How do you store & organize (metal) DIES?

I have QK binders - 2 of the old blue and 1 pink zippered for my QK dies (2x2 and 4x4).

The rest of my dies are on Artbin magnetic sheets in a fridge bin sorted by shape except for the ones that match stamps which are also on the sheets but together by set with the stamps at the back of my fridge bin.

die categories are circles, Alpha, coverplate, slimline, stars, hearts, rectangles, tags, butterfly, garden, flowers, christmas and misc.

How I store dies depends on what kind of dies they are. I was on a QK design team for a while and have A LOT of dies.

-2x2 and 4x4 dies are stored in the pink binders that QK made.
-The exception to that are fonts--I have over 100. Cookie Cutter fonts are in the pink binders, but the 2x2" dies are in some drawer units from the Container Store. The drawers are about 2.5" square, 10" deep, and are 4 drawers high. Perfect for 2x2 dies.
-4x8" fonts are in a binder that held CDs.
-Commonly used nesting sets (frames, ovals, circles, squares) are in QK magnetic binders.
-12" border dies are in a super sturdy paperboard box, in file folders that are cut down to fit in the box.
-Sizzix steel rule (the kind that are about an inch) are in a drawer of a Jetmaxx cube.
-Sets for stamping are stored with the stamps in clear envelopes.
-Other wafer thin dies are stored on magnetic sheets mounted to paperboard and placed in clear file folders. I found some desktop file storage bins that are about 6"W x1 2"L x 10"H. Two of them fit on an Expedit shelf.
-Finally, I have a 30" x 40" frame on the wall that stores my most used wafer thin dies. DH put a 1/8" board in it in place of the glass and I glued a giant magnetic sheet to that.

It sounds complicated, but I accumulated the dies over several years and built up the system over time. I also have a good memory. I can almost always find a die that I'm looking for in a minute or two. I made a font book for the fonts, so that helped a lot with where I store them. The storage all fits in 6 cubes in the Expedit and really works for me.

I mostly use the ArtBin containers with magnetic mats, but they are getting harder to find,and more expensive. So I got some inexpensive magnetic sheets with clear plastic envelopes from Amazon, and transferred my less often used dies to those, to free up more of my ArtBin storage. Each ArtBin is labled. I have one for Spellbinder dies, one for MFT and Lawn Fawn dies, another for Heartfelt Creations dies, and multiple ones for Queen & Co. dies. (That company is my biggest weakness.)

The envelopes with dies are in a stack, but I will probably get a container for them at some point.

The magnetic sheets don’t seem to hold dies as well as the ArtBin magnetic sheets, but the dies are kept contained in the envelopes.

Mine are all virtually all in pockets, on their own or with coordinating stamps. The exception would be SU, where the stamps come in the fancy dvd-style plastic case. The coordinating dies get put in there.

I have two bins right now for everything— stamps, dies, stencils, and embossing folders. Third bin waiting in the wings; we’ll see how organization shakes out as it goes.

Not that you asked, but I currently have one weird embossing folder/coordinating coloring stencil duo and layering stencil/die set on the way. I’m baffled by how to “file” those.

The same way I store my stamps, in stamp pockets and in fridge bins in my Kallax.

If it matches a stamp set, I keep it in the same stamp pocket as the stamp. If it’s stand alone, it goes in its own pocket. I use a magnetic sheet in the pocket if there are lots of little pieces, otherwise just a sheet of inexpensive white cardstock.

I use three ArtBin magnetic die storage cases, categorized by: stitching, non-stitching holiday, and everything else non-stitching. I don't love this system, so may look into doing something else at some point in the future.

I also don't have a ton of dies. I've used the same storage for probably 10ish years, it's 2 6x8 binders from Staples with their inserts. I used to use the Xyron magnetic roll on spare chipboard pieces to make it sturdy, then put sheet in page protector insert. For some of the heavier ones, I reinforced the protector holes with eyelets.

I tend to use smaller dies lately and recently got a Sizzix sidekick. I used some spare printable magnetic sheet I had and layered it onto 2 pieces of heavy cardstock to have handy near my scrap space for small dies.

