Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
I am having trouble deciding if I NEED craft ink.. I use the classic pads but they are not "juicy" enough for me even after using the reinkers.. I like the craft ink I have (white and vaniila) but wondered what you all think.. Which is best if you can only have one?? I like getting the enitre color family but do i need craft ink in colors?? What can it be used for? I would lOVE some advice.. I am not a demo -just an addict and HATE not having the right tool for the job! Thanks in advance..
I only have the vanilla and white craft ink and so far I haven't felt I "needed" any other colors. I do know you can us clear embossing powder over the colored craft ink. If I ever decide I need more colors, I think I'll just get the spots. I know there are other uses for craft ink, but I just don't care for it. I feel like it's kinda messy!!
I prefer Craft ink.... I usually have a hard time getting good coverage with my classics. I love that you can emboss with Craft ink, and I deal with the increased drying time by keeping my Heat Embosser handy.
SO if you have craft ink you can actually emboss with the ink instead of versmark (I LOVE my versmark so "juicy" HAHA!! )?? Thats a good quality of the craf tinks.. I like the thickness of the craft on the paper and feel that sometimes my classics are just not bold enough.. especially if I have a small item and I want it to "pop" without embossing.. Great help thus far- keep em coming..
I really like both types of inks. The right tool for the job, is right! The classics are great for quick, fast drying cards (most cards really), but the craft inks have a great depth of color. They show up truer on other colors and in most cases are more vibrant. Like I said, I like them both. Clean up with the craft is a bit messier than the classic. But if you keep a spritzer full of plain water and some paper towels handy, it's not that big of a deal. Good Luck. But I say there are needs for both!
Location: In my stamp room getting ink on my fingers!
Posts: 5,080
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by laurakj
I really like both types of inks. The right tool for the job, is right! The classics are great for quick, fast drying cards (most cards really), but the craft inks have a great depth of color. They show up truer on other colors and in most cases are more vibrant. Like I said, I like them both. Clean up with the craft is a bit messier than the classic. But if you keep a spritzer full of plain water and some paper towels handy, it's not that big of a deal. Good Luck. But I say there are needs for both!
I agree with everything that Laura has said. Another added plus with Craft inks is that you can stamp a light ink color on dark cardstock and it will show up. Plus I really think it's worth saying again, you can't beat the depth of color.
I love SU too, but you know, there are other kinds of ink out there, lots of them! The best ink to emboss with is Versafine, it gives excellent coverage on the stamp, and is terrific for detail stamps. It also dries beautifully without embossing. Another ink that gives great coverage is Colorbox chalk, although this is not a pigment ink, so you can't emboss with it.
Colorbox chalk, although this is not a pigment ink, so you can't emboss with it. If it is like the chalk ones by colorbox that SU carries I've been lucky if I've worked quick and been able to emboss with them. Just my 2 cents. I bought the craft spots when they were on special a couple months ago and I love them. The color is much richer than regular inks. Hope this helps.
I love both types of ink too, and use both of them almost equally. I didn't want to buy all of the craft pads though, so I bought all of the craft ink spots and LOVE them! Now I have all of the colors w/o all of the price!
It seems people are liking the craft ink alot but also it is pricy..I always hesitated to get the sopts thinking that you would have to reink them often.. How much ink can they hold? Are they raised? One think that makes me mad abaout the classics is that they are not raised so if you try to ink a larger stamp it gets the wood all messy.. I may have to play around with my very vanilla and decide..
It seems people are liking the craft ink alot but also it is pricy..I always hesitated to get the sopts thinking that you would have to reink them often.. How much ink can they hold? Are they raised? One think that makes me mad abaout the classics is that they are not raised so if you try to ink a larger stamp it gets the wood all messy.. I may have to play around with my very vanilla and decide..
What do you mean they are not raised?:confused: All SU!'s pads are raised, even the old ones.
It seems people are liking the craft ink alot but also it is pricy..I always hesitated to get the sopts thinking that you would have to reink them often.. How much ink can they hold? Are they raised? One think that makes me mad abaout the classics is that they are not raised so if you try to ink a larger stamp it gets the wood all messy.. I may have to play around with my very vanilla and decide..
