Monday, February 27, 2012

Mission Organization: Stamps

Hello!  Welcome to the next installment in my mission to organize series.  Today we will talk about stamp storage.
Stamping has been a love and hate relationship.   At one point I went and sold off all my stamps because they were being neglected for die cuts and stickers.  Then Copic markers hit the scene and once again I became passionate about stamps again.    So...even though I have been paper crafting for 13 years I do not have a massive supply of stamps.  I have discovered my favorite companies though like Papertrey Ink, Stampin' Up, and CC designs.  Some stamps are just not as good of quality as others!  In this case you really do get what you paid for!

I will tell you that my stamp storage system isn't the absolute perfect system.  I wanted to use what I had on hand...without having to buy anything.  So...that is what I did.  It works in that I can find the stamp I want and I know exactly where to put it back easily.  It does look primitive and at times I often wonder if I should spend a little more money to perfect my system.  But in the end I would rather buy more stamps!  ;)



The tote is an old Creative Memories consultant item a friend of mine gave me. Thanks a million Janine!  It was when they didn't have 12 x 12 papers so the folders are little smaller. I used the Creative Memories power layout guides and placed one in each folder. I labeled the guides with alphabetical letter stickers on each tab. I also covered each guide with a scrapbooking page protector just in case a stamp would fall off the sheet.

Note:  click on photos to view larger.


As you can see above the stamps are attached to the power layout guide (white sheet).  Clear stamps usually come on two sheets of acetate..one with the images imprinted on them and one clear.  If the two sheets stick well together  then I put a strong adhesive such as score tape on the back side of the clear sheet and attach both to the folder as in the large flower stamp set above.  Sometimes the clear sheet doesn't want to stay stuck so I just glue the imprinted sheet onto the power layout guide and place the clear stamps on top as in the bird one. For those rubber stamps that are on EZ mount foam  like the CC designs stamps... I adhere an acetate sheet or clear transparency to the  power layout guide and the EZ mount clings to this.  For rubber stamps I unmounted I brushed Aleene's Tack it Over and Over Again glue to the back of the stamp and let it dry.  These stamps stick directly onto the power layout guide (they also stick well to the acrylic blocks).

I organize the stamps alphabetically by name.  No I do NOT know the name of each and every stamp set I own.  I do have an alphabetical inventory on my computer as well as a categorical inventory that I can look at to find the stamp I need. Eventually, I want to make a physical catalog of all my stamps.  I'm just still trying to figure out the best method.  

I have most of my rubber stamps unmounted from their wood but with sentiments I prefer to leave them on the wood.  If not I get the stamp upside down or backwards. So some of my sentiment stamps are on top of this stand that holds my Flower Soft and colored fluff (learn how to make your own colored fluff here).  I got this at the Good Will store but I'm not sure what it was designed to hold.


Here are the rest of my stamps.  Older Stampin' Up sentiment stamps in the larger plastic cases.  The newer SU stamps come in these wonderful DVD cases that are labeled in the front and side.   The plastic case I got ages ago and I'm not sure they make it anymore.  It it designed to hold stamps with a tray that holds the embossing heat gun too.  This holds more sentiment stamps,the stamp a ma jig, and a few stamps I haven't gotten around to unmounting yet.

Items needed for my stamp storage system:
Filing tote and file folders
Power Layout Guides  or something similar such as stiff quilter's plastic cut to size
Scor-Tape or any strong adhesive that will stick to the acetate 
Acetate Sheets (if you have any stamps mounted on EZ mount foam)
Scrapbooking page protectors

I have searched the internet up and down and quite frankly I haven't found that many ideas for stamp storage.  All the systems are very similar.  However, I will share what I have found.  My system actually was inspired by combining many other storage ideas I have seen over the years.

MichelleO uses a method similar to mine except on a smaller scale.  She uses these card keeper boxes and laminated card stock to directly stick her stamps to.  If I had access to a laminator I would definitely be using this method.  Any box even the photo storage boxes would work for this method.  Check out more info on Michelle's blog here.

This is the exact same system as above but she uses clear cellophane bags to encase the stamps and laminated cardstock in.  This would be nice if you had a metal die you wanted to store with the stamp.  Check out more info on the blog A Vegas Girl at Heart.

