Me and My Space - Unmounted Stamps Storage REVISTED

Hi - I went through all the comments from a couple of weeks ago to see what you want to see me show off an talk about with my "Me and My Space". Seems like many have asked about Unmounted Stamp Storage. I have showed my storage before HERE But let me review it, and go into more detail.

I use these plastic boxes called Card Keepers - I believe they are Iris brand. I got them at Office Depot. Now... sadly they have gotten nearly impossible to find. But any box that you love will work - this system is made to work around the storage you like, whether plastic or paper boxes. Even those really cute inexpensive photo storage boxes would work really well. These boxes work for me, they stack, and they hold a TON of stamps. This is 6 of my 12 boxes that I have stamps in. YEP... 12... I know I have a million stamps. I store them by brand -  depending on brand... I get more detailed. Stampavie I do by artist, Magnolia.. is a mess. Just as I get them one in front of the other, they need to be better organized. Brands I have a lot of like Alota Rubber Stamps, they are by subject matter - holidays and such. I have 4 boxes of Alota, so going through those to find a stamp would be crazy if they weren't somewhat sorted. Love those Alota stamps :0) Then companies that I don't have a whole box for, they are sorted by brand with in the box by company name.

 Here you can see I label the sides of the boxes for what is in them.

 These boxes are wonderful because they come with plastic dividers, but if your box doesn't dividers are easy to make. And honestly... these are not so pretty. LOL

 So this one box is my Stampavie 2008-2009 stamps. Each artist in their divided slot. Now how do I put the stamps within these slots?

I created laminated pieces that fit perfectly into the boxes. Now I used cheap card stock, left overs from years ago of scrapbooking. After I measured to find the perfect size, I went out and looked at laminating machines. Yes, there are more than one of these machines. And after looking at the office supply stores, and then at the craft stores. I went with the Purple Cow Laminator from Hobby Lobby. For a few reasons. ONE - it was only 69.99... 50% off so I got it for $35.00 - TWO - it is a super easy to use laminator. Not a million buttons. Plug in, heats up light goes green when ready to go. I got my first Lamination sheets from Hobby Lobby as well - again 50% - but my last I got a big box of them at an office store while on sale. They all work. If you don't need many Hobby Lobby is cheap when they are on sale, if you need a bunch - go for the larger boxes of them.

Oh and you can also see... I love my stamps, they are used, and many are stained - but they keep on working. They are durable!!

I love this system for my clear and unmounted rubber stamps.  Here is the inside of one of my Magnolia boxes, you can see this system works great with EZ mounted rubber as well as the clear stamps.

OH... and here is another little hint. I love to mask my stamps when creating scenes. But if I am going to take the time to create the mask... I am going to save it!

So I take all my masks and I keep them in the top of the box, makes for fast work next time I want to create a scene!

My personal item for the week... I thought I would share a special piece that sits on one of the wall shelves above my desk.

When I met Hubby... he worked with his father, as a wood carver. They did amazing birds - from antique decoys to realistic bird carvings. This bird is one of the last that his father made.

Hubby had to get out of the "work" to get a job that paid our bills. That was nearly 25 years ago... many bills ago and a lot less animals to work with. He does amazing work, but with his list of "have to do's" he doesn't have any time to do fun work. any spare time is spent fishing you know :0) - I hope one day he will pick it back up and go back to his art. This one is special to both of us though, I loved it as soon as I saw it in his fathers work area.... it had to come home with me and be a part of my creative space.

Have a wonderful day!
HUGS and -