If you have not yet been bitten by the “Nestabilities Bug”, then quickly grab some bug spray and bookmark this post – because when you are bit, you’ll need to remember how to store them.

Some of you may remember my storage tin for my dies and embossing folders from Nov. 2007. It has worked wonderfully, but now I’m running out of room to add more dies that I’m collecting. I decided that I needed a new storage system for them and I wanted it to be unique, efficient, and neat looking. Below is what I came up with using the Gina K. Designs Binder Box.

ETA: I do want to clarify, that although some people have already used the Binder Boxes to store their nestabilities, I was not aware of it and I came up with this independantly.

I chose to use magnets because the general consensus in the crafting community is that they hold the dies together best. But I didn’t like the look of the magnetic tape that some people use – I thought it would be nice to use a larger piece of magnet so I can re-arrange my dies later as I add more.

I found some magnetic sheets at Michaels; they are ProMAG brand and I chose the Color-A-MAG box. The Color-A-MAG style has a white side to color on and a black side which is magnetic. It comes with three 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets for $5.99, but with a 40% coupon I purchased them for $3.59. Once you cut each sheet in two pieces the final price comes out to less than $0.60 a sheet.

After cutting each sheet into two 5″ x 8″ pieces, I used Scor-Tape to secure a magnetic sheet to both sides of the Binder Sheets.

I started at the side with the punched holes and then smoothed out the magnetic sheet away from the holes.

Once you have adhered the magnetic sheet, just stick on your dies, and place the sheets in your binder box.

I was a little worried about the magnetic sheets sticking together, but with the two layers of dies between each sheet, I didn’t have any problems.

Of course, I printed a label for the spine and included the Spellbinders logo. If I get enough dies to need another box, then I can add the sets names to the top of the spine like my stamp set binders – but currently I only have 11 sets and that doesn’t even fill the binder 1/4 of the way.

Be sure to check out the blog candy on my previous post for a chance to win a pair of Cutter Bee scissors. I’ll randomly pick two names and post them at 8:00AM Central time on Wednesday.

Today I wanted to show you how I have re-organized my unmounted stamp sets. Some of you may remember back in September of 2007, I posted my storage system for my unmounted stamps. I had recently joined Gina K.’s Fantastic Design Team and she was making the switch from wood mounted stamps to the unmounted rubber, so I needing a new place to store them.

Since then, I purchased 3 more of those CD holders and filled all of them past overflowing. I had CD cases stacked all around the hutch that the cases where on, so needless to say I was thrilled with Gina began carrying the Binder Box. Now, I’m not raving about these just because I’m on Gina K.’s Design Team, I think these are a fabulous product and the perfect storage solution for my stamps.

Above you can see the old CD cases and the new storage boxes. I used to have to split most of the stamp sets into two CD cases because they were too large to fit in one. But with the new boxes, I can fit a whole set on one binder sheet – see below.

I found it easiest to place the stamps on the right and have the index sheet on the left – since I read from left to right, it felt natural to select my image on the left and then grab my stamp from the right. You could do it either way. I also have the stamps arranged as a mirror image to the index card. Again, just personal preference and you could arrange them so they appear like on the index card.

I wanted to create a title on the spine of the box that would list the contents and also have a nice look to it. I chose to arrange my stamp sets by artist, so each set is organized in a box with that designers name printed on it. The contents listed at the top of the box has the set names contained inside, and are arranged by release date so that I can easily add new sets to each box. I also chose to include the Gina K. logo – partially for some color and also because I plan on storing more than Gina K.’s stamps in these boxes, and I want to separate different brands easily. But you’ll need to check back tomorrow to see that project.

Here is how I have the stamps arranged. All of my Gina K. Designs images are on this hutch – the images that Gina illustrates come in the CD storage tins so I chose to keep them in the CD cases. I also have room to expand my collection as it grows.

This is just another view of the hutch.

Check out Gina’s blog entry for more information on the storage boxes themselves and she still has the bulk price if you buy them in packs of six.