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Is there such a thing as a really good white ink pad? I need something that would work with small designs on dark card stock. I’ve been making do with white embossing powder on Versamark, but that loses the details. My preference would be dye ink, but pigment that would dry without being embossed would work. Thanks!
I have several white ink pads, as I was trying to find the best white. The one I use most often is Gina K Designs white pigment ink and I made sure and purchased the re-inker when I bought the ink pad. I also have Ranger Glacier White pigment ink pad and a re-inker. I think Gina K's is a bit brighter. I liked the Color Box Frost White, but since Color Box went out of business, I never got a large ink pad. I have a very small ink pad, but love the bright white. Any pigment ink will dry without being embossed, but you just have to let it sit for a long time without touching it. I tend to use detail white powder over the white pigment ink and heat set, as I am impatient. Good luck with your choice!
Thank you both! I am going to see if I can find the Unicorn locally, as I know I would have to order the Gina K - and I am impatient. I guess I will have to learn to just use the pigment ink and not do anything with it immediately. Today I spent way too much time stamping my personal logo on the back of Halloween cards. Embossing Buddy, Versamark, white embossing powder, heat, Swiffer sheet and eraser to remove the Embossing Buddy. Whew! I could have made another card in the time it took me to do the backs of nine cards! If the white ink works, and I let it dry without messing it up, I could save so much time.:-D
I bought the Stampin’Up whisper white craft pad in 2005 and am still using it. The pads and refills are currently available. I would hope these are still foam pads but do not know that for sure. It is the only white I have ever used.
__________________ Do or do not - there is no try! (Yoda) / SCS Featured Stamper FS730 / Dirty Dozen Alumni
I also went on a white stamp pad search and got stampin up's and it was an exercise in frustration. You have to try and ink it yourself and mine still only has a spot of ink in the middle because I finally gave up; even after adding ink over several days. My favorite is white stamp pad is Paperteyink's, fresh snow. It says it's hybrid ink and it dries very quickly and does a great job.
Another vote here for Gina K's white pigment ink. It is a beautiful, white ink that looks amazing on dark cardstock. It is wonderful for using as embossing ink, just use a light hand when stamping or use a stamp platform to ensure you get the coverage of the stamp you are using. Again, a light hand for delicate stamps is best. What is also great about Gina K's is that it comes in full size pad, ink cube and a re-inker. I highly recommend Gina!! Also, don't forget you can dry pigment ink quickly with a heat gun and it doesn't change the colour or dull it. Hth's !!
Update: I bought a Hero Arts Unicorn, and it does stamp a nice white, but like all pigment inks it is wetter, and thus thicker, than dye inks. I think it will do the job of stamping my logo stamp, but I really would love to find white dye ink. My guess is that there is something about white that doesn’t work, or else every company would make one. Kind of like yellow glitter pens…another fruitless search.
After trying many brands, I like Unicorn white from Hero Arts. I just posted a card where I used it. It is "wet" so i always stamp off a bit if stamp has lot of detail
I’m attaching a photo of my back- of-card logo stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and in Hero Arts Unicorn. I color in the open spaces in my initials to coordinate with the card front. As you can see, with the pigment ink, there just isn’t as much room. Thank you all for the suggestions.
My guess is that there is something about white that doesn’t work, or else every company would make one.
I have seen things described as white dye ink but I confess I find the idea completely weird — if someone with technical knowledge could explain it to me, I’d appreciate it!
To me the issue is about how things work — a dye stains something, it’s inherently transparent. A pigment sits on top of the surface and covers what is underneath it. So you can cover a darker colour with a lighter one using a pigment but if you add a lighter dye to a darker colour it’s going to have no effect. Imagine trying to dye a black t-shirt and make it yellow. It’s not going to happen, you need to start with a white shirt (to get something close to what’s on the package of the dye) or at least something that’s lighter than the yellow (and expect that the base colour will effect the finished article — the dye is transparent so the original colour will show through).
Okay, that makes sense. Thank you! I’m still not happy about the thickness of the pigment ink, but at least your explanation of why white dye doesn’t exist answers my question.
I have long wanted a truly white ink, be it dye or pigment. CTMH (when it was DOTS) used to make a white dye ink that I loved. It actually worked on dark cardstock. The reinker, however, is more like a pigment reinker---thick like a paint. On top of that, a really white embossing powder would be a treasure. Most look dirty next to a nice white cardstock. The best I have found is "Wow" which comes the closest to white that I have found---and believe me I have many, many jars of disappointing white embossing powder I'm trying to use up when it doesn't matter much. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will give them a try.
Since you say you would like something less wet, I'm wondering if the Picket Fence from Ranger would work. It's in the TH distress range. I don't think I've ever tried stamping on black with it, and it would definitely take multiple stamping to get anything approaching the same whiteness as Unicorn. But it's definitely not as thick and we as pigment whites and is faster drying. I'll try to experiment later today or tomorrow. I feel sure I've seen a comparison on here before, maybe from someone like Shaz/silverwolf, but since it's very hard to do a forum search on mobile phone, I'll just link to her blog: https://silverwolfcards-shaz.blogspo...ng-search
But it does pretty much require reinking every time you use it, and I would personally prefer to use almost anything else.
Yes, I did point that out earlier. I was just letting @jeanne3579 know that it doesn't have the same chemical smell as the original StazOn does, since that's what she was concerned about.
I have long wanted a truly white ink, be it dye or pigment. CTMH (when it was DOTS) used to make a white dye ink that I loved. It actually worked on dark cardstock. The reinker, however, is more like a pigment reinker---thick like a paint. On top of that, a really white embossing powder would be a treasure. Most look dirty next to a nice white cardstock. The best I have found is "Wow" which comes the closest to white that I have found---and believe me I have many, many jars of disappointing white embossing powder I'm trying to use up when it doesn't matter much. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will give them a try.
I just tried a couple of my white embossing powders. I stamped with Versamark and then embossed with both Ranger white and a very old Joann CraftEssentials. I was stamping on solar white cardstock, and both were quite white, but the JoAnn one was almost invisible it was so white. I don’t know if they still make it, but I think you might like it.
I just tried a couple of my white embossing powders. I stamped with Versamark and then embossed with both Ranger white and a very old Joann CraftEssentials. I was stamping on solar white cardstock, and both were quite white, but the JoAnn one was almost invisible it was so white. I don’t know if they still make it, but I think you might like it.
JoAnn used to make a white ink pad that was my favorite. Sadly, they don't make it anymore.