inks

I'd really like to do some stamping, but feel intimidated by all the different inks, water-based, dye-based, pigment, brilliance, versamark, stazon, alcohol inks.... and so on, and on, and with knowing what is suitable for what. (My first attempt was stamping on vellum, but it never did dry, so presumably I used the wrong ink, or the wrong paper!) I've got stamps, ink pads, acrylic paints, water colours, chalks, pens, and embossing powders galore, but have so far only stamped a handful of times, and not tremendously successfully as yet. Would any experienced stampers do an 'inks for dummies' list, and what they can be used for, please? Any hints would be appreciated, I have just bought the flower fairies sets, and would like to do something with them instead of just sticking them away with the rest of my stamps! Please assume I don't know anything, (because I don't) I shan't be offended! Thank you,

That's a great idea Christine, would be very interested in that myself

Stazon is waterproof and dries quickly so is good on vellum and if you are going to watercolour it afterwards on paper/card but no good for embossing powders as it dries too quickly so the powder doesn't stick.

This is the information I've managed to find to add to Jacky's contribution, for anyone else struggling with all the inks available. I haven't tried them all myself (hardly any as yet) so hope it is accurate, and helpful!

Dye Ink Pads
Dye and water mix, very quick drying and give a crisp image. Use on porous surfaces, although may bleed on textured or absorbent paper such as tissue paper. Not to be used for embossing, does not need to be heat-set. Not colourfast, will fade.

Pigment Ink Pads
Glycerine-based, stays wet for embossing, slow-drying, best when heat-set. Use on most papers, will not dry on coated paper or vellum unless heat-set or embossed. Fade resistant.

Embossing Ink Pads
Glycerine based, for embossing. Tinted inks available.

Watermark Ink Pads
Without pigment, designed to accentuate the colour of the card on which it is stamped. Can be used to emboss, ‘resist,’ and as a base for colouring with chalks. Use on porous surfaces and some non-porous, such as glossy paper.

Distress Ink Pads
Dye and water-based, as dye pads but with more stable colour, can add water and the colours will not separate. Designed for weathering, ageing and distressing techniques. Use on porous surfaces, including paper, cardstock, wood and fabric.

Chalk Ink Pads
Similar to pigment ink pads but subtler, softer tones and shades. Opaque coverage, ideal for stencilling and direct-to-surface techniques. Use on paper, cardstock, vellum, wood and polymer clay.

Waterproof Ink Pads
Solvent-based, designed for non-porous surfaces. Use on paper, cardstock, leather, cellophane, aluminium foil, glass, shrink plastic, acrylic and metal. Will not bleed, suitable for watercolouring. Specialised cleaner needed.

Thanks Christine, that is really very helpful

Great info Christine - I do have a query on one item though the Distress inks. As the re-inkers are alcohol based I would have thought that the original pads are alcohol based too otherwise wouldn't it end up a mess ? I may be wrong but I thought that was why they made such wonderful patterns when you spritz them with water he he.

Just found this on a website

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Pads are acid free, non toxic, fade resistant & water based. They're perfect for achieving a vintage, stained or aged effect on cards & scrapbook pages or any paper craft project. The 2ins x 2ins pads are made with a higher raised felt for ease of use with direct to paper techniques.

From experimenting:

I have some rainbow pads (the sort with stripes of colour) and I was having a go at the diorama cards from a Moovision - where the back card was highly glossy, printed with versamark and brayered with the rainbow to make a blended colour with the stamping showing through (the colour doesn't 'stick' to the versamark).

Using the rainbow pads used on the Moovision - Kaleidacolor - the colour moves about on the glossy card and the brayer rubs it off the versamark quite nicely - the more you brayer, the better the blending and the resist showing through.

I tried with some other rainbow pads and the colour didn't move and the resist didn't.

The only difference was the rainbow pads - Kaleidacolor are dye based, the others were pigment based.

Either I'm doing something wrong, or that's another difference between Dye and Pigment.

Can I make a couple of suggestions or tips.
When your stamping always stand up ,
Use firm movements do not ' Rock ' when you are stamping oherwise it is likely that your image will be blurred .
I always stamp on a peice of firm sponge or a pile of magazines , this gives a bit of ' give ' and helps to prevent blurred images .
Always take your ink pad to your stamp , use plenty of ink.
If you are using clear stamps ,make sure the acryilic block is not too small or you will miss parts of your image.If the block is to big you can sometimes feel out of control and it may smudge or blurr.
I find VERSAFINE BLACK, SEPIA ,GREY are excellent for stamping with they are fade resistant and very versitileyou are using alchol inks or distress inks or ' wet ' inks such as nik Bantok , use with a bit of sponge ,or something like cutand dry foam, and start of with a little bit and you can built up colour gradually.Chalks are useful to use this way.
Don't try and stamp out image with chalk ink pads hey are best for colouring.
As he name suggests Stazon is permanant and can be very useful it is fast drying , the colours are very clear and sharp , excellent on vellum .The white stazons are much thicker and I always stamp on a rough bit of paper first and if its very thick use for he image with out reapplyinh ink to the stamp,
Brillince inks wok lovely on glossy card and need a very gentle heat set.
Beforing disress inks , nik bantoc or anything like that , first of all master stamping with archival inks ie Versafine.

