Unity Grab Bag Goodness

So, Unity had a special last week for a grab bag of 50 unmounted stamps for $8 + shipping (so $13 total)! What a steal, huh? Here are the stamps I received. I had a few duplicates as you can see at the top of the first picture, but there were some really great stamps in here and at such a great price! I can't wait to get stamping!

New Stamp Storage

I am running out of room with all the Stampin Up blocks and clam shell boxes. I don't even have all that many either, but space is a tight commodity at my house. I have been researching different stamp storage methods at SCS, individual blogs, company sites. . . you name it, I've probably looked.

First of all, I decided to go with EZMount. I bought a couple of unmounted sets through TAC and Pink Cat Studios and decided that this is by far the best way to go. You can see through the acrylic block to know exaclty where you are stamping, and the storage is minimal.

Now that I decided on EZMount, I had to decide how to store them all. Someone had suggested getting the acrylic sheets at Lowe's and having them cut them into smaller peices. I decided the 4x6 size acrylic would be a good size so that there is only one set per sheet (I can use both sides). I then found shoe box size plastic containers that snap shut so that I can keep the dust out. Take a look at how great this is. I can fit 20-25 sets per box. My first box is almost filled up and I have enough Stampin Up sets to fill another box. I am dreading this though as I have to take them all off the wood mounts :(


I decided that while I'm at it, I should also get myself some sort of index started. I decided the best way for me would be to use 4x6 cards and stamp index cards of each set. One set per card (or 2 if it's a biggin) and then I bought one of those $1 photo albums at Walmart. Each card will have the company, set name and number. The numbers can be used to reference where the set is found and what box it is in. This way I won't have to worry about a growing collection of stamps for the future.


Sorry this was soooooo long. I am just super excited to have this figured out and can't wait until I am all caught up and only have to do new sets as I purchase them.

Weekend Cards

This weekend, I worked on completing a few of the swaps I am in through SCS. I need to do 2 5x5 cards for a Be Squared swap, and then 3 3x3 gift tags for a various themed gift tag swap. I got the samples done for all but 1 5x5. All the pieces are cut and stamped. I just need to color, cut out images and assemble the 4 I have done. It is fun to work with the square cards. They are just a little different, but not too much that I feel completely outside my comfort zone (which by the way isn't too big quite yet :] )

3x3 Gift Tag
Flower is from Unity Eco Chic
Sentiment is from Unity Little Buggers
Bazzill paper, Stampin Up ink


3x3 Gift Tag
TAC Wild Animals
Bazzill paper, Stampin Up ink, Bic Mark Its


3x3 Gift Tag
Unity Little Buggers
Bazzill paper, Stampin Up ink, Bic Mark Its


5x5 Be Squared
sentiment - Unity Little Buggers
Bazzill paper, Stampin Up ink
patterned paper, ribbon, buttons

My first Hybrid Page

The digi challenge this week at SCS was to create a hybrid page. I have never done anything like this, so it was definitely a challenge. I think I did things a little backwards. I just started by designing the digi portion of the page without thinking about what I was going to do with it when I was done. So, I ended up with a great digi part, and then struggled to find papers that matched the off-colors I had used. I also didn't think about what I was going to do to make it all blend together and work. I know now that you really do have to plan everything out, just as you would a regular paper page. Start with what you want the final layout to be, what elements are you going to use, what colors, how will it all work together. I am excited to try this out again and see what I can come up with. Wish me luck!