An Ink Comparison

A few years back, when I transitioned from red rubber stamps to clear photopolymer stamps, I noticed that I was becoming increasingly frustrated with my inks. They just were not performing as well as I liked.

Then SU introduced their new firm foam ink formulation, and I thought that solved the problem. Initially, I loved the coverage. But then I quickly noticed that what you gained in coverage, you lost in crispness.

Last month, after much reviewing online, I decided to purchase a boatload of new Hero Arts ink pads. I opened five, used them for a weekend, and decided that these were really not the solution to my problem, either. I wanted to love them. I love the range of colors that Hero Arts inks provides (probably why I am not a fan of the Ranger Distress inks...the colors are just too muddy for me, and I'm not a fan of the dark moody palette). But again, I found the coverage was good, but the crispness was spotty. Another thing that reviewers of Hero Arts Shadow Inks will not tell you...they stain your photopolymer stamps pretty heavily.  I returned all of the unopened ink pads and was back to square one.

I really really wanted to try the ink pads from Papertrey ink. After all, the company sells photopolymer stamps, so maybe they know something that the rest of the crafty world doesn't, right?

PTI had their anniversary sale this month, and I decided it was time to purchase the ink pads. Only this time, I bought the mini cube ink pads. It was a small investment to make, and at $1.86 for each ink pad, it was worth it! (These regularly sell for $2 each, and I still need about four or five colors that were out of stock at the time to complete my collection.)

A new rainbow of colors to play with...what could be more fun?

I got to work sampling a few and comparing them with my old ink pads, and here is what I found:

I like them! I really really like them! You do have to work at it a bit to ensure full ink coverage, but when you do, you end up with very good results. Full ink coverage AND crispness to boot!

I think these may work for me for several reasons:

*The cubes are so easy to store! I have them in the pullout drawer of my work area, easily accessible.

*PTI sells refill ink as well, which will be important, especially for the little cubes.

*The inks match the excellent card stock from Papertrey Ink that I have come to love.

*The color palette is so fresh and pretty!

Here is a wonderful tip that I learned this month from the PTI web forum boards. Before inking up you clear photopolymer stamp, rub your thumb over it. The natural oils on your thumb will coat the stamp, and make the ink adhere much better. I found this tip worked like a charm!

Now the question remains: will I keep my old ink pads or sell them off in time? Hmm. I suppose that if they collect dust, then I will know that they have outlived their usefulness. I am planning my annual spring garage sale for April or May (weather permitting), and we shall see what makes it into the "sell" pile!

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!

A Little Room For Improvement

Good Monday Morning, cafe friends!

Today I thought I'd share with you a card that I made at my local stamp shop last week. Well, technically, I made it at the shop, but brought it home and improved upon it just a bit. Here it is:

Super cute, right?

Hero Arts makes a background stamp that gives the look and effect of chalkboard. Brilliant! All you have to do is ink it up with some white pigment ink, stamp it on dark paper, and voila! Chalkboard without the mess!

When I brought the card home, it looked a little plain. The only things on the chalkboard were the stamped leaves and sentiment and the paper heart. I don't know. It looked lonely to me. So to make it not so lonely, I cut out the corners in red using a die from wplus9 stamps (this is actually meant to be the roof of a teeny bird house from Folk Art Florals dies, but I thought the little scallops would make a cut corner detail). Okay, better! Then, I added the straight lines connecting the corners with my SU chalkboard marker. Ahh! Perfect! Everyone was happy, no one was lonely, one big happy family!

Thanks for visiting the cafe today! By the way, don't go to the post office today. Or the mail box. Or the bank. It's President's Day. Just stay indoors and hibernate where it's warm. Grab a latte, read a book, look at a spring flower catalog and think warm thoughts.

You're welcome. :)

Playing With Distress Stains

Had some fun playing with Distress Stains this week. I used them to give a wash of color in this watercolor effect.

{Today's Brew: Hero Arts flower stamp, PTI sentiment, PTI card stock, Distress Stains, twinkle, Liquid Pearls}

On a day when all is white, it's nice to have a little rainbow of color. I used the Liquid Pearls to dot the flower, then put a twinkle (colored black with a Sharpie) in the flower center.

Thanks for looking today!

Cool Friend

Cold, cold, cold! It certainly feels like January outside this week! We've warmed up a bit here. Yesterday it was -6 when we woke up, but this morning it is 10 degrees. Heat wave!

I decided to use a really old stamp set from Hero Arts. The box says 2000. Back in those days, my husband worked in the formal wear industry, and I thought the penguins were appropriate. I've gotten rid of a LOT of old stamp sets over the years, but this little guy always makes the cut.

What can I say? He's cool!

{Today's Brew: Hero Arts stamp set, sentiment from Lawn Fawn, papers and snowflakes (Lawn Fawn), PTI card stock, amuse star twinkles}

Stay warm, cafe friends!

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!

Finding Community

Community. It is a bittersweet word for me. It has the same impact on me that I suppose the word "baby" has for an infertile couple. When I hear the word "community", I feel an insatiable longing for something just out of reach.

I read the book "Bread and Wine" by Shauna Niequist last week, and I found myself once again feeling like I was on the outside looking in on what real fellowship and community looks like.

When you have community, you have a feeling of belonging and purpose in your life.

And when you do not have community, you know it. It is a big void, like a black hole that threatens to suck you in on a daily basis.

I am trying to find my place in a new town, and let me tell you, it's never easy if it can be difficult instead. For example, I signed up for a stamp camp with my new SU demonstrator, printed off directions to her house, and spent an hour getting lost instead.

No problem! I called the demo, and she fit me into her evening class. I printed off better directions and set out. Of course, the skies turned black, the rains poured down, the winds took down limbs and trees, but I persevered! I made it! And it was good to spend an evening with women, even if I didn't know a soul.

I never had a crafty friend when I lived in Indiana. I'm hoping to change that here in Pittsburgh.

We made this card at the camp, using one of the new SU In Colors with watercolor paper and blender pens.

Then I came home and dug out my old blender pens to make this card. A little more clean and simple.
I used a Hero Arts stamp for the flowers, paired it with a sentiment from Papertrey Ink (Simply Jane), and spritzed with Glimmer Mist (coffee).

Tell me, where do you feel a sense of community?

Lazy Day

It's a lazy day.

A lazy day is a day when you can say "The shopping will get done another day."

Sure, the Christmas cards have not been mailed yet.  There are still a few presents to cross off the list. And did I mention...we still don't have a Christmas tree?

But those things will not get done today.

Today, I will take a morning nap. I will make a cup of tea, take it to the lower level, and make something.

Because Christmas will come. It always does.

{Today's Brew: Hero Arts stamps and dies, PTI stamps and die, wild wasabi card stock and ink, groovy guava card stock and ink, real rose ink, versafine onyx ink, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline papers}

Have A Great Day

You know it's going to be a great day when an unexpected visitor stops by to say hello. Yes, a parakeet. Yes, in central Indiana at my bird feeder. Well, that has to be a sign of something great, right?

It seemed like a great day to make a card with a stamp set I received last Christmas and haven't used yet. I have to be careful. It's too easy to fall into the trap of accumulating and not using.

{Today's Brew: Hero Arts stamps and dies, PTI card stock, papers from Crate Paper Pretty Party, doily, yellow baker's twine}

It also seemed like a great day to make a card that wouldn't be too bulky to put in an envelope and mail off. Because sometimes, simple is better.

I'll save the fancy and exotic for my feathered friend.

Have a great day!