Can I make a couple of suggestions or tips.
When your stamping always stand up ,
Use firm movements do not ' Rock ' when you are stamping oherwise it is likely that your image will be blurred .
I always stamp on a peice of firm sponge or a pile of magazines , this gives a bit of ' give ' and helps to prevent blurred images .
Always take your ink pad to your stamp , use plenty of ink.
If you are using clear stamps ,make sure the acryilic block is not too small or you will miss parts of your image.If the block is to big you can sometimes feel out of control and it may smudge or blurr.
I find VERSAFINE BLACK, SEPIA ,GREY are excellent for stamping with they are fade resistant and very versitileyou are using alchol inks or distress inks or ' wet ' inks such as nik Bantok , use with a bit of sponge ,or something like cutand dry foam, and start of with a little bit and you can built up colour gradually.Chalks are useful to use this way.
Don't try and stamp out image with chalk ink pads hey are best for colouring.
As he name suggests Stazon is permanant and can be very useful it is fast drying , the colours are very clear and sharp , excellent on vellum .The white stazons are much thicker and I always stamp on a rough bit of paper first and if its very thick use for he image with out reapplyinh ink to the stamp,
Brillince inks wok lovely on glossy card and need a very gentle heat set.
Beforing disress inks , nik bantoc or anything like that , first of all master stamping with archival inks ie Versafine.

sorry bout that not sure why that came out twice!
Heat embossing gives a lovely effect , and can be a bit tricky to start off with.You must start off with good quality stamping card , a antistatic pad or cloth is essential .first of all wipe the antistic pad over where you are going to be heat embossing, using a good quality ink pad( such as versa mark )Use in the same way you would a normal ink pad. Get your embossing powder and sprinkle over your image , over aclean peice of paper shake off excess powder and return to container give image a little blow and gently start heatingg , your heat gun should be kept moving gently so not to scorch paper , you can tell when image is embossing nicely because it bubbles a little if using coloured powders or gold /silver it goes from dull and grainy to shiney . This technique may take a little practise but is really woryh it.
ALWAYS REMEMBER THE [b]MOSTIMPORTANT HING IS THAT STAMPS ARE FOR USING NOT CLUTTERING UP DRAWS !!!! GOOD LUCK ....any problems you can always pm me lexie

Another tip that I've found useful for heat embossing...

Use coloured inks and a clear embossing powder Means that if you can emboss lots of colours and only buy one lot of embossing powder. Plus if you do end up with a bit of powder outside of the ink it won't look too bad.

(Thanks to Ann for the hint - its saved my bacon a few times!)

Versatile Versamark

**************************
Versatile VersaMark . . .
One Pad Many Great Uses
**************************

1. A TRULY CLEAR EMBOSSING PAD - Use like you would the Top Boss. Just stamp and emboss with colored powder or clear powder for a see through shine.

2. A WATERMARK - This is great for backgrounds, it will deepen the shade of colored paper wherever you stamp. Just think about this, for every color of paper you own, you now have a complementary color of ink!

3. POPPIN' PASTELS - There are a couple of ways to accomplish this effect on light colored card stocks. 1.) Apply chalks to the area to be stamped, stamp with VersaMark and allow to dry or use heat gun. Then rub gently with a clean cotton ball. You can get a dramatic effect by adding more chalk to a cotton ball or dauber after you stamped with the VersaMark. Or you can emboss while stamped image is still wet with clear embossing powder and the image will jump out at you! 2.) Stamp first then chalk
gently over the stamped area and watch the image "magically" appear. You can follow this same
technique but replace Pearl Ex Pigment Powders in place of chalks.

4. REVERSE PASTELS (AKA PULLIN' PASTELS) - This time you use brightly colored chalk to cover dark colored card stock (Basic Black, Night of Navy, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, etc.) and then stamp over the chalked area. The ink will pull out the color of the paper from beneath the chalk. Be sure to clean the stamp before re-inking it as the chalk you removed is now on your stamp and you will dirty your VersaMark pad.

5. SHADOWING - This is a technique to use with Spectrum pads and word stamps but you can use it for anything really. Just stamp directly over your first image. Because you will seldom be exact you will make a shadow that gives the initial image a 3-D effect. You can even take it a step further and emboss with a transparent powder like Pearl or Iridescent Ice.

6. BRAYER RESIST - This technique looks great when done with VersaMark. Stamp image(s) onto Glossy White card stock. Gently wipe away the ink using a lotion-free tissue and small circular motion. Ink up your brayer and roll it over the paper. Wherever the VersaMark ink was stamped, the paper will resist the colored ink from your brayer. This works on matte card stock but looks better on glossy.

7. VERSAMARK & 2-STEP STAMPIN - Stamp the same image first w/VersaMark & then with metallic (Encore). Just shift the image a little bit when stamping the metallic ink. It gives it a shadowed look. Looks great on baroque burgundy and forest foliage!

