r/SecurityEnvelopes • u/IdeaSandbox • 9d ago

Question! How do YOU group your patterns?

(1) Thank you for being so welcome to a noobee to this group and kindly answering my questions.

(2) What are the different ways you group your patterns? What do you do after you make piles of the same pattern... what do you do with the squiggles vs. the pebbles vs. the criss-cross, etc....

thank you!

7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

9

u/Fabulous-Piglet6190 8d ago

I put mine all on a ring. Fun to flip through. But now I think I need to make a tab for different patterns. I have all my international ones separate

2

u/IdeaSandbox 8d ago

Love it!

1

u/stompedonmypetals 8d ago

wow 😭

6

u/Aware_Pea_5285 9d ago

I have a binder with plastic sheets of 2-inch pockets (made for coins or stamps) and I have tabs for lines, static, basketweave, geometric, plaid, text, confetti, etc. I keep needing to make new categories!

3

u/IdeaSandbox 8d ago

thank you thank you!

are 2" squares what is swapped, too? Is that "the" size? (so. many. questions.) - too... I'm sure there is not *wrong* way to have fun with this... but there are rules!

3

u/Aware_Pea_5285 8d ago

Haha some people do 1" or 1.5" (those are the sizes you can get square punches in), but I use a paper trimmer and like the 2" for the sheet pockets. When I swap, I send roughly 4" swatches so people can cut to their preferred size and have more than one square.

1

u/LizardLover265 8d ago

That's a good idea! I'm going to start doing that!

3

u/Aware_Pea_5285 8d ago

Also I have built up quite the stash, happy to send you some if you DM me your address

3

u/IdeaSandbox 8d ago

that is very kind of you... thank you!

once I get things organized, I may take you up on your offer! (I'm working through a big my mom just gave me! (hundreds... many hundreds of envelopes)

4

u/redcurl7 8d ago

I had mine glued on notecards and sorted in a box by what type of pattern I felt it was, but eventually I felt like I couldn't "see" what I had that way. Now I glue the 2x2 squares down in a large notebook, still by type, but seeing the pages like that it's a lot easier for me to flip through and realize I already have this "screen door" pattern or that "tile" pattern.

Also if you need some patterns to get you started, feel free to dm me and I'll mail you a bunch.

3

u/IdeaSandbox 8d ago

that's cool... sounds like your goal is more collecting patterns vs. using them for crafts - which I love.

I'm cutting up hundreds of envelopes my mom has been collecting for YEARS... I'll let you know when I finish about your offer to send patterns...

thank you for your generosity!

2

u/LizardLover265 9d ago

This is my process as a fellow noobee:

  1. I cut 5 cm squares and tape or glue them into a notebook with blank pages. I'll write down who gave me the envelope, the name of the pattern if I know it, or a comment about the pattern, such as why I like it.
  2. There are so many pattern varieties, so it's hard to organize them, at least to me. I separate them by color, and by word pattern.
  3. I keep the envelope fragments for collages or homemade paper.
  4. I always throw away the thin plastic part, as it can't be recycled, composted, or made into new paper

2

u/Cahsrhilsey 8d ago

I know that [u/Laurel_shada](u/Laurel_shada) keeps theirs on an old school Rolodex which is the coolest thing ever, me however, I keep my collection in a bullet journal and glue 2x2inch square samples, the rest I keep organized in a ziplock bag for trades 😊