Note:  I think some have had sucess using clear contact paper to cover the card stock however I did not have luck with this.  The stamps would not stick to othe contact paper for me.



Nancy has a wonderful frugal and practical idea for stamp storage.  She uses envelopes to slip the stamps into.  She also includes an index of the stamps on the front of the envelope making it easy to see what is contained inside.  She puts all the envelops in a canvas box.  Check out more on her blog here.


Here is another Nancy with very easy simple storage.  She keeps all the stamps in their original packaging and places dividers in between to categorize them.  I love this pink fabric box she has them stored in!  Check out more info on her blog here.

Patter Cross (my organizational idol) uses univenture binder boxes and pages from Gina K to store her stamps in.  She has a wonderfully detailed explaination on this storage method here. She even shows you how to do an inventory file in Excel.

Mary Rose uses empty DVD cases she purchased from Amuse studio to store her stamps.  She prefers these over the CD cases because you can fit an entire stamp set onto both sides of the case without worrying about the stamps sticking together. Check out more info on her blog here.

Jennifer Mcguire has an absolutely amazing craft room!  I am soo jealous.  She has two ways of stamp storage on her blog.  They are in video form.  One uses the mini clip it up and the other uses binders.  You can see both video here.


Angela is another person whom I'm jealous of!  She too has a craft room that looks like it jumped out of a magazine!  If you have the wall space this is a great idea!  She uses cap moulding designed for the top of bead board and turns it upside down to store her stamps.  Check out more info on her blog here.

I love the idea of using the vent to store wooden stamps courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens.

Nicole has another absolutely amazing craft room!  She is super organized!  She uses art bin boxes to store her wooden stamps in.  Check out a video tour of her space along with lots of deets on her blog here.

Whew!  This post took me alot longer than I expected so I've gotta run!  Thanks for stopping by!  Please come back again!









 


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Friday, February 24, 2012

Birthday card and Wacky lips!

I have been very busy with organizing my craft room that I haven't really had time to actually craft much.  However, I did have a birthday card to make this week so I thought I'd share it with you.


I literally handed this to the birthday girl's Mom while the glitter was still wet! So the photo isn't the best neither is the coloring but at least it wasn't late! I used a marvelous card sketch Aussie Caz designed for my card sketch challenge this month on Paperthreads.  I just love how you can mix many different patterned papers in this sketch!  The paper is from Echo Park's Springtime line digital version.  The focal point is C C design's Swiss Pixie:  Gretal with glitter glue added to the wings.  I used my Loopy Flowers file and enhanced it with some velvet ribbon leaves and a grungeboard flourish covered in glitter glue.  It's been ages since I used my Copics.  I forgot how much I love coloring!  I really need to find some time to do it more often.  It is sooo stress relieving!

My son's nose always seems to be running.  So we finally got him tested.  He is allergic to Oak, Elm, and Lambs quarter (a nasty weed that runs rampant at our house during the Summer).  But the worse thing that effects him is dust!  So now we are on a mission to declutter the whole house to make it easier to clean and hopefully in turn make it a better environment for Tyler to live in.  Tyler loves to collect all kinds of stuff so he is not happy he will have to pair down the items in his room but hopefully once he starts feeling better he will realize it is for the best.  He will see an allergist next month too so hopefully all this will help him breath easier. 

I know I haven't shared many photos of my kids lately so I thought I'd share one this time.

For Valentine's Day I bought Adoree these wacky lips.  She just loved them!

As you can see there is a lollipop attached to them.  She ate all of the lollipop of course!  Then there was a little stuck on the lips yet so she took it upon herself to clean off every last bit of the lollipop in the sink so she could save the lips!  She just loves these silly lips!

Okay I've gotta get back to cleaning!  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!


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Monday, February 20, 2012

Mission Organization: Markers

Hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  The weather was really nice for Winter and that got me itching for Spring so thus the change of blog design.  I'm soo ready for warmer and longer days!   Now on to the next installment in my mission organization series.  Today I will talk about markers.  I have Copics but I do believe many of the systems I will show you will work for lots of writing/coloring utensils including pencils and pens too. 

