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Hi All...
I just know you all can help me with a decision. I own all the classic ink pads and love them, but of course now I'm wondering if I *need* the craft ink pads too!!! I am not a scrapbooker and I'm sure that I could *get by* with the classics only, but hmmm.... please help me decide!!
Thanks in advance for your input.
Smiles,
Julia
__________________ Pleasantwords are as a honeycomb; sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
Well, there are some things that craft pads are better for:
Direct to Paper techniques - craft ink dries slower, so you have a lot more time to blend the colors. Since we don't have spots in craft ink, it's easiest to use sponges with SU! craft pads for this technique.
Embossing - You can emboss any craft ink with clear embossing powder, thereby expanding your color possibilities with embossing.
Poppin' Pastels - You can do this technique on dark cardstock if you use craft white. It doesn't work using Versamark with dark cardstock.
Fabric Stamping - This can be done with craft pads. You have to heat set it and you must follow specific instructions for washing the fabric before and after. It will probably fade slightly when washed.
Stamping on Wood - Craft ink acts more like paint than dye ink, so when you stamp on wood you will have more vibrant colors. It also does not bleed into unprimed wood as dye ink will do.
Also since craft ink is a pigment ink, it sits on top of the fibers of the paper, rather than sinking in and staining the fibers as dye ink does. So when you stamp, say, Only Orange on top of Creamy Caramel, it's going to look more orange than the dye ink will.
However, they do take longer to dry and a lot depends on the humidity in your stamping area and how dry your paper is. You can dry them with a heat gun, but I find it doesn't take all that long as long as I don't overink my stamp. You only need to tap your stamp lightly on the pad to get good coverage; most people expect them to be like the dye ink pads where you have to put a little pressure on the ink pad to get ink on the stamp, but not craft pads! They are very juicy (at least at first...if your pad seems to be dry when you get it, call SU!...they will usually send you a free reinker.)
I suggest you buy one pad to try it before taking the plunge. I happen to love the ones I have; SU! seems to have worked all the bugs out of the design and the Bold Bright pads I bought are very nice indeed.
Do you "need" 'em????? Heck, NO. All one really needs is air, food, water, and sleep.
BUT, do you want what you can DO with them????? Aaaaaaaah, that is the question. My answer to it was YES!!!!!!!
And, I acquired all the BB colors plus a few others thrown in that I knew I'd use a lot: Barely Banana, Bliss Blue, Pretty in Pink, Baroque Burgundy, BLACK--of course, Old Olive, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel.
There are a few more I want to add that I realized later I would also use frequently...Forest Foliage is one ....must contemplate and narrow down the others ......hmmmmmmmmmm but if I'd won the lottery, I'd have 'em all here speedy quick (Junie B. Jones)!
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
I am probably one of the few that invested in the craft pads before the classic pads. I only did this because I knew a demo getting out of stampin up, and she gave me a really good deal on them, and over half were new!
Anyways...it is very true...you just tap the stamp lightly. This takes some getting use to. I use mine for everything though...they've even replaced my watercolor pencils and chalks. I guess because the ink is thicker, I use the watercolor paint brush and pick up ink directly from the pad. Then I color away! It works great and because the ink is thinned out a bit, it dries almost instantly. Unlike the blender pen, you can just keep refilling the brush with water. The embossing part of them is also great.
One question I have for those who've used the craft pads....have you ever experience a sort of oily layer that forms on the top of the pads? It is like the ink seperates a little bit. I usually just use a tissue to wipe this off and then stamp away, but I'm puzzled. Any suggestions?
One question I have for those who've used the craft pads....have you ever experience a sort of oily layer that forms on the top of the pads? It is like the ink seperates a little bit. I usually just use a tissue to wipe this off and then stamp away, but I'm puzzled. Any suggestions?
The "oily" layer is most likely glycerin, a common ingredient in pigment based inks.
