RQOTD. Add yours to the thread too! New 5/9

Regarding precutting, I'm the same as Shakti, I try to do some when I can.

Regarding dividers - I first used the plastic folders (like JMcG did, as Shakti mentioned), but those are not cheap here in Canada, so then I laminated some cardstock and cut it to the right dimensions - that works well. Finally, last year when I was at the Container Store in the US I found DVD dividers and bought a pack of those to use instead. They're a translucent-ish plastic and very sturdy.

Regarding cardstock scraps - I used to not keep small scraps (like, 4x3 or smaller), but now I do because so many of my die sets have teeny tiny dies. I really like layering dies like Tim Holtz's animals, Honey Bee's Lovely Layers, Spellbinder's Be Bold Blooms, etc., and so now I keep the smallest of scraps if I know it can be used to cut out an eye or the inside of a flower, etc. I just throw them all into a bin and just go through them to find the pieces I need. I also have a bunch of cardstock cut into 4.25 x 5.5 panels, all labeled in plastic envelopes with cardstock brand and colour, and sorted in rainbow order in a divided clear plastic bin. I grab those for card fronts or for die cutting and just replenish as it runs low.

I don’t precut my base or fronts.  It only takes a minute or two to make them and it’s one less thing I have to find storage for.

I confess, I’m a scrap hoarder. I pretty much keep it all if I think I can get a die cut out of it. I store it by color family in 81/2x11 poly file envelopes.

I use the bins for my stamps and dies but I don’t use dividers. I inventory all my stamps in a 3 ring binder and number them. I stick a piece of cheap cardstock in the plastic sleeve with the corresponding number on it and add the stamp set.  I do have dividers for my dies but I just used old file folders. I cut them in half, glue it closed and use the half that has the tab at the top so I can write the category on it. So far they’re holding up just fine.

 

I thought I should be contributing to the board instead of just silently benefiting from things like the deal on the Hammermill cardstock, so here goes:
1. I keep around 10 precut card bases and card front on hand.
2. Any cardstock or patterned paper bits smaller than roughly 2” square go to recycling. I have a set of hanging folders on my desk for cardstock scraps (one folder for each of whites, creams, browns and golds, grays and blacks, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, pinks, and purples). Patterned paper scraps get put under the front cover of the original pad and I put the pad back in my patterned paper bin upside down so it doesn’t all fall out when I go to use it next.
3. I have all of my dies, and clear and cling stamps together. The first section (most of what I have) is Avery Elle large pockets and the second section is for bigger things (like 4x8” or 6x8” stamps) in Avery Elle extra large pockets. Keeping the two sizes of pockets separately helped optimize what I could fit on my shelves. I keep everything in Brightroom bathroom organizer bins from Target. I mostly use their 9x6x6.5” size. They’re sturdy, only $5 each, and fit the width of the large size Avery Elle pockets perfectly. For my main categories (e.g. “flora”) I use the same tabbed dividers with labels from Scrapbook .com (sbc-storage-5003) as Shakti does. And I use the large storage tabs from Spellbinders (SCS-163) for any subcategories (e.g., “sunflowers”, “tulips”, “trees”, etc).

I’m starting to get nervous about diving in, so I’m just going to hit the post button before I chicken out.

May I ask what you cut them with? If I thought I could just cut them with my guillotine paper trimmer, it would be quick and easy, but I was afraid it would harm the blade somehow. And a craft knife seemed tedious for that much cutting.

Thanks. I have the Fiskars/Club Scrap one. I worry about this "self-sharpening" blade thing.

I have storage issues in my craft spot and I ran out of space for 8 1/2 x 11 paper. (Perhaps I just have too much cardstock!)

But I do have a shallow drawer that I can store card fronts and card bases in, but I also keep 5.5 x 4 1/4 sheets of color cardstock since the vast majority of what I make are A2 cards. If I am going die cut, I try to grab a quarter sheet from that stash or my smaller scraps. I store both quarter sheets and card bases in rainbow order, but the vast majority of card bases are white. 

At one point, I was drowning in scrap paper and I culled it way down. First, I cut anything large enough into an A2 card front and only kept pieces that are smaller than that if they were colors I used a lot or if it was specialty paper (glitter, metallic).

