Sunday, October 25, 2015

Storage Folder for Dies



I got a bit fed up with my various Christmas dies being in different places meaning that finding the one I wanted was a pain.  I thought it was about time I got them organised, and as while looking for something else I'd unearthed the magnetic sheets and zipped wallets I had left after making the last one I thought this was a good time to make a dedicated Christmas version of the folder.  I don't think I ever got round to sharing photos of the other two I've made, so I'm going to blog this while I remember!
The covers are made from that thick board you sometimes get in packaging - it's about 3mm thick, so good and sturdy. The spine section is made from empty cereal packet - it needed to be a bit thinner to curve around, covering the binding wires

The flat covers measure about 20.5 x 24.5, I used some 12x12 papers to cover the flat pieces and the spine section.  I used the scoring board and bone folder to make the flat margins on either side of the spine, then curved the rest around a pot to "teach" the spine the shape I wanted it to have
I keep the covers plain because they go on the shelf like library books and I don't want any bits falling off or taking up extra space
Inside I used 12x A5 zipped wallets.
With my Bind-It-All machine I punched holes in the flat cover pieces, and matching holes in the wallets, then used Bind-It-All wires to fix it all together.  I then curved the spine section and glued into place, using strong bulldog clips to hold it all together while the glue dried
The A4 magnetic sheets were cut in half to fit inside the wallets, then I sorted the dies out to fit. Tor the facing page I created a guide for what's on each magnetic page -so I know the manufacturer and name of the dies, and I can tell if anything is missing!
I try to remember to save a picture of each new die set I buy, then I can copy the pictures, resize if necessary and add to the the label page - this also means that I can easily make new versions if I need to move things arund, or add another picture/die to a page where there is space, such as on the one below.
I then resize the whole sheet to a size/shape that fits, print out, trim and add to the folder
These sheets are only magnetic on one side, so having the printed sheet tucked in behind there works pretty well,

I do like to have the pictures there for reference, but I got a bit lazy and some of the pages are a bit "half done" ;_  I can do back and do them properly if I feel the urge.....

The shock was getting to the last of the sets I needed to file, and realising that I'd  filled all but one of the wallets already, so if I buy more Christmas dies I'll be (almost) back at square one!

These folders work really well, you can store a lot of dies in a fairly small space, and they sit neatly on the shelf where they are easy to grab wand flick through when you want to use the dies.  

So that's what I've been doing rather than getting on and using all these dies to make some Christmas cards.... hey ho, maybe it will help - at least now I know what I've got!

Thanks for looking


12 comments:

Linda Simpson said...

Fabulous idea and thank you for sharing
Hugs
Linda xxx

Jackie T said...

Hi Kathy this is a fantastic project it is such a good idea to have all your Christmas dies in one place. I would be very embarrassed to show you how I store mine. Hugs Jackie

Brawny x said...

Kathynthis is a great idea. Fabulous project x

Tracy Welham said...

This is such a great idea! Thanks for the walk through. Creative Blessings, Tracy x

Laine said...

Great project Kathy and how I store most of my dies. The smaller sets have magnetic sheets in CD cases to keep them all together and are stored in seperate pages with the larger dies. It makes such a difference to know where they are!
Laine
xx

Sandra Carey said...

Wow Kathy Fantastic Idea xx

Karen said...

A brilliant idea brilliantly executed Kathy! I don't have enough dies to need one but will bear this in mind if I ever do ;-D x

Kath said...

A great idea, well made and looking very organised.

Anonymous said...

A fabulous idea, love your folder and all the gorgeous papers.

Hugs Erin xx

Andree said...

A wonderful folder Kathy and a fabulous idea. I'm very jealous of all the lovely dies you have xx

Unknown said...

LOL, Kathy, what are we like with our dies, this is a fabulous way to store, them, great project and fabulous step by step too...I bought some storage for mines, but wanted to die cut, each die I have so that I know, from whom I had bought them, a project for a rainy day, I think...hugs xxx

Holley (Tondre) Barnhart said...

What a great idea, currently I just keep mine in their packs and store them in a box standing up right...your solution is much more elegant looking for sure!