I DID IT!! I DID IT!!

Create a Post
S

Sherry Lee

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Posts
2,228
Loc
Phoenix, Az.
It has been my goal for TWO years! I absolutely dreaded even the THOUGHT of doing this, let alone DOING it! I had to wait for just the right time - when things were a tad slow - because I knew it would not be a fast task!

Yep, I rearranged, reorganized and updated ALL my mat corner samples! I first unstacked my two layered acrylic mat rack. I loved the space saving feature, but no matter what lighting I used, the bottom mats were impossible to view well. I went through all three companies mats - tossed the discontinued and listed those that I don't have.

Then came the real ugly part! I sorted them by color, seperating with color coded dividers. :icon45: If I have to do this again in 10 years, it will be TOO soon! One of the most difficult colors to sort = taupe! I wanted it under brown AND gray! Huh!

It looks SO much better - and makes life SO much easier......well, it will once I learn my own system!.....if you catch my drift! :icon21:

It is such a huge relief to me - having this completed! What a great way to start the New Year! Now, where did I put taupe?? :faintthud:
 
Last edited:
Hey, Paul, I store my matboard by number too. Can't imagine doing it any other way.

My mat samples are arranged by color groups which makes it easier when designing.
 
Ooops! I sorted my matboard CORNER SAMPLES by color!!

My 32x40 matboards have always been sorted by numbers and will forever be!!
 
Sherry Lee, How long did that take you?? I need to do that too. Ick.....I complained because it took so long to get the new Crescent and Bainbridge sets, and I finally got them, but they're still in their boxes. Gotta do it before they go obsolete again!

Congratulations on a yucky job well-done, and into the New Year being better organized! Doesn't it feel grrreat?
 
Val, I reorganized my mat samples a couple of months ago when I got a new set of Bainbridge.
It only took two or three hours since Bainbridge comes with color groups printed on them it is much easier than making those decisions without any help.
At least I thought so.
 
OK - I'm sure I got this idea here....

Putting my sample colours in order is easy, once perfectly in order, draw a felt tip line from top left to bottom right of each row along the edges of the boards, different colour line for each row.

After having them all ripped out (to go back to the first sample you showed the customer of course) they don't have to go back perfectly just as long as you end up with a line that goes generally downhill!

I know I got the idea here!
 
What a good job to get done and out of the way, Sherry. That is something I really need to do again soon.

Once, when I was living in Calgary, I was moving one of my matboard display racks and ended up tipping it slightly. Well, first a few of the samples fell off, and then it just seemed to be a domino effect. All my Bainbridge samples ended up in a heap on the floor and it took me (what seemed forever) to re-organize them. :icon9: I will have to try to remember the felt marker line trick once I re-organize the samples this time.
 
It took me a long while because I didn't just sort. I went through them all, as I said, and checked what I had against availability. I had a lot of discontinueds to toss and have a few missing to try to get from suppliers.

I contemplated coloring the edges - sounds like a good way to go.

What I chose to do was to write on the back (i.e. yellow) Y-1, Y-2, Y-3, etc.
If a new yellow mat comes in, I simply will place it in its CORRECT spot and number it, perhaps, Y-2.1

Now it's VERY easy to put mat samples back to their HOME!
 
I'm sticking my neck waaaay out when I say this, but here goes:

Go to your local Michael's and check out their mat-sample system. Like Sherry Lee said, they're divided by color: Green, Blue-green, yellow-green, blue, blue-violet, red, red-orange, etc, with labeled dividers, and then numbered accordingly in each section (BG (blue-green)-1, BG-2, etc). Also colored-coded along each edge so you can tell at a glance if any are out of order. They carry only Bainbridge. You can refile an entire stack of mat samples without ever having seen the front color! I loved it, after I got used to it, and hope to organize mine like that.

Aaaand, as PaulN and Deb said, Michael's also stores their matboard by number. You can tell at a glance what you're short on, etc, and bar-coded for easy ordering. Just point and zap! And someday I'm gonna do that too!
 
Last edited:
Sherry Lee, you are truly a bubble of joy. When I saw your title... I could just hear your voice and bubble bouncing off the wall.

Congrats on a very ugly job.... it took two of us two days last summer to slug our we through.
 
Oh Baer, you make me blush! :o Thanks for the CONGRATS!....I just can't imagine anything you do taking two days! 'cause you're the "Wonder-Framer"!!

No matter the system you use to organize the mat corner samples, anything beats random placement. Now I must determine what system to use for that big, deep kitchen drawer that holds EVERYTHING!! :faintthud: Ideas for that would be welcomed in 'warped'!
 
Mine 32x40 mats are in number order, the samples are in color order by the color wheel.. woo hoo.

I colored the edges of the mats to go along with the color seperations. Makes it much MUCH easier to organized.

The first time I did it, it took forever, after that, it should be a piece of cake :)
 
Create a Post
Back
Top