Today I'm going to share with you How to Store Your Framelits & Thinlets for Organization and Easy Retrieval. 

One of Sandi's Stampers, Noella Ryan-Paul and been busily organizing her stamping supplies so they are not only neat and tidy but also, easy to grab and use. If your tools are not in a somewhat organized system--say just tossed in a basket--then often we hesitate to dive into the chaos to find what we want. We are much more inclined to pick up a tool if it is easily located.

Who wants to spend 15 minutes dumpster diving to locate that flower framelit --- we love it, it would look great, but 15 minutes is a long time to take out of our stamping schedule just to locate a die to use. By then our creative juices have dried up, we are frustrated, irritated and have decided that person who was going to receive that beautiful card you have designed in your head--no longer needs to be wished "Happy Birthday!" Am I right?  You know I am...I've been there and I'm sure you have also.

There's lots to be said about keeping your tools organized in a way they are easy to find and easy to put back into that organizational system.

Today, we're going to take a peek inside Noella's craft room (don't you just love looking into someone's craft space and checking it out)? LOL...it's so fun and often you get some great ideas for your own space...and I say space because we don't all have an entire room to devote to our craft. This makes it even more necessary to have a organized system of keeping our crafting stuff easy to locate.

Dies (thinlets and framelits) are fantastic tools--but as you know they can be slippery little devils and not stay where they are put...so Noella has found this wonderful magnetic system (you can find them in local craft stores) that looks like this  Noella takes those plates out of the case and mounts her dies on those--she does not put them back in the case because she doesn't find it easy to look through them to find what she needs.  Here's what her system looks like in her craft space

Isn't that clever and easy to locate your favorite die? Isn't your friend more likely to get that great birthday card from you since it only took  a few seconds instead of half your crafting time to find that framelit?

Noella reports that she is now more likely to use a die since she can locate it so easily.  Noella, thanks so much for your great tip!

Be sure to stop back by on Friday... I have 2 more tips for you then!

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This week I found myself inundated with a gazillion used daubers...so I thought of an Easy & Quick Sponge Dauber Storage Solution! There are actually 2 ways to do this--one is very quick and requires little effort....the other requires a bit more but not much. They are both fairly quick to do but both end up with the same storage solution. So here goes.

Method 1: Super Quick and Easy : First grab a dauber and ink it up in the color you need to use. Dauber the ink on a piece of copy paper (approximately 7/8" X 1/2) ...be sure to get enough ink coverage that you will be able to see it well. Tape this sample to the side of the dauber with regular scotch tape. Easy right?

Method 2: Still Quick and Easy: Cut a piece of cardstock (7/8" X 1/2") of the color ink you want to use with your dauber. Tape this to the side of your  dauber using regular scotch tape...now if you want to get really fancy, you can take a pen or a fine tip marker and write the color name (see the picture) on the cardstock prior to taping it on.  Still easy, right?

Compact Storage Solution: Now pop these little puppies into the Wide Stamp Cases---you can use either the Full cases or the Half cases depending on how organized you want to be. If you use the Half cases you can sort your daubers into the color families (Subtles, Neutrals, Regals, Brights, In Colors). If you are not quite that concerned about organization--you can just pop them into a Full case and sort through when you need one.

So what do you think? Pretty simple and quick to do and it sure will make it easy when you need a dauber now--just pluck out the color and go!

The supplies are listed below. Remember if you place an online order, use the current month Hostess code (VAWE765SW) and you'll receive $5 in Stampin' Up! products (for each $50 in product purchased--excludes shipping/tax) as a thank you from me! (Note: if you place an online order for $150 0r over, don't use this code you will receive host rewards for your use.

Here are the supplies we used (not including your inks and cardstock:

Full Wide Stamp Cases
$7.00

Half Wide Stamp Cases
$5.00

Sponge Daubers
$5.00

 

One of my stampers, Nancy Cunningham, shared with me how to store those framelits and thinlits in a very organized way. First, she likes to store the stamp set and the framelits/thinlits together. In this way she only have to pull one box from  her stash and she's ready to create--instead of having to pull a stamp set and then hunt down the corresponding framelits/thinlets.  Keeping them in one container is convenient--since she only has to keep track of one item. Plus, it minimizes her storage space needed for the 2 coordinating products.

Now for the second part, she uses Business Card magnets which already have an adhesive backing:

and adheres these to the inside of the stamp case. These she adheres the thinlets/framelits to the magnets.

Now when she closes the case, she has her stamp set with the corresponding thinlets/framelis altogether, handy and ready for her project.

So this wonderful tip keeps everything together and handy as well as minimizes the storage space required for the 2 products.

