Inking Your Stamps

Deidre asked me this today:

SO I have a question regarding Staz On. When I use it I often get splotchy images where the ink hasn’t taken well or it is sticky when I apply to the paper. I really have to ink it up and look at it to make sure I am going to get a good image….it is so much work! I have reinked and more. Do you think it is because my staz on is old? Should I just get a new pad? Does anyone else have this problem???

What a great question!! Actually, the question is so great, that I couldn’t just respond to Deidre alone. I had to share my experience with everyone.

There is absolutely nothing worse that gooey, gloppy, sticky ink that gets everywhere! I avoid this by doing one simple thing…

I ink my stamps upside down!

Seriously, I find this solves the problem 95% of the time. Let’s look…

A lot of people lay their stamps down onto the ink pad as shown on the left.  That is how I stamped the “Oh Hoppy Day” sentiment on the right. 

A lot of times, stamps that are inked in this manner get too much ink on them. And not in the right spots!! The extra gloppy ink can look like this:

See how the ink pools around certain spots? Not every image will do this. But when they do…yuck.

Then, when you put the image on your paper (I’ve used Stampin’ Up! Whisper White here), it gets smudgy.

Now, here are two notes.

1. I find this to happen most often with Stampin’ Up! Whisper White because of its smooth finish. That is why I chose to use it here.
2. There seems to be a “slicker” side on Whisper White. I tend to notice the “stick” sound when I stamp on it. The other side doesn’t seem to do this. I’m not sure how to tell the difference.

Now let’s look at the image I stamped doing the “upside down” technique.

I pat the ink pad onto the stamp making sure every area is covered. I don’t push hard. I just pat it over until the image is completely covered.

See the difference between the two images? No pooling or extra gloppy ink on this one!

And here is my sentiment when stamped this way:

See how much clearer the bottom is?

Now, I said this cures 95% of problems. If you try this and it doesn’t work, I would spend the extra money for a new pad. I’d also try a different paper.

I really love PaperTrey Ink’s white paper. I’ve tried a few other white card stocks and by far, PTI’s rocks my world.

And one last thing…you should check out Deidre’s blog. She’s got some extremely cute projects on there!

Battle of the Black Inks: Using Stampin’ Up! Whisper White

Last week, Amy left me this comment:

I’m glad you specified the paper you used. Each company tends to formulate their inks to work best with their paper. I know that Stampin’ Up has ink designed to work with their ultra smooth cardstock and real rubber stamps while Close to My Heart makes ink that works better with acrylic stamps and their type of paper.

And you know, Amy has a great point! So I wanted to share with you the same inks on Stampin’ Up! Whisper White paper. I don’t have CTMH so I can’t show you that.

Now, before I go on, I feel compelled to explain a little about Whisper White for those who haven’t used it. Whisper White has an ultra smooth finish to it that makes it a little different than other papers.  The finish effects the way different inks absorb into it. For this reason, it is very important that you test your inks on your paper first.

In fact, I recommend that you make yourself an artist book or folder. Inside, you can keep swatches of paper and ink samples like you’ve seen me make this past two weeks. Make sure you write which paper and ink you are using. Make any notes you want. Then, later, you’ll have it to refer to when you need it! This works great for Copic color combinations too. And ink combinations, and…and…and… (you get the idea!)

One more note. Dye inks absorb into paper better than pigment inks. Pigment inks are designed to sit on top of the paper. Keep this in mind with the Stampin’ Up! Whisper White. You’ll notice how the pigment inks are a little harder to work with on this ultra smooth finish.

Let’s look closely:

This is StazOn.

When I use Whisper White, I always use StazOn. I get a clean crisp image the first time I stamp!

StazOn is a solvent ink designed for use on non-porous surfaces. It works really well on paper!

StazOn gets my vote for the best ink to use on Stampin’ Up! Whisper White.

The first column in the next two pictures is Brilliance. There are some light smudges in the picture. Brilliance is a pigment ink so this really isn’t surprising. If you even slightly rock your stamp, you’ll smear the ink.

The second column is Versafine. It really smeared on my first attempt!!

So, I decided to try again…more carefully this time…

On the second try, the Brilliance did a good job. I just have to be very careful when I stamp. The trick is not pushing too hard.

The Versafine was much better too using this same technique. However, when I was writing, I got my hand in the ink and smeared it. This is a perfect example of the pigment ink needing to be heat set or given longer time to dry. Aside from my mistake with the Versafine, it is a good ink if you are patient. Same with the Brilliance.

Here, we are only looking at the right column which is Stampin’ Up! Basic Black ink.

The Stampin’ Up! ink really did a great job. I’m not sure why or how I tend to skip spots with my SU black ink, but I do. However, the lines are crisp and clean.

This is my second attempt with the SU! ink and I skipped again. Besides the skipping issue, the ink is great.

Winner: Stazon.

First Runner Up: Stampin’ Up!

TTIC #37: Romance!

Hi everyone! I am having to sit out this week on the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge. 

Instead, I’ll be bringing a very special interview to TTIC this week to celebrate the romance theme of the week. I think you’ll really enjoy it.

In the mean time, please continue over to everyone’s blogs to see what projects they’ve made this week!

Beth ~ Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca 

and Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie 

Copics, Copics, and MORE Copics!

Have you seen all the Copic Ciaos I’m selling in the Stamp Happens store?

I’m Copic crazy dear stampers!

I’ve got cases of 12 bold bright Copic Ciaos, and now I’ve added lots of individual markers!

Take a look at the different colors!!

That is 71 individual colors!

And I have more coming!

Coming soon, a visual comparison between the colors of Stampin’ Write Markers and Copics.

June Twilight Tuesday Sketch Challenge

This is our last day to feature Arful INKables’ new releases Into the Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired.

So today, we are featuring the June sketch challenges that used these awesome sets! Be sure to check out Twilight Tuesday to see the other challenge projects.

I get to share my project with you today! I made a 6×6” layout to be used when the future Breaking Dawn movie is released.

I colored the image with my Copics. The paper came from my friends Eve, and Julie.

I thought I’d show you the different levels in this layout.

The pawn and “romantic” are both popped up with dimensionals.

Tomorrow, I will be sitting out of the normally scheduled Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge. Instead, later in the week I’ll be bringing you a very special blog post on TTIC that will positively WOW you!

Coming up, black ink on Stampin’ Up! Whisper White paper…