Hi there. I was a busy bee today and wanted to show one of things I worked on. I’ve found what I think is a perfect palette for my Ranger Distress Inks. I’ve struggled with some place to put them all – where they are labeled, covered and ready to go. Why? Because I know if they are ready to go, I’ll use them. So this is what I’ve come up with. (Click on any of the pictures to get a larger view).
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I found this palette of watercolors at Michaels for $4.99 and an additional 40% off with my coupon. I told ya I was a thrifty gal ;-) |
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I scooped out the watercolors and ended up with an empty palette like this. I cleaned it enough that my rinse water ran clear then I dried each well to make sure no excess color remained. The watercolors stained some of the glue residue but it won’t matter. |
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| On the Ranger site, they have all the Distress Ink colors listed and sorted by color group. The grid can be downloaded HERE. Following the chart I wrote each color name in its own well with a Ultra Fine Point Sharpie and allowed the Sharpie to dry. | |
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| Using the eye dropper that comes with each reinker, I let out one generous drop of color in each well. By the way, on the left clear side of the open palette each of the round spots is concave which means I’ll be able to use the left hand side for mixing custom colors. There are currently 36 colors in the collection and coincidentally, there are 36 wells in this palette. | |
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There was room enough to throw in two little brushes before closing the lid. I’m all set :-) |
| Extra Note: Sigh . . . removing the watercolor cakes from the palette! There are lots of different watercolor sets on the market at different prices. I know that for many of my sets, the adhesive is so tentative that the cakes come loose on their own. I hoped that would be the case with this palette, but it was not to be – the adhesive held on for dear life. If I were a patient soul then I would have tried microwaving to melt the glue or perhaps could have dislodged them by jarring them. I really wanted to get finished with this quickly and ultimately soaked them out. Oh my, it was messy. My recommendation is to deal with the cakes dry so that you don’t have so much of a cleanup issue, plus you’ll be able to salvage the cakes for another project :-) The way I did it today was a worst case scenario – I spent about an hour at the sink rinsing and cleaning with a toothbrush and Softscrub. I’m still pleased with the result and when I go back to do this for my Adirondack Reinkers, I’m totally prepared. | |
ETA: Someone asked if the colors will dry out. Not for a long, long time. I have had smaller palettes that still have wet drops in them. If I suspect it will ever dry out though, It will be simple enough to put it into a plastic bag.
Thanks for stopping by! Take good care :-)
Well holey guacomole……that is cool! Great idea….and lucky you having all those colours….I have 6! At least that saves me the whole storage dilemma right LOL.
That’s a neat idea. As always Becca TFS!!! :-D
You always come up with the coolest ideas. Love reading your Becca Bits.
BECCA,BECCA please share the hat you pick all this ideas from because my hat doesn’t work like that TFS
Love the idea. Also, want to say how much I admire your cards.
I’m off to Michaels. Thanks Becca, you clever girl!
What a great idea, thanks so much for sharing! I must admit to chuckling over your clean up dilemma-it sounds like something I would do.
It’s a good think you didn’t microwave it with the metal posts in the hinge. I would have been sad too about the waterpaint cakes but I would probably have gone back the next day and got a set just for the them! Somehow in my strange little mind that would have made it OK! Hehehe!
Thanks for sharing! :o) Hope you are enjoying your weekend home!
thank you Becca, I was wondering how to do this, now all I need to do is to get to Michaels. love your blog.
Blessings
Phyllis
Hi Becca – oh I wish we had a Michael’s where I live! I love what you’ve done with your re-inkers. Thanks for sharing your neat idea.
Blessings,
Anne.
doesn’t the ink dry out in the little wells it’s a great idea if it doesn’t love your cards
you are the queen of ingenious. Congrats! I don’t have the reinkers but now I want them:)
Clever girl. You are always coming up with something brilliant. Also if you go to the art section of Hobby Lobby they have several options that are used for tube watercolors, I have a white one that has several sections that closes. Only problem if Tim Holtz comes up with some more gorious colors I will have to buy a second one and they aren’t as cheap as your solution…hmmmm I may be switching. LOL
Hugs,
Pam
very cool Becca, thanks for sharing!
Sandra
Handy little organizational idea. How do you store your bottles so they are easy to get to?
Marcie
Perfect idea for Perfect Reinker Palette to add to my growing list of Becca’s perfect storage solutions.
Thank you
Karen
Becca, this is so cool. You have an amazing eye for detail, as always.
I have been looking to buy the distress inks and couldn’t decind if I wanted the ink pads or the reinkers…………….I think you just made up my mind for me.
Thanks,
Becky
Even your storage ideas are uber creative!!! I just love how you did that!!!
I just love your tips, Becca! I always look forward to them. Thanks for being a pioneer and then telling us the easy way to do things! LOL!