Back in the day in a different space, I had one of those magnetic kitchen boards (I think from Ikea) next to my space which also worked well. I just prefer to have things put away.

For dies that go with stamps, they stay in the pouch with the stamps. This reminds me, I still have stuff to organize from all the virtual SCT events the last 2 years...

All of the dies that coordinate with stamp sets are stored in stamp pockets with the stamps. I do use magnet material in the stamp pocket to keep everything flat and easy to see.

Stand-alone dies that will fit in a clear Avery Elle CD-sized stamp pocket (5.25 inches square) are stored in a small dresser drawer alphabetically by name. When I got my first die cutting machine, and for many years, all my stand alone dies fit into a small box. Now I’m up to two full dresser drawers. The dresser drawers are very shallow, about 7” deep and I can fit three rows of the envelopes across each drawer. I have two of the dressers that I bought from a secondhand shop and they were bright orange when I bought them! They must have been for children but my space isn’t very big and I needed something shallow.

Die sets that are too big for the 5.25 square envelopes are stored in the same stamp envelopes I use, with a magnet sheet, and filed with my stamps.

Mine aren't on display or anything like that so I don't have an aesthetically pleasing storage solution but... it's super inexpensive which is kind of my whole deal.

I like to pick up promotional calendar magnets and after the calendars are irrelevant, I repurpose them for dies. Restaurant & sports teams both seem big on 4x8 promo magnets. (If you have kids in college, you may be able to encourage them to pick up magnet calendars for the sports teams of they show up around campus. My campus had stacks of them in the main hub building and always on a table at the games)

Theme wise, sets obviously stay together and stuff that pairs well with a set may end up on the same magnet sheet is space allows (e.g. I have a set of Polaroid frames and a separate set of ViewFinder Slide, film stripe and just a single 1 off camera die. They all live on the same 2 magnets that are next to each other.) But, like, my random bow & arrow and squirrel and baby Groot don't exactly mesh with anything else so they fit in where they can.

I don't have a ton of dies so they just live in a 3 ring binder zipper pouch, sharing the binder with embossing folders and stencils.

I have maybe 2 coordinated die-stamp duos. Those live together in their own pouch.

I don't mind ignoring the business side of my magnets, I'm not looking in that storage for that side of the magnet but I have considered "what if I wanted this to look better and this is what I've thought of
A more thought out and classy way to approach this (smallish magnet sheets as storage) involves some preplanning or at least some hurry up and waiting. Shutterfly runs a deal every so often (maybe every 6 to 8 weeks) where with a promo code, photo magnets are like $1-2 (used to be 1 but inflation may or may not be at play) and shipping is free with $10-15 in magnets.


So if you know what size you want from them (precheck their size options on the site), you can make a template for that size. You can do something as involved and premeditated as map out dies and scan (or photograph and crop to size) then crop to the magnet size and upload to Shuttferfly. Alternatively, you can do text instead of images (s"calloped edge oval" and "hot air balloon with balloons", or even just go for patterns or solid color(s) and get 10 magnets in a coordinated rainbow or soft lavender or whatever your vibe is.

If you consider this approach, remember the printer is going to crop into what you sent; you know how when you print a photo that is a perfectly framed selfie at exactly 4x6, but when you print it you have a 5 head or looong check because the photo got cropped in more than the original shot? Don't forget to factor that in and either leave some border space or don't go to the edges Also,for solid colors, it's fine to go bigger than the magnet space so you'd don't get back a weirdly grainy solid blue or pink or whatever color. Jpegs and low dots per inch can make even a solid color look like a screenshot of a screenshot of a screenshot of a solid color

The smaller ones are in clear plastic 4x6 zip bags with an index card that has a punched image glued to it. Filed by category (botanicals, animals, words/alphas, etc)

The bigger ones are on magnetic sheets in a 3 ring binder with a zipper closure.

I’m an out of sight out of mind person. I have my most used basic shaped dies (those that don’t coordinate with stamps) stored on magnetic vent covers attached them to the side of my big Kallax. When I’m sitting at my desk, they are directly to my left. I can pull off a die without getting up. I use them more because they are right there and I can see everything I have at a glance.