Organization: Let's Talk Background Stamps

The weather has gotten in the way of my blog. Last night we were hit with a pretty impressive thunder storm. The lightening was flashing and the rain was coming down in torrents. The wind actually was blowing the rain UP the street. It looked like a river flowing upstream. It was amazing to watch but it also meant that the computer needed to be shut down early. So here I am today with a post about organizing. One of my goals in life is to become organized. Every area of my house needs help but let's focus a little on my studio today. I love backgrounder stamps. I have a ton of them and storage has always been an issue for me. I am an unmounted stamp girl and most of my stamps are mounted with ez mount and stored in cd cases. The problem is the backgrounder stamps are much too big for those cases. I've tried a few ways to store these big stamps but just haven't been happy.

A few months ago, there was a post over at Stamp Shack talking about using DVD cases for large stamp storage. Of the places mentioned in the thread, I decided to check out Sleeve City. Someone had recommended getting the Super Jewel Box King DVD case (scroll down near the end of the linked page). I decided to give them a try.

This is how the cases look when you first get them. Like a regular cd case, you need to remove a few parts before you can use them for your unmounted stamps. The first thing to remove is the area highlighted by the blue arrow. When you first try to take it out, it seems as if you will break the case if you take this out because it's pretty well nestled in the case. If you slowly, carefully pull it out, it will come out. I've taken over 20 of these cases apart and have yet to break one (although be careful because I did break a nail!)

Now if you look to the left side of the open case, you will see some small tabs. I've highlighted one with the purple arrow. All you need to do is bend these and they will break right off. The background stamps will fit if you break off one side. You can take all four off if you choose but it's not necessary.

Here is what the case looks like when all the parts are taken off. Now you are ready to use these for storing your large stamps.

This is how the backgrounder stamps fit into the case. I have backgrounds from SU, TAC and Cornish Heritage and they all fit nicely into these cases.

The other great use for these is if you have some unmounted stamps that are a bit bigger and only one or two fit into a regular cd case and you'd like to get a bit more storage out of your cases.

I've always been a little bit unsure of the best way to store all my bellas. Only one or two fits into a regular cd case and if you are like me and own WAY more than one or two, this is a great alternative. Along with the bellas, I use these cases for my Rubber Romance Divas, another company whose stamps are quite large. I don't own any Hannas but this seems like a good solution for those stamps too and I am sure there are many other companies whose stamps would be perfect for these.

I store all my cd cases on cd case shelves and many of these units have openings that are tall enough for dvd cases too. I label each case on its side with my label maker and I have them all stored in these shelves. There's a dedicated shelf or two for the dvd cases and A LOT of shelves for the cd cases. When I have all my stamps organized, I will take a picture to show you. This is most definitely a work in progress!

These dvd cases are not cheap, but I buy them in bulk at Sleeve City so the cost per case is less. I've had good dealings with this company so far. I've never had any cases damaged during shipping (unlike some cd cases I ordered online from Staples where several of them came to me broken) and they get the orders out in a timely fashion. If you find another place that's good and are cheaper, I'd love to hear about it. I'm always looking for reputable companies to buy from at competitive prices.

Hope this helps if you are embarking on an organzation quest. Have a fantastic day!