Organizational {Friday} Unmounted Stamp Storage

It is FINALLY done! I have reorganized ALL of my unmounted stamps. It was a huge undertaking but I think it will be worth it. I really had no desire to redo my storage. I loved what I was using; however, wouldn't you know it, the storage product I used is no longer available. I have been so frustrated because I loved those Inque Boutique cases! Loved them! Anyway, if you want see how I used to store my unmounted stamps, look here.

WARNING--LONG post ahead! This is going to be a lengthy post but I wanted to be able to share everything with you today. So, sit back, take notes, save the link, whatever. I just hope it is helpful to some of you in some small way!

Now for the reveal of my new storage system. :) Lisa Hetrick e-mailed me a link to this site. These amazing storage boxes will fit a minimum of 3 pages of stamps. Lisa actually gets 4 pages in each of her boxes. Please be sure to see Lisa's post here. She has posted her storage system for these boxes too today, and she has some awesome pictures to share! This will give you more ideas too! Anyway, each page fits the equivalent of one of my old Inque Boutique storage boxes. So, one new box now holds THREE of my older storage boxes worth of stamps. As a comparison, you can see how I stored the Unity Birds of a Feather set in the old case (first photo), and now how they all fit on one page in the new boxes (second photo). The stamps I am putting in these boxes are all deeply etched rubber on the thicker EZ Mount. If you have clear stamps or use the thinner EZ Mount, you will be able to fit a LOT more in each box!!! The boxes I purchased from Univenture were the "UniKeep™ 1.25" View Case Binder™ - A5 (Clear #1331)." I also bought a couple of the smaller cases "UniKeep™ .75" View Case Binder™ - A5 (Clear #1329)" to keep my stamp inventory pages in. I will share that below.

The boxes do not come with storage pages. There are several things you can do. You can laminate your own chipboard or heavy cardstock, or you can buy these awesome pages from Gina K. They cost $2.95 for 4 pages. Now for me, I felt it was cheaper to buy them from Gina. Once I figured out how much the laminate would cost, then the cardstock, and the time factor in making the pages, it was well worth it for me to purchase them. But this at least gives you a couple of ideas. Now let's look at my boxes! :) Here is what my stamp boxes look like all lined up: **Please note that I no longer use the Excel file below for my inventory; however, it may be a great option for you! I changed over to a Rolodex file which I love much better. You can see complete details on my Rolodex inventory here. :)

You can see that each box has a number. On my stamp inventory sheet, it tells me which box the stamp is located in. So I will not have to search boxes anymore for the right stamp. I just look at my inventory sheet, see which box number the stamp is in, grab the box, and stamp away! For the inventory sheet, I created a Microsoft Excel file. I entered EVERY single unmounted stamp I own into the spreadsheet. Each stamp shows the set it is from, the company, the box number, and the category. I can then sort my sheet on the set name, category, or whatever works best for me. I am currently keeping a printout of them by category in my inventory binder though they are stored with their original set. Here is what an inventory page looks like sorted by Set Name and then Stamp Name: And here is what an inventory page looks like sorted by Category and then Stamp Name: I also have pictures of each set in my spreadsheet, and I have printed this too. Here is what one of those pages looks like: And here is what my inventory binder looks like:I love that I can search on anything to find what I need! To create the little circle tags for each box, I used Avery Key Tags that I purchased from Office Depot, my Creative Memories 1" circle maker, Basic Grey Sultry paper, and Unity Just My Type numbers! To stick each tag on the boxes, I used my trusty Glue Dots. They worked perfectly!

And to find out how to put an image into Excel and/or get a copy of my spreadsheet, see this post here. I hope this has been helpful to you! I know now that it is all done, it will be easy for me to add new sets as I get them. Enjoy, and please feel free to ask questions as you have them. Just be sure to leave you e-mail address in the comment section so that I can get back to you. Have a joyous Friday, and Happy Organizing!