Yes, the craft spots are raised.
I also bought mine during the craft spot special. I've reinked one already. I used that one color to make 12 of these cards:
The craft ink was used on the print pattern background (which is really hard to see in the scan), to color the edges of the vellum and also to emboss the label classic stamp.
I mean raised like the versamark pads.. Squishy is maybe a better word.. seems to me that the classic pads (new ones) are so hard.. I dont feel you can press the ink into specific places that you need it.. I guess its just preference..
I have all craft and just a few classic, which usually when I use them, I get frustrated. Stamps with large flat surfaces just don't ink up right. Take the tag punch box for instance. It came with classic spots, and the stamps are mostly solid surfaces. When I use the classic on them the stamped image looks "spotty". I love my craft inks, and when I need quick drying for a card, I can always use my markers if the image isn't too big, or bust out with the heat tool. I'm sure I'll eventually get more classic pads, for now I'm ok with the RR spots, and a few BB pads to choose from.
I am having trouble deciding if I NEED craft ink..
I forgot to mention, I guess the bottom line is, do you already own all the classic colors? If not, maybe the next family to get should be a set of craft...otherwise you might just opt for the spots to give you some variety of choices.
Yes I have all of the classic pads.. and was going to buy all of the craftpads.. didnt really know what the difference was when I bought all the classic ones except for price. I wish I looked into it further.. I think I will get the craft pads and play around.. But NOW I need another ink caddy - It never ends.. But I love it!
I guess I was lucky my demo new I was a scrapbooker, she suggested I buy craft, and I was hesitant at first because of the price...and I wanted to be just like her, she only uses classic.
We had never used craft in a workshop and I didn't know the difference then. Now, looking back I'm glad I went for it, because I personally prefer the craft inks. I had a lot of fun sponging them with my plaidmaker...messy but awesome results, take a look.
I prefer craft, but I started stamping with pigment inks before knowing about SU. I have 3 families of craft spots and 1 of classic. I will now but the pads of the other types of ink for the colors I use the most. I feel like I just have to have both kinds now but if I had to choose it would be craft.
__________________ Taryn
"Forget regret or life is yours to miss." - Jonathan Larson
I've only really used Classic pads, I am posting a note on the difference between the full size pads and the spots. I love the spots because of the fact that they are small and easily fit in your hand. I only have about 5 ink refills and have not had any problems with needing to reink, and i have had the spots almost a year. Granted there are some spots that I almost NEVER use, and I need to reink a few of my spots now (my friend's party Feb 25 is when i'm getting more ink refills to take care of that problem). The only time I do not like the spots is on BG stamps; because they are small it take a little work to cover the entire stamp.
One other quick note about spots, You want to keep them upright in the box so that you can see the colors, so you need to store the boxes upside down, but when you do that you can't see the label on the top of the box telling you what color group they are; and there are no labels on the side of the box so you end up flipping over every box, and the color group you want is always the one shuffled to the bottom, lol. So i just turned the box upside down for storage and wrote the name of the color group so that while they're upside down I can read the names right side up. lol I'm not underestimating other people's intelligence, but it took me about a month to figure that out, and boy did I feel stupid once I thought of it. ROFL And I chose to write it on the side, and not the bottom, because I have the 4 color groups from last years catalog (I haven't purchased the new colors but need to soon) and they are always stacked.
I love SU too, but you know, there are other kinds of ink out there, lots of them! The best ink to emboss with is Versafine, it gives excellent coverage on the stamp, and is terrific for detail stamps. It also dries beautifully without embossing. Another ink that gives great coverage is Colorbox chalk, although this is not a pigment ink, so you can't emboss with it.
Liz, you cannot emboss with Versafine as it dries on matt cardstock almost immediately. Did you mean Versacolor? Or perhaps you meant stamp rather than emboss?
I love my black versafine for watercoloring, or using prismacolor and gamsol, as it dries and is waterproof immediately. It is also fantastic for intricate stamps like Summer by the Sea or Stipple Rose.
I mean raised like the versamark pads.. Squishy is maybe a better word.. seems to me that the classic pads (new ones) are so hard.. I dont feel you can press the ink into specific places that you need it.. I guess its just preference..
if I have a problem inking the stamp /i prss the ink pad onto the stamp to get better coverage --works every time!
