Friday, July 23, 2010

Friday Organization Tip: {stampers index} and giveaway!

So, one of the biggest problems I have as a crafter is knowing & {remembering} what supplies I have. This happens the most with ribbon, stamps, and embellishments. I will be showing you in the next couple of weeks different ways I have found to give myself {sample guides} of what I have. This weeks is {stamps!} I have a bunch of stamps and they are scattered amongst a couple of bins and baskets I have for them. They are pretty organized but I still would have to take all the bins down and look through them to place my eyeballs on each one.

Now I know it is not thrifty thursday anymore but this organizational tip is cheap and thrifty nonetheless. While I was out thrifting wednesday with my mom she was telling me all the alternative uses for these once adored flipper photo frames. I thought this one was so amazing I had to get it right to you all! So I bought one {there are a million of these everywhere at thrift stores} to make a stamp guide.

I got all my stamps out and started stamping 4x6 {the size of photos for the frame} sheets in themes. Like this Halloween page:
I also made notes on the pages before sliding them into the protectors about which bin the stamps were located in. You can see that above and in one of my Christmas {sheets} below:
The last step was to use my binder tab punch to make some tabs. I picked a nuetral paper because my craft area is in the public part of the apartment and stamped an image or saying from that theme's section on the tab. The tabs look like this:
Here is another page all devoted to {thank yous}:
Some variations:
  1. For those of you have more stamps than one or two of these could ever contain: Make one for each theme. A whole picture frame flipper of christmas, or sentiments.
  2. Those of you who stamp or create for design teams create these in themes of the company or designer who made them.
  3. Use a different ink color on each theme or sheet so you also end up with a stamping rolodex of your ink colors.
  4. If you have too many stamps to do this all in one day {which was a pain I admit} get the frame{s} and then add to them as you have your different stamp sets out until eventually they are all done.
Now for today's {giveaway} comment on how you would use this rolodex to organize your own stamp collection and I will draw a random comment for a {Stampology} set of extra large decorative tag stamps! Contest ends when next friday's Organizational tip post goes up.

Happy {stamping!}

15 comments:

  1. OMG...this is WONDERFUL!!!!!! I am just getting into stamping (joined Unity KOM) if I start this now, I will be set!!!! Thanks for ht tip!!!

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  2. No problem and good luck to all of you in the contest! Thanks so much for stopping by!

    Katrina: Aren't those Unity KOM's UH-MAZING!?

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  3. For my stamp collection, I'd probably need a dozen of these (sheesh!). I love the tabs, though, and I bet they'd be terrific! Thanks for the chance to win! :)

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  4. Thanks to you Kim...for stopping by!

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  5. Wow, I just found your blog and already I have a new storage idea. Thank you so very much for the inspiration,
    Burffrau @ aol dot com

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  6. Oh wow, yeh this is cute! I do something similar...but I stamp mine on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets and stuck in a binder..but I like this mini idea. I store my stamps in clear cd jewels so I think having a seperate mini album for each rack of stamps would be perfect..I have 2 currently...still organizing stamps so whooo knows

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  7. I like this idea, especially for small spaces. It would fit so nicely on the corner of a table or desk.

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  8. Great idea - I would use this for my Unity stamps which I'm having trouble organizing.

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  9. Oh this is a really really good idea......Thanks for sharing this tip.

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  10. This is an awesome idea. I already made binders and put all my stamps in them. I wish I would have separated them like you did. :(
    What about your clear stamps, how do you keep them? Are they in their same package or did you put them in a binder or what? I would love to know. Thanks for sharing.
    Jen (jenniferhogge07@yahoo.com)

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  11. @ Jen: Well the answer to that is two fold. When I first started buying them many many many moons ago it didn't even dawn on me to put them back on that little piece of plastic they come on. At the time I was mainly buying little stamps so I have a little basket of those. Now I put them back on their piece of plastic (the thick one with the outline of the stamp on it) and back in their packaging and slip them into bins by size. I have some clear craft plastic sheets (like transperencies only thicker) that I use for some see through peek a boo cards and I will place some of my clear stamps that didnt have good solid packaging to begin with on that. It appears to be about what is used in the stamp packaging usually and then slide that into a page protector in a binder. I love the stamper index because not only do I get to see them all but I left myself little notes of where they are (brown bin #2 or stamp binder page #4) Which has been a big help! thanks for the great question!

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  12. What a fantastic idea. I am new to stamping and I have been buying stamps whenever I see a deal so I have so many I have forgot about. Thank you for sharing.

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