I first started collecting stamps when a gal at church showed us how to make our own cards using stamps. Cards were expensive, so I thought that making my own cards would save money in the long run. Maybe it does for a few people, but crafting rarely saves money for many of us. We only think it will.
In late January, I decided to reorganize my stamps. It took me a lot longer than I expected, since they had once been well organized. I got a bit lax over time about putting stamps away, especially when doing the card classes and I realized that if I wanted to find things as quickly and easily as I used to be able to, I needed to do an overhaul. It took me longer than I thought, even though I kept my basic system. The sad thing is that after getting them organized all over again, I realized I am missing a few favorite stamps. I am hoping the missing stamps are in an Iris or ArtBin container with other project materials, but that organization is for another day.
Most of my stamps are stored in the Crop in Style Paper Sticker Binders (CIS PSB). The binders that worked so well for me are either no longer available, or they cost a ridiculous amount of money to buy on eBay because they aren't being made anymore.
I've been collecting stamps for at least 35 years. I have a lot of stamps, and I still continue to buy stamps, although I am a lot pickier than I used to be. I had run out of space in my PSB's, but I couldn't find anything that I liked as well. I can find what I want very fast with this storage method, and they don't take up a lot of space, especially since I took stamps off wooden blocks and use a stamp positioner. Each binder has a tag on the handle that lets me know what stamps are stored there (for example, a general category such as summer stamps, or one or more particular brands of stamps such as My Favorite Things, Lawn Fawn, etc.).
I found some zippered school binders on sale at Costco, so I bought some of them. They don't hold nearly as many stamps as the PSB's, but they work. I adhere the plastic sheets that the stamps are stored on to card stock, and slip the card stock into plastic pockets.
It took me weeks to get them all organized, but it's done.
Years ago, when I was first collecting stamps, an employee at a stamp store asked how many I had. At the time, I had a couple hundred, which I thought was a huge collection. The stamp employee told me, "If you can still count them, you don't have enough."
I haven't been able to count them for a very long time. However, at least with the way they are organized, I can find what I want very quickly.
