TKJ - Wednesday Tutorial

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Today is my monthly post at The Kraft Journal's Wednesday Tutorial and Tips.

I have never quite known how to store stamps, especially when out of sight (for me!) means out of mind.  I am always finding some stamp somewhere that I didn't even know I had, does that happen to you ?

When I first began stamping on my cards, I had no idea my collection would expand so much !  Recently I saw an article in a craft magazine asking the question, how do you store your stamps ?, and even the experts didn't have any ideas I didn't already think of.

At first, all my stamps were in a shoebox, sitting on my craft table.  This was a pretty good solution for me for a time, as I could find them quickly, and they were so easy at hand.  I had read somewhere to keep your unmounted stamps in a CD jewel box, which I tried, but the center stem was always in the way. Finally, I had to separate out my mounted stamps though, and I put them on a closet door ...

I found a 13 x13 box, two inches high, so I could put my Christmas mounted stamps in a closet with all of my other holiday paper and stamps.

My first solution for my unmounted stamps was a hard cover box, with binder clips, and plastic sleeves.  This was too large to keep on my craft table, I found I forgot all about it, and those sleeves just weren't right.  Sometimes the stamps would cling to them, which didn't seem like a great plan either.

In the end I found I had to keep my stamps in different areas.  A friend gave me a 31 day wooden box, meant for receipts, and I found I could keep that easily on the table.  I can thumb through them very quickly, so the stamps most often used ended up here.

I have a lot more unmounted stamps I wanted to have close at hand too, and I found these plastic holders at Stampendous ...

You can store these upright, or flat, they are very thin and fit into a magazine holder easily.  I always tape some of the packaging to the back, so I know where the stamps originated.

Here you can see how easily you can find a piece.  This is really one of my smartest storage solutions.

But in the end, I found the best storage of all for those stamps I use everyday, the stamps with all the sentiments.  This is a drawer right next to my knee, and I'll be honest, my favorite solution...

Yup, a pile stuffed in a drawer !

How do you handle your stamps ??  

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