Are you always at a loss when it comes to finding the right color ink to use on your project? Does your ink organization system lack some organization? Or, do you know you have the perfect color to use but you don't know where the heck it is?
Read on to find tips and tricks on how to maximize your cardmaking ink organization so they are easy to find and you can select the colors that you need for your projects.
There are four components to organizing your ink:
- Storage – where you put them when you are done using them
- Swatching – how you can provide yourself with a visual representation of the inks to compare and select the colors you need
- Label – how to easily find the ink you need within your storage unit
- Inventory – listing of inks that you have
Cardmaking Ink Storage
There are many types of ink storage available. Things to consider when choosing the storage you want to use are:
Pad size – Most inks come in two sizes a large pad and a small cube or some manufacturers call it a mini.
Type
- Wall hung – this option is usually for the large pad and is nice to be able to hang directly over your work surface so that it is easy to just look up, see what you have, and select what you need.
- Desk or Shelf – another great option that is very convenient for storing some of your most used crafty stash
- Drawer – this option is especially nice for the cubes and there are some companies that even make drawers for your inks. Stackable trays allow you to store many cubes is a small space.
Location
One of the keys to crafty organization is being able to see what we have. This is true for two reasons; it makes it easier for us to select what we want to use and we tend to forget what we have if we don't see it. So, find a spot to put your inks where it is easy for you to see and reach them.
My Ink Storage Recommendations
Stamp-n-Storage offers a number of different options for storing your inks. Their products are high quality, sturdy, and beautiful and when ordering you can select whether you want to hang them on the wall or not. There are little compartments for each pad that helps with organization. They are open in front so that you can see the front side of each pad. I organize my pads by manufacturer and then by color and will talk more about how that is done in the labeling section. Hint: make sure that you get the product that is sized for the ink pads that you have.
To check out Stamp-n-Storage products click on the link below.
The following link may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something by following this link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.
Link: Stamp-n-Storage
I use Organize More's Mini Ink Trays for my small ink pads. They too are made well, they hold many of the little cubes and they stack nicely in a drawer. There are dividers within each tray that keep the cubes from sliding side to side. I organize my cubes by manufacturer and then color within the dividers and it makes it very easy to look at what I have and select what I want to use.
Cardmaking Ink Swatches
There are a couple of good reasons to use ink swatches. Some ink pad packaging does not provide accurate coloring. The first and possibly the most important is that the ink swatch provides a reference for exactly the color that the ink pad makes.
Next, swatches are great for color coordination with other things that you are using on your projects like cardstock, markers, etc.
They are also great for comparing colors between manufacturers.
I recommend making an ink swatch book. I love mine and use it on a daily basis at a minimum. It is made up of coin pockets to hold the swatches, 2 x 2 pieces of cardstock for the swatches, and rings to hold it all together. And I use a stamp from the ink manufacturer (if available) to stamp the swatch with. I use either my swatch stamps or a small flower stamp for those that I don't have available.
To create my ink swatch book I used Jennifer McGuire's technique. You can access her article and video on ink swatching using the following link: https://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2014/04/complete-ink-swatch-book-downloads.html
Supplies:
The following list may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something by following a link on this page, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.
Coin pockets: 20 pocket Coin Sheets
Rings: Loose Leaf Binder Rings
Stamp: Simon Says Stamp Swatches
Ink Labels
It would be so nice if ink pad manufacturers would label their pads on the sides rather than on the top and the bottom…but they don't. So without those labels, you look at your ink pads in your nice new storage units and you have no idea which ink pad is which.
There are three things that are nice to know about each ink pad that is great to have as labels: The manufacturer, the name of the ink pad color, and a color sample. I like to provide each on all four sides of my ink pads so I print out four labels with the manufacturer and color on .6mm label tape. Then I dip four of the label dots onto the ink pad and set them aside to dry. Once they are ready I just adhere them to all four sides. This process is also one recommended by Jennifer McGuire and it works very well.
Click the following link to find her article on labeling; https://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2015/07/video-ink-organization-storage-discount-codes-giveaway.html
Supplies:
The following list may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something by following a link on this page, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.
Label maker: <a href="http:// “>Brother
Label tape: Label Kingdom
Color Coding Labels: Maco
Ink Inventory
There is one more thing that I like to do with my ink pads, I like to inventory them. I do so mainly so that I have a record of what I have. This is especially helpful to have when I am shopping either in a physical store or online. I have been guilty of buying multiple things that I like because I don't realize that I already have them. This method helps to keep that from happening.
I use an app called Evernote for my crafty inventory but if you aren't techy you can just keep a list of what you have and then have it with you when you are shopping. At a minimum, you want to include the manufacturer, color, and size that you have.
I have another post planned to share how to inventory all your crafty goodness in Evernote so keep an eye out for it.
If you are familiar with Evernote or want to give what I do a try. For my inventory I have established a folder (Evernote calls them notebooks) for Inks and then within it, I have a folder for each manufacturer. I create a separate file for each ink pad. And that's all I do.
Now It's Time for You to Get Started With Your Ink Organization
To be honest, this process is time-consuming and tedious, but oh so worth it! If you take the time to do this as soon as you get new inks then they will be easy to find and use, and your crafty space will be even more beautiful than it was!
