Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Organizing Tags

Today I just wanted to share a few organization tips that have worked really well for me.  Maybe you already have a working system in place, maybe you are keeping an open mind and want to try something different.  I hope this system helps you like it has me.

Whenever I post a card I try to include all the particulars so that if you see anything you like you know exactly what I used.   To help keep it together I use simple jump rings with identification tags.  This is also really helpful for me when I am creating a card.  I shudder to think of all the different ink pads and colors I own.  How do I know exactly what shade of green I want to use without getting them all out and trying them? 

To keep it organized, whenever I buy an ink pad I print the name on a piece of cardstock.   I punch out a tag, and a hole for the jump ring, and then stamp an image in that color ink. The tags are color coded lightest to darkest.  Sometimes I will add a letter after the name of the ink to help me identify the pad - for example M = Momento, V = Versafine, SU = Stampin' Up! etc.    Here's a close up of the ink pad tags....
Here is a photo of my swatches of cardstock.  I am addicted to Papertrey card stock and purchase this brand almost exclusively now.  If you have other favorites you can simply notate with a letter the brand for easy reference.
  
 Here are my swatches of seam binding.  I buy Hug Snug brand and have my rings color coded.  I leave the tails long so that I can drape them across my project to see exactly what shade will work best to coordinate with the other materials I'm using.  So many colors to choose from.
These are my swatches for We R Memory Keepers Corner Chompers.  I have the name of the cut written on the tag and I have a stripe of color drawn on the swatch that matches the handle color of the Corner Chomper.  For Example, If I want to use the "Photo" cut (the swatch has a pink stripe) then I  want the pink handled Corner Chomper.
I keep all my rings on hooks in my scrap room.  They are all within arms reach so I can grab them for easy reference when I make something, or for when I need to make a list of different products I used for a project.

I hope this inspires you and will help keep you organized! 

Jeanne

13 comments:

Cathy Weber said...

Now this is just too organized! What a great idea, especially love the seam binding swatches. I can see how helpful this is when trying to come up with the perfect shade of...something! Thanks for sharing your system.

Liz Thomson said...

What a great idea and I am already thinking of other things I could organize like this. Thanks for the idea and take care.

Kim Heggins said...

Wow, you are just amazing and so organized. What a great system too, what time did you say you would be at my home to do this??? LOL

Joyce said...

What a great system of organization. You must be stamping for quite a while to have such a great stash of stuff. I'll bet this makes everything much easier.

Marybeth said...

Wow you are organized! Love the that you keep the seam ribbon long so that you can lay it across the card just too smart! The ink color tag is a wonderful idea as well. TFS

JJ Bolton said...

Such great ideas! I'm not nearly as organized, but I'm slowly getting things where I can find them:) The thing I really want to do is catalog my stamps with a list of sentiments. I feel like I'm always searching for the right words!!

Sharron said...

Wow, you are SO organized! Love your little hints! i am slowly working on getting my stuff in order. I still have several plastic cases full of paper scraps, things I have stamped but never used, lots of extra die cuts--if I could just get those controlled I think I would be happy!

Unknown said...

Wow, great ideas Jeanne! Your ideas are wonderful and time saving in the long run. I haven't done this for any of the above but I know I'd use my seam binding more if I did this, so I will. :-)

One thing I've done is to make copies of all new dies & punches and place on a 8x11 sheet of cs so I can quickly see them. I label the company at the top and slip it into a page protector. These steps take time initially but they also save time.

I hope your baby calms down soon, the puppy stage is the hardest. Hang in there!

Kara said...

i have a very similar little system!!

Melisa Marie said...

Jeanne, I LOVE this idea. I keep saying I'm going to do it, but I never do, mostly because I don't want to waste cardstock by using my LARGE tag punches for a small stamped image for inventory.

What is the punch you used here for the first set, the inkpad swatches? it's so small and PERFECT for me!

Thanks!

Desert Rose Stamper said...

Great idea -- I am going to set this up -- I am always dragging my card stock out and my stamp pads -- to find the right color -- this system would be so much better -- thanks for sharing your great idea.

Sharon S.

Surekha Galagoda said...

Hi
I am looking at organizing and this is a great idea and i am going to bkmark your blog and return.blessings and hugs

TeresaC said...

Well done, Jeanne!! Thank you for the inspiration to organize!!