I keep those scraps in a drawer (but not a big one) and I reach in there a lot because I like to make die cut flowers :-) but when the drawer gets full, I force myself to either make some cards or recycle the small pieces.

I have a separate spot for white and black scraps and I save almost everything white or black because sentiment strips are teeny.

1. Do you precut card bases and card fronts? I do. I have a box on my table with the card bases, and then I have another box with the fronts. Anytime I use cardstock and have enough left over to make a front or card base, I cut it then and there and put it in the box. I do precut/fold the bases when I know I'm going to be making a lot of cards (Christmas, C&CD, etc.). I recently got some heavy black cardstock, and I used a die from one of the Gina K sets to make card fronts in several sizes.

2. How small is too small a paper scrap to keep? White CS? Colored CS? Patterned paper? I keep most everything, in file folders by color, but I find I don't use the patterned paper as much as I do the cardstock.

3. If you use the clear plastic bins (like M-design and I-design) for stamp and or die storage, what have you found works for dividers? I don't use dividers, yet. I'm actually not happy with the clear bins I have, so really don't use them. They are a set of different sizes I picked up at Costco one day.

My question for you all: As your stamp collection grows, how do you remember what you have? Many times I know I have a certain sentiment, but I can't find it. Sometimes they are one stamp in a full stamp set! I started buying stamp sets that are just sentiments. I just bought two from Honey Bee Stamps for the insides of the cards - Inside Birthday and Snarky Birthday.

I cut 8.5x11 cardstock in half and stamped ALL my sentiments - from sentiment sets, the random ones with image sets, the ones from SU, the ones that are wooden stamps - by sentiment on them. So all the Thank you/Thanks are stamped on one sheet (and if they weren't stamps in my sentiment section - I labelled the image) and so on. I filed those sheets in my sentiment section of clear stamps (except for the Christmas and Birthday ones which are filed in those sections)

1. Do you precut card bases and card fronts? I do not cut card bases or card fronts in bulk but when I pull out a sheet of white cardstock, I typically cut it into quarters or half to start with.  That way I have small standard card size pieces I can work with.

2. How small is too small a paper scrap to keep? White CS? Colored CS? Patterned paper?  I hoard paper and keep scraps that are way too small.  My white scraps are ridiculous.  I use cheap Michaels white cardstock for lining my stamp & die pockets so I keep all the extra pieces from that.  I'm inundated!  I do try to use those scraps for dimension on my dies.  I just upgraded my scrap paper storage to this box.  I have a hanging file for every color. I actually do use my scraps all the time because they are organized and easy to get to.

www.staples.com/tru-red-hanging-file-box-snap-lid-letter-legal-size-clear-tr57620/product_24413995


3. What have you found works for dividers?  I just use plain cardstock with a label and I'm not too bothered by them getting bent.  I've wanted to laminate the cardstock to give it strength but I have not gotten around to it.  Also, I use Ikea Kallax units for my stamp & die storage so I'm limited to the number of cubes I have. I felt like there was so much wasted space above my bins so I cut some wood and made DIY shelves to get more storage space. This causes my dividers to get bent.  For me more storage > bent dividers. 

 

I'm very picky about my bins.  They have to be straight and not tapered at the bottom.  All my bins have come from Amazon.


Also, just a heads up, these boxes from Target are 6 inches wide at the bottom.  I store my 6x6 paper pads and all my embossing folders in them.  I don't use the lid just the box.  www.target.com/p/sterilite-6-qt-clear-view-box-clear-with-latches-purple/-/A-13794493#lnk=sametab

I use Evernote and I LOVE it! I log each and every stamp set and die that I have.  I include a picture of the product and use tags for key words in the sentiments.  When I'm looking for a sentiment I'll search for a tag and then look at each picture to see the sentiments included.

I started out with the free version but when my AliExpress addiction got bad, I had to upgrade so that I could log everything timely.   For now it's worth it. 

Here's a blog post which shows the dividers using the plastic folders. 

www.jennifermcguireink.com/2014/07/video-small-large-clear-stamp-storage.html