Silly question pertaining to this subject... I'm hijaking, I know, but I am in a similar situation and was wondering... can you do the techniques with the craft that you can do with the classic ink? I mean, like inking with sponges, stamping the ink off on scratch paper before stamping on the project to get a lighter color, etc. etc.etc.??? Love seeing everyone's reviews on the two pads! Thanks!
__________________ Colee
My Blog: Right Here, Right Now "Come quickly! I am tasting stars!" - Dom Perignon (1638-1714) at his first sip of Champagne
i have both sets, but i got the stampin' spots because it was much more affordable to get the entire set w/out breaking the bank. i like the craft inks because of their great colors, but i find myself using the regular dye inks b/c of the shorter drying time w/out having to get out the heat tool. i stamp while my toddler sleeps in the next room, so i try to be as quiet as possible.
i put dymo labels on my boxes so that i could store the boxes upside down, but still be able to tell which box i was grabbing. i've got a tall stack w/ all of those sets of spots so the labels really help.
__________________ "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that." - Bill Shankly
I've had all the classic pads for years, but bought the craft spots during the special last fall. I have to say that I love that craft ink! I don't use it all the time, but I like to layer my backgrounds and craft ink is good to lay down your "main" background, then you can use classic (in the same color or different) to distress it.
Here's an example: Gallery at Splitcoaststampers This was done with Print Pattern in Sage Shadow craft as the base, then Weathered in Handsome Hunter class over top of that, then the splatter from Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Close to Cocoa classic and White craft. Mixing the inks and the bg's gives you more depth, I think. The craft pops out at you and the classic is more subtle.
Ditto, too, that craft ink gives you better coverage -- especially on the large, broad-based stamps. I'm seriously considering getting the full-sized craft pads
Silly question pertaining to this subject... I'm hijaking, I know, but I am in a similar situation and was wondering... can you do the techniques with the craft that you can do with the classic ink? I mean, like inking with sponges, stamping the ink off on scratch paper before stamping on the project to get a lighter color, etc. etc.etc.??? Love seeing everyone's reviews on the two pads! Thanks!
I have the craft spots, and stamping off doesn't work nearly as well as with the classic pads. The ink is so thick that nearly all of it comes off on the paper and there's barely anything left on the rubber for doing a 2nd generation image.
__________________ Rachel Proud SU! demo and Sci-Fi Geek!
My Stampin' Up! blog "I'm a time traveler -- I point and laugh at archaeologists." 10th Doctor, "Silence in the Library"
I am kind of new to stamping, but my sister is a SU consultant and she told me to get the craft stampin' spots. What a good idea it was! I bought the earth elements and soft subtles to start with, and even though they are small little ink pads, they work really well on any stamper and are very colorful. It is also easy to selectively ink areas on a stamper (like leaving words off of the stamp) with using the craft stampin' spot. You can emboss with them too! The markers are so wonderfully color coordinated with them too.
My two cents worth is just...if you decide to go with the craft pads...be careful with your stamping. Not only are they messy to clean up with, your inking technique is quite a bit different. If you are used to pressing hard on the classic pads to get color coverage, when you use a craft pad, the same pressure will ruin your piece if you don't test it out on scratch paper first. Your classic pads will stay juicy if you store them upside down so you don't have to worry about the appearance of "dry" pads and uneven stamping. The only craft pad I've used so far is white for snowflakes around the holidays...but even then you have to be careful not to push too hard or you end up with blobs. I guess a good rule of thumb with craft pads is "less is more". :O)
Great advice.. I did end up getting them and yes I noticed that you are correct I didnt have to push so hard.. if Idid it was a little fuzzy/hazy- Thank goodness my first attempts were only the "hand stamped by" on the back of the cards.. I noticed also that they ink squishes up into all the grooves on the stamp so it is messier.. How do you clean the craft ink.. I dont want all that extra ink going all over my scrubbie cleaning pad.. I guess as you wise fellow stampers have warned- there is a + and - to both craft and classic..
Classic or Craft inK?? HELP!
