Storage for Clear and Unmounted Stamps

I’ve been stamping for about ten years now and almost from the start I bought more unmounted stamps than mounted.  For these early years it was a matter of space, or rather lack of space!!  I did not have a dedicated room at that time so anytime I wanted to stamp I would bring my supplies from a closet to the kitchen table, work on a project, and then have to put everything away. 

I now have a dedicated room for stamping, but I still seek out unmounted rubber, and more often, clear stamps.

I’ve tried so many storage options for unmounted and clear and think I finally found something that works for me.

My larger stamps I keep in a three ring binder.  I can fit four backgrounds to a page – I stick the stamp on a sheet of glossy (the stamps are mounted with ez mount foam or are clear and self sticking) and place the sheet in a clear page protector.  A page with the inked image of the stamps is placed on the opposite side. 

For my smaller stamps or stamps that come in a set, I needed something better.  I tried the CD cases that seemed to be all the rage, but I quickly gave up on them.  First, the CD cases were just too flimsy.  After opening and closing them a few times the case would break.  Plus, they were too small.  I had to use two CD cases for some stamp sets and some sets had a main image that did not work in a CD case.  I then switched to soft plastic boxes.  This solved the size issue, but the boxes were not sturdy enough and did not hold up well in my stamp room.

Then I found these clear hinged boxes.  WOW – what a difference!!  I love these and think this is my storage solution!!  Here is what I love about them:

Material:  The boxes are clear rigid plastic that hold up well.  They are hinged so they open up and lay flat.

Size:  At 4 x 6 these hold my clear stamp sets perfectly.  Flourishes stamps (and some of the other clears that are popular) come in 4 x 6 and 8 x 6 sizes.  Two 4 x 6 sets fit in these – one on each side.  Here is a photo of two Christmas sets in one box.  For the larger 8 x 6 sets, just sort out your pieces and split half on one side and half on the other side.   The depth of these boxes total ½” with ¼” on each side – a perfect depth for stamps!  I used a label maker to  attach labels to the boxes so that I can find them quickly.   

Unmounted rubber fits in these as well.  The only additional step I do with my unmounted rubber is to stamp the images on a piece of paper that was cut to the size of the box so that I have view of what is in the box

These boxes are now available at Flourishes and come in packs of six.  Six boxes will hold twelve 4 x 6 sets.