Wheels-which one??

[wendita]

I would love to get some wheels-I don't have any-but I am totally overwhelmed by the selection. :? And then to have to decide on inks...what wheels & inks do wheel-users like? And what do you use them for? I saw one post that suggested wrapping paper which seemed like a great idea.

[stampmomt]

Hello,
I just purchased the Fishey Friends wheel & it is so so so cute. I love it.
Shannon

[Sonya Dean]

Boy, that's a tough question to answer! There are so many possibilities. I would suggest going with a "generic" one, meaning one that doesn't necessarily go with one of the sets. Just to start off with, of course! That way, you can use it as a background or top/bottom of the card accent. As far as the inks go, I love to use my versa mark ink cartridge. That gives it a nice "watermark" look. I bought an empty, single cell cartridge and filled it with my versa mark re-inker. You could also buy some of the cartridges in your favorite colors, the ones that you use the most cardstock of. Hope this helps in your decision!

Sonya

[mbsj]

I use mine all the time for backgrounds on my cards and tags. My favorites are Double Line Stitched Plaid, Makin Music, Whimsical Blossom and Swirl Fun. I use them on white cardstock or match the color to the cardstock. So, start by picking the colors you use the most.

[wendita]

Oooh. I like the versamark ink idea! Thanks Sonya.

[mycattracks]

I used the snowflake wheel with top boss and then white embossing powder for christmas cards. Then I got the to use the wheel with bliss blue craft pad and clear embossing powder onmy brothers snow plowing buisness cards and statements. He got lots of comments about them :!:

[Doris]

Love the versa mark idea, I have been thinking about doing this, but wasn't sure it would work...so I am going to do that one!!!

I had the same problem concerning colors...I only have a few colors, those I use a lot...real red, garden green, lovely lilac, ballet blue, and pink passion. I also love white and coal black (ancient page) they are so versatile I use them the most.

As for the wheels, I try to go pretty basic, a floral..like Whimsical Blossoms, Swirls, and I use Gifts Galore all the time for Christmas and for gifts all year round. I only have six wheels or so, and I don't use them all the time, but they are a nice accent to packages and cards.

Hope this helps....

[Sonya Dean]

The vm ink is pretty thick so apply it heavily to your empty cartridge!

[juddaca Heater]

I'll take the rd. I advise my customers: Think of your very next project & buy what you need to do it. Don't worry about fantastic versatillity; it really can't be done. You will always want a different stamp, color of ink, color of CS, or type of wheel. So, think what you want to make this mo. & start building your collection. If you want to make a bunch of floral cards, think that way for your wheels (leaves, ivy, bugs, flowers, etc.). If you need wedding, go that directions, graduation, father's day, birthdays, etc. Good Luck! Juddaca

[JanTInk]

I never had a wheel before I became a demonstrator, because, like you, I couldn't decide what to buy or how to use them when I got them. Now that I have several, I really love my wheels!

I'd have to say my favorite one is the double-stitched plaid wheel. There is so much you can do with it to make stripes and plaids. It works beautifully with the plaid-maker too. The confetti wheel is another really useful one.

Generally, though, I buy the ones that match the stamp sets I have. You can make all kinds of background papers that set off a single stamped image. I just loaded a card into my gallery that uses the fishy wheel with the Fishy Friends stamp set...it really sets it off. And the Out of Africa wheel...I adore that with the In the Wild set. I'm going to be loading up some cards done with that combination in my gallery tonight.

As far as colors go, buy the colors that you use the most and go from there!

[Happy Heart]

Wheels are so inexpensive and so useful, I can't imagine not having lots of them! I'll often just buy the wheel and not the matching stamp set if I just want to get a feel for the design. Sometimes that leads to purchasing the set, sometimes not. If you use markers to color only one image on a wheel, you have a lot of little designs to work with.

[wendita]

Lots of good ideas! I definitely lean towards flowers, butterflys and swirls so I'll probably start with one of those. I'm still not sure I understand how the cartridges work (do you mix colors with double cartridges, or does it just let you change colors easier?) but I'll get the hang of it. It sounds easier to use a wheel than a background stamp, which would be harder to ink and place. Thanks ladies.

[JanTInk]

Normally, you buy the ink cartridges and they are already inked with one color. Buy the reinker when you buy the cartridge, since they tend to dry out more quickly than an ink pad. The ink pad reinkers do not work with the cartridges...the cartridge ink is thicker and will not splatter when your roll the wheel.

