Organizationally Challenged – Stamps and Inks
Tiffany Spaulding

Like most things in our Scrapbooking/Papercrafting supply collection the key to using Stamps is remembering you have them. When it comes to stamps this process can get overwhelming quickly!

The Challenge with stamps is “fitting them in.” We tend to store our stamps in themes. This means, when you buy a new “Christmas” stamp, and you’re Christmas drawer is already full, you’ve got to rearrange, and re-label, the drawer above or below to accommodate this new stamp.
The Solution Create a personal catalog, Label using numbers, and Store numerically.

Does your Storage Area look like this? Read on for Organization Tips.

Click image for larger photo

Creating the Catalog
Depending on the number of stamps you own, how long you’ve been stamping, and where your stamps are currently stored this process can go quite smoothly and quickly.
What you will need:

Create an Index Begin by writing an index of all the things you have stamps for, i.e., Alphabet, Birthday, Christmas, Nature, New Year’s Eve, Skiing, ….. Don’t worry if you miss some categories, you can add them as you go.
Separate this list of things into 3 major groups; Alphanumeric Stamps, Theme Stamps, and Holiday/Seasonal Stamps.

Alpha Numeric
Karen Foster
Chatterbox
Theme
Birthday
Nature
Sports
 Holiday and Seasonal Spring
Easter
Summer
4th of July
Fall
Halloween
Winter
Christmas
The Process - click image for larger picture

Label and Stamp
Once you have all of your categories, sit down with your stamps and begin stamping examples of each stamp in the proper category.

  1. Write a number on the stamps as you go.
  2. Write the same number next to the example you stamped on the paper.
  3. Remember to stamp each stamp wherever it may be used, for example, a Balloon would belong not only in Birthday, but possibly also in New Year’s Eve, A snowflake would be used in Winter, Skiing, and Christmas, etc.
  4. When you’re finished, you’ll have a complete catalog of all the stamps you own.

Page Examples - click image for more detail

When you replace your stamps in the storage containers, put them in numerical order rather than in theme order. As you add new stamps to your collection, number them, add them to your catalog, and store them in numerical order. You'll never have to search again.

Put your catalog into the 3 ring notebook or on your ScrapRack Spinder and keep it in your work area. When you are working on a particular theme, you can check your catalog to see what stamps you have that might work. The number on the catalog page will take you quickly and easily to the stamp you need.

Create an Ink Catalog
Again, remembering what you have is key. To create an Ink Catalog, label a piece of plain white paper with each color of the rainbow. If you want to be really detailed, you can use your color wheel and break the colors down by tones or hues. Use a small stamp that requires lots of ink so you will get a good representation of color and stamp it repetitively using each individual ink in your collection. Under the stamp write the name and manufacturer and the name of the ink color. You should also number each ink. This will allow you to store them numerically which will make it much easier to find the right color quickly!

Shopping Tip
When you go to a craft store, convention, or scrapbook store, take your notebook of stamps and inks with you. This will keep you from purchasing duplicates.

Cropping Tip
When you go to a crop or class, don’t hassle with packing all of your stamps, inks, and stamping tools, just take the notebook and a pad of “sticky notes.” If you decide to use a stamp on your layout, write the stamp number on a sticky note and put the sticky note on your layout. Add the stamp when you get home.

Ultimate Organization
Create a second stamp catalog and ink catalog at the same time (just stamp and number each page twice).Store the 2nd set in the proper category in your ScrapRack. This will keep everything together for faster reference when you are scrapping, stamping or cardmaking and you'll still have a 3 ring binder or a Spinder to take shopping with you (remember that the spinder fits in the TravelPack for easy shopping).