Let's go Inky!

Hey Friends,

How are you all? Neha here. Today, I am going to talk about 2 topics.

                - Different kinds of inks available at crafters corner

                -when to use which black ink & why (as I believe, If you know why 

                  behind anything...you never have to remember when and which...:) )

Dye-based inks 

                 

                        - Dye-based inks are quick-drying and excellent for basic stamping.

              -  It’s pads are  hard felt pad, which means it’s difficult to over-ink 

                 your stamp, so it gives clean, crisp images 

              - perfect for stamping outlines and ideal for those new to stamping.

              - They are more  transparent and thinner than pigment inks.

              - They get absorbed in paper so gives brightest image on white CS. 

                  They don't give good results with dark CS.  

              - They dry quickly so not recommended for heat embossing.

              - They can be permanent/ waterproof upon drying(ranger archival inks) 

                  or non-permanent i.e activated with water
                  even after drying.(eg. distress inks)

I am listing inks from the store which falls under this category with a brief description.

1.) Archival Ink Pads by Ranger :

        - Archival quality means fade resistant over a period of time. The inks are acid free, non-toxic and permanent on most paper.

         - On glossy surfaces, inks should be heat set to ensure permanency.

                                - waterproof makes it great for using with watercolors and/or water based markers, acrylic paints.

- Stamp cleaner is required to clean your stamps.

2.) Chalk Inks :

Chalk ink Edger by Prima               &                       ColorBox fluid Chalk inks  

                -  These inks are special kind they are dye inks with chalky pigments.

   - they provide opaque, matt, chalky, lustrous  ink coverage.

   - can be used to stamp even on darker colored card stock

   - These inks share the resilience of pigment ink

      but stamp and blend like dye ink

   - dry quickly on absorbent surfaces but if you work quickly

      you can heat emboss with them

                -  permanent when heat set, they resist smearing, 

                   bleeding or fading even when air dried. 

                - great for stamping and edging and direct to surface techniques.

                -  Works as water colors too.   

3) Distress Inks : 

            - These are water based dye ink.

             -You can use them to create an aged look on papers, fibers, photos 

           -Developed to produce a realistic weathered look

           -It has some chemical agent which delays drying time

            and makes it more blend able

           - Use it with blending foam to create beautiful back grounds.

           - excellent to use it with paint brush as water colors

              to color stamped images.

4) Memento Dye Inks : 

                 -  Tsukineko's Memento inkpads feature extraordinary fade-resistant

                    dye inks that have made them a staple for new 

                    and  experienced paper crafters.

                 - These inkpads capture fine details and offer even coverage.

                   Memento is fast drying on most papers.

                - Also, Memento inks are compatible with Copic Markers.

                - They comes in this due drop size and full size pads too.

                - If you are new to stamping and paper crafting, go for these

                  pocket friendly inks. They last for a long time and comes in 

                  many vibrant colors. They Also comes in full size pads.

5) Hero Arts Shadow, Mid tone Inks, Ombre inks 

           

Shadow  inks are specially formulated to blend into paper surfaces

 leaving a soft translucent image

 while  Mid-Tone Inks gives rich vibrant image.

The Shadow Ink line is made up of pastel tones and Mid-tones

 are rich vibrant colors.

     Ombre three of the Hero Arts midtone formula dye inks in one beautiful

 ombre  pad to give color gradation while stamping.

6) Ranger Dye Inks:

- These water based dye inks are both fade resistant and waterproof when dry.

-  Acid free. Non-toxic. Gives even coverage.

This is the card I created previously with various dye inks

Pigment inks:

-Pigment based inks are also water based but, unlike dye inks, they contain little

 particles of color. Because of this, they leave an impression that is more 

 vibrant and more resistant to water (once dry) than their dye based counterparts.

- They are fade resistant.

-They also stay wetter longer so they are suitable for embossing.

-Their pads are made of soft foam so be careful while inking stamp to prevent over-inking.

-On the negative side, they can't be used on gloss stock - they smear.

-A stamp inked with pigment ink can usually be cleaned with a wet paper towel but the darker colors 
may require the use of a stamp cleaning solution. 