First up, I'd like to show you my OLD system.  I did feature it on my blog briefly before.

This is simply a tote I purchased at Wal-mart. The Ciao markers are stored in the cases they came in. I loved this system for a while. I liked that the basket was portable for crops or just for coloring images while watching TV downstairs. However, I didn't like how all the markers were grouped together and there wasn't any way to separate color families. Also, as I started acquiring sketch markers I had to just squeeze them in along side the Ciao cases. So that is why I changed to a different system.
Sorry I know you are tired of seeing this metal shelving unit but I have changed things around a bit this week to accommodate for my markers so I have noted their location in the photo.

Note:  Click on photo to enlarge
I copied this idea off of Tangi. You can see her much prettier storage here.   This is simply vinyl drain spout cut into 5 1/2" inch pieces by darling hubby.  It does take some elbow grease to sand off the rough edges but it's worth it!   The drain spout is very cheap too and available at your local home improvement store.  Hubby used a hack saw to cut it.  Tangi spray painted hers and I will mostly likely do that when I figure out what color I want.  I'm thinking I might try and get that spray paint that makes things look like bronzed metal.  I just used high temp hot glue to glue them together.  (Contact cement like Tangi used does give you a more permanent bond but hot glue sticks pretty well and gives me the option to pry them apart if I want to stack them differently...ask me how I know this...tee...hee...yep I had them arranged differently at first....typical woman...can't make up her mind!  LOL! ).  Now these are open in the back and I couldn't figure out how to glue a backing on them since the surface area is soo thin.  Therefore, I just nested them in these wooden tangerine boxes.  It seems to work well and gives them a little more stability.  I love that each color family has it's  own cubby.   I even had room for my Creative Memories journaling markers, gel pens, and glitter pens.  My Copic journal and water colored pencils are sandwiched between the two boxes.   The purple item on the top left of the markers is a small clipboard I use to place the items on before coloring.  I only have one ink refill for the blender but I do have it sandwiched between the drain spot and box.  I'm pretty sure these would fit in the cubbies too if need be.  This system if great no matter how many markers you have.  If you have less than me then don't cut as many cubbies...if you have more than make a few more.  You can stack as many as you want...it's totally customizable for your supplies and space!  Now my only dilemma is how to to transport them for crops.  I think I'd rather have a box with a lid...so I guess I need to measure and see what I can find. 

Items needed for my marker storage:
sandpaper
High temp hot glue (semi-permanent) or contact cement (permanent)
(optional) container to serve as a backing for drain spout cubbies 

I have seen similar things done with PVC pipe which is slightly cheaper but since it is round it doesn't sit as nicely when stacked.  Also, it is heavier to transport if you like to travel with your markers.  

There are many wonderful holders made specifically for marker storage but most of them are quite pricey.  So I thought I'd share with you some marker storage solutions made with supplies that aren't really for marker storage but can be adapted into wonderful economical holders.  
Can you guess what these holders are? These are decorated Progresso soup cans. Kathy brilliantly recycled these cans into absolutely gorgeous storage containers. Check our more info on Kathy's blog here.

This has got to be the ultimate in recycling and frugality! Toilet paper rolls hold the markers in a wonderfully decorated cardboard box. Click here for more info here.

I love how Lisa used canning jars and a plastic 7 up crate to store her markers. Check out more info here.

Etha used her digital paper cutter to cut all these boxes and bound them together in an excellent little holder.  This is great since you can cut as many boxes as you need for your marker inventory.   Check out more info here.
Norma used a simple CD holder and let the markers rest on the jewel cases. With the invention of mp3 players and phones that store music..you may just have something like this lying around that you can repurpose. Check our more info here.

The next two storage options are ones I absolutely love for the portability nature. If I went to crops more often then I would definitely invest in one of these marker storage solutions.

Vicky Pass did an excellent job arranging both Copics and Pro markers plus accessories in this CD holder.  I love that there is even a spot to put the color chart.   Check out more info here.

Above you can see both the open and closed version of Fitter Twit's marker storage. She transformed a deep art bin satchel, ceiling lighting grids, and hardware into this wonderful portable marker storage unit.  I love how each and every marker has it's own slot so even if you drive over a huge pot hole you can be sure your markers are safe!  LOL!  Check out more info here.

