Despite the fun involved in this hobby, it does require a significant amount of storage, as compared to say, ant-farming. But even that minor inconvenience can be dealt with inexpensively.
If you find yourself with more stamps then your current drawers can hold you might consider hitting the local thrift store and seeing about purchasing an extra chest of drawers which you could take home and stamp for decoration and then use it as stamp storage. Some people find the office carts on wheels meet their needs well...each drawer can contain stamps related to a specific topic or season. These carts have the advantage of being clear...one of my personal favorite things to have in any storage container. Another relatively inexpensive solution to stamp storage is the Scrapbook Supply Chest manufactured by Highsmith. These chests are heavy-duty cardboard and can be purchased with dividers that will fit into the drawers. The dividers can accomodate your specific needs as a stamper, more dividers if you have a collection of small stamps, less dividers if your stamps are of a larger variety. You can contact the Highsmith company at 1-800-554-4661 for more information on this product. They are not clear drawers but they are an inexpensive alternative to storage! If you floor space prohibits your keeping your stamps in a chest of drawers try an over-the-door storage unit, like those used for shoes. These can be purchased at home centers and discount stores. The clear pockets can hold pens, embossing powders, markers, scissors and of course stamps. Ink is best stored flat so I would not recommend using this unit for your ink pads. If the stamped image is not on the back of the stamp, use a 3x5 card to stamp the image on and slip it into the pocket with the stamp. The beauty of this storage system is that you can stash it away if company is coming by hanging it in a closet or just closing the door!
Storing ink is the next topic to address. Ink pads will fit beautifully into clear shoe-box style storage containers. If you stack your ink-pads in color families, i.e. blues with blues, greens with greens, etc., you can keep better track of where things are. If your pads are stored upside down to keep their moisture at its highest, stamp a small scrap of paper and tape it to the bottom of the pad. That way you avoid turning the pad over every time to see what color it is. Of course if the top to the pad is clear you pretty much can eliminate that step. If makes sense to stamp a 3x5 card with the
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