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My SU Demo sent me a few scraps of WW cardstock so I could test it out and see if I liked it. Well...so far, I am in tears!! I am making a birthday card and using VersaMark black ink and stamping onto the white. First time: Smudge. Second time: Smudge. Third time, I let it dry for 15 minutes, went to stick it onto the card back...SMUDGE!!! And on top of that, a finger print on the card front! :mad: What am I doing wrong? I have watched tons of videos and the demos stamp right on the paper and start coloring and cutting right away with no smudges! Is it the ink? Am I stamping on the wrong side of the paper? Can someone please help me? I hate to start over again but that little fingerprint is making me a little crazy. I can't cover it with anything either. Any suggestions? Please? Thanks
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
When stamping your image,make sure that you don't rock to back & forth to prevent smudges. Lift the stamp straight up to avoid smearing. Then take your cardstock and and dry it with your heat gun. It sounds like you ink is taking awhile to dry.Hope that helps/.
Thanks Barb, I am a teensy bit intimidated by me heat gun but I will give it a try. I was able to fix the finger print by stamping a little flower on the paper; the card is sitting out of reach to dry completely over night. I will keep practicing!!
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
Versamark is like a pigment ink which takes a long time to dry because you usually emboss with Versamark. You would have to heat set the Versamark. If you don't want smearing then you need to use a dye ink like Memento Tuxedo Black or Stampin UP Basic Black Classic ink. Those inks will not smear. The dye sets right on into the cardstock. Just look for a dye ink and not a pigment ink.
Thanks PMR. I don't have any other black ink pad but I guess I better put it on my shopping list!!! It's funny, every time I use this ink pad, I think "Gosh, this one is just different somehow than the others" and I just figured it was the difference in brands or something. Now I know I guess I will hold off on using what's left of the WW until I can use a different ink to test it out. Thanks for the info!!
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
Does VersaMark come in black? I thought it was just colourless - and maybe one very pale colour.
I use Versafine, and rarely have smudging issues though I do often notice the imprint of an image on my Wizard plates!
It does sound like the wrong ink, to me - a dye ink should solve your problems.
Does VersaMark come in black? I thought it was just colourless - and maybe one very pale colour.
I use Versafine, and rarely have smudging issues though I do often notice the imprint of an image on my Wizard plates!
It does sound like the wrong ink, to me - a dye ink should solve your problems.
I too was thinking the OP means VersaFine, as opposed to VersaMark. The names are so similar, I can understand how they could easily be confused.
Back to the point - I agree with the previous suggestions to try a dye ink such as Memento Tuxedo Black. Ancient Page Coal Black is another good one.
Most of the SU demos I know use one or two kinds of black ink...either Basic Black (not my fav) or Black Staz-on. Staz-on is a permanent fast drying black ink that is safe for water coloring or just about any other medium you care to use.
You will need to use a dye based ink with the whisper white cardstock like SU classic ink. I know your frustration because I tried using the same cardstock when I first started stamping. It was a nightmare.
WW is my primary white cardstock and I started with SU Basic Black and Black StazOn inks. Both worked great. I think that buying a different ink pad will probably solve your problem with smudges, although I have goofed up more than one card by accidently getting my finger in the ink and then on the card. So frustrating!
My go-to black ink pad is now Memento Jet Black because I do a lot of Copic coloring these days. I still use the other 2, but not as much as I used to.
Good luck, it will all be fine!
__________________ Melanie "Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry."
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Woops! It IS VersaFine! Sorry about that! I'm glad y'all knew what I was talking about!! I thank you for all of your answers--like I said before, I knew there was something about this ink pad that was different from my others!
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
Most of the SU demos I know use one or two kinds of black ink...either Basic Black (not my fav) or Black Staz-on. Staz-on is a permanent fast drying black ink that is safe for water coloring or just about any other medium you care to use.
But not with Copics or other alcohol-based markers, because they react with each other and the alcohol will smudge the ink.
As it's Versafine, definitely just try heat-setting it. Or - if you're organised - stamping a couple of hours before you do anything else!
I hope you get the ink figured out (but I think what people are saying about using a different ink is the answer). Once you do that I think you will LOVE the cardstock. I always get frustrated when I use another kind - the images just aren't as clear on cardstock that isn't SU WW or Very Vanilla (IMO).
Stamping on Whisper White cardstock
