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I just opened a new Pretty in Pink craft ink pad. I purchased it for the express purpose of using it on Chocolate Chip card stock for a specific project. The top of the pad was fairly dry, so I turned the pad upside down and applied it to my stamp instead of the usual method.
After much hard squishing of the pad onto my background stamp (at least 7 samples so far), I'm finally able to get a noticeable but not very bright image on the paper. It's certainly nothing like the kind of coverage I'm used to getting with SU's white and vanilla craft pads.
I expected to get a good opaque image on the dark paper. Am I expecting too much of the product?
This is a large project (90 items) - so adding the expense and time to add embossing powder is not an option.
I'd rather not waste time on more samples if I'm never going to get what I'm looking for. Can anyone shed some light on this subject?
Thanks,
__________________ Malinda
Why did she make things? Well, she enjoyed it, of course; it also somehow helped her remember who she was and where she came from.
It does sound like your pad is awfully dry; I'd give your demo a call and aske about a replacement. In the meantime, you can try "smooshing" the ink around with the back of a plastic spoon. I've done that with some of my pigment pads; seems to blend the carrier and pigmentation together and rejuvenate it. HTH!
I agree with Trish it sounds like a dryish pad--I have had good results with spritzing my craft pads with water prior to doing the spoon thing. Due to the nature of pigment ink--it needs to be smooshed if it has been sitting for a while.
Also, heat setting it helps it to show up better (in my experience).
I think maybe you have a problem but not as bad as the time I found. I bought a PIP craft pad about six months ago and had not even taken the paper off. Needed it last week, took off the paper, opened it up and as I did the pad itself fell off. Sort of oily like on the surface and perfect dry, just laying there staring at me. I had ordered a reinker and dabbed some on the end just to see and it just sat there, I rubbed and the pad was so dry it wouldn't soak in. I left it overnight and the blob of reinker was still sitting there, a little dried out in the morning.
Of course I can't send it back, I'm not even sure when I ordered it. But I put it aside, obviously no good, thinking maybe I'll just mail it back with a letter telling them how much I love their craft pads.
With more smooshing, and some dry time, it's looking better.
Still not what I'd hoped for, but at least the image is visible. I'm going to do some more smooshing and see if it gets better.
I went through a dozen pages of cards made with craft ink in the gallery before I had to stop to make supper - I'm still looking for one with a light colored ink, other than white or vanilla, on a dark card stock. Haven't found one yet. I was thinking of purchasing the SS craft spots for just this purpose, and I'm still hoping it will truly work.
Thanks for the input, everyone. I'd love to hear of other peoples' experience with this.
BTW, my demo is very wonderful, but relatively new to stamping and SU - she's also moved several states away with the last couple of weeks. Otherwise, I'd be on her doorstep for help with this.
__________________ Malinda
Why did she make things? Well, she enjoyed it, of course; it also somehow helped her remember who she was and where she came from.
FWIW, I bought 3 of the soft subtles craft ink pads and all of mine are quite dry feeling. My demo called SU and they say that is the way *all* the new craft pads are suppose to feel. Well..I hate it, I have a full set of craft bold brights and they are nice and squishy. The 3 SS do get better if I squish the pad around a bit, but nothing like my BB. I have tried reinking them and they are just a pain to reink.
BTW, if you are looking for cards you might try looking up craft on kraft. I know Emily had a challenge using craft ink on Kraft cardstock. I bought my ink pads because of this and have been very disappointed with the look.
Quote:
Originally Posted by malindaplace
With more smooshing, and some dry time, it's looking better.
Still not what I'd hoped for, but at least the image is visible. I'm going to do some more smooshing and see if it gets better.
I went through a dozen pages of cards made with craft ink in the gallery before I had to stop to make supper - I'm still looking for one with a light colored ink, other than white or vanilla, on a dark card stock. Haven't found one yet. I was thinking of purchasing the SS craft spots for just this purpose, and I'm still hoping it will truly work.
Thanks for the input, everyone. I'd love to hear of other peoples' experience with this.
BTW, my demo is very wonderful, but relatively new to stamping and SU - she's also moved several states away with the last couple of weeks. Otherwise, I'd be on her doorstep for help with this.
__________________ Lisa C., Mom to 3 great kids, 3 super dogs and an cat that thinks she is a dog! My Gallery
BTW, if you are looking for cards you might try looking up craft on kraft. I know Emily had a challenge using craft ink on Kraft cardstock.
Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely look for those.
I'm feeling like I'm in good company with this experience, and it's not very encouraging!
__________________ Malinda
Why did she make things? Well, she enjoyed it, of course; it also somehow helped her remember who she was and where she came from.
You might want to try inking & stamping the image a few times.
I'm not sure if it would be easy or not with your project, but instead of heat setting everytime. Sometimes what i do is Start with the stamp-a-majig in place then stamp my first impression, don't move the SAJ ink up your stamp and stamp over the same image, do this a few times and you will see a greater contrast in colours.
I don't have any craft inks, but you may want to check out this sample in the gallery to see what results someone else got with pretty in pink on choc. chip paper.
I do agree that heat setting helps a LOT. It gets the ink dried before it has a chance to absorb into the paper, so the image stays more vibrant.
While it's really nice to have the Classic (dye) pads designed to be upside down while they're in the case, the Craft (pigment) inks really don't need to be stored upside down. I've actually taken to putting the craft pads into the pad holder upside down, lol, so they are actually facing up inside.
I suppose I should explain to those that don't know...SU had a stamp pad designed that turns the pad itself upside down when you close the case up. That's great because it keeps the ink up at the top of the pad (gravity).
Well, as I said, pigment ink doesn't need that...it's a much thicker ink. I think that's one reason why the spots might be wetter when you get them, they're stored so the ink pad is right side up.
"Mooshing" with a spoon really does help re-mix the ink, whether it's been separated (the oil and the pigment) or just the ink has settled to the bottom of the pad.
I bought Summer Sun craft ink with thoughts of using it on Brilliant Blue. Never did leave a vibrant stamp. I've switched over to VersaMagic inks, they seem to dry quickly, and in general, they show up better on dark papers.
Ok, tomorrow afternoon I should be back to the "inking" part of this project. I'll moosh the pad with a spoon and then heat-set the ink and see what happens.
Doris' comparison chart was helpful. Unfortunately the stamps I'm using on this project don't lend themselves to stamping multiple layers of ink, and I have to make to many items as well. It's good info for future reference though. Thanks.
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your experiences. It's been very helpful.
__________________ Malinda
Why did she make things? Well, she enjoyed it, of course; it also somehow helped her remember who she was and where she came from.
SU! Craft ink - am I expecting too much?
