Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A Tale of Two Ink Pads

I have been on the hunt for "the perfect ink pad" for quite some time now.  I want something that stamps with precision every time, no matter the make of stamp or the paper. Basically, I want what I have found with my Versafine Onyx ink, except in a big palette of colors. Yeah, it's a tall order.

I have been reading some good reviews on the Hero Arts shadow inks, and thought I'd give them a try.

I decided to compare the Hero Arts inks to the new formulation of Stampin' Up inks, using a big solid image stamp and similar colors for comparison.


The only inks from SU that I own in the new formula are the current In Colors.



Hmm, don't know why these insist on loading upside down this morning. I have a headache, so bear with me!

As you can see, there are a few spots on the flowers that stamped blotchy. I am using photopolymer stamps here, and I think SU is probably formulated to work best with rubber. I am not certain if I prefer the old SU inks or the new SU inks. The new inks provide a little better coverage, but you do get a little more feathering. You seem to lose some of the crispness.


Now for the Hero Arts ink pads.


What? Aagain with the upside downyness! My head hurts!

Hero Arts has soft shadow inks and midtone shadow inks in a wide variety of colors. They are so fresh and pretty. I think I prefer them to the color palette of Distress Inks, which just seem a little muddier.


So, if you hang like a bat upside down...heh heh...you can see that the new Hero Arts gave pretty full coverage. It stamps in a way that reminds me of chalk ink somehow.


In the end, I could not decide which one I liked better. So I called in an expert.

"Sam, which inks do you think did a better job?"

"I like this one better," said ten-year old Sam.

So there you have it. Sam prefers the Hero Arts inks.

I think I'll need to play with them a little longer before I am fully convinced.

Tell me, do you have a favorite ink?

I have tried Distress Inks, and like I said, I think it's the color palette that turns me off. They just seem dusty or muddy, probably best for a vintage type of project. Maybe they work best with techniques, and I'm just not a technique kinda gal. I do love Distress Stains, but I rarely if ever reach for my Distress Inks or markers.

I really want to pair down and choose just one style to woirk with, so it looks like I'll be culling the collection soon. Stay tuned!
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8 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 21, 2014 at 7:18 AM

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  2. :: BlueInks ::January 21, 2014 at 5:08 PM

    Oh, I hope that your headache is better. I can probably turn my head to see the pictures better than you, so no worries.

    Ink. What a subject! I had the entire SU ink pad sets when I first started stamping. Like the old school little pads. I still have them all, albeit some are dry and rendered unusable.

    I mostly have rubber stamps. I ventured out into the photopolymer stamps and had a real challenge with ink. The SU ink for me, was out. It does not work well with clear stamps in my opinion. Given, my pads are old and the ink may be redesigned.

    I was then suggested to try Memento ink. It is pigment dye and can be used with any coloring medium as well. I found Memento to work the best and leave the most crisp lines. I believe it has to do with the dye ink.

    There are many colors of Memento to choose from. I like the fact that they have the Dew Drops (small little pad), so you can have color choices and they are inexpensive. At times you can get them at Joann's online for like $1.50 each and free shipping. For black I use the large pad and ordered a re-inker.

    Good luck!!!!

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    1. maryroseJanuary 22, 2014 at 7:51 AM

      Thanks for the recommendation! I probably should have chosen small ink cubes for the Hero Arts inks rather than full sized pads.

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  3. jwJanuary 22, 2014 at 8:41 AM

    I have some of the Memento dew drops as well as a few of the Hero Arts shadow inks. I prefer the Memento over the Hero Arts, as it seems to leave less feathering, but having said that, neither do as good of a job for over-all coverage and crisp edges as the PTI dye inks do with the photopolymer stamps. After using the PTI ink for some time, I am almost always disappointed when I use a different ink (which I have to do occasionally when I need a color that PTI does not have). Hope this helps!

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    Replies
    1. maryroseJanuary 23, 2014 at 5:07 AM

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    2. maryroseJanuary 23, 2014 at 5:45 AM

      Aack! JW, I was worried about this! I've been meaning to order PTI inks for a long time now, but somehow, they never end up in my shopping cart. I think I'm going to have to give them a try. I'm going to try to return the unopened HA ink pads that I bought last week. I like them, but I don't love them, and they really cost too much to justify the expense.

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    3. jwJanuary 23, 2014 at 1:45 PM

      Buy the PTI small cubes - they are the perfect size and price for "trying out." You may just find that you like working with the smaller size anyway. I use them more than the full size pads, as I find that the "tear-drop" shape of the larger pads is hard for me to hold onto. (Just personal preference, though).

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  4. AmberMarch 22, 2014 at 11:02 PM

    I love the cards. Could you email me with the name of the cute stamp set you used?
    Amberashaw@gmail.com

    Thanks for the blog post!

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