ColorBox Archival Dye

ColorBox® Archival permanent, quick-dry dye inks available in rich, intense and on-trend colors.

Highlights

Product Description

View the Product Sample Gallery

Reviews

1. Surprising Color

   
   By Bev Rousch

   While I am of course familiar with Clearsnap's ColorBox line, I had not had the opportunity to try their Archival pads yet.
   
   What I noticed right away were the beautiful rich colors. Very pretty and on trend. The pads are smooth and they ink both rubber and clear stamps perfectly. No lines in the impression from the ink pad. Good color even from the second generation stamping (second pressing of stamp to paper without re-inking).
   
   So that's great, right? What makes these inks different from what you've been using, you ask? Well, here it is: they are fast drying and permanent, and they will not bleed again when re-moistened.
   
   I love to watercolor. I usually have to use 2 different inks to do that. One solvent ink pad for the image and then a water-based ink for coloring in. These ColorBox Archival Dye pads change all of that. You can use their pads for stamping an image and for watercoloring it in because it won't run and muddle the colors. I tried. I for real sat there and tried to get them to bleed and blend after drying. It doesn't happen. What that also means for watercoloring is you can layer the color on top of itself to achieve a deeper hue, and because it's fast drying you don't have to wait long to add those layers.
   
   I watercolored some bunnies for some quick "hi, how ya doing" cards. I could color the bunnies in and then color the shadows over the already colored bunnies without worrying about the smearing. My life is changed. Changed, I tell you.
   These inks will transform the way you think about watercoloring.

2. Vibrant Color

   
   By Michelle Giraud

   I was so happy to play with the vibrant archival dye inks from Colorbox. The colors I received were perfect for some bright spring-like cards. Besides being incredibly rich in color, these inks dry super fast and stamp a nice clean line. I used the inks in a few different ways including stamping and sponging and got great results each time.
   
   I tested the following colors:
   Geranium - a nice vibrant warm toned red
   Blossom - not what I expected, the cover looks hot pink but the ink was closer to a watermelon red - close to the same shade as Geranium.
   Imperial - a medium, true purple
   Wave - a deep French blue with a hint of turquoise
   Irish - a perfect shamrock green - great for leaves
   Suede - a neutral medium toned tan/gray shade - worked great for stamping images as well as sponging for a distressed edge (I was surprised how much I liked this color!)
   
   I played around with coloring over the ink with alcohol based markers and found that the ink stayed in place but faded slightly, so it was compatible with my Copics. I also sprayed some images with water and glitter spray and had no problems with the ink running.
   
   While I generally use black or brown ink for my stamping I had a lot of fun with these beautifully colored inks. I'm looking forward to using them on more of my solid image stamps to get the full benefit of these gorgeous colors!
   

3. Endless Possibilities

   
   By Irene Rhodes

   I will be the first one to admit that when it comes to certain products, it is hard for me to think out of the box. A permanent ink was one of those products. When my ColorBox Archival Dye ink pads arrived from Clearsnap, I only knew it was a permanent ink. I had only used a permanent ink when I wanted to watercolor an image. I didn’t realize I could do the same things with a permanent ink as I was doing with other dye inks. It was time for me to think outside of the box.
   
   I received 6 new colors, Blossom, Geranium, Wave, Irish, Imperial, and Suede. The first two colors I used were Blossom (dark pink) and Imperial (purple). I immediately found that if I stamped the ink pads onto my kraft mat and sprayed it with water, I could get lighter versions. I would never have done this with a permanent ink in the past. I used an inky baby wipe spritzed with water to color over an embossed background. The same inky baby wipe can be used to color over a stencil. For a lighter color add more water, for a darker color add more ink to your kraft mat. Sometimes it pays to get your fingers a little inky to make the most out of your ink pads. I cleaned all of my stamping supplies with a baby wipe when I was finished.
   
   The very first ink I ever bought many years ago was ColorBox Petal Point pigment ink by Clearsnap. I still use them today. So there is no doubt my new ColorBox Archival Dye Ink is a quality product. The new colors are fabulous. They are a great addition to all of the other archival colors. My favorite is the Suede. It goes nicely with my kraft cardstock.
   
   You can watercolor an image with an aquabrush, dye your ribbon or seam binding, and dye a baby wipe to make flowers or felt-like embellishments. You can achieve a watercolored look with a solid stamp, create a background, color embossing paste, and use a stencil with it. But most importantly, ColorBox Archival Dye ink pads give you a fast drying, archival quality, permanent image that will not smear if it gets wet. It is perfect for your scrapbooking memories, handmade cards and other crafty projects.

Product Gallery

See a gallery of creations made by our review team using products and materials from Clearsnap.

View the Product Sample Gallery