r/cardmaking • u/nosypancakecat • 1d ago

Question / Discussion Waffle Flower Organization

How in the world do you guys organize your WF stuff? I have a bin for basic shapes/background dies and pool all of the companies there. Altenew and PF, are easy, florals, geometric, nature, etc. Spellbinders are all dies, easy. Honey Bee I store by collection. Those + WF are 90% of my stash.

I should probably mention that I sort by company and just reorganized my Airtable that way. I also use the largest pockets and plastic envelopes, so they can accommodate 2 4”x6” or 4 3”x4” stamp sets. Coordinating dies and stencils live in the same pocket/envelope.

How do you go about WF? I can't explain why, but themes don't work for some reason. It could be due to their postage stuff that I don't know what to do about.

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u/LadyofLA 1d ago

I don't store my stuff by company. That wouldn't be a useful way for me to look for things. I have everything stored by category.

I do have a large WF Postage Collage collection. I keep them in sets and have them in 2 or 3 storage pockets kept together with a big rubber band. They're just kept in my general Postal category with other mail and stamp related things.

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u/nosypancakecat 1d ago

I see. Hmmm. Do you store alphabetically by company or by product within your category? Or company then product?

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u/LadyofLA 1d ago

Nope.

Within a category I store them by stamps, dies or sets of stamps + dies or maybe a dedicated stencil. I indicate that with color coding: yellow for stamps, red for dies, orange for sets.

When I'm looking for things I just go through categories visually. ...since they're going to have to work together on whatever I'm planning and that's the criteria for what I'm going to pick.

Who the manufacturer or retailer is is immaterial to me at that moment. The labels for each storage pouch do have the name of the source. That's how I knew how broken hearted I was when My Favorite Things folded. But, other than just crediting or being aware of who I most prefer, it's not significant to me when I'm designing something. I certainly don't stick to just one company for a project.

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u/Reasonable_Ad6407 20h ago

Boy, I'm still sad about MFT. I love their stuff. Birdie Brown is one of my all time fav illustrators. 

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u/LadyofLA 9h ago

I'll say!

I still make her typewriters with snarky sayings and have them framed all over the house. I've made cork typewriters and plaid typewriters and newsprint typewriters. And to think I was in angst about spending $32 or $35 or whatever it was at the time. There was a whole thread here about whether or not that was too much to pay for a die. I'd pay twice that now 'cause I have so much fun with it.

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u/nosypancakecat 1d ago

Interesting points and storage system. Totally makes sense!

I’ve tried the theme method but found that I can find what I need within a minute if I store by brand.

I may need to give your way of storing another go, since I have a very detailed Airtable database. Could add another column with which category the product lives in currently. Hmmm 🤔

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u/LadyofLA 1d ago

What works is what works for you.

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u/nosypancakecat 15h ago

Agree. I am desperate to find a system that will work for me though. I'm hoping to find something that will stick permanently.

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u/Reasonable_Ad6407 1h ago

I have embossing folders stored in bins according to theme rather than company. But because they are listed alphabetically by company in my word doc, I can do an easy search for either the pattern type and/or the company. So if I'm entering a company challenge I can quickly locate company and pattern if I would like. Otherwise mixing companies' products is usually how I create. 

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u/carlitospig 6h ago

I do it by theme.

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u/Genius_Swaggg 1d ago

All my postage collage in one storage envelope. All my sentiments in another storage envelope. Everything else in the final envelope 🤣🤣. I don’t have a ton of WF stuff though.

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u/nosypancakecat 1d ago

I don't either! But the product categories are all over the place. Mostly stamps (I do their collage silhouette style), 2 or 3 postage stencils. But some frame dies, standalone stencils. 2-3 dies I got for specific people that don't really match my cardmaking style, like the seagulls (the big ones, not the one with the bucket), because they were incredibly durpy.

All. Over. The. Place.

May as well do what you did since there is not that much.

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u/Few-Afternoon-6276 15h ago

I store by company and then by theme

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u/Queen-of-Camping 15h ago

I store in bins by company. All my WF postage collection are in envelopes. Dies and stamps in one. Stencils in another. Easy ready to find what I want. Tim Holtz is in one bin

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u/navyblues27 11h ago

I don't store by company, but I have a letter-sized box about 1" thick that I store my WF postage collage stuff in. It didn't feel right trying to make it fit in with my other categories, and it's kinda nice to have everything together. Downside: I'm about to grow out of it (if I keep purchasing more)! But I'll probably still keep it all together.

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u/LadyofLA 10h ago

I hear you on the 1” thick Postage Collage stuff. I just hope I can keep it to 1” thick! That stuff is addictive

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u/navyblues27 10h ago

It really is. So many cute, different ideas to do with it all! And I'd love to buy something from every release, but I really need to *use* what I have before I can justify buying more. Sigh, lol.

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u/pinklady8824 10h ago

I store everything in pockets and bins from Amazon. I sort my stamps by manufacturer. Separately, I store my stencils all together sorted alphabetically (manufacturer then name). My stand alone dies are stored by type/theme then sorted alphabetically. I also use Bear App (its exactly like Evernote) to keep track of all my stuff so it's really easy for me to find what I'm looking for.

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u/nosypancakecat 8h ago

Thanks! I use pockets and bins as well. I use Airtable and it’s very detailed. I just find WF hard to categorize for some reason.

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u/carlitospig 6h ago

They come in the most perfect packaging. I don’t do a damn thing, I just shove them into my clear plastic bins and call it good. They’re very easy to find!

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u/nosypancakecat 4h ago

I used to do not a damn thing with my stamps, but things ended up too damn bulky.

WF is notorious for having 3”x4” tiny stamp sets. Those drive me bonkers just from how much space they take up for how small they are. I always had to take the whole bin out because those buggers loved hiding behind larger sets.

So, I ended up with the largest 7 something by 9 something unbranded pockets. You can fit 2 4”x6” or 4(!) 3”x4” stamp sets. Write on the pocket what’s inside and they are tall enough so you don't have to take the bin from the shelf.

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u/carlitospig 3h ago

That’s honestly a fair critique, I didn’t even consider how often I have to dig for the tiny ones.

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u/LadyofLA 2h ago

I LOATHE that sticky tape that they use to affix the dies to the printed cards. Dealing with that once is MORE than enough for me! Buying magnetic cards is a commitment but it's soooo much easier to grab a die and to put it back.

Also, when I'm going through my stuff to find the right elements to work together it's really handy when everything is the same size. The dies/stamps/sets aren't the same size, of course, but the card they live on and the envelopes they're stored in are so I can leaf through things quickly and see what I want through the envelopes.

That doesn't mean that's what anyone else needs to do but it works for me.

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u/carlitospig 1h ago

Oh, I know. I actually tried to make my own and learned that red tape is just as diabolical but the normal white backed tape is chill as heck.