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What are the pros and cons of each? I am getting ready to do a supply order and am in need of inks something awful. I like both of these, but am not sure I need a lot of Distress Inks. The most I like about them is to water color with them..But I like that about SU inks as well. I also like that SU inks a quite a bit larger..and both have reinkers ..
I think the most I would use DI for is to "paint" or water color with them...and to sponge with them. But I have seen at least one person that comes to mind that usesVersa Magic inks to sponge with and it is perfect..pure perfect.
I am one of those people that really likes the way SU! Inks are set up..with the ink pad system ..I think it is fantastic.
I do like a couple of colors of DI....so I will probably buy a couple of those as well.. yk..to "keep my options open " ;)
I am not crazy about Distress Inks. I sound like the curmudgeon ink hater tonight on my posts, lol. I don't mean to be like that. No letters everyone. I think they are great inks. I think Tim is brilliant. I think they are not for me.
I love my SU pads. When I bought my first one I didn't really like it. Probably because when I tried to open it the pad went flying through the air, hit my ceiling and then landed on my poor DH. I had to watch a video on how to open the ink pad, lol. Now, I do really love the ink pads. I use them for everything. I mainly use them for sponging and painting.
I love to watercolor. I have all the watercolor additives in my arsenal. I have come up with several recipes that mimic distress inks. I use my SU inks and watercolor paints to do this. One of the things I love about Tim he's geeky. I am geeky too. I know Tim is setting around thinking how he can recreate something he saw cool in the art store or hardware store. This gets me to thinking how I can recreate it too.
I only have about two SU pads, and I don't know how many distress inks, most of them. I love them. But - if you're mostly wanting to actually stamp with your pads rather than use them for colouring, or techniques like wrinkle-free distress and so on, then I'd think you should go for the SU. Come to think of it, you can use the SU ones for colouring, so it's really only the distress-type techniques that you'd need the distress inks for because of how they're formulated to react with water.
You certainly don't need distress inks for sponging, I did that with ColorBox inks way before I had any distress inks at all.
The only distress inks that don't have re-inkers are the limited edition releases.
I really don't do a lot of distressing and I have 3 distress inks plus a kit from MM to use for that.. Ditressing kind of intimidates me a little LOL. Usually it doesn't go with my coloring so I never really did it a whole lot..kwim?
I don't know that I really think of Distress Inks as distressing . . . they have a different quality than the other inks. They do sponge beautifully and you can get very cool effects by spritzing them with water. I don't quite know how to describe them without photos to show how they're different, but if you think you might like them, I'd just pick up a couple of colors and experiment with them. I LOVE them. I like to use them especially for effects, for sponging and for watercoloring.
As for the SU pads - I don't use them anymore because I didn't really like the linen texture of the pad or the fact that they seemed to become uneven over time, sagging in the middle.
Both Versamagic and A Muse Studio inks are beautiful - chalk-like, blend and sponge wonderfully, and have a spongy surface that stays even. I use these, Versafine and Memento for most of my stamping.
Distress inks can also be used to emboss. I love that, can't do that with a lot of die inks without a lot of hassle. Wonderful blending, true color, embossable...Yup, I love me my distress inks
I am not crazy about Distress Inks. I sound like the curmudgeon ink hater tonight on my posts, lol. I don't mean to be like that. No letters everyone. I think they are great inks. I think Tim is brilliant. I think they are not for me.
I thought I was the only one. I got a set of 6 of them on special from HSN and hardly use them at all. I guess they just don't suit my style of cardmaking.
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I rarely use my SU inks anymore...I grab my Distress Inks first! LOVE them and the different looks that I can achieve with them
Same here, the Distress inks have a whole other dimension to them, and they do things with water that the SU can't do.
I have about 30 SU pads and reach for them about once every three months, the DI are used almost daily.
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Well I'd be the wrong person to ask as I have a full set of both brands, and I love them both equally as much. And I only use these inks 99.9% of my stamping time.
For crisp, clean stamping I prefer SU. The only exception would be that I use the Memento Tuxedo Black to sub for SU! Basic Black. I'd use SU! over DI's for braying
For lots of other cool techniques I like the DI's.
I have done one side by side comparison of both these brands doing a watercolouring test, which you can see in this blog post. I had set out to show the differences between the two, but my samples ended up nearly looking identicle. Bear in mind this shows only one way to use dye inks and is by no mean comprehensive of what you can do with them.
I thought I was the only one. I got a set of 6 of them on special from HSN and hardly use them at all. I guess they just don't suit my style of cardmaking.
You're not alone. One of my best stamping buddies, who does lots of lovely work, rarely or never uses DI's. They just don't 'get it' either, since it's probably not suitable to their stamping style, even tho they are into grunge, distressed, vintage and alterables. They create the look they are after with other inks and papers. And it all looks great.
Distress inks can also be used to emboss. I love that, can't do that with a lot of die inks without a lot of hassle. Wonderful blending, true color, embossable...Yup, I love me my distress inks
Weird, I read many people saying this, as they stay wet longer. But I have never had success heat embossing them - I've even done better with chalk inks. Maybe on glossy card I can see it would work, but I don't much use that. Every time I think I'll have yet another try on regular card I'm not satisfied with the results. Not for stamping, anyway!
[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][COLOR="Navy"]I don't emboss much so I haven't tried to use the DI's to emboss. I have three of them and I must admit that I haven't used them a great deal. I like sponging but the artist that I love and I think she rocks sponging..doesn't use DI's..she uses Versa Magic..
I thisnk each ink has its own uses and is suited to certain styles of crafters. Not sure what my style is at this point LOL I want to be on that DI band wagon with all of my buddies..but I just can't seem to get there LOL. There are a couple of DI colors that I adore and will order those, and a couple of SU colors too that I need..all about keeping myself well rounded
I thisnk each ink has its own uses and is suited to certain styles of crafters. Not sure what my style is at this point LOL I want to be on that DI band wagon with all of my buddies..but I just can't seem to get there LOL. There are a couple of DI colors that I adore and will order those, and a couple of SU colors too that I need..all about keeping myself well rounded [/QUOTE]
I think you're very wise to not jump on any bandwagon, and just get what suits you. In my circle, I know more people IRL that use SU! ink, than use the DI's. And still, a lot of my stamping friends don't use either, as they prefer something completely different. As you can imagine we all have our own style and no-one feels they have to keep up with anyone else's preferences for products. Get the things you love and stay 'well rounded'. Have fun!
The one thing about the distressing inks, you are able to move them around the paper when using a blending tool as they stay "wet" longer; SU inks don't move which makes it harder to distress with them using daubers and blending tools.
SU! or Distress Inks ??
