For so long I thought this day would never come, but alas, it has arrived!
Thats right, I have finally completed my collection of Distress Inks!! It started with three humble pads (tea dye, vintage photo and Walnut stain – in the vintage brown era) and has now grown to the full collection of 36! Wooohooooo!
Many an ink pad has been a present: I got one or two for my birthday from my work colleagues, some from Santa at Christmas, I got two as a Happy Baby present, and the last two were a present from our friends Mark & Helen specifically to complete my collection (I have the best friends!). I even got an ink pad purely because I had faced my fears one day and put the bins outside (ugh!). Craig would often bribe me with the prospect of adding a new hue to my arsenal and several times when considering an impulse buy such as a coffee or an icecream, he would whisper in my ear “You could buy that, OR… you could buy another (one) (two) (three) distress inks!”. Inevitably, the impulse buy would instantly lose it’s appeal as I walked away smiling, dreaming about my Distress Ink collection growing to its full potential!
To celebrate this momentous day, I want to share a little portion of my craft room with you. I have a little trick for storing the blending foam for each of my distress ink colours, which not only is perfect for picking the best colours to use on projects, but also looks really pretty on my wall. On Ranger Ink’s website, all the lovely folk over there have created a label template to stick on your ink pads, and this gave me the idea to create an inventory chart. I made a grid on the computer, with a little box for each colour, and printed this out. I increased the size of the chart using a photocopier so that each box would accommodate a blending foam pad and then I laminated the chart. Next I stuck little velcro squares onto the chart. This enables me to stick the foam pads separate so I don’t cross contaminate them, and like I say – doesn’t it look lovely!
But by far the most WONDERFUL aspect of this chart stuck on my wall is that everyone who comes into the craft room can see which colours are missing and know exactly what to buy you for your next present!
Thanks for stopping by to share my excitement and celebrations- and all I can say is: “Tim! Ranger Ink! – We need more colours!!“
Oh, and don’t forget that there’s still the November Competition to enter, sponsored by Craftwork Cards, where you can win up to £100 worth of crafty goodness…go on, hop over and enter!
Woohoo! I’m working on my collection, too and am about 10 away. I can’t wait to have the set just to be complete, so I can imagine the feeling of accomplishment. Love the idea of blowing up the color chart. I might have to try that if I can find a place to put it!
Thanks for sharing and congrats on the completion. Looking at that I fancy dusty concord next lol
Wow – that’s looks great. I still only own one distress ink! I’m hoping Father Christmas will bring me a couple more 🙂
Congrats on completing the collection! 🙂
Did you not see the announcement on his blog that he’s releasing 20 more colours?
I joke, I joke 😀 😀 (Ducking for cover now!) Makes my 4 look a bit paltry now! My incentive buys for curbing the impulse purchases is paint. Mmmmm paint!
Oh Carmen, you norty ladee, you totally had me fooled for a second there! My heart must have skipped a few beats! I guess you go through a few bottles of paint when you are crafting those cool little duckies!
Are you ready for the big shocker though- i’m actually 24 weeks now! Im so glad you think i have a ‘dinky’ bump because im starting to feel huge! they say it’ll only get bigger and b-i-g-g-e-r….. 😀
I’m with you on this one – have the chart on my wall with a stamped impression in the space for the ones I have (15 so far) – making it very clear to all who pass by my desk that I’m in desparate need of those colours that are blank. Here’s hoping Santa is listening!! Just in case I happen to go near a craft shop on my travels I keep a mini version in my purse so I know which ones I still need and if a TH inkpad happens to ‘fall’ into my basket then I just have to buy it!!! LOL! Karen
thats a great idea – keeping a smaller one in your purse! excellent idea! and i know exactly what you mean about things ‘falling’ into your basket, its soo difficult when they jump straight off the shelf! LOL
my friend has put velcro under her distress ink pads and attatches her foam pads to the relevant ink pad. wish I knew about this before I purchased my storage system.