One caveat, be sure that the cutting edge of the thinlit/framelit is not pressing on your stamp image--you don't want to  damage your image. If you find with larger sets that the case is too small to accommodate the stamps and the thinlit/framelit without pressing the die cutting edge into the stamp image--you may want to use the Wide Stamp Cases (item #127551) which allows more room without the die and the stamps pressing in to one another.

Fun tip, right? Do you have a great tip to share with other stampers?  Send me a short email and attach pictures of what you are describing. If it is something we haven't discussed in awhile, you may get your new idea published right here!

I need to create a wedding card and found I didn't have a background that I liked so I created a Totally Gold Card with a Unique Background....here's the card. Note: I know the photography is pathetic...it was the best I could do with all that shine and sparkle!

Do you recognize the background? Bet not! The fun part of this background is that I did it about 4 times and each time it had it's own character!  So by now you know it's not a Stampin'Up! embossing folder and it's not a Designer Series Paper, right?

Take a closer look: 

OK, I'll tell you...I used the biggest clear block, Versamark ink, and gold embossing powder. It's probably the easiest technique I've shared with you. I'm going to give you the directions below---you'll want to try this out yourself because you will have such a great time creating unique backgrounds you won't want to stop! Then I'll give you the supply list...you'll want to use this month's Hostess Code (Z9DFJV4T) when you order online so you'll get your name in the drawing for a $50 Stampin'Up! product gift certificate!

Here's how to create this card

1. Cut Very Vanilla cardstock 8 1/2 X 5 1/2, score the long side at 4 1/4 (card base).

2, Cut Gold Foil paper 3 3/8 X 5 1/8; adhere to card base front with multipurpose liquid glue.

3. Cut Very Vanilla carstock 5 1/2 X 4 1/4 lay your cardstock on the piercing mat (item #126199) Note: you may want to cover the mat with a paper towel to keep the ink from staining the mat.  Ink up the entire surface of Block F with Versamark and "stamp" this on the cardstock surface---pressing well over the entire block. Lift the block and sprinkle gold embossing powder over the surface of the cardstock and heat with the Heat Tool until shiny gold. (What a WOW look, right?). Cut this piece to 3 3/4 X 5"--select the portion that you like best. Adhere this piece to the card front with liquid glue.

4. Cut a large butterfly (Butterflies thinlets) from Gold Glimmer paper; adhere to the card front with glue dots (item #103683).

5. Rub embossing buddy on Very Vanilla cardstock, stamp "For the Newlyweds" in Versmark ink on Very Vanilla cardstock, sprinkle with gold embossing powder, heat with heat tool until shiny gold. Punch with the Classic Label punch (item #141491) and adhere to card front with dimensionals.

Gorgeous, right?

Here's the supply list, use the Order Now button to order your supplies:

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.00

Gold Foil Sheets
$4.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue
$4.00

Gold Glimmer Paper
$5.00

Butterflies Thinlits Dies
$25.00

Precision Base Plate
$25.00

Big Shot
$110.00

Teeny Tiny Wishes Wood-Mount Stamp Set
$37.00

Teeny Tiny Wishes Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$27.00

Versamark Pad
$8.50

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
$5.00

Embossing Buddy
$6.00

Heat Tool (Us And Canada)
$30.00

Clear Block F
$17.00

Clear Block Bundle
$71.50

Stampin' Dimensionals
$4.00

Classic Label Punch
$18.00

Mini Glue Dots
$5.25

Stampin' Pierce Mat
$5.00

 

 Do you ever encounter this problem - scratched foil sheets when die-cutting?  If you use your Big Shot and your framelits/thinlets/edgelits a lot like I do, your cutting pads will quickly get etched with the cuttings of those dies. Then if you use those pads when cutting a piece of foil, the etchings may cut into your smooth foil and look something like this.

Scratched Foil sheets from die cutting

There is a quick and easy solution for this dilemma --- use this Big Shot sandwich:

Big Shot, Magnetic Platform, cutting pad, foil paper, framelit, tissue paper, cutting pad

Then when you roll it through the Big Shot it will look like this:

Using the tissue paper method

The transfer of the etchings to foil usually happens when your cutting pads get "bowed" from extended use or when you forget to flip them over each time you use them to help keep them flat over time.  Using these pads with the Precision Base plate often quickens the bowing effect.

You can often straighten the cutting pads by doing this..

Cookie sheet, aluminum foil, cutting pad (curved side up), very heave casseroles (use more than one to make it heavy).  Place this  ensemble in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  When you remove it from the oven, leave the casseroles in place until the cutting pad reaches room  temp.

