How I Organise- Die-Cutting


I store my dies in 3 different types of storage- on magnetic sheets in Avery Elle pockets, acrylic containers and magnetic boards. It's a bit like my storing of stamps, the system may seem complicated but I've spent a lot of time refining it and it works for me!

MAGNETIC SHEETS IN AVERY ELLE POCKETS



This is how I store dies which are part of a stamp/matching die set. I use magnetic sheets cut down to size, place the dies on and store at the back of the Avery Elle pocket with the stamp at the front. 


When I'm labelling a stamp set, if it has a matching die, I use a scissor symbol to show this (see top of this stamp set).

ACRYLIC STORAGE


I have five containers- two for nested dies, one for Sizzix dies, one for cover plates and one for Christmas dies- these are stored on tables under my stamping desk.

*UPDATE* I now have six containers- I've moved all my alphabet and word dies from my magnetic boards to a separate container stored under my desk.


I currently have two of these containers for nested dies. 


The dies are separated into the following categories: circles, ovals, rectangles, squares, tags and other (irrespective of manufacturer). I use these dividers cut down to separate into the categories and they are labelled using my label maker. The dies are stored on these magnetic sheets and again labelled.



Typically each category contains a wide variety of dies by a lot of different manufacturers. So for my "Circles" category I have simple Circle Nestabilities (Standard, Scalloped, Picot Edge) plus Grand Nestabilities; MFT Pierced Circle Frames, Wonky Stitched Circle Stax, Jumbo Peek-A-Boo Circle Window, Heart Doily, Dizzy Doily; Lil Inkers Stitched Mats: Circle; PTI Limitless Layers Circle Die Collection and Simon Says Stamp Nested Circles. Phew!!! OK, so a couple of them aren't strictly "nested" but they are collections of circles so that's why I've stored them together!


I stored my Sizzix dies in this container. Many moons ago, there weren't all these dies around and Sizzix were pretty much it if you wanted to get dies so I do have a collection of quite old Sizzix dies which I must admit I don't use very often. I do have a few Sizzlit alphabet collections which I still use if I want smaller lettering but, on the whole, I don't use these that often.

I store my Christmas dies in this container (this does not include dies that are part of a Christmas stamp/die set- they are stored with the stamp). Largely I store them on magnetic sheets but at the back I have some Sizzix Bigz and Sizzles and a couple of SU dies.


I store my coverplates (along with embossing folders and a couple of stencils) in this container (which you can see in the third photo down from the top) in these bags . Here is an example of what is typically stored in here. You can see a range of manufacturers- MFT, PTI, Mama Elephant, Memory Box.

MAGNETIC BOARDS


I have two large magnetic boards on the walls either side of my stamping desk. These boards are from Rymans which I then covered with heavy-duty magnetic sheeting I got from Ebay. I use these boards for all my other dies and kind of have them grouped in areas.

The board on the left has words and alphabets at the top (*UPDATE* as I mentioned before these have now been moved into an acrylic container); then on the left hand side any dies I would use for sentiments eg speech bubbles, banners etc.; on the right hand side are tags, bows etc and then at the bottom I've been using it to store MFT Blueprints and similar- the go-to dies I use a lot e.g. Lil Inkers or MFT stitched mats.


The board on the right is largely for borders (at the bottom) and "nature'-type dies e.g. sun, clouds, flowers, trees etc. 

I do find, however, that I have a bit of trouble remembering the names of the dies on these boards- this is largely due to my rubbish memory so at some point I am going to do a die inventory to make the identification easy peasy!

DIE TOOL BOX


My die-cutting tool box contains cutting and embossing plates/mats for both the Big Shot and Grand Calibur, Spellbinders Poke It Tool and Foam Mat, Wondertape and Stick It Tape and my die-cutting templates file (more on that at a later date!)

*UPDATE*: I no longer use my die-cutting template file


I would've stored my die cutters and files here but with a toddler, it's a bit of a no-no currently!

2 comments:

wackymama said...

Hello. How do you keep your die cut boards free from dust? Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Do you still use the magnetic bulletin boards for your dies? It seems like a great idea, but wondered how well it worked long term?