There are many more marker storage solutions.  I just tried to highlight a few that were good but didn't break the bank.  You can find a few more on my Pinterest board here.  If you aren't a member of Pinterest let me know and I'd be happy to invite you.

Did you know Copic markers are available in 358 colors now!  My goodness I don't even come close to having all the colors!  I remember when these markers first came out...I just couldn't justify the expense.  Many of my friends told me how wonderful they were soo eventually I got to try them out and immediately was hooked and wanted more!  My collection grew and grew!  I can't justify buying more now though so I'm hoping by having my markers organized I can use them more and finally figure out what colors I use most.  I really want to order a few refills but I haven't a clue what my fav colors are.

Oh and I just realized I need to print out a new color chart since Copic introduced new colors this year.  I found a great one from Sharon Harnist here.  It even includes space for the glitter markers. Thanks Sharon!

Okay that concludes my marker storage post.  I do hope you found some ideas that may work for your space.  Be sure to become a follower of my blog so you don't miss any future organizational posts.

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back again!

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Monday, February 13, 2012

Mission Organization: Thin Metal Dies

Hello! Welcome to my next installment in my mission organizational series. Today I am going to talk about storing thin metal dies. I remember not too long ago we had to deal with extra large bulky dies..thank goodness for technological innovations. Speaking of technology...let me tell ya...I learned a lesson last night. I love Undo or CTRl+Z in most cases but last night I had this blog post almost complete and I thought I made an error in the html coding so I hit undo one too many times and redo didn't help. So I lost the complete post! UGH! This was around midnight so I called it a day and went to bed. Today I did this blog post in MS Word first and then added the links and photos later so if I did something stupid again I would at least have most of the post stored. Sorry for gabbing...we'll get back to business in just a minute but I wanted to share my oops with you in so you can hopefully avoid doing the same.

I decided to take the advantage of the magnetic nature of the dies. I adhered printable magnetic sheets using Scotch restickable tabs to the inside of the doors of my cabinet. The magnetic sheets can be a little expensive but I had some credit from recycling ink cartridges at Staples to use towards the price. I have also heard you can use magnetic vent covers. They are slightly larger length wise and somewhat cheaper. They are available in most home improvement stores. Oh and I have also read some use glue dots to adhere the sheets. The nice thing about these sheets is you can attach them just about anywhere….outside of cabinet, wall, and even on your desk if you have the space and reach for these frequently. You can cut the magnetic sheets into strips. I decided not to do that because of opening and closing these doors I was afraid a strip would not hold the dies in place. However, strips on a stable wall would be fine.  I have not labeled each individual die since I don’t have that many and basically know what is what.  I intend to do an inventory sheet at some point.  I will share that with you at a later date…along with more inventory sheets once I get everything organized.  

Items needed for my thin metal die storage system
Printable magnetic sheets or magnetic vent covers 

 Kerry Johnson uses photo magnetic sheets backed with cardstock to do an indexing type of system. This is very easy to flip through and keep sets together. I love the labeled tab so you can quickly find what you want. Check out more info here.

 Patter Cross (my organizational idol) uses roll magnets, cardstock, page protectors and a binder to store her dies. I love how she labeled directly on the sheet protector. This is a great portable method too. I may use some form of this if I go to a crop and want to take a few dies with me. Learn how Patter assembled this here.

 Inge Groot has a great way to keep dies with matching stamps together in Velcro envelopes. Check out the deets here. She also shows you a cute little cabinet she uses to store other dies in that same post.

 Sherrie Siemens uses magnetic knife holders to store her dies. As you can see these are soo strong you can stack multiple dies together so this makes it easy to keep sets together. Check out more info on her blog here.

 Dawn McVey recycled the sheets her PTI stamps come packaged with to store her dies along with some stitching, cardstock and a neglected baking pan. One nice thing about this storage is you can actually coordinate it with your décor by picking up your room colors in the card stock. Check out more info on Dawn’s blog here.

