Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Birthday Arizona, Happy Tuesday

I had planned to post a vintage Valentine's Day and a souvenir Arizona postcard in honor of...Valentine's Day and Arizona's Centennial which both  are on February 14th,  to celebrate the days occasions. Instead I'm going to share the Valentine card  my Tucson sister made and sent to me. It combined both celebrations... 

  For those of you not familiar with the Arizona State flag there is a  copper color star in the center of the flag...for Valentine's Day TS replaced it with a heart...very clever!

Distres Ink, Goodwill and Collections

My obsession with Tim Holtz Distress Ink started out simply enough...
I remember my first color... Old Paper. 

I was working on a Heritage Album and needed to give the pages an aged look.  Then I got braver  and added two more Distress Inks, Tattered Rose and Frayed Burlap ...once you have three of something it becomes a COLLECTION!

Gradually I was adding more and more inks to my COLLECTION.  When I started teaching the Heirloom Tag Class it gave me the licenses to really add to the COLLECTION.

Not only had I become a Distress Ink HOARDER, but how was I going to store all these ink pad?  I needed  easy access because I ink everything and I needed them organized because from the side and bottom they all look the same! Looking for just the right container became an ongoing search.  

Until the day I spotted the perfect storage container across the aisles at Goodwill!

There is sat just waiting for me to grab it...an index card file drawer. I grabbed it up and walked quickly to the check out...IT WAS MINE!

I printed out labels and adhered them to the sides of the ink pads....

And organized the inks by colors in to the two drawers...with plenty of room to add many more!

The file drawer sits next to my work table...I pull out a drawer and can find the exact color I need. A nice neat COLLECTION!

I think it's time for Tim to come out with some new colors!