8. EMBOSSING ON GLASS - Using the embossing buddy first, then using the VersaMark to stamp the image on a glass container, then emboss with detail gold or silver. Fill it with candy and tie a ribbon on it.

9. EMBOSSING WITH YOUR 48 STAMPIN! UP PADS - Ink your stamp with VersaMark, then stamp on one of our 48 color pads or you can use a dauber to apply the color ink if you are worried about the color pad. Stamp and use clear embossing powder. Heat. Now you can emboss and be perfectly coordinated with the SU! Markers, cardstock and inkpads. Be certain to clean stamp before re-inking on VersaMark pad or you will leave color on it.

10. DISCREET JOURNALING LINES - Although the VersaMark ink is sticky when applied, it dries like regular ink and loses the stickiness. It is Acid-free and safe for scrapbook pages. It works perfectly on all of our colored cardstock.

11. BATIK TECHNIQUE - Simply stamp your image using VersaMark on ultrasmooth white or confetti or some other light CS and then emboss with clear embossing powder. Let cool. Then gently wad paper into a ball or you could fold it into a small square for a different look. Unfold it and smooth it out. Place it on a towel and wet with water so the paper is very damp. Next ink your brayer with a Spectrum pad and brayer across the paper. The image will stay white while the ink will seep into cracks and the rest of the paper will have a batik look. (Like back in the 70's when you applied wax to a pattern on a shirt and then dipped it in dye, cooled and chipped the wax away. Like far out man!)

12. EMBOSSING BRADS - Another great use for VersaMark... Take a brass fastener, pinch it in a clothes pin, dip the head in VersaMark, then dip in embossing powder, heat with heat gun, while powder is still wet, dip again in embossing powder & heat one last time. After it cools down you will have a nice enamel type colored coating on your fastener.

13. PRESERVING CHILDREN'S HAND PRINTS - VersaMark is a great pigment ink to use on little kids' hands to make embossed hand prints, because it is clear and cleans up easily. Grown-ups should do the embossing of the sweet little handprints since the powder can be messy and the heat gun is hot. But let the little ones watch their handprint turn to gold or silver before their eyes - they LOVE it! And I'm sure you can imagine how the moms, dads, or grandparents will love their precious one's little handprint preserved in gold!

14. HEAT & STICK - Use it with heat and stick powder to add glittery glitz or flocking to any project.

15. A PROTECTIVE COATING FOR SCISSORS - Rub on your Craft & Rubber Scissors and it will keep them from getting all gunky with sticky stuff.

16. CLEAR EMBOSS RESIST - Use it with clear embossing powder on white, vanilla, naturals, confetti, kraft or any soft colored paper. Then sponge over the clear embossed image and watch it pop out.

17. POLY SHRINK - Use it on poly shrink projects. After you shrink your item press it into the VersaMark pad. Add the clear or translucent powder of your choice and heat. Repeat till you get the thickness and look you want.

18. FULL COVERAGE EMBOSSING - Brayer with the VersaMark over a stamped image and use glassy glaze embossing powder. This will give you an all over gloss. Repeat till it is the thickness you want.

19. SOOT STAMPING - Hold glossy card stock over an oil lamp with the flame turned up high to leave deposits of soot on it. Using a clean stamp, ink it with the VersaMark pad and then stamp on the soot. The stamp removes the soot and leaves a bit different effect than if you stamp with just the bare rubber. Be sure to clean stamp in-between EACH time you stamp on your soot project so you won't get any of it on your VM pad. You must then spray with a fixative.

20. VERSAMARK IS FOR KIDS!! VersaMark is a GREAT kid's inkpad. Just let the little ones stamp their little hearts out without ever worrying about an ink mess on those precious little hands or faces or table . . . or anything else for that matter! It doesn't stain the wood on the stamps either. Encourage your young ones to watch for the "magic ink" . . . Just a second of waiting and they will see the image magically appear. This is great for elementary students in a classroom sitting too.

lexiecraft wrote:ALWAYS REMEMBER THE MOSTIMPORTANT THING IS THAT STAMPS ARE FOR USING NOT CLUTTERING UP DRAWS !!!!

(I don't keep them in drawers, although they are all stashed away, in boxes! ) Thanks for all of the information, it will be a great help, and you're right, I should get my stamps out. I've bought lots recently, and I'm going to have to go for it, if only to use up some of my ink pads before they dry out!

Craftworker wrote:Just found this on a website

Tim Holtz Distress Inks Pads are acid free, non toxic, fade resistant & water based. They're perfect for achieving a vintage, stained or aged effect on cards & scrapbook pages or any paper craft project. The 2ins x 2ins pads are made with a higher raised felt for ease of use with direct to paper techniques.

I saw that too Jacky yet the re-inkers you use to top up the ink pads are alcohol based. It confused me which is why I wasn't sure about what they are in the earlier post. I'll have to write and ask them for some clarity - one day he he