While we are still distancing and staying home, many have found this a great time to organize. My stamps were already organized, but I wanted to try it differently. I see so many crafty YouTubers organize their stamps by brand while I have alway organized mine by themes. I thought about how I craft and noticed that I do look for certain brands based on what I am working on. Altenew is my go to for anything floral, if I am looking for a cute card, I lean towards Lawn Fawn and if I am looking for something different, Brutus Monroe is my go to.
This really sounded like a great idea and I had visions of Brands dancing in my head. I pulled out all my stamps sets, sat on the floor in the middle of the room and started tossing those beautifully theme-organized sets into piles all over the floor. In the corner was Gina K, she was hanging out next to Hefty Doodle. Nearby was Concord & 9th and then ,hanging out side by side, was Maymaymade it and Brutus Monroe (as usual). Catherine Pooler was piling up near my hip and Unity was getting anxiety attacks over the whole mess!
I sat on that floor for days, barely rising for a shower and a cuppa tea (mostly because stiffness had set in and sometimes stirring was just not worth it!) I gleefully ripped off old labels and put my label maker into overtime till it was almost smoking. In the middle of the mess, I had to make an emergency order for label refills and some Chick fil a (I have no idea how those waffle fries are perfect – every time.) At the end of the week, I did it. I had re-organized all my stamps by Brand.
I hated it.
I could not find anything.
I don’t think in terms of brands. I think in terms of themes.
I realized my mistake and knew I would have to start all over. Regret and fear washed over me when I realized all the work that went into the change over and the thought of the blisters on my fingers from the label machine, the stiff body and dreams of piles of stamps that I would have to endure…again.
So I waited a few weeks and jumped back in! You can’t keep a craftinizer down! But before I started to re-organize back to theme, I decided to ask myself a few questions:
- Do I like the themes I set up? Do I want to add or remove any? Can some be combined?
- Should I break out some brands from themes? Would this be too complicated?
- Should I move my Stamps to a new location in my room? To be more accesible?
- Do I need all these stamps? Can I survive without buying more? (okay we all know the answer to this one – I was just checking to see who is paying attention)
So I spend a couple of weeks asking myself these questions, buying more stamps and getting deeper into the brand storage method. After pondering on these questions, and tripping over my new stamp sets, I finally landed on a compromise. I would organize by Brand AND Theme! Yes I knew I could do it, all I needed was a way to organize and label to be able to quickly locate and put away my stamp sets. So I put together this simple system to craftinize my space:
- I listed all the brands I could think of off the top of my head and put them on an excel spreadsheet (I really should have looked at my stamps to put together my list – but that would have made too much sense.
- Then I put together a new theme list. I combined some and renamed others to be more inline with the industry speak.
- Decided where I would put the labels on the stamp pockets for consistency.
- Landed on four different stamp pocket sizes – Small, Large, XL and Square. The only reason for this is to visually have similar sized stamps sets together. No other reason.
- Lastly, I assigned a number series to each brand. This is what I believed would allow me to organize by theme, but also group the brands within each theme. This ended up being the game changer for me.
My spreadsheet:
My original list categories and brand list. 
Some of the unforgettable brands I forgot!
As you can see, each brand is in alphabetical order has a number assigned . I Started at 200 and went up by 100 each time. This allowed me to later add brands I forgot and still keep the list in alphabetical order. As you can see, I forgot Concord & 9th (the horror). When I realized it, I assigned them 850 since they would fall between Colorado Craft (I am in love with their Big & Bold collection) and Crafter’s Companion (the purple money eater!). Once I had my list, the fun began!
I also decided it was time to make my stamp pockets look more consistent. This may not be for everyone and I may not keep it up, but I figured I did not have nearly enought to do with reorganizing my entire collection, so I added this one little thing (okay so not so little but hey, Covid-19 says we got no place to go right now) I went and watched some organization videos and found one I loved. I recommend watching the whole video, but for just the stamp organization, go to 6:21.
So I ended up taking some of her tips and extended the backing that comes in the stamp packaging. Here are some of the ones I did with some extra hints.
Extended the paper so it will fill the entire pocket. 
Looks pretty in the pocket. 
I did not want to lose the information on the back of the insert so I used temporary adhesive. 
This one had the information on the packaging. I wanted to keep it so I taped it to the front of the insert. 
After extending the insert and taping the identifying information to the front of the insert. 
I no longer had the original insert. This makes me sad.
After repackaging to make things look prettier, I then re-labeled everything for a new order. I went back to the floor – I put everything in piles based on themes – no pictures as I was in my PJ’s and no haircut or “natural color redo” for ages! I was careful to keep the piles organized by brand. Then I grabbed each pile, my spreadsheet and my label maker. (Yes the label maker is labeled “Label Maker” – one must maintain a sense of humor).
I started with my XL Altenew Stamps in the category of Floral. I had previously labeled the brand and stamp name on the left side of the stamp pocket so I just had to create the label on the right side.
- The first line was for the size and category
- The second line for the numbering system
For the XL stamp pockets with Altenew Floral this is how I labeled:
As I finished labeling the stamp pocket I began to put them in the order in the container(s). On a side note, for brands I only had 1 or 2 stamp sets (so far), I put them all under the Misc Brand and assigned the brand number of 10,000. I can always give them their own brand number in the future and just update the labels.
While I use dividers between themes, sometimes the theme takes up nearly the entire container so just label the container instead.
I mixed to themes since they both fit in the container nicely. 
Floral has it’s own container – and may or may not need another one….
Upon completion, I lined them up on my shelves and I think I am in love with the new order.
If you found an idea you liked, please let me know by commenting on this post and if you have a hint to share, please do so!
Next up….I am taking a layering class at Altenew. You can take it with me, it is free! https://altenew.com/collections/altenew-academy-classes/products/all-about-layering-1