Monday, May 20, 2013

Stamp Organization!!

I finally (after being a stamper for 10 plus years) have organized my stamps!!

This is monumental! LOL

I don't know how exactly I came up with the method for organizing my stamps.  I am sure that over the years I heard suggestions from other consultants or people on the web--even before there was Pinterest.  So I'm not trying to take credit for this method.  I'm sure someone else thought of it first!

I based this organization method on how I wanted to use and access my stamps.  I wanted to be able to see the stamp images all in one place and then be able to quickly locate that stamp set.  My "before" method involved just flipping through ALL my stamps to find one.  Talk about time consuming.  PLUS I could never have remembered all the sentiments and words I have or which set they were on.

First off let's see what the "before" looked like.



Before I was using the CD/DVD storage boxes from Sterlite. In reality I usually peeled the labels off.  I took this picture so you could see exactly what the product was.  At the time I bought them from Wal-Mart for $1.  I thought it was a great deal--and they served me well for a time.  The drawbacks were: they weren't very portable, the holes on the side wrecked havoc on sliding stamp sets in and out, and they were not stackable.

Oh and here is how they usually looked....




I used to attempt to store them by catagory/color, but some stamps didn't really fit into a catagory or CTMH would change their catagory/color system and they ended up being really hard to search through.  I would constantly be saying "Now was that one yellow or pink??"

Okay.  So first I decided that the best way to have images of all my stamps was to use my scanner/printer/copier.  (After I asked my husband how to use it of course.)  I scanned two stamps (that I felt were similar) per page.  Note: D sized stamps overlapped a tiny bit so I tried to scan two different sized stamps together when I could.  I actually was using the copy function on my printer, so the images aren't stored in my computer.  I didn't feel like I needed them stored on my computer and the whole process went much faster.






Next I used a three ring punch and added them to a binder.  I used categories of my own making to divide the images.  (Alphabets, Family/Theme/Special Interests, Backgrounds/Borders, Nature/Flowers, Sentiments/Shapes, Calendar/Birthday, and All Holidays.)  Now some of the stamps you might say could go in two different categories.  And while that is true I didn't feel the need to cross-reference any stamp.  It could be because I don't have much patience or because I'm too lazy.  I'll let you decide.  :)


Okay so now that I've found an image I want in the binder, how do I find the stamp set??  I decided all my stamps would be organized in alpha-numerical order.  Meaning A100-A999 then B100-B999, then C100-C999, etc.  (Those are just sample numbers.)  Beside each picture you'll notice I hand wrote the stamp's number for quick reference.  Many times the number is on the image, but sometimes they are tiny and hard to see.


And top the whole thing off I chose to store the stamps in Close To My Heart's lovely Large Organizer (Z1834).  It holds A LOT of stamps, it's portable and stackable!  (The catalog says it holds 40 sets, but I have about 48 in each of mine SHHH!)  One of the best things about Close To My Heart stamps is that they are SO compact.




Another thing I did was to create an Excel document that lists all my stamps sets in order and with title and a note of if I own more than one copy.  I added this list to my binder also.  That way if I want to see if I have a set by title I can look it up quickly too.

It took the better part of the weekend to get this all done, but it makes my hobby life SO much easier!

If you have any organizing tips I'd love to hear them!
Meredith

Sunday, May 19, 2013

You're Tweet (using Dream Pop)

Still have my Dream Pop papers within easy reach and I also had my April Stamp of the Month out.  I thought the birdcages could use a sweet little birdie to accompany them!


A super easy card to put together.  Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Meredith

Supplies Used: all CTMH unless noted
Paper:  Dream Pop B&T and CS, White Daisy CS
Ink: Lagoon, Black
Stamps: My Sunshine (S1304)
Other: Black Shimmer Trim, foam adhesive

Saturday, May 18, 2013

End Of Year Teacher's Card

Another school year is coming to a close...eight days, but who's counting??

