Pigment Inks + discount code

Hello friends,

How are you doing?

Today, I am going to focus on two products. Pigment inks & Neenah card stock.

I will start with Card Stock.

In my tenure of many years of stamping & sharing, the most common query I have addressed is - which paper do I use? 

When I started around 2005, nothing was available in India. I used to get stamps and inks form USA with help of friends or family members. In that case getting paper form there was out of question. I started looking for paper in Ahmedabad. After long struggle I came across to one dealer who was dealing in good quality papers. I didn't know much about paper so I use to carry small stamp (that time i had few wood mount stamps only) and my first ever ink pads - color box pigment inks- petal point pad. I will stamp on the samples and see if that paper is working with ink or not. My intention was to get even stamped image. I learnt that, for stamping we need smooth paper (without any texture), it has to be absorbent (unlike many smooth but glossy coated paper) and it has to be between 260-300 gsm ( unit to measure thickness of paper).

 I know these findings seems very basic right now but 10 years back it was a big thing for me. But the supply is never consistent. Every time i have to look for new paper as previous will go out of stock & the dealer will switch to another paper. The  one I am using since last 3 years is out of stock and I started paper hunting again. I came to know about Neenah paper through many international crafters & asked Shalini to get it in the store. But before that we ordered samples from dealer (he sent 50 + neenah paper swatches). I tried few with various mediums like dye inks, pigment inks, copic, water color markers, heat embossing to make sure it is versatile and works with most mediums.

The one I selected for Crafter's Corner store is

               - 270 gsm Card stock which makes it sturdy enough to work as card base & works well for  single   layer card too.

                 - Smooth which makes it perfect for stamping, ink blending and heat embossing.

                    - egg shell kind of white. I feel that selecting proper white tone for your card is very  important. Some whites will  have  bluish tinge while others will have yellowish. I like  one which is in between as it goes well with all cold and warm  colors of inks.

-It works well with dye inks, pigment inks, distress inks (blending), copic and tombow markers.

Are you with me? or is it too much of paper gyan? Lol. 

In short, my search for paper ends here as this is the best paper I have ever used ( and trust me I have used many) and it is well established brand so we will have consistent supply. It can handle little bit of water wetness  but I suggest to get water color paper if you are using lots of water base medium.

Now, I will come to Pigment inks.

                -These inks have powdery pigments mixed with liquid base.

                -They are very thick and opaque because of pigments. Their pads are made of foam so that it can hold thick inks. Due to their soft foam, be sure to use less pressure while inking the stamp.

                - They are slow drying inks which makes them ideal for heat embossing. The pigment sits on the surface of paper rather than getting absorbed in paper fiber. This gives very crisp and vibrant impression of stamp and makes ideal for detailed   stamp. It also gives good coverage on dark colored card stock. 

- Works well with generation stamping.

                - Drying time varies with the paper and weather. You can heat set to dry it.

                - Cleaning stamp is very easy even with just water.

                - They stamp in true colors that means it stamp exact same color as stamp pad unlike many dye ink ...which fades a  bit upon drying.

I am using pigment inks from the time I started stamping. Recently, I got these Mama Elephant pigment inks. Initially, I got one pad ( I don't do impulsive  buying...) and tried it out....loved it so much that I got another 10 colors.  Today, I will share some cards made using them with different techniques. I really want you to try it. And after seeing my love for pigment inks Shalini allowed me to offer 5% discount by using MAMA5 code.  So, grab them before they are gone...

I am sharing few cards I made with Neenah CS and Mama Elephant Pigment inks. I have used different techniches possible with these inks.

So, Let's start the fun...

Card : 1 stamping

For this card, I have used Avery Elle - Bright Days  stamp set. 

I cut a panel for Neenah card stock and stamp the smaller ray image with ME- moon light ink. Look at the even coverage it gives even with this solid stamp. As it doesn't get absorbed in paper it gives very crisp edges too. I used butter cup ink for that sun image. 

