I was watching C&C this morning and they were showing the Totally Tiffany die storage system. Great, until I realised it was £45!! Think of all the lovely craft goodies I could buy with that!
Until now, my dies have been stored on magnetic sheets, in heavyweight punched plastic wallets stored in lever arch files. And not particularly well sorted!
The only problem is that not all of them fit on the sheets & they are too heavy for the folder. I have lots of them, too many for the folders.
I had a spare Really Useful box just sat on a shelf & I racked my brains to think how I could use this, as it would free up the binders for more stamps (all those on my desk waiting to be out away lol!)
If I cut the A4 magnetic sheets down to A5 (they have been stuck on the backing card from A4 lined pads for strength) they would fit the box. But the dies would fall off the sheets as I flick thru, so they needed to be in pockets.
Light bulb moment!! I have literally hundreds of punched plastic wallets (I'm sure they breed!) so I could afford to waste some on this idea.
I cut the magnetic sheets down to A5. Then I cut the hole punched edge off the wallets, leaving the bottom & 1 side sealed. Then I cut the wallets down to A5 ( lots of cutting!!)
Then finally I could sort the dies into wallets and this is the finished result...
Most of them fit 2 sets on an A5 sheet, but some needed a sheet of their own. And I hadn't thought about my Grand Nestabilities. Doh!! They don't fit in the box....so they are staying in a binder stored next to the box, only a few of those so not a problem. But look how much space there is for new dies, the box is only half full lol :-)
Chuffed to bits! All I have to do now is put dividers between the categories & label them, but honestly, I'm worn out & need a cuppa, so that will be another day!!!
Hope I haven't bored you to death with my lack of crafting! If I'm in the mood, sorting my craft room is as much fun as crafting, I'm sure some of you know what I mean :-)
Thanks for stopping by
Debs x
Great idea Debs . . . this appeals to my inner Neat Freak!
ReplyDeleteAll my dies are hanging on 3 magnetic knife racks from IKEA!
Hugs, Sarn xxx
Tee, hee - good work my friend! Like you used to have, mine are on A4 sheets in heavy duty plastic sleeves in A4 files - but in the narrow spined ones so lighter and easier to handle. TBH I don't think the perfect system has been invented - but yours comes very close!!
ReplyDeleteTee, hee - thanks for the l email ink - I bin buying cheap and free books here :))
Hugs, Di xx
I have a similar system to you but with an old deed tin that was about to be binned in work...ever the frugal crafter. I also have a Tonic folder for Tonic and MB dies (most off used) andi take any I want to use out in it. I do t use the wallets tho as they stay on the magnet sheets!
ReplyDeleteHugs from the settee!
Xx
Ohh I love that idea. But also Sarns, about using the magnetic knife racks, since our move I still have one lying around uselessly. Now I only need to find it and the little parts for fixation that came along with it.
ReplyDeleteNow I store several dies in a kidsshoes box just on top of eachother... not too good for the dies. Others are in an old pencilcan, I think it was for 25 pencils. These, lined with magnetic sheets, are great too. I keep looking for other flat metal cans (are they still called cans if it's not round? I'm not a native English speaker). If I don't forget I'll include them in my next WOYWW post.
Debbie/Daqa #52
Looks great. And look at all the room you have created...perhaps you are shopping already!!! lol
ReplyDeleteI have mine in artbin "suitcases". They are easy to grab to take to a crop or up to the lake. The magnetic sheets are really strong so wafer thin dies stick really well...but...they are so heavy!
Always looking for new and improved ways of organizing!