I can hardly wait for summer's lazy days!  I know teachers probably can't wait either.  I have always given an end of school gift to Delaney's teacher.  This year (same theme as last year) I am doing a beach bag filled with beach towel, flip flops, sunscreen, aloe vera gel, Off! spray, decks of cards and I am planning on throwing in an Amazon gift card.

So today I sat down to make a card for Delaney to write in....here's what I came up with.


Does it have a beachy theme??  :)  I also used the swiping technique on the flower.

Have a great weekend!
Meredith

Supplies Used: all CTMH unless noted
Paper:  Dakota B&T, White Daisy CS
Ink:  Lagoon, Pear, Cotton Candy, Buttercup, Slate
Stamps:  Extreme Happiness (C1356 RETD) Thank You (C1361 RETD)
Other:  piercing tool, antique copper brads, micro tip scissors, edge distressor, adhesive 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Mother's Day Elephants

This year I actually got it together to make a Mother's Day card for my mom.  It's been years since I've made a card for Mother's Day....  :P

I was so excited to see the elephant print paper in the Dream Pop promotion because my mom LOVES elephants.  I chose to cut out one 'momma' elephant and two 'baby' elephants since my mom has two kids.



And I am still in love with the glossy embossed cardstock.  :)


How cute are the little baby elephants?  Just don't ask me how cute it was trying to cut out those little trunks!


Guess I need to get busy making my Mother-in-law a card now!!
Meredith

Supplies: all CTMH
Paper: Dream Pop
Other: micro tip scissors, edge distresser, Shimmer trim, foam tape.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

5x7 Hinged Display Tray {featuring Dream Pop}

This month CTMH is running an amazing special--you can get a gorgeous double sized paper pack for only $10 when you spend just $35!!  The best part is these papers are AMAZING!  They feature bright colors, and GLOSSY embossed cardstock!

I cut into my first pack of Dream Pop yesterday to use with the hinged display tray.  I chose these beautiful pictures of my daughter the day she got her new glasses.  I had no idea that kids could need reading glasses--she could see the board fine, so I was surprised to learn that her headaches were caused from being FAR sighted!  Anyway--she looks absolutely adorable in the frames so I had to document them somewhere!

Here is the picture of the total tray--both sides.


Here's the left side.


And the right side.


I tried taking a few pictures outside to help capture the project better...




Here are a few detail shots I took today when I had a little more light.  I really wish I could take better photos of this!  ;)




Oh and in case you notice...that's not actually black nail polish on her thumb.  She had slammed her finger in the door at school.  :(



Whew!  That's a lot of pictures!  Check out my shopping website to get your own Dream Pop papers today while supplies last!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Meredith

Supplies Used: all CTMH unless noted
Paper: Dream Pop B&T and Cardstock, Colonial White CS (for the photo mat)
Other: Sparkles, Sparkle Flourishes, Mini Medley Assortment in Slate, Glitter paper, Buttons (green assortment) Cricut Art Philosophy (glitter heart)

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Friend Layout {Using Chantilly Papers}

When I saw the beautiful layout in the 2013 Spring/Summer Idea Book on page 19 I thought it would look fantastic framed on the wall.  Then the more I thought about using it for a workshop, I wanted to make a companion layout.  Welllll long story short--here is what I ended up making.

This is what I did with the LO from the Idea Book.  I flipped it.  And since I didn't have the exact stamp I improvised.  (Which was much easier since my stamps are now cataloged--more on that in a future post.)


Here is the companion LO.  It's a take on page 27 in the Make It From Your Heart Volume 1.


Some of the details...





And here are the two LOs side by side...


I am so happy with how they turned out, but I feel like they might be a little involved for a workshop.  I'll have to think about it a little.  ;)

I hope to have a post about how I organized my stamps up soon so check back...
Meredith

Supplies Used:  all CTMH unless noted
Paper: Chantilly B&T, Champagne CS, White Daisy CS, Pear CS
Ink: Pear
Stamp: True Friends (D1406)
Other: Cricut Art Philospophy, Chantilly Textiles, Zipper Lace, Green Red and Pink Buttons, foam tape, Micro Tip Scissors, Creme Brulee baker's twine, edge distressor, adhesive.