Need Some Help Re: Stamp Set Organization

Are you keeping them in the plastic pods? Knowing that would help.

Okay, after doing some digging, I found the blog that your post reminded me of. I think she has mostly Stampin' Up sets which she also keeps in the plastic cases, but I think it would work for most any set-based collection. Here is an overview of how she does it:

<<About 3 years ago I decided to organize them using the categories Stampin' Up! uses. Prior to that I had tried to make up my own more specific categories, and it got complicated, and some sets fit into more than one category, so I decided to simplify it, and not recreate the wheel. I figured if the categories that Stampin' Up! used in their catalog was good enough for them, it was certainly good enough for me!!!

To make my colored dots, I took regular white circle stickers (from Staples or Walmart) and labeled them with the first letter of the category (in Black Sharpie marker) and then I assigned each a color, which is a Stampin' Up! color scribbled over the letter with the Stampin' Write Marker. The marker colors use some retired colors, but I still have the markers, and for now, I'm not going to change the colors. Eventually I probably will. Here is my system:

Hostess sets: (H) in Creamy Caramel
Holidays: (H) in Sage Shadow
Occasions: (O) in Pretty in Pink
Growing Up: (G) in Real Red
All Natural: (N) in Garden Green (and sometimes Handsome Hunter - LOL)
Elements: (E) in Orchid Opulence
Greetings: (G) in Yoyo Yellow

I also put the name of the set on the short edge of the case with a Black Sharpie. If you ever need to switch the case for any reason (sometimes I'll be able to put a set into a smaller case, and I like to consolidate to save room), you can remove the Sharpie with a cotton ball and nail polish remover.

When I stack the sets, I put the larger boxes on the bottom and the smaller on top. This just makes the stacks look nicer, and they won't fall over. >>

And here is a link to her blog:

Stamping & Scrapping with Jen

She just has hers on a book shelf, but personally I would put them inside a cabinet or something. I think she also has them cross referenced in a binder or something too so she can look them up in a catalog. If I was going to do that, I would just photocopy the image of the set from the catalog if I had it, or put the label images on the scanner glass and copy that to save the time of actually stamping every image. But I'm lazy like that, LOL. HTH!