What's In Your Tool Box - Stamps and Stamp Pads

Ummmmm, let's not ask......so stamp wise, I love tim holt ditress oxide ink pad, alternes ink pads and pink fresh ink pads. I have a few others but these are my major ink pads. I do like altenew obsidian pigment ink for when I like to "water color" with my ink pad colors. It's a black ink that does better with wet applications.

 

that altenew obsidian is great for using stamps and coloring/painting them in with the bold outline.

paint splotches..... try adding some water to your paper first before applying the paint..... Oh it's quite fun..... do it on the gelli pad as well before transferring the color to the paper..... get some funky fun stuff. I do stamp my ink pads onto a class surface and play with the ink that way and mix it with water, etc.

 

I have a distressed ink that’s kind of tea stain color and a black one, but I have very few stamps to use them.

 

I have a lot of ink pads - and not only use them for stamping, but much more often to design backgrounds

1. Distress oxide - I love it very much because the color is very creamy and full-bodied.
I have many colors, I mainly use these sea colors.
The advantage is that the colors are perfect to use as a background, with a sponge, especially for tags and cards, I often spray stamp cleaner on the finished background, this creates beautiful stains

2. For me, the perfect universal color is Memento's "Paris dusk". Black is often too dark for me and this color is a full, very dark blue and looks very nice

3. I find these brown tones ideal for edges and gradations, since the companies don't take that much

4. I find the small Brilliance stamp colors ideal for cards, I love the gold tones

I mostly have non-waterproof colors because they are creamier and easier to spread.
The downside is that they can run when you then build more layers on top of them

If you're just using them for stamping, the waterproof ones are good too

 

I have real problems with ink pads ,which is a pity because I really love them.
Any tips on how to keep them nice and flowing? Maybe it is the climate here in Malta. But even the best brands,seems to turn I to something resembling lipstick in consistency,and I have so far ruined 2acrylic blocks,because I simply can not get them clean after the ink has turned that way,went every where ,including on the block. Please say you( or someone.... anyone ) have a solution.

 

Try the alcohol spray and let us know......

clear gesso or gel medium is good for making paper or the finished product more water resistant. I haven't tried it yet on stamps or water coloring but plan to do so so I can do more with the water color effect.

 

My favourite brands are Gemini, Spectrum Noir and Crafter's Companion (primarily due to them being UK brands).

 

My favorite stamps and inks are Catherine Pooler’s. She uses squishy foam pads which are lovely.

 

Where do you find those acrylic blocks that people stick their stamps on before inking them? I can't find any!

 

Yes!! I might be a bit biased since I illustrate for CP but honestly, the stamp pads are super juicy and fab. The black ink (midnight) is archival but the other inks are water-reactive and can make some fab background blending etc. They have a lot of Facebook lives and YouTube videos where you can see her stuff in use.

 

Again, I love Catherine Pooler's blocks haha. She has several shapes and sizes. They feel super good in hand.

 

I'm thrilled that I found 4 of my Tim Holtz Distress Inks and a couple of Momentas. I need to replace my ink refills, however. I inked the page of my envelope journal before I added the elements and love the way it came out.

Susie, have you looked on Amazon? I got mine (that are lost, of course), at Michael's.

 

I could just cry right now. I have NO acrylic stamps, or a few of the wooden ones I had, no acrylic blocks, hardly any ink pads. I just placed a very basic order on Amazon - the quest to replace my art supplies has begun. I DID find 3 of my Tim Holtz Distress ink pads and a couple of my Momenta inks pads.

I ordered a few more Distress Inks, some stencils, brushes, a set of basic acrylic paints - like I said, VERY basic to start with.