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Organizing Stamps
By Helen | June 12, 2009
Have you ever wished that you could put your finger on a specific stamp set in a matter of a minutes rather than searching for it? This is a method that will do just that. It uses an electronic file that can be searched easily. This can be used in conjunction with a paper version that contains stamped images or photos of each of your stamp sets for quick reference.
Either a spreadsheet or word processing program has built in search capabilities that will enable you to quickly find what you’re looking for. An added bonus, you can also use this to figure out where to put something away.
Let’s get started.
- Open a Word document or Excel spreadsheet – this is going to give you the ability to quickly search for what you’re looking for.
- Create a table with 7 columns. Use the following headings (these are what works for me, you can start with and adjust it as needed).
- Unique Number
- Name
- Item #
- Description of Stamps
- Manufacturer
- Category
- Storage Location
- Comments
- Now begin cataloging all your stamps.
Unique Number – starting with the number 1, begin giving each stamp set a number that will be used for identification purposes. This is a sequential number list. This same number goes on your stamp set (small adhesive stickers work great).
Name - the name the stamp or stamp set is known by.
Item # – this is the number used by the manufacturer.
Description of Stamps – this is going to be one of the most useful columns in the table. Here, you will list what images are in the set, plus any sentiments.
Manufacturer – the company that made the stamp set. You’ll be able to sort or search for information based on this column.
Category – what themes, seasons, occasions, or other categories do you associate this stamp or stamp set with. It’s possible that it belongs in more than one category.
Storage Location – every storage location is given a name and number. For example, box 1, shelf 3, and so on. This will be the home for this item.
Comments – here you can make a note if you loan something out.
Once you have the file set up, maintaining it is as easy. Hope this inspires you to get organized and catalog your stamps!
Topics: Organization, Stamps | 2 Comments »
June 15th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Helen, I LOVE this in theory, but the work it would take for me to actually DO this…well, I’m just too lazy. I did start on a stamp inventory, but I seriously need to update it. I’m horribly unorganized.
June 15th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Debra, just start! One stamp set at a time. Once you get caught up, adding new sets is easy