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Recently I have been buying some of the Memento ink pads. They are OK, but they are not what I would call "fantastic". They tend to look mottled and sometimes washed out. I want more solid, vibrant colors to work with.
Would love to hear about SU, CTMH, Jenni Bowlin, etc. I have some of the old SU pads, but none of the new ones.
I am also thinking maybe I should just go with pigment ink instead of dye ink all together. Thoughts?
Pigment just takes longer to dry. But they are vibrant. I use Tim Holtz distress inks the most. But I don't have any that I'm gaga over. I'll be watching this thread, to see what others have to say.
I have tried almost every ink on the market. My favorite hands down is the Amuse inks. They stamp SO BEAUTIFULLY!!!! They are pigment inks so they do take a bit to dry. But you can zap them quickly with a heat gun. Impress Rubber stamps sell Fresh Ink brand which are almost the same. If I could, I would sell all of my other brand inks and just stick with these inks. They are really fabulous!!
I think it's hard to beat Ranger's Adirondack inks (the original dye ones - I confess I haven't tried the newer pigment equivalents). Great range of colours and I use them with both rubber and clear stamps with no issues. Although Ranger doesn't make this claim for them, I find that if you're quick and use detail powder you can heat emboss with them if you want to.
For a pigment ink I'll always choose Versafine as long as I'm not going to colour with an alcohol-based marker (Copics etc). The most solid coverage I've ever come across and they work beautifully with clear stamps, no beading even on larger solid areas. They're available in the little cube size too so you can have the full range of colours without having to dedicate a lot of storage space or up-front cash!
I have a couple of Jenni Bowling colours but so far have only got round to using them to sponge (good for that) so I can't comment on their stamping qualities.
Have fun choosing and playing when you get new inks!
I'm interested in this thread as well. I have always used pigment inks over dye inks because I love the richer color but after a mass stamping weekend making cards I had to switch over to dye inks because of the drying time with the pigments. I did use my heat gun some, but that's a time drainer when you're on a schedule! I used my distress inks and Memento inks and for the quick drying time I was sold but still miss the saturated color!!
I also love amuse studio inks. Fabulous coverage. You just need a light tap, tap to ink up a stamp. Works well with both photopolymer and rubber stamps. I've sold most of my other inks (SU!, palette, pti, memento...) and use amuse studio now. My favorite black ink is still Versafine Onyx and when using Copics I use Palette Noir.
Amuse Studio inks are sold through consultants (like SU! is sold through demos). Consultants have webstores so you can order online without having a party. You actually don't even need to talk with a consultant but if your order is $150 you'll want to contact the consultant in order to get your "hostess" benefits. There are lots of Amuse Studio consultants here on SCS - look at the signature lines!
I think it's hard to beat Ranger's Adirondack inks (the original dye ones - I confess I haven't tried the newer pigment equivalents). Great range of colours and I use them with both rubber and clear stamps with no issues. Although Ranger doesn't make this claim for them, I find that if you're quick and use detail powder you can heat emboss with them if you want to.
For a pigment ink I'll always choose Versafine as long as I'm not going to colour with an alcohol-based marker (Copics etc). The most solid coverage I've ever come across and they work beautifully with clear stamps, no beading even on larger solid areas. They're available in the little cube size too so you can have the full range of colours without having to dedicate a lot of storage space or up-front cash!
I have a couple of Jenni Bowling colours but so far have only got round to using them to sponge (good for that) so I can't comment on their stamping qualities.
Have fun choosing and playing when you get new inks!
I agree, I love my Adirondack inks! They are vibrant and very easy to work with.
I have a few colored ink pads, but not a lot. I also want a vibrant ink, but hate the drying time of pigment inks. I hate, hate, hate my pigment cats eyes because I've smudged every project I've used them on. Yeah, I'm a klutz!
But the more I hear about A Muse pigment inks, the more I'm dying to give them a try. Anyone have an idea what the shipping cost would be on one pad and one refill?
Never mind. I just saw that it's $6.95 for all orders less than $50.
__________________ Melissa59 ♥
Last edited by melissa59; 02-07-2012 at 10:01 PM..
Reason: found the answer to my question
I hate, hate, hate my pigment cats eyes because I've smudged every project I've used them on. Yeah, I'm a klutz!
Hee hee...that's me too! I have a horrible time keeping from smudging things. Plus, i'm not patient and even if I heat set I can't resist 'checking' it to see if it is dry, so I will rub it a bit and end up smudging it!
This is so interesting! I find that Adirondack inks look mottled but Memento not so much - definitely not the Memento cocoa and black but some colors, yes.
Joanne, maybe I'll have to work with my Adirondack pads a bit more - you have the highest possible level of credibility in my book, so I'll give them another try !
I agree that Versafine is a great pigment ink, too; and Versamagic has a nice chalk-like quality. A little more chalky than A Muse, but work well with both clear and rubber stamps.
Thank you for all of the suggestions! I feel better about giving some of these other pads a try after hearing more about them.
I would like to try the amuse pads, but will have to wait until I have more to order - which shouldn't be too hard. $6.95 shipping on a pad/reinker is just too much.
I will also look for the Adirondak pads. I want to say that I might even have one of the old ones in my stash somewhere. Going to have to go through all of my pads now and see.
