2024 Topic 5: Ink Pads {by Ellie Knol} on the PaperArtsy Blog

Hi everyone

Ellie Knol from PAPER-STAMPS-COLOR here with you today.

I've been sorting through my product lately, thought I need to downsize. The question is: do I part with all my pigment ink pads?  

This topic, Inkpads had me thinking about that, and after creating with them I knew I cannot part with my pigment inks; maybe some of them, but not all!
So I decided to even go further: compare them with Distress Oxide inks, which also contain pigment ink in a certain way, and act similar when still wet. 
I'm looking forward to sharing with you what I figured out when playing with them; maybe I prefer the Distress Oxide inks from Ranger; they are more versatile for the way I create. 

Of course a black pigment ink should be in every stamper's collection; they are juicy and are also very suitable for heat embossing. I heat emboss it with a clear embossing powder to make the ink stay put, not smear, and make it even a darker black. Pigment inks take a while to completely dry. 

Cards, five of them... cards are easy to create, as after all: summer holidays are around the corner in our part of the world!

I made swatches of all the pigment inks I have, then chose to use these shown in the picture.

These stamp sets from Alison Bomber, EAB36 and EAB38 (available from a PaperArtsy Stockist) are great to use with these inks, I am sure!

I am a big fan of foliage stamps anyway!

In this section I will share the techniques and products I used for the first two cards: the ones with the pigment ink pads.

I knew I used to love this 'rainbow' of greens. Unfortunately the sponge of the pad is not that spongy anymore; I will have to replace it in the near future, but it still did it's duty this time. 

I inked up the background stamp from Alison Bomber Set 36 (EAB36) and stamped it onto a cardbase.

I knew this would be a gorgeous start, a base, as a backdrop for the beautiful foliage stamps in the stamp sets. 

After drying, I stamped the foliage with a black pigment ink; I mostly use Versafine Pigment Ink Onyx Black and then heat emboss it with clear embossing powder.

I painted the berries with Fresco Chalk Acrylic Snowflake (FF15). Once dry, I colored them with a gold re-inker pigment ink and added extra color to it with a red pigment ink to make them pop. 

Finally I added to the collage,  black-stamped elements as shown, and gold splatters. The label with text was stamped and fussy cut from a separate piece of cardstock. 

So, onto the next card ...

Stamping the background stamp (so versatile!!) from Alison Bomber Set 38 (EAB38) with a reddish purple pigment ink made me wonder whether I made the right choice to use this not so bright (boring?) color.  I went on to finish it off as shown, and to be honest: it turned out so beautiful, very unique!

The second generation stamping with the black ink in the background and white touches, add interest to the collage of elements. A very basic but very useful technique.

In this section I will share the techniques and products I used for the next 3 cards; I made these ones with Ranger's Distress Oxide Inks. O my, they are so vibrant!! lol

Mostly these inks get used by dabbing them onto a craft sheet, spraying with water and swiping the cardstock through the puddles, and repeating the process, also while wet, splattering water onto it etc.

I also chose to go another route: using a gel plate to have more control, and allowing me to create lighter backgrounds (prints). The process for this is basically dabbing the color onto the gel plate, brayering it (two brayers) so it covers the surface of the gel plate, splattering water onto the ink, then pull a print.

 

You can splatter again with water without re-inking the plate, and then make another print on an envelope for a lighter print, or another piece of paper. Brayer the remaining color on the brayers on gel pate to keep making lighter prints from the remaining ink. 

I kept going, with two other colors, less dramatic ones, lol. 

Now finally, a color combination I love, one that I was going to explore more with, also into the theme HIDDEN.

The extra backgrounds made me think of creating an envelope which can go with the card, as a hidden item, in which one can put some money, or a letter, or maybe even some faux postage stamps. My mojo was just taking over!

AND what are my conclusions?
By creating with the same stamps, same process but different inks, AND by going with the flow makes for spontaneous results. I like doing that in my crafty process.

Enjoy the finished cards, all very different.
I want to make some more; especially explore more, using other pigment inks too! Other colors, other brands. 

It was fun to explore with these inks through experimenting.
New techniques are discovered, just by playing! 

Ellie Knol

Blog: http://elliecreahoekje.blogspot.nl/
Owner of: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DutchArtJournal/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllieKnolCrea/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie.knol/
Pinterest: https://nl.pinterest.com/ellieknol/

The hidden envelope within the card... when the card is closed, it is hidden. Adding something inside the small envelope makes it double hidden. lol