What a great idea! I wouldn’t have ever though of that!
Great idea for the inks Becca. You give wonderful and useful tips.
Hi Becca, wonderful Idea,
Have to find one now!!! lol, I have a coupon to use today.
Thanks for the wonderful Tip!!!!
Becca, you are one clever girl! Very smart solution to a pesky problem!
R/
Just a thought on the glue residue. Try some “Goo be Gone” cleaner with Q-tip. Then rinse clean.
Great idea Becca….I hope Tim reads your post, this would be a great item for him to add to his product line. You always amaze me….As always, Thanks for sharing!
Wow, Becca, you’re ever the resourceful one. A girl after my own heart. I love finding economical ways to store my “stuff.” This was a very clever idea…thanks for sharing.
What a great idea. I love thrifty shopping and finding clever ways to reuse things. Thanks for the clever idea!
Another great idea from Becca. You are a small wonder.
What an awesome idea. I can see you now at the sink determined to get those little things out :)
What a great idea! It is like everything else, if it is at hand it will be used. Out of site, out of mind.
WOW! this is fantastic! I love all of the ideas you are so willing to share with all of us! Bytheway, what type of brushes do you use with your distress inks – -they look like they can really get into some small spaces :o)
Amazing you are! I’ve never used distress inks out of the pad so may have caught another idea.
Oh girl! You are too resourceful. I understand that was quite a job. Thanks for sharing your creativity. It’s a great solution for our inkers.
Thanks for sharing such a great idea= I wish we had a Michaels here in Hawaii! This is a great idea though and I’ll keep it in mind to pick up the watercolor palette the next time I come to the mainland. Take care and God Bless!
I would have traded you one of my empty watercolor trays for the full one, lol. :)
i am wondering, why did you do this? all the little ink dots look the same colour to me from here… was it for a colour reference or was it for mixing? i think i am the only one confused… sorry.
What a brilliant idea! Now just to find a watercolor case which also calls for more reinkers! Teehee :) TFS
hugs~
I guess I just don’t get this one. I know the colors of my reinkers by the color of the ink pads I have so I don’t really see what purpose this serves. And if the drop doesn’t dry out then don’t they get all over the inside of the palette when you move it around? So, is this something you just leave sitting flat on a shelf? I just don’t see what this does. I must be having a real blank moment here! LOL!!! My only excuse is that I just got home from craft supply shopping. It’s such a hot day here that my brain must have fried… but at least I have more craft “toys” to play with! Hooray!
Such a great idea!!!
Thanks Becca for the great idea. I am going to see what they have at out dollar store. Maybe I’ll get lucky.
What a great idea for a very small outlay of money. I like it.
Clever, clever, clever! What an awesome, creative world you live in – want to move to Indiana and be my neighbor?? I would bake bread and cookies for you!
I’m with you Colorado, I also don’t get it. First I thought it was to have the drops dry so you could reconstitute the ink and have all the colours on a palette same as the watercolours but then the part about them remaining wet? However the info is useful because that is a really good price on watercolours even if they are a cheap brand.
Hats off to you! You really know how to get what you need and at a great price!
P.S. Great find at Michaels’ with the coupon!
Becca, I am always so inspired by you and your projects! I really love all the little tidbits you are giving us. I have really learned some useful tips! Keep them coming!
This is a great idea for drops of reinkers.
This is a great organizational tip! I have thinking I need the pads, but would love to have the re-inkers! I have been playing around with making my own glimmer mist, and watercoloring. I will definitely take your advice on how to get the paint pads out! Thanks again for a fantastic idea!!!
Crafty Ranger Hugs!!!
Lisa :)
I like this idea…although I will never have that many reinkers. But I definitely need something. Thanks for sharing!
So I was right the idea was to dry it out, but then do you use the drops kind of like twinkling H2O’s and use them with a waterbrush or put a drop of water in the well to activate the reinker?
Neat idea Becca. I have read many of the above comments. Is the purpose of this neat idea for future water coloring from? ie-the opposite side for mixing colors. Why not add several drops in each well as if that’s the real reason for this idea?
Like many others, I just don’t get the reason for this – other than wasting 36 cakes of watercolor paint and 36 drops of ink.
What are you now going to do with the 36 drops of ink?
By the way, you have too many reinkers! LOL
If the reason is just to know what ink colors you have on hand, you’d be much better off just smearing a droplet of ink of a small piece of cardstock labeled with the color name. At least then, you’d have something that could help you identify the colors accurately. Most of the drops in the palette just look black (or at least like something much, much darker than the ink will actually stamp as). You could even punch a hole in the corner of the cardstock samples and put them on a ring. Nice, dry, compact, colorful. Who could want more?
I look forward to seeing what new ideas you have come up with each and every day,
Thanks again for your talents.
Hugs
Donna B
Great idea. Thanks for sharing all your talents
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