Hee hee...that's me too! I have a horrible time keeping from smudging things. Plus, i'm not patient and even if I heat set I can't resist 'checking' it to see if it is dry, so I will rub it a bit and end up smudging it!
Oh my gosh, this is me with crystal lacquer products!!! I have to put it out of sight and resist looking until the next day or it will always have fingerprints !!
I have found that the paper you are stamping on makes a HUGE difference in the result you get regardless of the ink you are using.
I have been thinking this lately too. In fact, I have a huge ream of white cardstock from Michael's that I don't like at all because of this. It just doesn't seem to take the ink well.
Another thing to consider other than paper is the type of stamp (rubber or clear) makes a huge difference on the ink coverage.
When I hear mottled I think of how some inks react when stamping with clear stamps. This is an issue with the stamp and not the ink. If after I condition a clear stamp and the ink still beads-up on the stamp (image is mottled, not solid), I switch to pigment ink for that particular stamp.
This thread had me thinking about how I describe A Muse Studio inks. There are so many words that are seemingly contradictory but accurate. So I probed a little more and got an answer from HQ that makes complete sense:
"Our ink is different from typical hybrids, chalks, and pigments. It shares some similarities with each of those types of ink - it is truly unique!"
I am really loving the Jenni Bowlin inks - the colours are fabulous and stamp really well. I did a review on them when I got the first 12 colours and now have purchased the new three. My favourites are chili powder (a deep red), spiced tin (a gorgeous navy) and speckled egg (a fabulous turquoise). You can
Isn't it interesting how people get different results with the same product? I LOVE my memento inks and plan on buying the new colors when they come out in march. I get very good results with both rubber and photopolymer clear stamps, and generally stamp on Papertrey Ink's stampers select white or Gina K deluxe white. And I'm picky, LOL!
Silicone-based clear stamps only work well with thicker inks (pigment, chalk, etc). Good luck finding a new ink!!!
I'm another who cannot say enough good things about the A Muse inks! I have all of the colors and they are just incredible!! They really are unlike anything else I've used. SO AWESOME!!!!
As for dye inks, I do really like Memento. Dye inks, by nature, are thinner and more transparent than pigments or chalks, but the Memento gives me really good coverage for a dye ink.
The newest version of Papertrey Ink's inks are nice too. They are a dye ink and give me a similar coverage to Memento.
When working with clear stamps that are a solid image rather than a line image, your best bet is something like the A Muse inks to get the most even coverage.
I love my Mementos inks! I also love about every other brand of ink and have some of all of them! There is an ink for every project and for every person, sometimes it is just a matter of personal prefference...
All time best black ink, VersaFine hands down...
__________________ Karen
...My life is like a stroll on the beach...As near to the edge as I can go...Thoreau...
Yes, it is interesting that people all have their own favourites, isn't it? I simply love Colorbox chalk inks but can not get myself to use them on my beloved clear stamps as they stain so heavily. I have tried stamping first in Versamark, using StazOn, Ultra Clean and even Simply Clean cleaners to no avail. So I keep my chalk inks only for rubber and cling stamps which I rarely use these days ...
I do find that the Jenni Bowlin dye inks do a good job of coverage even with clear stamps. My ink reference sheet of JB's inks a few posts above was done with PTI's clear stamp with a solid leaf image.
Bumping this up. It is great to hear so many positive things about the Amuse inks. I'm on the fence now between those or perhaps the Fresh Ink pads from Impress, which I have heard are very similar. Does anyone own both so they can give me a comparison? If you please?
I have invested a ton in inks and I'd really like a line that works . . . the one poster's comment that Amuse works well on rubber as well as clear is very important, because seemingly the inks I own now work on one or the other but not both!
I have some of the Amuse and the Fresh Inks. They are identical, just a different color selection. Between the two companies you can get a fantastic array of colors!
Quote:
Originally Posted by peggysue
Bumping this up. It is great to hear so many positive things about the Amuse inks. I'm on the fence now between those or perhaps the Fresh Ink pads from Impress, which I have heard are very similar. Does anyone own both so they can give me a comparison? If you please?
I have invested a ton in inks and I'd really like a line that works . . . the one poster's comment that Amuse works well on rubber as well as clear is very important, because seemingly the inks I own now work on one or the other but not both!
Isn't it interesting how people get different results with the same product? I LOVE my memento inks and plan on buying the new colors when they come out in march. I get very good results with both rubber and photopolymer clear stamps, and generally stamp on Papertrey Ink's stampers select white or Gina K deluxe white. And I'm picky, LOL!
Silicone-based clear stamps only work well with thicker inks (pigment, chalk, etc). Good luck finding a new ink!!!
Me, too! I can't wait for the new colors. I was surprised to read that people are having those results, but you make a good point about the card stock you use.
This is a bit of an old thread but since there were so many comments on a•muse studio inks I wanted folks to know that this month they are have a 20% off sale on their ink pads. It's a good time to try them out - they come in season color families so it's easy to pick some that will "match" pretty well right off the bat. I know I'll be stocking up!
It's not on the reinkers though or the whole season "package" though...
I had forgotten about this thread but since Stampin' Up! announced their change in ink pads, I've been hearing they provide a more solid and vibrant color than before. I don't get mine until Wednesday so I can't do a direct comparison, but if you have other SU items that you want to color match, you might give the new ink pads a try when they come out on June 1.
Current Ink Opinions
