Clearsnap Dyestress Blendable Inks

See 2019 colors and beautiful samples HERE

Highlights

Product Description

Reviews

1. Dreamy Backgrounds Appear

   
   By Julee Tilman

   From the moment I heard about the Colorbox Dyestress blendable dye inks, I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to play. My most common uses for dye inks are stamping, blending and smooshing. So I started out by swatching each of the 12 new colors with a solid stamp design. The palette is unique, the colors are vibrant, and they gave good ink coverage with a single impression.
   
   Next, I tested out ink blending with a stencil using the scuba and citronella colors. The ink blended beautifully, giving several shades of green and turquoise between the two colors. I found the ink reacts well with water, allowing for some fun lift techniques with water droplets and baby wipes. And I was most delighted with the distressing capabilities when blending the neutral (cattail, palomino and graphite) colored inks.
   
   Smooshing with a piece of acetate was my favorite technique, and I had hours of fun making beautiful backgrounds. I love turquoise, so discovered that mixing the citronella and scuba on a palette made a beautiful aqua color. That opened the door to so many possibilities for more colors just by mixing the inks before watercoloring or smooshing. Another interesting discovery was how well these inks work on glossy paper. I made a few backgrounds taking the ink pads direct to glossy paper and blending with water. Then I simply added a few drops of gold mixative and some blending solution and a dreamy background appeared. The inks also stenciled well on glossy paper, blending and adding depth when layering colors together. These inks are super fun with lots of versatility, and I'm sure to reach for them again and again.
   

2. H2O Effects

   
   By Lydia Fiedler

   If you tell me something is water reactive, I'm in. I'm not big into other solvents, because water is so readily available and easy to use, so I love finding new products that play well with water. These inks fit the bill. As you'll see in my video, you can do lots of fun techniques with them. For me, they remind me of Derwent Inktense pencils - while wet, they are very reactive, but after they dry, they are more permanent. So this means they are great for mixed media, because you can build a bottom layer with water friendly techniques, let it dry, and then work on top of it. For this reason, I think these would be great to throw in your art journaling bag. Another way they shine is with ink blending - holy cow do they blend beautifully! I have a sample with that in the gallery. The colors are saturated, and on a few that I tested, you get a pretty separation, like the Cattail and the Pansy. You can see the separation in the Pansy on my Christmas sample. I love inks that I can get to separate for special effects. The containers stack beautifully and securely and have a nice airtight seal.
   
   

3. Beautifully Distressed - No Stress

   
   By Jennifer Timko

   Clearsnap is introducing a new product that you are sure to love!! Distress Inks are such fun to use and these Dyestress Inks are simply wonderful to use. I love the color palette and the inks react beautifully with water.
   
   I created two cards using the Dyestress Inks for backgrounds. The first I applied the ink to some acetate and then spritzed with water before applying to the Bristol Smooth Card Stock. The effect was spectacular. I used Moonstone, Scuba and Pansy for a gorgeous effect. I love how they worked together, creating that classic distress ink look. For the other background, I applied the inks directly to paper (again, Bristol Smooth) using a blender brush. The blended so evenly and easily! After adding a spritz of water I touched on some additional ink to create watermarks and darker places where the ink took to the damp paper more vividly. Then, using a stencil on top of the background, I dabbed off some of the ink with a damp paper towel to leave a light image of the die. So pretty!! The ink really behaved beautifully allowing a result that made me super happy!
   
   Next up, I created a card that used the inks as a coloring medium. I put some ink on a clear block and simply colored. So easy and fun! I stenciled on some additional ink using a circle stencil. Again, it went on so smooth and easily.
   
   I am thrilled to add these inks to my repertoire and will reach for them often! The colors work well together and their blendability will ensure success in your distress ink techniques. These Colorbox Dyestress Inks will be a go-to for any stamper!
   
   
   

4. Clearsnap Dyestress

   
   By Dina Kowal

   I enjoyed playing with the new Dyestress ink line from Clearsnap! The ink line debuts with 12 lovely colors. This is a water-reactive dye ink with an extended drying time that makes it ideal for blending and other techniques.
   
   I swatched out the colors, and found the pads to be beautifully juicy. The shape of the pad is unique, and easy to hold on to - since the pads are intended for distressing techniques, that's an important feature. The pads stack very nicely for storing - I used a strip of label paper (1/4" x 1") to add a color swatch to the side of each pad so the colors are visible when the pads are stacked.
   
   I used three ink colors to stencil a background and was really pleased with how vibrant the inks were, and how well they filled in all the stencil openings. I had mixed results with water blending, but did create a beautiful stencil print, inking up the stencil, then misting it with water and laying it onto watercolor paper. Spattered water created a wonderful starry effect on a blended background without any need to blot or lift the water. I was able to do some palette blending with the inks on a watercolored scene, and also used a blending stump to apply a little diluted ink for shadows.
   
   I feel the greatest strength of these inks is in their blendability, direct-to-paper and using a blending tool. I did have mixed results with water applications, but loved the reactivity with the water droplets - water stamping and other lifting techniques should be equally successful. Specialty inks each have their niche, which means there will be applications where they don't shine... for the stamped images on my project samples, I preferred the clear and crisp results from the ColorBox Premium Dye inks - it's great that Clearsnap has a product to meet every need!
   

5. Water reactive and they stamp well!

   
   By Janine Tinklenberg

   This is my first time using Colorbox Dystress inks. Like everyone, I have used other water-reactive dye inks so I was curious to see how these inks stacked up against other options.
   I was pleasantly surprised at how well these inks stamp. Similar inks do not level very well and stamping with them can give you a blotchy result, but these inks stamped nice and solid with the well-worn Hero Arts shadow stamp I use for swatching.
   
   I then made three different cards. The first card I made by creating a color blend with the Aster, Capri, Caribbean, and Inchworm colors using Life-Changing Brushes from Picket Fence Studios. I then stamped on top with Mondo Hydrangea from Ellen Hutson with Versamark ink, first powdering it well with a powder pouch to make sure it was absolutely dry. I then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then I used a water brush to reactive the ink inside the petals and leaves, getting a very interesting result, especially where two colors were blended together. After it dried, I smooshed the Aster pad on my Tim Holtz glass mat and used a brush to add more of that color to the centers of the hydrangea flowers.
   
   The second card I made using Concord & 9 th ’s Painted Rose stamp, stamping the rose image in Memento Tuxedo Black then using my Life-Changing Brushes to add soft color from the Bumblebee, Tomato, Inchworm, and Moss ink pads. I sprinkled a bit of water to add more texture. That was a very quick and easy yet beautiful result.
   
   My last card I used a preprinted card from ColorBox for the base and used my Life-Changing brushes again with the Mulberry and Aster colors to create a soft gradient over the print. I then stamped with the Aster, Princess, Mulberry, Inchworm, and Moss pads to see how the inks worked with layering stamps, and got a beautiful result with that as well.

Product Gallery

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