Stamping for beginners =S.I.P. part 2

In part 1 of this 3-part series, I covered the “S” which stands for Stamps. Today is part 2. The “I” in S.I.P. which stands for ink. The good news is that even though there is a whole world of ink choices out there, I’m going to boil it down to make it easier to understand.

Ink pads. Nearly every time you take a stamp to the paper, you need an ink pad. The first and most common type is a dye-ink pad which Stampin’ Up! calls Classic Stampin’ Pads. Ours come in a variety of classic colors and handfuls of trendy colors as well. You’ll need a couple Stampin’ Pads to get you started, and you can grow your collection from there. You’ll find that you want to “have them all” and its not a ridiculous goal, especially since they can be purchased individually, or at a discount when you purchase them by Color Group.

These pads are designed to work with any size stamp, as the surface of the pad is raised higher than the case. The design is also brilliant since, when closed, the top of the pad actually rests upside down, which keeps the ink on the surface of the pad when you go to use it. This dye-ink will transfer to the cardstock or paper nicely and will dry almost immediately. You’ll be happy to know that the ink pads can be re-inked once they start to become dry which saves money in the long run. Re-inkers are inexpensive and can help you to maintain your ink pads for many many years.

Aside from dye-based, colored ink pads, you’ll need to have at least 1 really good black ink pad. A black ink pad is how you get the image of an outline stamp onto your project. An outline stamp (think of a coloring book image) leaves areas to be filled in with markers, colored pencils or other coloring medium. The one I recommend is called Memento Tuxedo Black. It is re-inkable as well, and is a wonderful choice when coloring with alcohol-based markers like our Stampin’ Blends.

The Versamark pad is another ink pad that may want in your collection. The ink in this pad is essentially invisible or clear. When stamped on colored cardstock, it makes a watermark. It basically takes on the color of the cardstock so it’s a tone-on-tone look which can be very effective as a background or other subtle look. You can also use the Versamark pad, coupled with embossing powder and a heat tool to get a heat-embossed image. Heat embossing will be covered in a future Technique post.

All of these inks will easily clean off your stamp using plain water and a Simply Shammy or a Stampin’ Scrub. No special cleaners are needed. Aside from basic ink pads, which I’ve now covered, you may want to have some coloring tools as well. These certainly qualify in the category of ink, but in a different way. These coloring tools and options will be covered in a future post. So check back often!

That about wraps up the basics of ink pads! Part 3 of S.I.P. covering Paper will be posted soon. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your interest and support.