So pleased to write a guest post for the Cocoa Daisy Blog that appeared last week – on one of my favorite topics – stamp organization. Here’s a syndicated version in case you missed it
I love acrylic stamps – especially those from here at Cocoa Daisy – but storing them can be a bit of a challenge. At first I kept them with kits, but found I would forget about them or they would get lost, then I started storing them in a basket but would waste time looking through for the stamp I wanted. So about two years ago I had some scrap transparency paper lying around and the idea for making stamp books was born. Over the years I have experimented with different ways of assembling, I think this is the best version yet.
Here’s what the finished product looks like and then I’ll walk you through the steps.
Step 1: Get ready. If you’re a messy scrapper like me, this first step is the hardest – clean your workspace
Gather supplies:
2 pieces of chipboard 4.25×5.75
4 pieces of patterned paper 4.25×5.75
10 pieces of white cardstock cut 4.25×5.5 (or 8.5×11 cut into fourths)
20 pieces of acetate cut 4.25×5.5 (or 8.5×11 cut into fourths)
Adhesive
Pretty stuff to decorate cover
Binding mechanism – I use bind-it-all and wires. You could easily use the jump rings that come with the chipboard in the Daisy Boutique
Step 2: Adhere your patterned paper to the chipboard, those of you that are afraid of naked chipboard might want to paint the edges here.
Step 3: Assembling the book. The interior of the book alternates acetate and cardstock – with 2 pieces of acetate (your stamps will go between these two) for every one piece of cardstock. So starting from the back of the book and work forward – layer:
I piece cardstock
2 pieces acetate
1 piece cardstock
2 pieces acetate
and so on
Once you’ve got the acetate sandwiches made stack the covers on top and punch holes for binding
Step 4: Bind that bad boy – if your using a bind-it-all or some other type of coiled wire binding one of my best tips is to stack the back of the book on top of the front – back inside cover up. This way the seam of the coil is hidden on the inside
Step 5: Decorate the cover – I happen to love the quote on the packing cards so I used it.
Step 6: Label and store. Stamp the image (I use black Memento ink) on the white cardstock. You can usually get a few stamps on each page if you plan ahead. Now your stamp is ready for it’s new home – place the stamp on the acetate aligning with your stamped image on the cardstock page. *A quick note some stamps you have to put the front side down to align with the image, this is totally ok, the acetate protects both sides.
Voila you’re done, easy peasy right? Be warned once your stamps are this easy you may find yourself just turning the pages and aahing over how beautiful they are, just remember the point is to use the stamp. If you have any questions feel free to send me a message through Daisy mail.
Happy organizing!
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