Welcome to Stamp Tips

Colorbox Inks

Colorbox brand of pigment inks are produced by a company called Clearsnap in the USA. They have a wonderful range of vibrantly colored pigment inks and also put out a small range of videos with directions and ideas. The inks are of nice thick quality and emboss well.

Reinking your stamp pads

If the company that made your ink pad doesn´t sell reinkers, then you can buy a different brand (find one that looks the same color). Just make sure that you reink a dye ink pad with dye ink, and a pigment ink pad with pigment ink!

Bleach Stamping Technique

You can create some very original stamp art by using bleach as an "ink" on your cards. You can place a folded paper towel onto a plastic plate and then dampen it with household bleach. You then ink up your stamp using the bleach and stamp your paper (this works really well on dark coloured cardstock). It´s worth experimenting with this technique because this works better on some cardstock than others.

White dye inks - who makes them?

Close to My Heart, Memories, and Versacolor are three brands of ink that include a white dye ink in their range. This is great for using on vellum to give that lovely dry embossed look!

Inking up Large Stamps using the Pad Grabber

There is a product on the market called The Pad Grabber which is a handle that can be attached to the back of your ink pads to enable you to control them more effectively when inking up large stamps. The handle can transfer from pad to pad and will also prevent you from getting inky fingers!

Fabric Paints - Try the sprays for interesting effects!

When applying paint to fabric, consider experimenting with paint that comes in a pump spray bottle. Several effects can be achieved with a pump spray. Come in close for a solid color application; or spray from a distance in a sweeping application for a splattered effect.

How to ink up your stamps

Firstly, DON´T scrape your stamp across the surface of the ink pad! The way to get a nicely inked stamp is to "pat" the stamp up and down a few times on the ink pad.

Tria Inks - paintbrush application

You can apply these inks to specific areas of a project using a paintbrush. Their strong colours and quick drying time mean that they are very popular. You can even use them on non-porous surfaces like CD´s and shrink plastic, and acetate.

Multiple layers of dye ink

Take a stamp and ink it up with a light shade of dye ink, and then stamp it onto your card. Reink the stamp with a slightly darker colour and restamp the image over the first one (trying to place it as nearly as possible over the first image - but it doesn´t have to be exact). Repeat this process until you have layered 3-4 colours on top of each other. This can give a wonderful "antique" look to your stamped image.

Selecting appropriate inks for fabrics

There are several inks made specifically for fabrics (such as Fabrico) and others that are multi-purpose, including fabrics, such as ColorBox Crafter´s. Dye and pigment inks may be appropriate for your fabric project - just be sure to check the manufacturer´s recommendations before proceeding.

Pigment Ink - properties

Pigment ink is a water-based slow drying ink. It is archival (which means that the colors won´t fade)and acid-free. It is commonly used in conjunction with embossing powders to create the raised embossed lines on cards. For more details on this technique visit the Embossing section of stamp-tips.

Fabric Paints - fun, easy, economical!

Another alternative for your fabric based projects is the use of fabric paints, which are somewhat less expensive than inks.

Permanent Inks - the basics

There are a few different brands of permanent ink available such as Ranger Archival and Ancient Page. These inks tend to come in a more limited colour range, but are generally "archival" in nature as well. This means that as well as being permanent, the colours will not fade over time, but will stay bright. These types of inks will stain your rubber stamps and you will need special cleaning products to clean the rubber stamps if you want to (it is quite OK to leave them stained if you don´t mind).

Inking Your Stamp - the basics

Firstly, DON´T scrape your stamp across the surface of the ink pad! The way to get a nicely inked stamp is to "pat" the stamp up and down a few times on the ink pad.

White dye ink - what can I use it for?

There are several brands of white dye ink available on the market now. They are proving very popular, especially for stamping onto vellum to create a ´self-patterned´ look.

Reinking Your Ink Pad (2)

If the company that made your ink pad doesn´t sell reinkers, then you can buy a different brand (find one that looks the same color). Just make sure that you reink a dye ink pad with dye ink, and a pigment ink pad with pigment ink!

Dye Inks - Properties

Dye inks water based, quick drying and work great on matt or glossy cardstock. This type of ink is great for almost any stamping project, but will not work for embossing images as the ink will not stay moist long enough for embossing powder to adhere to. Die ink is acid free but, being water based, not permanent. They are also not "archival" which means that the colors will fade over time, especially if left exposed to light.

What can you do with fabric ink?

Fabric inks are fun to "play with". Some, such as Fabrico, can be used on not only fabric, but on paper and card as well. Most fabric inks are stamped or painted onto cotton fabrics and then have to be "set" with a heat source. Some of them recomment setting in a warm oven and some say to just use an iron or a heat gun. These inks are generally not "archival" and will fade over time and exposure to sunlight and washing.