Loading the cartridge can be a bit tricky. Put the cartridge in the handle with the square trigger (at least that's what I call it!) facing out. Put your thumb on the trigger and pull the cover off. You won't be able to slide the cartidge into position with the cover on! Now pull the trigger down into the handle until you hear it click, keeping your thumb firmly on that trigger. Then you can pop your wheel in. If your wheel design has a top and a bottom, load it in so that it looks like it's going to be upside down. It will then be right side up when you roll if you are right handed. If you find after you start to roll that it is upside down, you can always turn your paper or pop the wheel out and turn it around.

Now push the trigger towards the wheel, making sure that the cardtridge is straight so that the ink roller fully engages against the wheel. Roll the wheel on a piece of scratch paper. Some people like to roll forwards other people like to pull towards them. I like forward...I think I roll straighter. But either way will work.

When you roll make sure that you aren't rocking the wheel. I find if I put one finger over the wheel well, that helps. And to get straight lines, look where you are rolling, not at the wheel. You can use a straight edge of some sort to roll against; experiment with what you have to find out what works for you. Some people like the edge of the paper trimmer...I haven't had too much luck with it.

Diagonal lines will look more even and straight across a piece of cardstock than horizontal or vertical, but a lot of that depends on how slowly you go and how accurate you are trying to be.

Now that you are done rolling, pull the trigger back towards the handle until you hear it click. Roll the excess ink off the wheel onto your scrap paper. Now, some people clean their wheel in the handle, others like to pull it out. I'm one of the latter. I clean mine once it's out by holding the two axels in a pincer grip and rubbing the wheel on my stampin' scrub, rotating the wheel a little bit to get around all of the rubber surface.

If you are going to leave your cartridge in your handle, don't forget to replace the cover! You can just slide it right in. To remove the cartridge put your thumb on the trigger and gently push it up out of the handle, making sure to keep your thumb firmly on the trigger. There is a spring involved and it can be either very amusing, or very horrible to watch your cartridge get "fired" across the table, depending on who is sitting there (your best friend or your mother-in-law, for instance) and whether you have white carpet on the floor or vinyl flooring. Once that cartridge hits the floor, the roller will often pop right out. You can put it back, though. Just try to avoid that altogether. Once you've felt the cartridge disengage from the handle with your thumb firmly on the trigger, slide the cover back on.

Store your cartridges in a zip lock bag or other air tight container to keep them from drying out too fast. Reinking is fairly easy, just apply the ink to the roller, massaging it in with the tip of the reinker and rotate the roller around to get the whole thing reinked. Be cautious not to put too much on...after you reink, test with a wheel to see if you got the whole thing evenly inked, if not reapply where you think you missed. You can always add more, but it's hard to take away what you've put in if you overdo. If you do overdo, wad up a piece of paper towel and blot the excess away, rotating the roller as you go.

The two and three cell cartridges have a divided roller that you ink up yourself. To do this, you need to decide which colors you want to use in them and have the reinkers on hand. There is a white label on the cartridge so you can write the colors in in tiny letters so you know what is in that cartridge. Technically, you could wash the ink out of the roller and use something different, but cartridges are pretty cheap anyway so why not buy more than one? Plus, you'll tend to like certain combinations, so why not keep them ready to go? You'll find that when you first ink up a blank cartridge that the next time it will have seemingly dried out. This is because the ink will sink further into the foam, so you will have to add more the first two or three times you use it again.

[Kar]

Well, I have never decided what wheel I like best, seeing as though I have 23 of them. I love the snowflakes, blizzard and the tree wheel for my Christmas card backgrounds, I use the white ink cartridge with all of them, but white is harder to take off of your stamps I think, but most pigment pads are. I think the wheels are just terrific for all the scrapbook page backgrounds too. Kids especially like the wheels because they are so easy to use.

[amylmason]

I did the versamark ink for a wheel and have to keep putting in more ink every time I use it. It seems as though I have used up about half of the ink bottle already and have only used it for 4 cards. Does it take awhile to "sink in" or fully get through the whole roller pad?
Thanks!
Amy

[juddaca Heater]

Amy: I have the same deal w/ Versamark & wheel cartridges. Every time I use it, I juice it up. I keep all cartridges w/ their refill in a zip lock bag, as per customer service. They even suggested wrapping ea. cartridge in saran wrap & then store in the zip lock. It helps w/ the regular inks, but not the versamark. Good Luck, Juddaca

[JanTInk]

I've heard that if you buy the embossing cartridge, which is already inked up with the embossing ink, then add the versamark to that, it takes care of the problem with the Versamark drying up too fast. Haven't tried it myself though.