A Clear Stamp Storage Idea and Our Craft Lounge Storage Solution

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I know I did... Spring greeted us with a very warm day that I sat in that sunshine most of the day with a good friend while the kids played and we got a little suntan!!! Woot! Housework schmousework..... (Honey, if you are reading this, don't worry... kids are fed and clothed with clean clothes....) LOL!!

Today, as promised, I am going to show you my storage solutions for clear stamps, (or in my case My Favorite Things stamps) and Our Craft Lounge stamp sets.  My disclaimer:  If any of this is old news, I apologize ahead of time, but I have not seen anyone who has these ideas as their systems so I just wanted to share.

First, I will show you how I store my MFT sets.  All my photos are unedited and just quick shots of what I did.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I have so many MFT sets, although probably not nearly as much as some, but enough for me to go crazy in trying to find the right solution in keeping tabs on them all and USE them! I stored them and then forgot about them! So, I thought and researched to see what would work for me.  These ideas may not work for all but it does for me and allows me to SEE my MFT sets so I can easily access them; And not spend a fortune on something that may not work.  I know some crafters use binders or other solutions, but after seeing what was being commented on those ideas, a lot did not like what they did and are on the hunt for the next storage solution.  So, on my hunt, I found this:

You are thinking, what is that?? Well, this is called a desktop Reference System.  You have probably seen these in libraries, offices, schools, etc.  You can even find wall mounted ones.  They are meant to be used for, well, reference sheets! However, I have found that it makes for a great clear stamp storage!  The covers are a very thick plastic that the stamps will stick to and I inserted some white cardstock inside so you are able to see the stamps.  This one is made by Fellowes and I purchased it on Amazon for about $25.00.  It has 10 pages.  You can find more elaborate ones (and expensive ones!) that will expand or are wire edged for durability, but I wanted to be economical in case this was not what I wanted.  This particular one is NOT expandable.  The base is weighted and you can adjust/tighten the arm and panel piece.  The downside to this one?  It can get off kilter as it begins to take the weight of all the stamps, BUT! If you keep the pages open to the center, it will maintain its balance and as you look for your stamps, you will be holding the sheets like a book and will be fine.  Now, if you are like me, I had a lot of sets in CD cases so I did not have the plastic sheet attached to the stamps any longer.  Thats ok! Here are some pictures of what I did: (You can click on them to enlarge it)

The page on the left are some stamps that I had stored in CD cases.  I put them directly on the sheet and placed a transparency over it to protect the stamps.  Perfect! The page on the right are some I had still attached to the plastic.  With that, I added some velcro tabs to the sheet and the set so when I want it, I just pull it from the sheet and use the set! No need to keep pulling anything from inside the sheet pockets!

One side can hold up to about 6 mini MFT sets or about 2-3 full size sets if not attached to the plastic. If still attached to the plastic and is a large set, you can fit about 2 side by side and a mini below it.  MFT's set sizes varies so you just have to figure out what you will place on the sheet.

Another view of the stamps....

MFT sets are so versatile that I did not place them in this system with rhyme or reason.  However, I did keep a few things together like my ever so loved  Pure Innocence line and Flopsey line.  But you can always organize better by categorizing your sets.  (This does come with tabs you can place  in your system)




I still have about 3 blank pages left in this system for more storage of my stamps. It is amazing how much it will hold and everything is at my fingertips for viewing all at once and perhaps, USE them all!! LOL!!

Now, as far as storing OCL stamps...

This may not be a new idea but I can tell you that I have not found a binder in this size with a large ring size- until now!!  You have all probably seen those nifty plastic 3-ring cases that can hold sets that Gina K or OCL sells with those cool hard plastic backs. Like this:

However neat these cases are, they can only hold up to about 4-6 sets at a time.  If you have a lot of stamps from either company, you are left with MANY of these nifty cases.  My solution was this:












I have found a 8.5"x5.5" binder with 2" rings!! Most binders in this size only have 1" rings.  I found them at Office Max and they run $7.99 a binder.  Not terribly cheap for a binder, but I hope with as much storage I can get out of one, I will not need too many.  With this size, I am able to store 12 (maybe 13) clear OCL sets in one binder!  I have a seperate binder that will hold my rubber cling OCL sets since these take up more space due to the thickness and can only hold about 8-10 sets.  I have not gotten around to altering these binders, but you certainly can to make it personal and fun!

With these binders, I did categorize them for easy use like this:

Well, that about sums up my show and tell!! I hope I have helped a little with some storage solutions for you or at least a place to start!  I would love to hear your ideas of storage as I am ALWAYS needing storage ideas for anything!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fantastic Monday!!!