One more thing, in the above pictures, did you notice I am using the Stitched Shape Framelits that were introduced last fall and went to "unorderable"?  Well, they are back in stock now and you can place your orders for them now!  The information is in the supply list below. 

Here's  the supply list for the above products, use the Shop Now button at the top of the page to place your order:

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
$30.00

Standard Cutting Pads
$11.00

Big Shot
$110.00

 

If you are like me you are always looking for Easy Organization of Stamping Supplies, right? If you follow my blog you saw on October 4th the first great idea..if not, check it out.

It really annoys me when I need to find a stamp set and I have to dig through a couple of shelves (well, ok, a bookcase full) of stamps to find it. Then, if I need to be sure that it's currently in the Stampin'Up! catalog, I have to find my catalog which is always somewhere in that mountain called "What needs to be done today."

So after seeing my post on October 4th, I've been hearing about other systems that my stampers have put into place to help with decreasing the "hunting" time and increasing the "stamping" time.

Today, I'm sharing with you another great idea for tracking your stamping supplies at a glance. One of our stampers, Nancy Cunningham, has shared her system for identifying retired items as well as for classifying them for easy finding. Check out the stamp sets below--see the colored labels...

She uses 1/2 X 3/4 Avery colored labels and to maximize thriftiness, she cuts them in half.  You can find these labels in any office supply store or at big stores like Walmart.  Here's her simple coding system:

Pink labels are used for general stamp sets
Orange labels are used for verses, words, sentiments
Green labels are used for Christmas and Winter stamp sets
Yellow labels are used for are Stampin'Up! Textured Impressions Embossing Folders

So using Nancy's system, you can see at a glance and zero in on your favorite stamp sets by focusing on the color of that category! Notice she places the label down at the bottom of the stamp case spine so that you don't cover up the set name or the images.

I love it when a plan comes together! So, thanks, Nancy, for sharing with us.

If you have a great organization idea..share it with us! Leave me a comment and I'll chat with you about it!

If you have devoured the Stampin'Up! Holiday Mini catalog then you've seen the new Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, right? Dynamic---what does that mean? Well, this little beauty makes an impression (dry embossing) in the cardstock that is about twice as deep as the regular textured impressions embossing folders. It gives a vey distinct and intense impression. Because of it's thickness, you need to know how to use it so that you don't damage your folder or your Big Shot!

Here's the folder we are talking about  and a piece of cardstock we'll talk about below:

Here's a card we created  using this folder--gorgeous, right?

I'm going to give you the step by step process to use with this folder.  I cut a piece of Real Red cardstock 4 1/8 X 5 3/8:

Center this cardstock in the folder--note which direction you want the cable to run--you can see how I placed the cardstock to get the cable to run vertically. Since this is a 6 X 6 folder, you can have the cable running in either direction for your own  card design--that's a terrific advantage for the 6 X 6 folders.

Now, here's how your sandwich is made for this folder--Big Shot, Big Shot Platform,  folder with cardstock inside, one standard cutting pad on top. Note: there is NOT a standard cutting pad underneath the folder....this would add too much thickness and possibly damage your machine and/or your folder. Be sure to place the folder with the open edges out and the folder spine going into the machine first.

Here's your final product---gorgeous!

It's a very simple process but you want to remember the directions above--use only one standard cutting pad on top and make sure the folder spine goes through the Big Shot first.

Let me know if you have any problems!

Here's the supply list for the card shown above. You can use the Shop Now button above to order the supplies you need today.

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
$10.00

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Christmas Pines Photopolymer Bundle
$54.75

Gold Glimmer Paper
$5.00

Always Artichoke 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Old Olive 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies
$25.00

Fine-Tip Glue Pen
$7.00

 

If you are like me, when you use the smaller Stampin'Up! textured impressions embossing folders, you tend to get some  tiny crinkles in your cardstock. Today I'm going to give you some tips & hints and show you how I minimize those crinkles.

This is the new Floral Affection folder we'll be using today:

Here's a recent card we made in class using the Floral Affection folder:

Pretty, right? It's not perfect but we've minimized the little crinkles so they are hardly noticeable.

Now let's get on with the tips and tricks--here's the equipment you'll need...the Big Shot, the Big Shot Platform and 2 standard cutting pads

Cut a piece of thick Whisper White cardstock 2 1/2 X 4 1/4:

Center this in the Floral Affection Folder....notice the black arrow I've markered on the folder?

Arrange your sandwich as follows--Big Shot, Big Shot Platform, standard cutting pad, folder with cardstock enclosed with the arrowed edge pointed toward the Big Shot roller, and the second standard cutting pad.

