Card Set - another

Thanks for the super response to my Valentine card! The gal I made this set for has a passion for cameras and I had remembered seeing a "camera" paper last time I went through the stash! I cut out 6 cameras - all different. She also likes the color blue. Cut out the spellbinders background - some are facing vertical, some horizontal - depends on the camera image. I have a cuttlebug embossing folder with dots. They are raised (just in case you are like I am and get confused which way is which as you know it depends on which side of the card you are talking about!!). I used Tim Holtz' broken china distress sponged lightly over the background, so now the dots show up. Made little banners for the message and the stamp set is Hero Arts All Occasion Messages. Tied a white ribbon around each one and do you see the little bird on the envelope? Well, he is stamped on the inside facing where you would write. The blue rectangle is the one piece box. Tied it all up with the same white ribbon and sent it off. When I make this for an older person, I will include a sympathy card but hopefully this gal won't need one for a long time.  This set was fun to make and didn't take very long. I am getting more streamlined!!
Had a little time to take care of a small box of stamps. I bought them from a friend last summer and have been shuffling them around out of my way every since. Not good! I figured that since they were wood mounted, I would make them into stuff I could use my acrylic blocks with. There is some stuff out there called amazing tape (they have their own web site). I managed to get a couple of stamps off the blocks - didn't want to put them in my microwave as I use it for food. I used a good liquid glue to hold the tape to the back of the stamp. They do work BUT I lost a few stamps completely as they tore - they are really old. Then decided that it just wasn't worth the trouble. I brought out a clear box to store them in, stamped them into my book, numbered them and put them away. They are off the floor!!!! So what is my storage? I did a post once before. The biggest part of organizing is realizing the categories that mean something to you, and limiting them to a manageable few.

So Step 1 - come up with your category list
Mine is: backgrounds and scene elements (1), fruit, veggies and flowers and trees (2), words (3), people(4), vehicles (5), xmas, holidays (6).
Step 2 - Numbering system - careful as you don't want to change this after you start.
I numbered my wood stamps (they are stored together) 1- up to but not including 500. The cling stamps and clear stamps were and are stored in notebooks. I started them at 500 . Then I had stamp sets that I put in plastic photo boxes in a closet and named the larger box and numbered the little plastic boxes it held. This one was confusing and I was always looking through the little boxes for what I wanted to use. The notebooks got jammed and I found I was stamping much less. I now have a storage in a plastic, rolling file case. It uses hanging folders to hold several page protectors each. Now here is the tricky part - explaining the page protectors. Anyhow getting back to numbering, I add a BA (for basket) to each page protector number. That lets me know when I am in the reference book, where to find the stamp. Ok so to clear this up a little, you want your numbering system to not only give a specific name to a stamp but to also clue you in to where you have it stored! Not everyone has enough room in one place to put all of their stamps.


Step 3 -How I do cling/clear stamps - you will need laminating sheets. They need to be large enough to  cover an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock. You do not need a laminator to use the sheets. You should use the cheaper cardstock for this. I am still using the staples ones that I bought forever ago - I use them for almost everything! Your big choice here is in how you adhere the laminated sheet to the cardstock. You can actually peel the back off and stick it to the cardstock and then trim the excess off or you can use your tape runner and stick the printed side to your cardstock and then trim. Now you have a plain cardstock face and a laminated one. Your stamps will stick to the laminated side, you will stamp the stamp on the plain side and in your book at the same time, You will number your laminated sheet - like 9BA. You also have the option of making (this one is a good choice) your sheet in one category. For example - all the stamps you have stamped and stored on this one laminated sheet are people. When you are done, slide the sheet into a page protector to help hold the stamps in place. Make a copy of this sheet on your printer and its ready to file in your main book under that category - be sure to label that protector before you make the copy. It saves you from stamping in your book.

stamps on laminated sheet                 back of laminated sheet                 stamped individually in book

The upper photo shows a copy in the book (see how much easier this is?) and the bottom photo shows the bin. Hopefully this all makes sense now? So when I want to make something and I have an idea what I want to stamp, I can leaf through my book and gather stamps up as I come across them. The wood stamps are numbered as is the big plastic boxes they are in. I like this one above as the best! I find more and more, I am going to the stamps stored here. I have 4 more little boxes to move out of my closet into this one. I may have to get a second bin. But when I don't have any idea at all, my notebook is my salvation!!  Just looking at all my stamps gets my creative stuff going!! Hugs to you all, Barb F