Products in this category are

Mama Elephant Inks:                                                Ranger Pigment Inks

check my previous post with these inks HERE 

 

Clearsnap Colorbox Inks                                                            Memento Luxe Pigment inks.

Versafine Inks

Versafine is Tsukineko's unique pigment ink with an extraordinary ability to

 crisply capture finely detailed images.

         It requires separate mention as they are natural oil-based pigment

 ink that dries quickly on matte cardstock delivering great stamping results for fine detail. 

Their pads are hard and made of felt unlike other pigment ink's soft, foam pads.

The ink works with watercolor and markers.

                The inkpad is designed to last 3-5 times longer than regular inks.

In my opinion this is the finest stamping ink.

Solvent-based inks

-StazOn is a popular brand of solvent-based ink, as it has a mild smell and is 

available in many colours.

-Solvent-based inks are quick-drying, archival, acid-free, permanent inks.

-They are designed to use with non-porous and semi-porous surfaces like  acetate, glass, plastic, cellophane, aluminum foil, leather, shrink plastic and even metal.

 - You need stamp special stazOn cleaner to clean your stamps.

 Many reviews says they damage clear stamps.

- As it is  solvent based, ink pads dry out faster and needs re inking frequently. 

Alcohol inks

-These are special dye-based inks designed to give a pretty, polished-stone effect.

-They are quick-drying and permanent, and can be used on lots of surfaces including glossy paper, acetate, shrink plastic, foil and metal.

- Use this transparent alcohol ink to create colorful and dazzling effects on these slick surfaces.

-This acid-free, fade-resistant and fast-drying ink comes in an easy-to-use precision tip bottle for easy application.

You have to use special ink blending tool with felt applicator and blending solution

 to get desired effects. 

-Check the pendants I created last year from washers HERE.

A acrylic  tag for Keys,  stamped with stazon. 

Acrylic tag, coloured from back with blue alcohol ink. Front stamped with Stazon  and printed paper glued on the back.

Acrylic tag painted with  alcohol inks, golden mixative. Silver heart charm was colored with gold mixative.

 Now I will come to the second topic.

-when to use which black ink & why 

-As we saw,  there are two variation of inks 

permanent/waterproof and non-permanent.

-Permanent inks have alcohol in their ingredients which makes them water proof.

-While non-permanent inks has water as their ingredients

 and so they are not water-proof.

-Now, as we know that water and alcohol do not react  with each other.

- If you use a dye ink with a water-based marker, your image would run when you color. This is because dye inks are water-based, and water-based products  will react with each other 

-And same way if you stamp an image with an alcohol-based ink and then color it with an alcohol-based marker, the image will smear. This again is because the two products  have ingredients that will react with each other.

- So use opposite inks and medium e.g for water coloring use Versamark or Archival and for copic or any other alcohol markers - use Memento.

Following are few swatches I made using Memento, Versafine, Archival & StazOn for stamping flowers and  different mediums to colour them. 

For the above swatch, I have used Distress ink for water colouring so you can see memento bleeds if you use with water base medium. Check the crisp  stamped image with versafine & it works with water based medium too.

Above, I have used water color marker... all three except memento works. But detailed stamping with Versafine is incomparable.

For the last one I have used Copic to colour. Memento works best. Archivsl and stazon doesn't as they have same ingredient - alcohol as copic.

You can use Stazon with water color but I wouldn't recommend it as they spoil your clear stamp and leaves black residue even after cleaning. It is ment to use on nonporous surface so let's stick to it...:) .

See how Stazon will mess up with your stamp. The stamp is permanently stained. As you can see on the paper, I tried to clean it with cleaner ( it is regular cleaner not specially for stazon) and stamp off ink but that thing wouldn't budge.  So be careful  while using so specific products.

So if you have memento and versafine you are good to go as far as paper is concerned . No need for stamp cleaners too. 

 There are lots of products available so figure out why exactly you want it. 

READ PRODUCT DESCRIPTION.

Invest in versatile products.

Never buy a thing just because someone is recommending or using. 

Read reviews and make a conscious choice.

And most importantly, enjoy whatever you do!  

Supply used from store:'

StazOn Black Ink