Hint: ROLL VERY SLOWLY--so crank your sandwich through the Big Shot--go slowly

Here's the final product---note, it is not perfect but we have significantly minimized the crinkles that normally  occur when we use the standard Whisper White cardstock and crank through at our normal rate.

Give it a try and let me know if you have found any other terrific tips or tricks that will help us use our folders better.

Here are the supplies I used for creating this card. You can use the Shop Now button at the top of the page to order what you need today.

Floral Affection Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
$9.00

Sweet Sugarplum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock
$7.00

Big Shot
$110.00

Big Shot Platform
$26.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels
$5.00

Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper
$5.00

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush
$8.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue
$4.00

Bitty Butterfly Punch
$16.00

 

Monday we talked about a couple of really great time-saving tips for organizing our stamping tools.  Today I have another one for you.

Have you ever been ready to place an order and can't remember if you have a Stampin'Up! punch. Or have you wanted to know if that new stamp set  you want to purchase will coordinate with one of the punches in your stash?  Well, one of Sandi's Stampers, Jackie Silvestri is using a really great system that will help you track your punches, help you determine if it coordinates with a stamp set and, best of all, it is portable--so it can come with you to class or you can keep it near your catalog for easy reference.

Here it is...she purchased a package of the plastic sleeves that kids use to protect their sports cards (e.g. baseball cards). She cut a piece of cardstock that slips into the sleeve and uses her punch to punch out the image from the cardstock. Now tuck this piece of cardstock in the card sleeve. Some of these come with a hole already punched in the upper corner--some don't.  If yours doesn't,  punch a hole in the upper corner and store these on a 3"diameter key ring.

Here's what one looks like....

And, here's another one...

Now if you are trying to see if the stamp fits inside the punched image--just h0ld the  punched cardstock over the stamped image and see how it fits.

If you are getting ready to purchase a punch and can't remember if you ordered it previously--scan through the cards on your key ring and you can tell at a glance whether or not you have it!

Isn't this a great organizational too! And, it's quite inexpensive...it will save you tons of time!

If you have a great organizational tool that you'd like to share--email it to me with a picture or two--I'd love to see what you are doing.

Each time we coordinate a card swap I hear several complaints about how much trouble it is to know which stamp sets are current and can be used for the swap. I also did a quick survey a few weeks ago and one of the recurrent topics was how to be more organized with stamping supplies. Well, I have a great suggestion for you to keep you current and to help you be more organized.

BTW, if you follow me on Pinterest--http://www.Pinterest.com/sandihartka you'll see that I have a new board for organizing craft rooms and craft supplies--check it out after you check out my current organizing tip.

OK, back to our topic. I'd like to say that this tip was my idea--but I'm better and finding good ideas than generating them! LOL. This idea comes from Angie Gittles--one of Sandi's Stampers.  She explained her very simple system of tracking her current stamp sets---she purchased an inexpensive pack of colored dots from the office supply store and puts a colored dot at the bottom of the stamp case spine...check out the picture below.

Now, this doesn't have to be an overwhelming chore even if you have 200 stamp sets on hand. You only need your current catalog--turn to the index and look for the first stamp set on your shelf...if it's there....just go to the next stamp set and look it up. If it's not there, put a dot on the case. 

How simple is that?

Now, you can do this with all of your stamping tools! You can put dots on your embossing folders, your framelit packs, your punches and your ink pads--you can even put them on your Stampin'Write markers!

If you have shelves for your cardstock--put a dot next to the color if it is retired.  If you don't have shelving--here's a great storage hint (this one comes from Diane Flayhart)--purchase a pack of the WIDE page protectors from the office supply store. These are designed to hold up to 40-50 pages of copy paper and will hold a full pack of your Stampin'Up! cardstock. So put the colored dot on the sheet protectors.

Now aren't these two ideas simple and inexpensive? And how nice will it be next time we organize a swap and all you need to do is check out the stamps and tools that don't have a dot and you are ready to participate!

Speaking of SWAPS--our next SWAP is due to me by noon on Halloween (10/31/16 at noon). The only rule is all current Stampin'Up products must be used. You can provide the recipe if you want. Just send 10 card fronts to me and you are IN!  My address is 313 Esther Drive, Forest Hill, MD 21050. Swaps will not be returned or swapped if they don't meet the current Stampin'Up! products rule. It's not too late--you still have nearly 30 days...email me if you are not currently signed up to let me know you want to participate--I will be making a little thank you gift for you ([email protected])

 Do you have a really cool supply/tool organization tip that you'd like to share with our stampers? Email it to me with a picture of what you are doing--we all need help with our limited space and getting our supplies in a ready state so when we have a few minutes--weáre ready to stamp