Spines of dvd-type boxes are color coded by category to make it easy to find any given category more easily, such as Christmas stamps have red spines, masculine/woodsy/outdoors/sports stamps have brown spines, florals have pink spines, Easter stamps have yellow spines, etc. For the stamps that are in pouches, or clear envelopes, or sandwich bags, stored in a bin, they will eventually be color coded in a similar way, probably by placing stamps on laminated colored cardstock to fit the pouches.
Hi Ozarkstamper,
I also unmounted a lot of my old wood mounted stamps some years back but left almost all of my SU ones on the blocks. I only unmounted the large background ones that were so difficult to use. I have a few sets of the tiny ones that I wish I hadn't unmounted, because using them with my Misti is such a pain. I should have left those on the small wood blocks.
I LOVE the idea of color coding your stamps by theme. Why haven't I ever done that? It would be so easy, and make it much faster to find my holiday stamps etc. Thanks for your input.
Karen
I use Evernote to catalog my stamps. If there are sentiments in a set, I list them in the description. When I search for a keyword, all of the sets with that word will show in the results. I also take a picture or find one on hte internet. That way I can see exactly what the stamp looks like. I number all the boxes/envelopes where I store my stamps, and I can find what I'm looking for in less than half a minute.
My old WM sentiment stamps are sorted by theme, each category in its own box: birthday, thank you, holidays, and a few tossed in together called assorted like anniversary & sympathy.
I use Evernote to catalog my stamps. If there are sentiments in a set, I list them in the description. When I search for a keyword, all of the sets with that word will show in the results.
I'm just starting to do this too - I have everything tagged by themes, but having the sentiments also typed out makes the searching so much faster.
I have master indexes in 3 ring binders...so all Bday are together no matter what their format. They have a little note that tells me where to look for them. The exception is sentiments in sets...like floral sets. I got them for the flowers not the sentiments so I have not been good about cross referencing those. But I do have an index for mixed sets.
Having said that-I did just unmount some SU wood sets. I am in the process of unmounting as much wood as I can-but there are a couple of brands I refuse to do it to-like PSX. (I am culling at the same time)
The reason I was dragging my feet on unmounting was about re-sale and wood mount sells for more generally. I changed how I look at my stuff though so now it is ok with me.
__________________ Margot
I am a proud fan club member
I use Evernote to catalog my stamps. If there are sentiments in a set, I list them in the description. When I search for a keyword, all of the sets with that word will show in the results. I also take a picture or find one on hte internet. That way I can see exactly what the stamp looks like. I number all the boxes/envelopes where I store my stamps, and I can find what I'm looking for in less than half a minute.
I've heard about people using Evernote to catalogue stamps but am not familiar with it. That being said, i ended up just making spread sheets with sentiment themes, the mfg and name of the sets. I'll just work on it a bit at a time, and started with my wood mounted SU sets. I'm hoping this helps me use my sets more efficiently.
One bonus of cataloguing my sentiments, is that I found a lot of stamps I didn't even know I had! So it's almost as if I went shopping for new stamps and supplies..yay!
Karen
I probably won't break up my wood sets into themes but I do think I'll pull out the stamps that I won't use and put them away. Later I might even let them go. If I get really brave, I *might* try unmounting my wood stamps that I keep.
I probably won't break up my wood sets into themes but I do think I'll pull out the stamps that I won't use and put them away. Later I might even let them go. If I get really brave, I *might* try unmounting my wood stamps that I keep.
As much as I can, I split up sets according to theme, when I store stamps and even a few dies. Birthday sentiments and sympathy sentiments just don’t need to stay together, and I make no effort to worry about whether a sentiment and image came together in a set. I don’t work this way with my clothes or yarn for knitting. I don’t see a reason for it in my paper crafting, either.
I recently began to put my stamp sets on Evernote, because a friend told me that one can search finding any word in the picture posted with the set name. Yay, a way to find those sentiments! But I have not found Evernote to be very intuitive as I try to create my inventory. Has anyone found a good tutorial or some kind of step by step for the program when used this way?
I created a workbook on my computer and all my stamps, by category, onto spreadsheets that I can search in an instant. It took me a bit of time to finish; but is such a time saver. I numbered each stamp set. If I need a particular sentiment, I open the “Sentiment” sheet, and all sentiments are listed alphabetically. It tells me the set number, set name, maker, and size.
