Dye inks

[pamcook]

Help! What is the trick to using the foam dye ink pads? I get the ink e.v.e.r.y.where. Everywhere.
Is it possible to contain it or do i just need years of practice?

[Monica]

Which brand? Different brands can be a lot juicier than others. For example, the Clearsnap dye inkpads I've always found to be overly juicy to the point of disaster.

[paddlegal]

If they are anything like Catherine Pooler ink pads, which are foam pads, you do have to be gentle inking up. Place your stamp face up on your craft table. Now take the ink pad upside down and gently tap the ink pad to the stamp. I hope that works for you. CP pads are very juicy until they need reinking and this method works the best and is also her recommendation.

[nchoney]

With the foam pads, being gentle is key. They're super wet.

[Keitha]

You had me stymied with that question Pam, I think all my dye ink pads are felt. Not sure I'd want foam ones; I tend to be heavy-handed and it would be all too easy to get too much ink on the stamp.
My other thought though, would be to always use the stamp press - even for just one stamp in one place. That way the pressure is even, so even if heavy, should prevent any ink from edges and crevices getting on your paper. The only ones I consistently have issues with are those little pixie alpha stamps on the long wooden blocks, and I decided long ago to embrace the imperfections when stamping with those.

[pamcook]

Thanks all - the only dye inks I own now are the CP inks. I'll remember to tap the pad onto the stamp (instead of the reverse) and use my MISTI. Both should help and both are ideas I should have thought of myself! I love her colors but until I refine my technique, I'll hold off on many more purchases.
I bought the Twilight pad last week because I had lost my other grey ink pad (don't laugh - I keep one pad per color - "red" "blue" "grey"...) and of course the day the new one arrived, I remembered where I had stashed the other. Thankfully, they are very different shades of grey (I really didn't want to type "shades of grey" but there, I've done it twice.).

Cross your fingers for me!

[paddlegal]

Keitha’s suggestion of using the MISTI is also a great idea. I love my WRMK Precision Plus Advanced over all my other presses and tend to use it the most over the individual acrylic handles.

Part of the usefulness of the foam pads is being able to swipe a nice opaque color directly onto paper. I often swipe borders of white card stock to customize mattes rather than use colored card stock. I do have to re-ink the pads often because of that but it’s worth it. I am totally hooked on CP inks as you can tell.

[pamcook]

Keitha’s suggestion of using the MISTI is also a great idea. I love my WRMK Precision Plus Advanced over all my other presses and tend to use it the most over the individual acrylic handles.

Part of the usefulness of the foam pads is being able to swipe a nice opaque color directly onto paper. I often swipe borders of white card stock to customize mattes rather than use colored card stock. I do have to re-ink the pads often because of that but it’s worth it. I am totally hooked on CP inks as you can tell.

That's a good idea - I will often layer my backgrounds and using an ink pad to frame my page sounds like a fun option.
I really want to support Catherine being she's a neighbor and all...

[Keitha]

Thanks all - the only dye inks I own now are the CP inks. I'll remember to tap the pad onto the stamp (instead of the reverse) and use my MISTI. Both should help and both are ideas I should have thought of myself! I love her colors but until I refine my technique, I'll hold off on many more purchases.
I bought the Twilight pad last week because I had lost my other grey ink pad (don't laugh - I keep one pad per color - "red" "blue" "grey"...) and of course the day the new one arrived, I remembered where I had stashed the other. Thankfully, they are very different shades of grey (I really didn't want to type "shades of grey" but there, I've done it twice.).

Cross your fingers for me!

Well, as long as you don't have 50 of them!