I am ZE COOLEST!!!

I have had a little secret that I have been hiding under my hat for about SIX months!! For anyone who knows me, keeping a secret about something that I am MUI-MUI excited about is MUI-MUI hard!! But I did a pretty good job with this one!

About mid-September I got an e-mail from Kim Jackson at Stampin' Up (she works on the Stampin' Success magazine). She said she had been sent a link to my blog and wondered if they could feature my stamp room/stamp organization system in Stampin' Success! Was she KIDDING???!!! What??!!??? I immediately replied and said, "DUH!!" (Okay, well maybe not LITERALLY, but I very enthusiastically accepted!)



She and several of her SU buddies came to my house on October 9 and spent over 3 hours taking photos in my room. HOLY COW, BATMAN!! It was soooooo cool!! I actually DID spend a bunch of time the night before re-doing my cardstock files. They had actually been done the same way when I had first set my room up in the fall of 2006, but they were looking kind of dinged up, so I figured if they wanted to use them in any way, it would be good to have 'em cleaned up.




I'm glad I did, 'cause, as you can see, they DID use my cardstock drawer. I feel so honored to be featured on THREE STINKIN' PAGES!! I think I need to PINCH myself (again!!).

I am going to put my color coding system up here once again, because I have been asked by many to share it (and it's kind of hard to read what is in the article, even if you click on the picture!). I punch a 1/2" circle out of the following colors of cardstock, then run them through my Xyron to laminate/sticker 'em:

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

As far as subcategories (where I use a Sharpie and write a letter on the little colored dot) here is what I have:

H=Halloween
V=Valentine's Day
C=Christmas
Su=Summer
W=Winter
F=Fall
T=Tag - which just means any set that uses a tag or a punch (you could just as easily use a P)
4=A set that represents all four seasons
2=a set with a companion set (for example Loads of Love and Loads of Love Accessories) . . . take note, some sets could be a T2, meaning they can be used with a punch AND they have a companion set (such as Little Flowers/Big Flowers)
B=Birthday
G=Get Well
V=Vintage (think "Artifacts")
Wd=Wedding
Fd=Food
DC=sets designed to go with any of the new Sizzix diecuts (Matchbox Messages, for example)
*=Sentiment sets where the sentiment is in a "shape" or sorts (remember "Alphabet Soup" and "Alphabet Stew"?)

And, BTW, the small 1/4" white circle "dot" next to the 1/2" circle colored dot represents a current set. When something retires, I just peel the little white one off. Makes it really easy. I just add the little white one as I get new sets, that way it is really easy to keep track of.

I have been asked by several people how I store my punches and other supplies as well. I will take some photos later this week and share those with you, too!

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!!