Julie Dinn is the ultimate recycler. She saves the boxes Ferrero Rocher come in to store her dies in. Ohh an excuse to eat chocolate and save the planet at the same time! Gotta love it! Check out more info about Julie’s die storage here.

Well that wraps up thin metal die storage.  I do hope you have found this helpful and one of these systems will work in your space.

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay tuned next Monday for another organizational post.  If you missed any of the previous ones check out the "Mission Organization" tab at the top of my blog.

I gotta run.  I have volunteered to help with Adore's v-day party at preschool.  I have made a Bingo game to play.  Hope it goes over well!

Have a great day!
 
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Monday, February 06, 2012

Mission Organization: Glimmer Mist and a freebie

Welcome to the 5th installment in my organizational series.  If you missed any of the previous posts I have started a link at the top of the blog called "mission organization" in which you can click and see any of the post included in the series any time you'd like.  I hope you are having fun getting your "stuff" organized.  I am thrilled to have a home for soo many items.  Please leave me a comment because it keeps me motivated to post.

Now I am going to talk about glimmer mist.  In case you aren't familiar with this item..it is a spray that not only colors the image but also gives it a pearlized sheen.  It is very pretty in person but doesn't always show up well in photos.  Many companies make their own variety of this and they each have their own unique name for it.  I actually have never purchased any but I do have one I won made by Tattered Angels.  I am all about being frugal so I searched on the internet and found many recipes to make my own glimmer mist.  The biggest expense in making your own is finding the misting bottles since I don't have a craft store near me.  Fortunately, a friend of mine bought me a whole bunch of mini misters made by Ranger.  Thanks soo much!    I love the fine mist they give but wish they were a little bigger.  I have recycled some bottles with great success though..bottles that used to contain eye glass cleaner and body splash.  Look around the Dollar Stores you never know what you may find.


Above you'll see my glimmer mist bottles. I misted a sheet and punched flowers for the lids of the bottles and hearts for the sides of the largest bottles so I could tell what color to expect. The sprays turn out much lighter than they look in the bottle. One day a long time ago... I actually asked my hubby if he could look at Walmart for one of those expanding stair step type spice shelfs for my crafting items. He came home with this from the office supply section. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it at the time. Once I got my craft room I loved it and actually bought another one! They both sit in front of my ink storage rack on top of my metal shelving unit. (Didn't want to bore you with a photo of that again!) As you can see it also stores the larger glitter bottles my magnets won't hold and my acrylic stamp blocks.
Above you can see how the mesh organizer is supposed to sit to store office items. It still works for storing glimmer mist this way but I didn't have this much space so that is why I titled it upward.  I tried to find this on the Walmart website but couldn't find it.  I purchased one at Ollies so you may want to check there or any office supply store.

Items needed for my glimmer mist storage:
Mesh office organizer
Cardstock for labeling


I had soo much fun making own glimmer mist but I used lots of different combos of materials to make the spray. Sometimes I used acrylic paint other times reinkers. So...what happens if I run out and can't remember how I made that lovely color? No problem! I designed an inventory sheet. I sprayed cardstock and punched a large heart to attach to my inventory paper. Then below it I listed exactly what I combined to make the spray. So no more guessing! I am providing you with a jpg of my inventory sheet below you should be able to click on it and make it larger then save to computer and print as many times as you want. I designed it to print on a full sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper but you could easily size it to be a 4 x6 photo if you'd like something to fit into your purse and take to the store when purchasing glimmer mist so you don't buy duplicate colors.

Okay now I'll go over a few other options for storing your glimmer mist.
Kinsey shows how she used this rack from Harbor Freight to store glimmer mist on the top tray. Wow! This tray stores a ton of stuff!  I'm jealous of her washi tape collection!  Check out more info on her blog here.

PrettyLittlePackage has a wonderful video here showing how to use the Swivel Store to hold your glimmer mist.

Luvleescrappin has a great and economical way to store the mini misters. Check out her video here.

Shelly used a great little antique flower frog to hold her mini misters. Check out her blog here. I also have heard you can use test tube holders to store the mini misters.

Thanks for stopping by!  If you aren't a follower of my blog you may want to sign up so you don't miss any of my organizational posts!

Have an absolutely fabulous week!

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