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.
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
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.
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 ?
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 :
Altnew stamp set striped flower
Some Odd Girl - Balloon Kaylee
Altenew - Vintage Roses
Mama Elephant - PANDAMONIUM
