Want to reuse your Spellbinder Die packets etc

I don't know about you, but I hate buying new Spellbinders and filling the bin with all that plastic without trying to find at least one use for it.
Well, here are a few uses that I love and would like to share with you, if you're interested hang in there I will get to them once I have explained my stamp storage first.
Here are some of my stamp boxes; they are the same type as my Spellbinders storage box, I just haven't gotten around to covering them yet.

In the first box above, I have used some old but strong beige card as dividers, keeping stamps of the same ilk together eg. Animals, Borders & Corners, Butterflies & Insects, Christmas, Girlie, etc etc.  They are all in alphabetical order too (as I am sure you spotted) as this makes searching alot easier and faster too.  I originally started off with a small box (as with the Spellbinder dies I showed the other day) and each of the divider cards had tabs too.  However, I had to move them all into bigger boxes and I have not had the time to cut the card and label them accordingly yet.  I hope to get to that in the next few weeks.

I haven't made dividers for the second box as there are only a small mix of stamps in here.  On the right of the box are my Kanban and LOTV stamps and they are all stored in plastic CD wallets as they are see through and easy to spot (just like my Spellbinders).  On the left I have my small collection of old, but very useful, See D's stamp sets, with my La Blanche foam stamps and a tin of Fancy Alphabet stamps behind.   Both boxes have a thick cardboard divider down the middle of the box to keep them all separated.

One other thing I like to do to make searching easier, especially with LOTV stamps and any other stamps that come without a printed cover sheet, is to put a card in the CD sleeve on which I stamp the image of the stamp contained within.

Now to my recycling bit of this storage idea.

Have you ever bought any of the Creative Expression stamp plates, or perhaps Sheena Douglas stamps etc?  Well you have to cut them up and, if you fancy it, put them onto U Mount foam too (personally I don't bother as I like to use a foam pad beneath my work when I stamp).  Then you have the problem of  where to store them. Well I used to use up my good quality Acetate to stick my stamps on, until one day I was opening a new delivery of Spellbinder dies and this idea hit me. It may not be overly pretty or fancy but it is free, strong and easy to do.

First cut up all your Spellbinder packages just inside the rim so that you have large flat pieces of the plastic.  I use scissors to roughly cut them up and then put each piece onto my guilotine and cut them squarely.  These I then store in a plastic bag ready for use. I will show you tomorrow where I store these (my next set of storage tips).

Ok, well the first use of these sheets of strong acetate is for storing your stamps on.  If I am storing a full sheet of Creative Expression stamps I put clear glue onto one piece and use it to glue two others side by side to form a large sheet and then cut it to the right size after it is dry.  As I don't use U Mount foam which has a cling backing, I apply an even spray of repositionable adhesive to the backs of all the stamps in an old box, let them dry for 20 secs and then place them onto the acetate until I need them.  This sheet and the printed coversheet is then cut to size to fit inside one of the A5 plastic card protectors we use. It makes it easy to store and easy to find too.

Now to the final uses for these recycled sheets.   Having these sheets stored closeby (you'll see tomorrow!!)  I can just reach in and cut off a piece large enough to use when gluing.
I love to use strong, thick glue for my flowers and many other embellishments so that I know they will not fall off.  I find it much easier to squeeze out a small amount onto my piece of plastic
and then use my flat ended pokey tool to apply the glue to the item.  This can now be thrown away when finished with and another small piece cut off you start gluing the next time.

By the way, while we are on to glues, for anyone new to cardmaking I have a wonderful tip for you.  Don't bother with photo glue, it doesn't last and after couple of weeks the items can start to lift and even fall off.  I use the following two glues and have never, as yet, had anything come loose:-

The clear, Collall glue is wonderful for all your card/paper gluing and the Incredibly Tacky (as good, if not better than Creative Expressions PVA glue) is perfect and very, very strong for bows, flowers and even metal embellishments.  I get mine from Wild Orchid Crafts.  A couple of  things to stress, keep your Tacky glue upside down because it is so thick it is hard to squeeze out.  I cut off a little of the top and use a 1cm piece of a wooden bbq skewer to fill the hole and stop any leakages.
Thank you to Bev Rochester of 'All the things I love' for introducing me to these wonderful glues.  Bev transfers some of her 'Tacky' glue to a little airtight tub to make using it easier.  I tried it myself but the last bit dried out after constantly being opened and shut with usage.

The last tip for these fab sheets of acetate is for dimensional flowers (sorry no photo for this, I forgot to do some).  Basically they can be used to make flowers, butterflies, dragonflies, wings etc.  They can be coloured with your alcohol inks, promarkers etc exactly the same as acetate and I have also managed to shape them by using a little heat from a heat gun and then bending and shaping around my fingers or with an embossing tool on a foam mat.  Just be very careful not to overheat and melt them please.
Ok, phew.........., that was one long and rambling post today, sorry about that.  I hope you will excuse my appalling prose today, I am so tired (it's now 6.10am) and my brain is half asleep.  I do hope you have managed to find something of interest here today, if not, maybe it has just inspired you to look at your packages in a different way.  Either would make me very happy.
Take care and I will see you very soon.  Another storage idea tomorrow and possible a card if I can get some sleep soon.  Big hugs Linda xx