I’ve lost my mind and I don’t remember where I had it last.

The paper scraps have been handled, all is well on that front.

I’ve been trying to get my rubber stamps organized and into some kind of format so I will know exactly what I have.  Drawers have been emptied of the Stampin’ Up! plastic boxes.  All the wood blocks have been removed.  Those rubber stamps have been put in large 3-ring binders.

I’ve organized my Jet Storage drawers that are in the closet.  Scrap pieces of paper  have been used in the label area of the drawers.

I have some number stickers that have been in a drawer since 2003.  Those have been used to mark the drawer numbers.

My odd assortment of rubber stamps have been acquired over the years in a “Willy Nilly” fashion.  No rhyme nor reason as to why, or what, I’ve purchased.  The first drawer holds my large block stamps.  Since I don’t have a lot of them and use them infrequently I’m leaving them on the blocks.

The second drawer has an assortment of medium and small wood mounted stamps that I seldom use.

The first of the smaller drawers holds my Stampin’ Up! rubber that came in the DVD/CD holders.  There is no true method to the storage of these stamps.  Just chucked in the amount that would fit and move on to the next drawers.  In the back area of the drawer are my small stash of “Wheel” stamps.

The next drawer holds more Stampin’ Up! rubber along with some small stamps I purchased many years ago while in Wichita, Kansas visiting a scrapbook store there on our way to see one of our sons.

The next drawer holds more Stampin’ Up! rubber along with three alpha sets that I just had to have.  One of those purchases in my early days of gathering stuff for my craft room with every intention of using but have not.

The final drawer holds my last, and final, Stampin’ Up! rubber set.  I have some Tim Holtz, Hampton Arts, Studio G, and I don’t remember what else are in this drawer.

Initially, I was pretty pleased with getting all of my rubber stamps catalogued on the 4″ x 6″ index cards and placed in the recipe box.  Trouble was I still have no idea what I have.  I mean with all of the images and sentiments how would I find the right image for a card?!

I mean, REALLY?!  Look at the mess I’ve made for myself!

So after all that initial work I am sorting through all the cards to pick out images and sentiments that go together.  These are then stamped onto photocopy paper in some kind of an order.  At least all the Christmas stuff is together in a group, as is the floral images, and the birthday stamps.

This will, eventually, be my master list.  Plus this will also work as my documentation for insurance purposes.  These papers will be scanned into my computer then saved to disk and put somewhere safe.  Living in “Tornado Alley” as we do, and usually being in the opposite part of the US during those storms I will have a way of showing what I have lost in the event of a tragedy.

I’ve also been hard at work on my “Day Job” paperwork.  I’m not exactly sure when Joe and I will be leaving once again for weeks at a time and I need to get this data entry crap done for our taxes this year.  I hate this job so much that I have devised a workable schedule of 4 hours daily to this task.  I am happy to say that I have finished all of the data entry that I can for now.  Just waiting for the bank statements to arrive in the mail to complete this task.

Joe has had numerous doctor appointments during the past two weeks.  We had a bit of a scare a couple weeks back.  The pinky and ring fingers of both of his hands have been tingling and numb for quite some time.  MRI, CT Scans, and X-Rays have filled our weeks since we’ve been home.

Joe’s spinal cord is being pinched in his neck and at shoulder level.  The pinched spinal cord is causing the numbness and tingling in his hands.  It is also some of the cause of some weakness in his legs as well.  A new doctor, a Neurologist (another “Ologist” added to Joe’s team of medical professionals) first thought surgery would be needed to correct the pinched spinal cord.  After the most recent visit with the Neurologist it has been suggested to just wait and see what happens.  Another round of MRI, CT Scans, and X-Rays will be done in February to see if there is any further damage.

IF things get worse then Joe will need to go in for surgery.  With the Warfarin he is on the Neurologist has said Joe will be in the hospital for several days before the surgery to make sure there will not be any complications afterwards.  Complications can be leaving Joe paralyzed from the neck down if a blood clot takes up residence in the spinal column after the surgery.

Joe was given some hopeful news that this pinched spinal cord might just right itself on its own as long as he doesn’t go about like Superman.  Good luck with THAT!

So, I don’t know how long I will be home this time.  Possibly through the month of December so I am taking advantage of the time to get some order to my chaos.

Next on the agenda is to get my house cleaned.  It is making me crazy.  I will be taking the 4 hours used in the paperwork time table and do some deep cleaning in each of the rooms of our house.  Starting with our bedroom closet!  That place is a wreck.  Clothes and shoes that have not been worn in many years are going to be sorted through and donated or trashed.  The intent is to not only have a clean closet but to get the boxes out of the living room that we take with us on the road.

I am attempting to stay caught up on this blog, as well as read everything my friends have posted.  I’m a bit overwhelmed right now and under some pressure.  I will get to you all….I promise.

Are you organizing your spaces?  What do you do when you have an area to get control over?  I’d like to know.

Leslie

Finding a better use for the plastic boxes from Stampin’ Up! wood mounted stamps.

First, I wish to take a few moments to thank all of the Operation Write Home card makers who stopped by my blog last week.  Seriously, I thought something had gone wrong with my blog stats thing.  Usually my number of visitors, on a high traffic day, is 60.  To see there were 500 that came by totally blew me away.

A heartfelt “Thank You” goes out to all of you who came by to take a gander at my public outing of a problem I have with paper.  I appreciate each and every one of you.

My scrap paper project has been handled and I am quite happy with the results.  This new project is to find out just exactly what kinds of rubber stamps I have hidden away in several drawers.  I don’t consider myself a card maker…mostly because I don’t think I have the knack for it.

I accumulated several Stampin’ Up! stamps a few years back.  Most of which remained in their boxes unused and chucked into the dark cavern of my closet.  Not willing to spend the time involved in becoming a deft rubber stamp artist I pretended those blocks of wood with rubber on them were not even here.  Time to get those stamps out of the dark and into the light.  I need to take an inventory of what I have.  I like the idea of making cards for our military heros to have something to send home to their family members.

I have a small crafting area and those boxes take up a lot of space.  First on the agenda is to get all of the Stampin’ Up! wood mounted stamps unmounted.  That project has been completed.

I have a package of weekly time cards I purchased from my local office supply store about three years ago.  They have sat on a shelf and been forgotten.

These time cards are 4″ wide by 7″ long.  I’ve lopped off the top inch, removing the punched holes, for the cards to measure 4″ x 6″.

I am the proud owner of a recipe box given to me by my daughter, Carissa, a couple years back.  That box will do nicely.

The time cards fit nicely in the box and the stamped images are there for me to see.

I have created a video to show you how I use the plastic boxes for my stamp storage solution.  The lids are cut off, trimmed down, and attached to photo copy paper that I have copied the cards to.  This video takes you, briefly, through the steps of unmounting the rubber stamp and making it sticky backed with the use of Two Way Glue.  I show you what I have come up with to reduce the space taken up by those boxes.  My rubber stamps are going to be in a couple of 3-ring binders when I’m finished.

Once I have completed this project I will have to think about another one.  What to do with all those blasted wood blocks!

The plastic boxes have come in handy for my bead drawer.  That thing is a tangled mess.

What is your system for knowing what rubber stamps you have?  How do you keep track of your stamps?  Do you prefer wood mounted over the cling mount?  I’d love to know what you do with your stamps.

Leslie