Sunday, May 27, 2007

I Died & Went to Heaven!



. . . and the sign over the Pearly Gates said "I-K-E-A". Hooray! It's finally here, and man, was it worth the wait! It is a crafter's paradise! A million different ways to store any of your wonderful stuff! My craft room is relatively new (finished last September) and I have been (im)patiently waiting for Ikea so I could get something to store my stamps in! I bought both of the cupboards in the corner, plus an awesome noticeboard (it's kinda like a white board, but it is made of tempered glass - I love it!).

I finally was motivated to organize my stamp sets and thought I would share my "system" . . .


I have 9 color-coded categories. Using my lovely SU cardstock and a Xyron machine, I created little "dots" to color code each stamp set:

Outdoors/Nature = Pumpkin Pie
Flowers = Garden Green
Holidays = Real Red
Alphabet Sets = Pretty in Pink
Words/Sentiments = Orchid Opulence
Baby/Juvenile = Bashful Blue
Shapes = YoYo Yellow
Backgrounds/Borders = Green Galore
All Occasion = Taken With Teal


It is nearly impossible to pigeonhole every stamp set into a specific category, so to make it easier for myself, I used the basic categories listed, then notated specific sets within each category by writing a letter on some of them. For example, in the Outdoors/Nature category, some sets are notated by Season with and "F" for "Fall", "W" for "Winter" and "Su" for Summer. Likewise, in the "Holiday" category, sets are marked with a "C" for "Christmas", "H" for "Halloween" or "V" for "Valentine's Day". Other subcategories are as follows:

Words/Sentiments marked with an asterisk mean that the set contains words or sentiments that are integrated into a shape, as in "Alphabet Soup" or "All in a Row."

All Occasions sets marked with the letter "T" indicate that the set can be used with a tag/punch made by SU. Sets like "Tags & More", "Little Pieces" and "Circle of Friendship" have a "T" on their sticker.

Also in All Occasions, I have noted "B" for any all-birthday set; "G" for "Get Well" sets; "Fd" for sets containing food images; "V" for vintage-type sets (think "Artifacts"); the number "4" when the set is a "four-season" set, such as "All Through the Year"; and the number "2" when the set has a "companion" set, as in "Loads of Love" and "Loads of Love Accessories".

Whew! That's a lot of info! I've tested myself a few times and seem to be able to find what I am looking for. I forgot to mention that the sets are arranged on the shelves by size, just because I find that more aesthetically pleasing. Each size contains sets from all of the categories.

The noticeboard is going to be so much fun to have in my room. I plan to add a list of things I "need" to order, plus I can use it to list upcoming classes, etc. for my stamp groups! Hooray!


Now I just need to go and stamp something!!

23 comments:

Jenny said...

I can't look any longer. I'm completely jealous. my stamping space is such a dungeon and here you have a beautiful clean space. I'd be totally inspired in this space... Heaven on Earth

Mark's Finest Papers said...

Boy am I Glorious Green with envy! Great room!

Melinda McMillen said...

wow!! i can't believe that orginization system. you have quite the insight. great job!!

and-- i LOOOOVE the stuff you got at IKEA. We don't have one around here, but i've been once, when i went to the mall of america. yay for you!!

Kittie said...

Wendy, Wendy, Wendy!!!!! Please come to my stamping room and help me get organized. I love those Ikea cabinets. What great storage ideas. The placement is perfect in your work area and I love that your big pan drawers are freed up to put your big pieces of equipment in. I'm getting busy on my room today and your blog email came at the perfect time to encourage me. I love your blog, Wendy!!!!! You are a treasure.

Mary said...

Oh my goodness! Your stamp room is goregeouss! It is so bright and cheery and so well organizwd. Thanks for showing the pictures. It was fun to look at them. :)

Mary

Karen said...

OMGoodness girl!! I am SO jealous!! There is an IKEA about 1/2 hr from me, but I've never been to it. Of course, don't think I could put such nice furniture in my little 'ol dungeon (ie: basement) for fear of ruining it! Hope you don't mind if I live vicariously through you (again :)!!

Anonymous said...

Your room is soooo incredible!! Thanks for sharing - someday when we remodel our formal livingroom into a study/stamp room, I am totally looking into IKEA for the furniture!

Anonymous said...

Can you see the green glow of envy coming from the general direction of Dallas??? Thats me.
Gorgeous space. I had an office/craftroom, but lost it as a storage space when my son moved home after graduation. My kitchen (located in the front of my house) is my craft work space now. While all my supplies are scattered in the back of the house and even under the bed in the master bedroom. Regardless, even before the kid moved back, my room was nothing compared to your lovely gorgeous wonderful space.
I need to get see what I have in my closet that will go with the green I'm wearing.
hahaha

Carolyn
TTUMom at SCS

Suzy Tyler said...

Now that is what I call a stamp room! Now I just have to give my DH a nudge or two to get him motivated to make me a room as wonderful as yours. Thank you for sharing!

KOstvig said...

Just beautiful Wendy! Can I come and stay in heaven with you? What a time consuming task getting all those stamps organized. I would like to ask you to make a post after you make your next project and before you put everything away, just post that picture also just so I can feel better about my Craft Space. LOL

Ashley said...

Holy Cow! Your stamp room is beautiful! Our house was build in the 1920's... and needs updating! I want this in my stamp room! hehehe! And you have an amazing organization system! You'd yell at me if you saw mine right now! Seriously! I love your room!! AWESOME!!! :-) Hugs! Ash~

Anonymous said...

Where did you get the bookcase with your stamps in it? I RAN, I did not walk, I RAN (with my fingers over the keyboard) directly to the Ikea site and could not find them! And thanks for sharing your color coding, I'm always re-thinking my categories for some reason.

Juliana said...

I am not jealous--cuz I am moving in!!
:D

Wendy Weixler said...

The bookcase from Ikea is called the Billy bookcase. Then, I added the glass front doors to it!

Stampin' Project Junkie! said...

ur stamp room is amazing!!! LOVE IT SOOO MUCH!!!!

StampingBetty said...

I am drooling, much better than a kitchen table!wow!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your craft room is beautiful!!! The white is so inspiring. It makes me want to create! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Chris said...

Goodness - what a fabulous craft room, so neat and tidy - that beats crafting on the dining room table any day :)

Anonymous said...

Your craft room is AMAZING, your stamp cabinet has me drooling and your organization system leaves me speechless!!!!!!!!!!!

Deborah said...

Wow~!! Now that is a gorgeous stamp room. I love how you introduced it too. LOL. The sign above the gates said "Ikea". Guess I'll be going there sooner rather than later. LOL. I am always looking to expand my stamp rooms storage ability. Oh and I'm totally impressed by the amount of stamps you have too. :)

Alhambra Club said...

WOW, what a great room. Congratulations it looks like a wonderful place to stamp.

Anonymous said...

OMG!! Wendy!! Your space is AWESOME!! I'm in total AWE! You did a wonderful job, and the system you are using for indexing your stamps is great. Thumbs up to you!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness!!!! I LOVE YOUR ROOM!!! I TOO AM A SHADE OF GREEN WITH ENVY!!! Your blog is great!! Thanks for sharing!! I've really enjoyed looking at your pictures!!! Congrats on the awesome room! I feel the same way about IKEA!

Emily