Hi Everyone! Goodness, do I have a tip for you today! I had one of those "slap yourself on the forehead and wonder why you didn't think of this before" moments the other day. I was sorting through my file box of Big Shot Framelits and Thinlits to find the one that matched a particular stamp set. I've always stored the dies on Cardboard-backed magnetic sheets and kept them in a separate basket, apart from the stamp sets. But all of a sudden, I had this AMAZING idea! WHY NOT STORE THE DIES WITH THE STAMP SET? Now, I apologize if everyone else has already been doing this and I've just been clueless and in-the-dark. It wouldn't be the first time in my life that I found myself out of the loop! But seriously, I've never seen or heard of anyone doing this before and it's such a simple way to store both your stamp sets and their coordinating thin dies. There are several advantages to doing this: it cuts down on the storage space needed, it keeps the coordinating elements together and easy to use, you can immediately see the dies and the stamps they go with and it will save you time when you are stamping, I could go on but hopefully you get the picture!
So, here's what I have done! The clamshell boxes that the Stampin' Up! Stamp sets come in have plenty of room in them to adhere a magnetic sheet on the inside-front cover, and securely store your dies on the magnet sheet! Yes, you heard me right! I've done it now with all my current stamp sets. It works with Clear Mount sets, Photopolymer Sets and even the sets that have two sheets of Photopolymer Stamps! Yeah! Right! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THIS BEFORE!!!!
- Attached a label to the inside front cover with the name of the Dies, the Item Number and the number of pieces included in the set
- Attached a 5 x 6" piece of magnetic sheeting to the inside front cover of the clamshell case, using a strong double stick tape. I purchased the magnetic sheets at my Big Box Hardware store. They are Magnetic Vent Covers. The ones I purchased had three 8x15" sheets in each package for around $5.
- Arrange your Dies until they fit to your liking. If you're really OCD, you could even outline each die with a white or chalk pen so you can instantly see how they all fit together. But I didn't do that ... YET!
And that's it! It's such a simple idea. I can't believe I didn't think of it before!