Organizing Clear and Unmounted Stamps

Crafters have their own ways of organizing their stash.  It's amazing how we all have different approaches in storing our craft supplies.  Take the Spellbinders dies for example.  Some like to store them in DVD cases, while others like to hang them on rails.  I put mine on metal sheets originally meant for roof shingles, which you can see here.

But for today, I would like to share with you my system in organizing my unmounted and clear stamps.  They are all in 3-ring binders which you can see below, with the black ones storing my clear stamps, and the white ones storing my unmounted stamps.

The blue binder holds the Christmas stamps.  The red one?  That's empty and I still haven't decided what to put in it.

When I learned about cataloging stamps in the message boards, I found it ridiculous at first.  But you know what?  I finally gave in and catalogued all my sentiment stamps.  It just makes searching stamps a lot easier!  I started with a big notebook, but that was not enough.  So I transfered the pages to another 3-ring binder:

It's categorized by theme, then by brand:

Another advantage of this is that if you are a Spellbinders dies user, it's easier to figure out which sentiment can go with a particular die.

Once I decide which stamp I'll be using, then I get it from the 3-ring binders.  For the clear stamps, I use Ultra-Pro pocket pages which I purchase from The2Buds.com.  They are arranged alphabetically by brand.

The three-pocket one is my favorite, because it holds the "standard" 4 x 6 size sets, like those of Inkadinkado, Creative Vision, etc.

The two-pocket ones can hold the bigger size sets:

The 9-pocket, which is originally meant for baseball cards, is perfect for the dollar stamps or smaller.

And the single pocket holds the really big sets like that of Cloud 9 Designs or Autumn Leaves.

For the unmounted stamps, I use the Stamp N' Stor Lightweight Storage Panels by Sunday International, arranged alphabetically by brand as well.

This system worked the best for me.  It saves me space and it makes it a lot easier for me to find stamps that I need.  In fact, I still have about five empty binders.  And when I need inspiration, I just go through each page.  This way, no stamps are buried and never used.

Want some more inspiration on craft organization?  You might want to check out Crafty Storage.  It is my number one go-to when I need ideas about craft storage and organizing.

'Til next blog!