This article was written by Scrapbook.com founder and craft room organizer extraordinaire Jill Davis! Jill invites you to practice her organizational methods and concepts. With special permission, she refers to Stacy Boatman's expert opinions on getting organized. Shop the Scrapbook.com store for all of your craft storage and stamping ink needs!
Materials Needed to Organize Your Inking Supplies, Mists, and Embossing Materials
- Containers or racks for ink refill bottles
- Ink pads
- Mists
- Embossing materials
- An inventory system like a Heidi Swapp Memorydex or a notebook (if you choose)
- A label maker to label containers
The Challenge of Organizing Your Inks, Ink Pads, Mists, and Embossing Supplies
You will be faced with the challenge of corraling all of your inking, misting, and embossing supplies into one place. During this organizational challenge, establishing an inventory system to see and keep track of what you own is entirely optional, but extremely beneficial.
Inks, ink pads, mists, and embossing supplies come in many different sizes, making them tricky to store. We also tend to have a LOT of them, let's be honest. Figuring out the best way of keeping everything together cohesively and organized can and will be done! You've got this!
Stacy's Ink, Mist, and Embossing Solutions
Ink Pads
If you have already organized your embellishments into containers, then you can acquire more of the same containers you're already using. You can also find something designed to hold these specific items, as well as shop Scrapbook.com's Storage and Organization section. The following is a list of container suggestions:
- Desktop spinning racks
- Old wooden cassette tape holders
- Clear plastic shoeboxes
- Multi-drawer chests
- Drawers
- Tilt bins (for small ink pads)
- Photo storage boxes
- Glass jars (for small ink pads)
- Dauber cases (for ink daubers)
For a great example of how to utilize an old wooden cassette tape holder to store your ink pads, review the article Ink Pad Storage and Organization.
Stacy's organizational unit holds all her larger ink pads on the sides and the entire unit turns. On the top, she has liquid inks and smaller ink pads. The unit sits enclosed in a cabinet. If you don’t have the counter space (or ample cabinet space), you might want to rule out a desktop spinner!
Embossing Powders and Supplies
- Boxes or bins
- Transfer powder into salt and pepper shakers, or spice jars, and store on spice racks
- Clear plastic shoeboxes
- Multi-drawer chest
- Photo storage boxes
Stacy doesn’t have a lot of embossing supplies. She sticks with the basics. She’s been able to keep everything in a wooden planter box that sits on a shelf in her room. It’s out of the way, and when she needs anything embossing-related, she grabs her box!
Jill's Ink, Mist, and Embossing Solutions
Inks
I use Ranger Ink's Distress Inks on most layouts, so they are considered a primary tool and are located in a top drawer in my island (along with their reinkers). Other secondary ink pads are in my Stamping Center in a wooden cassette case mounted to the side of a filing cabinet so it can slide in and out of the small space it’s in (reinkers are in a cupboard nearby). All stamp pads are labeled and have a sample of the color on their label. To make the sample, I rub some ink onto paper, let it dry, punch a small circle out of the color using a circle punch and glue it onto the label. I then add a coat of clear nail polish over the sample so it’s protected and durable. I store these ink pads in ROY G. BIV order.
Embossing Powders and Supplies
I love embossing and have given my powders a primary space (tray) in my stamping center. I filled salt and pepper shakers with a variety of powders, tied small metal-rimmed tags onto them (with an embossed powder sample on one side of the tag, and the color name written on the other). Manufacturer information is on the bottom of the shaker. I store my heat gun in a doll stand. This enables me to remove it easily and it gives me hands-free options.
Mists
"One size fits all" isn’t the case with mists. Every manufacturer has its own unique bottle size and shape; therefore, make sure your container will hold the tallest bottle if you have a variety of mists. I have an extra deep drawer in my island where I keep my mists. Space is limited, so I have the boundary that I cannot purchase a new bottle of color unless I use up a bottle of something I already have. The drawer is dark when opened and hard to see into, so, I keep a mini flashlight inside in one of the corners. This allows me to see the tops of the bottles. If the bottle doesn't come with a label on top, I will put one on it. I punch the labels out of sticker-backed paper and spray them with the bottle contents. Super easy!
Inventory Solutions for Inking Materials, Mists, and Embossing Supplies
Some scrappers like to make a chart that shows, at-a-glance, what they have while others keep track of everything in a notebook or Heidi Swapp Memorydex. If you would like to include an inventory sheet into your system, you might find inspiration for how to create your own inventory system.
Summary
Many of us enjoy using ink, mists, and embossing powders, but we can struggle when they’re not contained in a system that supports how we scrapbook. There are wonderful solutions available, and I’m sure you’ll find some that will work for you.
For further craft room organizational insight, three must-read articles are How to Organize Your Stamps and Stamping Equipment, How to Use Space Assessment to Organize Your Craft Space, and Decluttering and Organizing Your Space.
This article is based on a lesson from our free class, Get Organized. If you are seeking further organizational insight to enhance your craft space, sign up for Get Organized today!