I recently began to put my stamp sets on Evernote, because a friend told me that one can search finding any word in the picture posted with the set name. Yay, a way to find those sentiments! But I have not found Evernote to be very intuitive as I try to create my inventory. Has anyone found a good tutorial or some kind of step by step for the program when used this way?
I have the Evernote for Dummies book, and it's very good.
I definitely split up sentiment sets as I want all my Happy Birthday stamps together, etc. I also take the sentiments out of other sets (i.e. image sets).
__________________ Susan
My SCS gallery is here should you care to look! Or please visit my blog, Cardmaker's Garret.
I find my reminder binder works really well for my creative brain. I stamp everything into the binder by theme, and snuggled up to each image I write which set the image is found in, then I keep the sets together, which I vastly prefer. Any sets I've unmounted I keep in plastic boxes (happen to have a lot of old floppy disk cases which work pretty well). I have a Google doc which points me to the right container.
I'm with you, Kazeka; if I don't find a way to be able to easily reference all those marvelous sentiments I'll never use them. Using the reminder binder lets me see not only the sentiment, but the style of it, for better designing.
I have all my stamps listed on a Excel Wookbook. I have Spreadsheets indexed “Sentiments”, “Flowers and Plants”, “People” etc. My stamp sets are linked on the Spreadsheet to a photo of the stamp or set. I am a lazy stamper; so this allows me find the stamp I want to use while sitting on my computer.
If you want a computerized inventory you may want to look into Airtable. It allows you to inventory your stamps and other supplies in any way that works for you. You can customize your data and search for anything you desire. You can have the information available on your phone so you can easily log in and see if you have a similar stamp before you make a new purchase.
I find my reminder binder works really well for my creative brain. I stamp everything into the binder by theme, and snuggled up to each image I write which set the image is found in, then I keep the sets together, which I vastly prefer . . .
I'm with you, Kazeka; if I don't find a way to be able to easily reference all those marvelous sentiments I'll never use them. Using the reminder binder lets me see not only the sentiment, but the style of it, for better designing.
I have a very small collection of dies and even fewer embossing folders. I have those cataloged in Airtable. My stamps are currently cataloged in a binder. I've been happy with that for a long time but I think it's time I moved everything over to Airtable. It's just that the stamps are going to take me much longer to go through. And first I have to decided which themes to store them in and whether or not to remove them from their wood mounts. I wouldn't hesitate if there was an easy way to identify each tiny little piece of rubber without it's picture on the back.
I have all my stamps listed on a Excel Wookbook. I have Spreadsheets indexed “Sentiments”, “Flowers and Plants”, “People” etc. My stamp sets are linked on the Spreadsheet to a photo of the stamp or set. I am a lazy stamper; so this allows me find the stamp I want to use while sitting on my computer.
I've finally started to catalogue my sentiments in Excel, but I don't think I've referred to it even once since I set it up! At least I have a foundation, which I can add to, and a way to find my basic sentiment groups.
Karen
I have a very small collection of dies and even fewer embossing folders. I have those cataloged in Airtable. My stamps are currently cataloged in a binder. I've been happy with that for a long time but I think it's time I moved everything over to Airtable. It's just that the stamps are going to take me much longer to go through. And first I have to decided which themes to store them in and whether or not to remove them from their wood mounts. I wouldn't hesitate if there was an easy way to identify each tiny little piece of rubber without it's picture on the back.
I unmounted a lot of small stamps in the past, and now I wish I hadn't. The medium to large stamps were worth it, but the small ones are hard to use without the wooden mounts, and I find I don't bother to open my unmounted stamp binders to flip through for smaller images. I have some of the sets of tiny stamps by SU (1 inch wood mounts) that I never mounted, and I wish I had. So my advice is not to rush to unmount all your stamps, especially the really small ones.
I identify my unmounted stamps by stamping the image on cardstock, and putting them in the old magnetic photo album binders. The magnetic pages contain the stamped image on one side, and the unmounted rubber attaches to the back page. I use Aleene's tack it over and over on my unmounted rubber, unless it has EZ Mount on it. I have a LOT of bare, unmounted rubber that I bought 10 years ago or so, in 4 large binders. They are sorted by theme
Karen
Karen
I created a workbook on my computer and all my stamps, by category, onto spreadsheets that I can search in an instant. It took me a bit of time to finish; but is such a time saver. I numbered each stamp set. If I need a particular sentiment, I open the “Sentiment” sheet, and all sentiments are listed alphabetically. It tells me the set number, set name, maker, and size.
What a great idea to number my sets! I can easily do that with my wood mounted SU sets,because I keep them all in one area.
