How do you organize all your paper and stamps?

Stamps
Close to My heart has the STAMPAGANZA going on.  Buy 2 stamps at the regular price and you get 1 stamp of equal or lesser value free.  Both catalogs now go to August 31, 2018.  There will be ONE new catalog every 4 months instead of 1 annual and 1 seasonal (every 4 months).  CTMH is also bringing back the alphabet and number stamps.  Link to my website and you can see all the stamps.

This is the time of year I go through all my stamps.  I have small circles that I have put the stamps in the categories that they were labels and put them into my EXEL program for what I have.  This way I can see if I am missing in any category and take use of the Stampagnaza.

The 2 boxes on the right and the bottom one on the left come from the Iris company.  They are 7+ inches and I can put foam on the bottom and cardboard in the middle keep a number of stamps.  Close to My Heart had a great organizing box but that is gone and I don't know if there will be a replacement.

Paper

 Paper is another thing.  The far right boxes have loose paper and scraps.  When I finished a Workshop on the Go or a Workshop Your Way, I would put the stamps in their category and put the paper in color families.  I found that when I used the pages, I might need to make some more pages and had to hunt forever and so started with the middle and kept the pages and paper and directions together until I used them in an album and then put the scraps in the far right boxes.

The first photo on the left is what happens when I need to get my table ready for family or entertaining.  I just pile it up until I get back to it.  This year I am again in a quandary.  Close To My Heart is changing from 4 categories of paper -Adventure, Enchantment, Whimsy and Basic - to just being all together.  The Combo packets are going out as they groups no longer exist.  Now I need to look through my papers and find out if I think I will need extra cardstock for any of the "pages" I have in mind to use for albums.  I am working on 5 different albums and won't have them done before the paper categories are gone.

What do you do with your stamps and papers?  Having a conversation may help you and me decide how to carry on.  Please subscribe to my blog or like my Facebook post if you wish to continue the conversations there.  Look into the Stampaganza and check out the paper from both catalogs so you can complete your projects that you have in mind.

"The Time they are a changing"

"The time they are a changing" is a song of Bob Dylan and of the 60's.  I wasn't able to go to the Close To My Heart convention to hear first hand but here are some of the changes that were announced.  I appreciate that Close To My Heart is setting itself up to be able to make changes and see what is happening in the market.  They will stay competitive and giving us the most options.

1. There will no longer be an Annual Inspiration Idea Book.  We have had a large yearly catalog.  It takes time to get the book ready and the content is stagnant for a whole year.  They have had 3 smaller Holiday and Seasonal Expression idea books to help with the current season and inventory.  Now each idea book will have new products as well as basic tools and accessories so everything is in one book for your to reference. 

That means: 1. There will be an extension until September 1 for ordering from the large book.  The Seasonal Expression already had the September 1 deadline.
                     2. There will no longer be 4 sub groups of color palates which means: the associated card stock combo packs and mini pigment ink pads will be retired August 31. 
                      3.Watch for August and some bundled specials of the paper collections - there will be a workshop kit and materials to make an entire album from the bundle.
                      4. In August there will be an old favorite paper brought back in a new way with 4 - 2 page layouts and 8 cards.

2. The Workshop Your Way will get a new take on the program.  2 of the Workshop Your Way kits will not have card options but a guide for 3 alternative layouts with additional art techniques.
                       1. July 15 - August 31 there will be special of 4 exclusive B-size stamp sets for celebrating special vents and enough supplies to create 7 different cards and a single page layout.  I appreciate that Close To My Heart does both pages and cards.

3. There are 10 new colors coming out for September which means 10 colors are retiring: Crystal Blue, Juniper, Flaxen, Sorbet, Pacifica, Tangerine, Blossom, Cranberry, Poppy and Nutmeg. 

4. There will also be some new things in the collection of Story By Stacy.  This one will be centered around a 6x6 album with exclusive pattern papers and accessories. 

This is the time to look and see what you want to accomplish in the next 6 months.  We don't know what is new and coming, but if there is something of what is GOING, you need to get things soon - long before the September 1 deadline.