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It seems I have finally beaten my versafine ink pad into the ground. All the refill ink is gone too.
(and wtheck did the refill go to 9 bucks? It is 13 at walmart!) A lot of places have the pad but not the refill...oy.
Now that versafine clair has been around for a while I want to ask opinions.
Do I replace the original versafine or just run with the clair? I had one but it has decided to play hide and seek with me and I cant remember how I felt about the stamping other than it was fine....
Have people allowed their old versafine to go by the wayside as it died to just run with clair or are you keeping up with both?
Thoughts please?
__________________ Margot
I am a proud fan club member
It seems I have finally beaten my versafine ink pad into the ground. All the refill ink is gone too.
(and wtheck did the refill go to 9 bucks? It is 13 at walmart!) A lot of places have the pad but not the refill...oy.
Now that versafine clair has been around for a while I want to ask opinions.
Do I replace the original versafine or just run with the clair? I had one but it has decided to play hide and seek with me and I cant remember how I felt about the stamping other than it was fine....
Have people allowed their old versafine to go by the wayside as it died to just run with clair or are you keeping up with both?
Thoughts please?
Good question, Margot. I'm looking forward to reading the answers. I just bought a new StazOn ink pad because it was so difficult to find refills. Also, the pad was so old that it just couldn't absorb any more ink. I'd had it for almost 18 years! It was time. I did have to shop around, because the prices were ridiculous.
No first-hand experience here but I did come across a video talking about both products. According to Nicole Watt, there is no stamping difference only a color and container difference. Here is the link:
you can use Vaseline to refill your pad. I’ve tried it works great. Use an old credit card to get it into the pad once you’ve put a dimes worth on the pad.
you can use Vaseline to refill your pad. I’ve tried it works great. Use an old credit card to get it into the pad once you’ve put a dimes worth on the pad.
Thst sounds more like Versamark then Versafine? I would have thought glycerine was a more normal DIY refill for that, though.
Margot, I'm impressed your Versafine has lasted that long! I totally laughed at the terry towelling, mine get to that point within three years. I always break the lid hinges and in the end it gets to the point where I just get a new pad.
I have both Versafine Black and Versafine Clair Nocturne, and while I felt I was in a minority here when the Clairs first came out, I do not think it is as intense a black as the Versafine, just as I have never thought Memento Tuxedo Black was a strong black. Maybe I just got a slightly dry pad, though that shouldn't have been the case as I bought early and it wouldn't have been sitting on shelves anywhere for that long.
Personally I would buy another Versafine.
People have also said that the Clairs are instantly smudge-free but stay wet long enough to emboss. I think the smudge-free is probably true but I've had it smudge on more heavily coated white card, just as I have had Versafine do.
Word of caution. Petroleum products will break down rubber. I wouldn't use Vaseline to re-ink a VersaMark (not VersaFine) pad. The refills aren't expensive. Glycerin is another alternative if you can't find or don't want to buy a refill.
Thanks for the vid Melissa! I thought it was very informative and easy to understand! So Clair is the next generation of Versafine. The blacks are slightly different with versafine being in the brown zone and claire in the blue. Like the blogger I doubt I would notice myself simply stamping.
Hi Sabrina-LOL I purposely broke the lid on my versafine too. It gets ink on the edges so flipping it upside down just whatever you put it on inky.
I assume I cause the terry towel effect because as it is dying I will rub the stamp instead of patting it so I am chafing the pad surface...
Interesting note: While waiting to hear here, I punted and am using my mememto tuxedo black for my indexing project and I am impressed with how it is doing detail work nicely. I have a bunch of black inks...lord only knows why except I saw them on blogs....I guess some are waterproof and some are hybrids you can use either way...
In the light of day I just now found my clair nocturne 2 mins ago. But I dont seem to have a refill for it. Odd.
I am not sophisticated enough to tell though...I am sure I will think the claire is fine too. But for people who have been using them both over time? Sabrina you stamp constantly and I am hearing your vote on the versafine...
Omgoodness! I thought Jigglypuff was one of the cutest of the characters on Pokemon! My most cute one was Togepi (pronounced toe-ge-pee). Yes I know.
__________________ Margot
I am a proud fan club member
I have no experience with Versafine, but I will say that I was using Momento Tuxedo Black and had to constantly re-stamp an image, even after refilling the pad. With my first stamp with Clair, I think I actually squealed in delight that it stamped so completely. I will never go back to Tuxedo, wasting my refill.
I have no experience with Versafine, but I will say that I was using Momento Tuxedo Black and had to constantly re-stamp an image, even after refilling the pad. With my first stamp with Clair, I think I actually squealed in delight that it stamped so completely. I will never go back to Tuxedo, wasting my refill.