You might try storing the pads upside down, which would actually turn the pad itself right side up, so gravity works to keep the ink in the spongy pad.
I haven't experienced this issue with any of my craft pads, but if I did, I would merely blot the surface with a towel as you have done. I also keep a plastic knife handy for "working" ink into my pads when I reink. Perhaps this would also help?
Are you currently experiencing temperature extremes? I wonder if that would contribute to this phenomenon, as well ...but, have no idea--just speculating ...
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
Thank you to the 3 "J" girls... !!
I had completely forgotten all the wonderful benefits of pigment ink - so easy to get in that box and stay there!! :oops: Think it's time I broke out now and tried some of those SU! craft pads!! Just love all the colors, so now to decide which colors first... hmmmmm...
Thanks again for all your help. I appreciate it.
Smiles,
Julia
__________________ Pleasantwords are as a honeycomb; sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
hmmm I have the white pad and get frustrated cause it takes so long to dry, but was thinking about getting a few other colors to "play" with and see how well I like it. What colors do you all think are necessary, black is probably a given color but what else?? Thanks ahead of time for all your answers!!
I have mostly craft pads (got a good deal on used sets of RR & SSs) and so I tend to do a lot of embossing. I have only a few classic pads & maybe it's me, but the classic pad colors don't seem as saturated - the color looks richer with the craft ink. Craft inks take longer to dry, as mentioned above, a quite a lot longer on the glossy CS.
On another note, my craft pads leak! One of them leaked a bunch out of the pad and into the cardboard box that the set came in, and a couple of others have leaked a smaller amount into the box. A few others just seem to leak into the pad itself so when you open it, the inside of the craft pad & places you touch while opening it has ink on it. Has anybody else had this problem?
The old style pads with the linen cover had quite a problem with ink separation and leakage. I haven't found that my newer ones have this problem; the linen cover is gone and it has a sponge pad like any other pigment ink pad you'll find on the market.
What I did when the linen covered pads I have did this was to blot up the excess glycerin from the surface of the pad, then store them upside-down for a while. THe newer ones haven't done this, but if they did, I'd do the same.
I'm a new demo, so maybe you shouldn't take my opinion too much, but I have all the Classic pads and no plans to get the Craft pads. I do have the Craft White and Craft Vanilla. I've found them VERY goopy and hard to work with.
I do have a whole bunch of Colorbox Petal Point Pigment inks that I bought before I knew there was more than one kind of ink! <g> Those don't seem nearly as goopy at SU's Craft pads. Of course I wouldn't demo those, but I can use them for my own personal use.
As for embossing, I love using Versamark and then whatever color embossing powder. I use mostly the metallic embossing powders so far. Also, I've tried using Classic ink to emboss by stamping first onto the Versamark pad, then onto the Classic pad. Stamp your image and then emboss. It works, and you can get all 48 colors (assuming you have all 48 pads! <g>).
I've heard that the Craft inks are longer-lasting for scrapbooking because the dye inks can fade in time. I should really experiment with this (stamp something and put it away for a few years <G>), but I'm not too worried. All of my pictures are copies of originals, so I could duplicate them if I needed to. And who stores their scrapbooks open in the sun??
I made my daughter a Post-It Note cover and she just loves it and uses it all the time. She keeps it out on her desk and it gets a lot of direct sun and it HAS faded somewhat. I'm not sure if I used SU Classic ink or Colorbox Chalk inks on that.
Hi. I like them for making tile coasters but have not used them for much else. Beate taught me how to do this when we were stationed at the same base...Hello Beate. I don't use them very often but they are neat. Maybe SC could start a new section on "All the many uses" of craft pads.ha Good luck on your decision!!
__________________
If you meet someone without a SMILE, just give them one of yours!!
I love them. They are expensive so I just buy them as needed. I just completed my bold brights collection because that is what I use the most. I will start working on the other color groups now. I have a few from each and eventually want to get most of them. I love them!
Joy
Do I *need* the craft inks?!!!