Karen
What a great idea to number my sets! I can easily do that with my wood mounted SU sets,because I keep them all in one area.
Karen
Yes, I like that idea, too!
My current stamp catalog is a binder with trading card pages. Images are stamped on a piece of cardstock and filed into their appropriate theme. It's nice to be able to refer to an exact image -- but the binder is becoming a bit unwieldy.
I have my stamped images marked with a letter A-M, telling me which drawer they are stored in. My stamps are currently in two old-style Iris/Sterilite(?) cart with removable drawers. I may keep my mounted stamps in one of the carts but I plan to move all my unmounted to clear envelopes and put them in bins on the closet shelf. I don't have a lot of supplies but I have very little space and need to condense whenever possible.
@Kazeka, I'm going to take your advice into consideration. I worry that I'll also be sorry if I unmount small stamps, especially those I can't easily identify by looking at the rubber. Earlier this year, I bought a bunch of Stampscapes unmounted stamps but haven't been able to use them. I just received a pack of EZ-mount so I have some work ahead of me. So much work that I keep putting it off. <sigh>
I too unmounted all my wood mount stamps. Whew! What a chore, but SO worth it for storage, and being organized. I have DVD cases labeled by theme on the case spine ie. Words-Happy Birthday, Words-Sympathy, etc. Love my labeler! You can see pictures of my "word inventory" on my Gallery page. Some of the non-Stampin' Up stamps are in the cases, but most are just stamped, with the name of the Stampin' Up set the stamp is in. The stamp sets are filed alphabetically on an amazing book shelf. I didn't break up my sets as the word fonts are sometimes very specific to the stamp set. I could not ever figure out the Evernote system (no techie here) so this system works so great for me. I just love it. Good luck with your organizing!
I too unmounted all my wood mount stamps. Whew! What a chore, but SO worth it for storage, and being organized. I have DVD cases labeled by theme on the case spine ie. Words-Happy Birthday, Words-Sympathy, etc. Love my labeler! You can see pictures of my "word inventory" on my Gallery page. Some of the non-Stampin' Up stamps are in the cases, but most are just stamped, with the name of the Stampin' Up set the stamp is in. The stamp sets are filed alphabetically on an amazing book shelf. I didn't break up my sets as the word fonts are sometimes very specific to the stamp set. I could not ever figure out the Evernote system (no techie here) so this system works so great for me. I just love it. Good luck with your organizing!
I just looked through your gallery at your organization. Love it! I have many cards all in one storage container, but they are not sorted. I like your sorting and labeling of your cards. Thanks for sharing your system.
I use ziplok plastic quart bags to sort my stamps into themes; Get Well, Thanks, Birthday, Baby, Easter, Halloween, Thinking of you, Asian, and a BIG plastic tub for way too much Christmas. My plan was to take all wood backed stamps apart, but I never did it and now i am VERY glad because it only takes nuking 4 seconds to take the rubber off and use it. When I'm done and have cleaned it, there is still enough sticky to join it to the wood again. Off the wood i am not good at guessing what the stamp is. Crazy Birds I separated into 6 zip locks, each with a bird and the accessories and such that belonged to him. It took me a very long time and cost me $150 and I have never used a single bird because by the time I got it all organized, the world was over-flowing with Crazy Birds. Maybe years from now I will again love a Crazy Bird. Now they just look really stupid to me.
I split my wood stamps from Stampin' Up! apart into some plastic totes I found years ago. I have them arranged by theme and the totes are all labeled. A year ago, I went through and got rid of all the stamps I knew I wouldn't use. I donated them to several nursing homes. They were thrilled to get them. I don't even know if I still have a complete set, but that is fine with me. I'm not planning to sell my stamps, so I find it easier to keep what I need and arrange them by theme.
__________________
"The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake--you can't learn anything from being perfect."
I could never break up a set. They have to stay together.
Me, too, so I use a reminder binder. I don’t forget about all the lovely sentiments, and little extra stamps, because they’re all recorded by theme in the binder, with the set name written next to them. It’s also a great way to see the images drawn by the same artist.
I created a binder just for my sentiments, divided by theme. I stamp the actual sentiment so I can see the size and shape when I am deciding what to use. They are marked by brand, name of set and type of stamp (rubber,/clear) so I can find it. This way I don't have to pull out all the stamps to see what I have. I put all my unmounted stamps in the empty cases that stamping up sells.
Do you break up old wood mounted sentiment sets?
Excel to the Rescue
