I have been busy busy busy.
I am a victim of the new year.
I am one of those people that want my house all clean and organized for the new year. I'm not alone - seems like the stores all have sales on "organization tools" and bins and cute boxes this time of year because many people seen to have this same illness.
Oh, I used to be worse - I had to have my house spic and span on New Years Eve. That doesn't happen anymore. But by the time hubby gets back to work and the kids that are in school go back to school - I go on a clean out - throw out - clean up - reorganize mission. And that is what has been going on around here.
Fortunately, the house wasn't it too bad of shape. So I am using my New Year disease to focus on my stamp area.
Here is my confession. I am not a very good SU demo anymore. Oh, I love the product. I use the product. I just don't do much selling of the product. SO I decided to reorganize my area for the way I actually USE things - not the way I needed things when I was holding workshops.
I UNMOUNTED my wood stamps and put them on cling mount - then totally ignoring "sets" I sorted them into categories that have meaning to me. GASP! Don't have a stroke - I'm not asking YOU to de-set-afy your stamps - but this will work for me.
THEN - because my play area is out in the middle of our home - I tried to make things LOOK nicer. By simply adding a paper liner to my clear boxes - my stamp area looks so much better.
Let me show you:
Sorry for the reflection - all the cleaning and polishing paid off in glare!
I took this shot from the "side" so you could see that the paper is just on the bottom and front of the clear case (the kind SU wood stamp sets have come in for years). For this size case I cut my paper 9x5.5 and scored it at 8 inches - added a label - slipped it in the box and filled it with unmounted stamps in that category.
For "categories" that had fewer stamps - I used the new DVD size cases that SU uses for the new cling mount stamps (and you can buy them separately) - I also slipped in some pattern paper and added a label for those.
In the photo I left a box with mounted wood stamps and one with unmounted stamps in them - so you can see how much better my shelf looks just by adding the paper liners.
And if you look closely at the photo you will see boxes with "tools" in them - brass stencils and sizzlits - and one for "faux denim" where I pre-made some paper. Makes for a more cohesive look in my stamp area.
If you need more info or are interesting in my categories leave a comment. Otherwise, I'm ending this little novelette and unmounting that last stamp set in the photo...
I am no longer a demonstrator and have been contemplating doing the same thing!
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated looking for a sentiment that I KNOW is in any one of the 'zillion' stamp sets I have accumulated. Let me know how this works for you.
I have a question .... will come to my house and straighten out for us?
ReplyDeleteyou are wonderful!
Sandra
With the exception of just a couple of sets (like teeny tiny wishes, etc), ALL of my stamps are now unmounted and in the DVD cases! It was a huge, huge job but so worth it. I have so many stamps that I had to put them in DVD cases - the SU cases took up too much room. I love your idea of putting the paper in though! It reallllly looks fabulous! I need to clean up here too, but I've been putting it off, lol!
ReplyDeleteEllen this looks great. I "de-set-a-fied" all of my retired stamps also and reorganized them in a similar fashion. I loooooove that system. If I want flowers I grab the cases marked "florals", if I want snowflakes I grab the cases marked "snowflakes". Makes life so easy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your continued inspiration.
Aha, and what are you going to build with the blocks? I bet you have something in mind. Wish I had the nerve to do this too.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about the cling mount but not sure what it is? Where to get it? and just what to do with it? Love the idea and would like to give it a try as I organize my new space.
ReplyDeleteWhat I used was called EZMount and I got it at a scrapbook store - have seen it at rubber stamp conventions and I'm SURE you could find it online.
ReplyDeleteThere is a thick version and a thin mount version.
With the thick version - you pull just the red rubber part off your stamp (or purple or whatever color the rubber is) - stick it on the ezmount then cut around it. The ezmount will stick to your clear blocks just like the new cling mount stamps SU sells.
With the thin version - you pull off the rubber AND the foam TOGETHER from the wood block - then treat it the same way.
Really pretty easy to do - out of ALL my stamps I had one set of SU that was a little hard to get off and about 4 NON SU stamps that gave me fits.
Disclaimer: I did leave some small word stamps mounted on wood - out of fear of loosing them AND the fact that they are hard to read without that handy little sticker on the wood block.
As I read your blog I was in the middle to 'dewooding' my stamps so I can have better space usage. Great minds think alike. I am the same an SU demonstrator but not a good seller. I like the idea you have for the boxes.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Ellen! Will you please take more pictures when you are done and download them to the site? You are inspiring me to get cleaning and organizing.
ReplyDeleteEllen,
ReplyDeleteI am one of those clean & organize for the New Year people also. This year though I had a lot of the 'cleaning' done before hand. Even though I was working a lot I got the kids on some of the cleaning. Now I just have to go through my files and pull out 2010 stuff to put in the tote in the garage. I also have a couple totes to finish gong through in the garage from when we moved 2 1/2 yrs ago...They kind of got forgotten about. Luckily when we moved I decided to go through all of my stamping stuff & got it organized for me and got rid of things I wouldn't use. I still haven't broken down and taken my stamps off the wood mounts. I like the wood...but I do have a binder with images of all my stamps and I probably have just around 100 sets so not as many as some people I know. I do need more punches though. :) Have fun organizing!
Debbie Peterson
debbielyn23@comcast.net
Would love to see a before picture...if you have one.
ReplyDeletejaneen from colorado
I, too, am a non-selling SU demo who is wanting to take the plunge and de-set and unmount my stamps. Mind sharing about how many sets you unmounted and how long it took?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I have no idea how many sets I unmounted because I "unset" the retired stuff first and put the stamps I didn't want to keep in a "to sell" pile with the wood still on. But it was A LOT of sets (dozens of sets but not hundreds of sets) and A LOT of non SU sets. I did it over several days - really it doesn't take long - with just a couple of exceptions, they peel off very well so it is just stick, cut and go! Tip in next comment
ReplyDeleteMy method was to unset and unmount several sets at a time. Then I took a sheet of ezmount and placef the larger pieces of rubber on first. Then I filled in the empty spaces with smaller stamps until the sheet was full.
ReplyDeleteTHEN - I brushed baby power between all the stamps - this removes the sticky on the ez mount where you don't need it.
The next time I sat down to watch a movie or TV with the girls I grabbed a sheet and cut the stamps apart.
After most of them were done I sorted into my "catagories" to determine if they needed a big clear case OR a small dvd size case.
I had to split some catagories that got too large. Bug and birds had to be separated from animals. And when something could go into more then one category, I just thought about where I would look first - so a SANTA would go in the Christmas box NOT the people box. An acorn with leaves goes in the Autumn box not with the other foliage.
You have to decide how you would LOOK for the stamp - and that is where you should keep it.
Thanks, Ellen! That is great information and makes so much sense. Thanks for taking the time to share!!! Happy Stamping :)
ReplyDeleteEllen, I love your case liner. It makes so much sense to pretty it all up and have the cohesive look. Thanks for the idea.
ReplyDelete