I have been looking for products to help with Zentangle Tile storage and related documents storage so that I can easily see them. Part of the problem is that repetitively handling the tiles spreads the graphite all over, thus dulling the light areas and smearing graphite onto the back of every tile in the stack. I have recently been storing standard 3.5″ square tiles in an vintage floppy diskette holder and in the Zentangle Keepsake box. If only there was a way to put all of my Zentangle Tiles and documents together in a binder to be easily flipped through and protect them from further damage at the same time. Hmmm…I found some great solutions!
I already had page protectors in my home office. I use the wide kind that lets you slip in the original document and you don’t have to hole punch the original paper in order to display it. So I transferred my important documents including my CZT Zenthology, my “Tangle Patterns 2014” guide, other Zentangle Step-out patterns, and articles of interest into page protectors and put them in the binder. I use Cardinal EasyOpen ClearVue Locking Slant-D Ring Presentation Binder from Amazon.com
I ordered two new products, C-Line Ring Binder Storage Pages from Amazon.com
The C-Line photo storage pages…
I made sure I ordered TOP LOADING pages because the tile will slide easily to the bottom of the pocket. There are 50 pages per package so, you might want to split the order with friends. I know it will be a while before I fill up all 400 spaces with tiles as I have about 250 tiles right now. I can also sell or provide extra pockets pages to students that take my CZT classes. I like that the C-Line Storage Pages fit the Slant D binder, the overall page size is 8-1/8th” x 11-1/4″ making them about 1-1/2″ narrower than the 20 pocket pages discussed below. The pages come with 60 sturdy blank indexes that you can label for tile organizing tiles any way you want. I wish there had been 100 indexes, two for the slots on each page. I do not like that the indexes are also top loading because they tend to easily come out of the slot. A little tape will fix that once I have everything organized. The price was just under $10, and for me shipping was free because I am an Amazon Prime member and I combined this purchase with other purchases. The box they come in is sturdy enough. This product is made in China.
Two by Twos…
The 20 Pocket pages are made in the USA and are PVC and Acid Free and can easily accommodate two 2″ x 2″ items back-to-back in each of 20 pockets per page. These Pocket Pages were originally designed for coins, but easily accommodate any 2″ x 2″ items and they fit the rings of a three-ring binder. The pages do extend ever so slightly beyond the edge of the binder cover when the binder is lying flat, so they are pretty wide. I like them, they are well made and quite sturdy. There is no indexing system built into the pages, like with the C-Line product above.
I am still looking for some 4-1/2″ square pockets for my 150 or so Apprentice Tiles. I have yet to find something that would easily accommodate this size tile that works with a 3-ring notebook.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions or comments.