Check how beautifully it stamps these thin lines. These inks are good for solid as well as detailed stamps. I have used Neenah CS for card base too. I have used 2 layers of foam tapes to mount the panel & still it is not warping a little bit. Very thick and sturdy CS.

Card - 2: stamping

I have use Hero Arts- Twid Pattern   stamp and ME - Pacific Blue, Moon Light, Fresh Mint & Ocean inks to create ombré effect. I inked 1/4th of stamp in each ink, look how beautifully they blend in to each other giving smooth gradation of colours. For flower I have used very old wood mounted stamp & Plum Berry, Lollipop, Lemon grass & mojito  inks to stamp on Neenah cs.

The smooth paper captures itched detail  of flower beautifully.

Card : 3 -Embossing

I stamped different images from Altnew stamp set . in various inks and heat embossed with clear powder. This will give you raised colored image. Isn't that beautiful? I colored them with different tombow markers. Sentiment is by Some Odd Girl stamps.

Look at the close up:

Card : 4-5 layered stamping

The most famous layered stamps are 'Vintage Roses' by altnew. Don't we all love it?  Some time back I tried it with many different inks and combinations which you can see HERE.

But having so many inks are not possible for every one. So i tried just with one or two pigment inks and 2nd and third generation stamping. These inks very well with this technique. 

First I will talk about generation stamping. 

Generation Stamping is an easy technique to add depth to your cards and get more out of your inks. Pigment inks works well because they have opaque pigments in it and will have enough ink left on the stamp even after stamping once.  Ink up your stamp and stamp on your paper ( this is first generation of image) . Next you will stamp on your project without inking the stamp. This will give lighter image and is known as second generation. You can do 3rd and 4th generation too for even lighter image. Huff (blow moist air from your mouth)  your stamp in between stamping to activate ink. I did those roses with little alteration. I used 2nd an 3rd generation image by stamping off it on a scrap paper.

For the flowers , I have used Plumberry  ink with three layers of stamp and all three generation images. Leaver are done with two shades of inks. I also edge the panel with same ink to make it pop.

What do you say? isn't that cool ? 

Here is a little chart to show how I made those roses along with inks I used.

Card : 6-7 Ink Blending

For the first card, I just masked Neenah cs panel with masking tape & blended various inks with ink blending tool. 

I used this small ink blending tool for the first time.( I have old rectangular one) I love this as it is small and can reach into tiny places. The sentiment is with Papertrey Ink. I used it because of its clean lines to go with my geometric BG.

For the second card, I have  used Hero arts- News Print stamp set. stamp with memento ink. I blended various ME inks using Heidi Swap butterfly stencil. These inks blend so so easily. You have to experience by yourself to believe it.

  

Card 8-9 Coloured CS

I used Altenew Henna Elements stamp and various mama elephant inks with masking on an aqua CS. See how beautifully all the colors shows up on colored card too. The inks stays vibrant and will not change colour .

For second card, I stamped mama elephant stamps on craft card stock with ME pigment inks. 

See, how the light colours pop on kraft CS. This will not be possible using dye inks as it gets absorbed in paper.

Look, how vivid they stamp even on dark grey and black card stock.

I hope this will help you to choose your inks wisely. I will be sharing my experience with other different inks next month in here. So keep watching.

Bye for now...keep crafting!

Supply List :

Stamps :  Avery Elle - Bright Days  , 

                Hero Arts- Twid Pattern 

                Altnew stamp set striped flower

                Some Odd Girl  - Balloon Kaylee

                Altenew - Vintage Roses

                Hero arts- News Print 

                Altenew Henna Elements

                Mama Elephant  - PANDAMONIUM

Neenah Classic Crest Card Stock

Mama Elephant Inks

Memento Black Ink

Clear Embossing Powder

Heidi Swap Stencil

Ranger mini  ink blending tool

Craft Sheet

Sue Wilson die