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Tuesday, January 26, 2016

It's Talk Time Tuesday with Ask Jo- Very Long Post~


Hello my sweet friends!
Welcome back to another Talk time Tuesday! 

Wow what a crazy storm the north east was hit with! Thank you first off for all of your prayers. I hope all of you who were in this blizzard's path were safe and that your homes and vehicles were not damaged. I live down at the NJ Shore so we were hit very hard. At one point during the storm, I thought that our house was going to be flooded out. All day Saturday and most of Sunday, my entire city was under water, nearly 7 feet deep in some areas. Many of the homes in the next town over from me in Ocean City got flooded and some of the businesses and homes here also did. I am glad the storm is over! It was a very scary experience and I just kept praying to the Lord to keep us safe and He sure did! Bless Him! Today our streets are completely clear. It does not look like there was any flooding here. We do have some snow and ice on the sidewalks and driveways but our roads are clear. Here are some photos from my neighborhood. This is my street....




This is my porch
Do you see how high this got? I was really scared it was going to continue to rise and flood my home.
Now this is what it looks like today in my driveway, clear roads now but snow and ice lingering.
Here are a few photos that I took off the news.
 This is my city of Margate





As for the rest of my family who live in Central NJ and in Bucks County PA, they got slammed with nearly 3 feet of snow! YIKES! I feel bad for all of you who were hit by that snow. It will take days for many to dig out of that snow and I bet that made a lot of kids happy! No school and a fun snow day! I just feel so bad for the families who lost loved ones during this storm. So sad.


Okay so moving on,  today's question comes from Bobbie Lathrop who wants to know, " Well Jo I guess I will start your Tuesday talk time with a question on organization. As you know I finally have a dedicated craft room and I am finally having a chance to set it up. I have managed to file my stamps by maker but having a hard time organizing the dies. What would you or your views have for suggestions on organizing dies that don't have matching stamp sets and a way to make it easy to find them??"


  Hello Bobbie!

Great question! Organization is one of those topics that we all struggle with. What works for one person may not work for another. It is always a never ending job because as our needs change and stash grows, we need to come up with a different method to fit our needs. 


I store my stamps in these Avery Elle storage pockets. They fit a 4x6 stamp set inside or they can also fit two of the smaller stamp sets. What I normally do is cut down a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the pocket and then I add my stamp set and if the stamp set has a matching die set, I will add the dies in the back of the stamps in the same pocket. I store my dies on these magnetic sheets. It keeps all my dies together and that way if I want to work on a project, I can just choose the stamp of my choice and if it has the dies, they will be in the pocket with it, all in the same place. Easy!

Now this will work for you for storing your dies too, as I also use these same pockets to store my single dies (no matching stamps). I will create a label for each pocket for my stamps and my dies using my Brother P-Touch label maker. My label maker allows me to create two lines at a time so I will always have the Company's name and the name of the Stamp or Die. I then store everything in alphabetical order by the company. Right now I have my stamps and dies stored in separate shoe box plastic containers, These containers by Iris and they work just fine for me. I have them in clear. I have 3 for my stamps and one for stand alone dies. Again, I just keep all my stamps in the bin according to company and I have created my own dividers from chipboard to separate each company. It is very easy for me to navigate through my stash this way. I can see everything and if I know I want to work with a certain company's products, I can get to it very fast. Another option a lot of people are using to store stamps and dies are in these refrigerator clear bins. I would like to eventually switch over to these bins too because I like the sturdiness and size.  



I got my organization method from Jennifer McGuire. She has an amazing stamp and die storage organization method. Click the link with her name on it and it will take you to her blog where she has tons of videos of how she stores her stamps and dies.I have tried to follow her method and it has worked so well for me.  So I hope this helps Bobbie with helping you to get your dies organized a bit better. Remember to find what works for you. Everyone has their own setup and works in different environments so if you find a method that you can adapt to, please share it with us. We are always looking for new ways to keep our stamps and dies organized. Thanks so much for writing in and I hope you write in again soon!



Well friends, that is it for today. Please write in with questions you want answered or topics you would like to see talked about during our Tuesdays together :) 


 Thanks for stopping by and until next time.... Enjoy life's blessings~




6 comments:

  1. What scary pics of the floods. I'm so glad the water has receded and that it didn't do more damage. What crazy weather. We are supposed to be in the 50's and 60's next week!! Unheard of in January (but I'll take it ;)

    How funny that you posted on organization when I've spent the last few weeks organizing my stamps, dies and embossing folders!! I got a lot of tips from Jennifer McGuire's video, too, but I'm a bargain shopper so I found places to buy the materials much cheaper, which was necessary since I have a ton of stamps and dies. I found the Avery Elle storage packets about two dollars a pack cheaper. And instead of the plastic storage bins like Jennifer used, my Dad is actually building me a cabinet with shelves that pull out. My craft room is a huge disaster as I try to get better organized. I haven't had a chance to actually craft in at least two weeks!! Once I'm finished, I hope to post pics on my blog :) Okay, wow, that was a long comment, eh??!! Anyhoo, have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  2. Like the question & tips on organizing stamps & dies. The clear bins look like a wonderful container. When I clicked it showed they can be found at Target. I'll be cking those out. Have a BEE-utiful day!
    Melissa
    "Sunshine HoneyBee"

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  3. Wow, unbelievable pictures. What a terrible storm.

    I love organization. It helps make your work so smooth. I love to be able to get my hands on items and know right where they are. Great topic to start on.

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  4. Such crazy photos! So glad your house was safe in the end.

    I use this same system to store my stamps and matching dies and I love how well it's been working. :)

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  5. Glad the water has gone down by your house and you all are safe. Love the organization idea

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  6. Thanks Jo for all the tips and sites to find them. I now have my stamps and stamp sets with matching dies sorted by company and one thing I did do was to put a pink circle in the top left corner if there was a matching die set with the stamp. Now my with my dies with no stamps should I put store them in the same container behind my stamp? For instance, all SSS together and altenew and so on. This would save some space you would think. It wasn't to clear on Jennifer's video's as far as dies with no stamp or that I could find. Thank you so much for choosing my question for the topic it really helped.

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Your lovely comments always put a smile on my face! I love reading each and every one! Thank you for stopping by~
Hugs,
~Jo~