When I was regularly stamping, I found myself always adding ink to my Memento pad and sometimes I still didn't get a good image. It sometimes looks more gray than black in spots.
I'm picking up the stamping habit again and have been thinking about swapping out inks since all of my pads are at least 10 years old. Does anyone know if you can safely use Copic markers with Versafine Clair? I do remember reading that it dries waterproof and was safe to use with waterbase markers -- which makes me wonder if that will be a problem for alcohol.
What I really want is one really dark black, crisp ink that is Copic safe. Suggestions?
When I was regularly stamping, I found myself always adding ink to my Memento pad and sometimes I still didn't get a good image. It sometimes looks more gray than black in spots.
I'm picking up the stamping habit again and have been thinking about swapping out inks since all of my pads are at least 10 years old. Does anyone know if you can safely use Copic markers with Versafine Clair? I do remember reading that it dries waterproof and was safe to use with waterbase markers -- which makes me wonder if that will be a problem for alcohol.
What I really want is one really dark black, crisp ink that is Copic safe. Suggestions?
I 'm not 100% sure but I think Gina K. Designs amalgam ink will check your boxes. Great customer service and pretty stamps too.
I 'm not 100% sure but I think Gina K. Designs amalgam ink will check your boxes. Great customer service and pretty stamps too.
I have been looking at Gina K, especially since I can buy the tiny ink pads with matching cardstock. But I'm in no hurry for cardstock. I have too much as it is.
I have been using the same Versafine black ink pad for a dozen years or more. It is still the best black ink pad I have owned, and I have tried several, including SU, Momento (my second go-to black ink), TE Oreo, Rubber Stampede, Staz-On, India Ink, GinaK Amalgam Black, and probably others I have since forgotten about. I have not yet tried the new Clair inks. The Versafine gives a dark, crisp image the first time, every time. So far, I have had success using it with water based markers, alcohol markers, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, chalks, crayons, any coloring medium I have tried. I might purchase a second Versafine pad this summer while it is still on the market. It would be a difficult ink pad to replace if ever it was no longer available.
I switched from the momento to my Lawn Fawn. Cant say I am impressed at all. Needed constant re-inking. When this is gone, it ain't coming back. I have entirely too many black pads....esp now that there are the hybrids that do it all.
Pink Fresh has a black hydrid that does both water and copic. Ye old Archival does both water and copics and perfert pearls.
SSS and the LF I am using are both good for copics.
__________________ Margot
I am a proud fan club member
I believe I am remembering correctly that the reason I have Memento in black, gray and brown shades is because these inks work best with Copics or other alcohol markers. The black is definitely not a dark, crisp black like Versafine or Versafine Clair.
When I was learning about inks, I was taught that Versafine works best for water coloring, and that's what I always use. I thought Versafine and Versafine Clair were not the best choice for Copics.
SO, I use the Memento Tuxedo Black for Copics and Versafine for water based markers and water color paints, crayons, pencils, etc.
The video Melissa shared was helpful, as I was confused as to whether the Versafine and Clair were interchangeable; good to know that they are. I absolutely love the Clair inks and the style of the pads.
__________________ Claudia Splitcoast Fan Club Member
Versafine and Versafine Clair are pigment inks which makes them the ideal choice when using watercolors or dye ink markers or dye inks as watercolor medium. Pigment ink is stable when waterbased products are applied to it. It is also the ideal ink for doing heat embossing because it stays wet longer and embossing powder sticks to it.
I have been a fan/user of Versafine inks since they were first introduced. Versafine Black Onyx ink was my preferred black pigment ink until Versafine Clair Nocturne was created. I love the VC Nocturne because it seems to be a deeper black color than the regular Versafine Onyx. It is equally good when heat embossing and watercoloring.
My fav black ink when using Copics (or when you might also do WC), is Gina K Amalgam - Obsidian black. This is a good basic black ink when you want the freedom to use both waterbased products (watercolors, SU markers, distress inks) and alcohol based products (Copics, SU Blends). Amalgam inks are not intended for use when you want to heat emboss, they dry too fast and have no stickiness to hold the powder.
I will use Memento Tuxedo black when my Gina K Obsidian pad is in hiding, but I feel I get a crisper/more defined image with the Gina K ink.
Going back to the topic of the Versafine Clair inks. I very much like the colored VC pads that I have purchased. They work very well on photopolymer stamps and provide crisp, non-blotchy images. I particularly like to use the VC colored inks for sentiments because they are more saturated and intense than dye based inks.
Can we talk Versafine for a minute?
