Types of Inks and how they differ-a brief guide/ Tipnique Tuesday

Hi all
well my puffy steam punk heart is still awaiting time for me to play with it...one thing lead to another and I just never got back to it. Last week I was trying to make some space to have a go at playing with the heart as my desk had been swallowed up with Christmas papers and colours. In doing so I rediscovered three draws of old paper crafting how too's and techniques. I've put them all in a folder now and was thinking of revisiting some at regular intervals this year and sharing them here. Some will be VERY simple and easy yet just maybe new to others. Some will be just a tip and others a technique.
I remember when I first started playing with paper crafts being overwhelmed by which type of inks did what so here is a brief difference description of a few commonly used ones. There is a vast amount more then the ones I shall talk about but this is just a taster...

Pigment-Based Inks
Pigment inks are slow drying, which makes them the perfect ink to use when you want to emboss with powders. Embossing powder is sprinkled on top of the stamped pigment ink, shake off excess and heat with a heat gun or over a toaster till the powders melt...it leaves a shiny raised surface. Be careful if you don't emboss as they can stay wet and easily smudge for days. Stamps will slide easily if you try to stamp on a gloss card with pigment inks. Clean up is with water/wash up liquid or a stamp cleaning solution. Examples of pigment-based inks include Adirondack Pigment Inks by Ranger Industries, ColorBox by Clearsnap, Craft Stampin’ Pad by Stampin’ Up!, VersaColor and Brilliance inks by Tsukineko
Versafine Ink by Tsukineko is an oil based instant dry pigment ink. It is water resistant so can be used on water colour papers and will keep a well defined stamping edge when you add colour to your image. It dries too quick for embossing well.
Versamark ink pad by Tsukineko is a very thick ink. The ink stays wet longer when stamped and chalk, pearl ex powder etc can be dusted on top. They will stick where the ink has been stamped and you just gentle dust away the excess with a soft brush. You can also stamp on gloss card and brayer or stipple on coloured inks over the top and the stamped image will resist the colour applied giving a ghost effect. Stamp on coloured card to create a watermark effect. Its also an excellent ink for applying embossing powders too.
 
Dye-Based Inks
Dye-based inks dry quickly and are heavily pigmented. This makes them ideal for quick stamping on card stock, paper, and many other surfaces when you don’t want the ink to smear. Best used on porous surfaces. They are water soluble though and will leach out if water is dropped on top. Generally they dry too quick for embossing powders to be added on top. Cleaning the ink of the stamp is easily done with water and paper towel or even a little dish wash liquid, water and a paper towel. You can tap a paint brush on top and dip it in water and paint with them. Smoosh the pad on a craft mat, spritz it with water and press card stock on top for yummy bgs etc etc.These are the types of inks you will find in most ink jet printers.
Examples of dye-based inks include: Distress Ink and Adirondack inks by Ranger Industries, and Vivid dye inks by Clearsnap and Memories by Stewart Superior Corporation
There are fast drying dye inks that are more resistant to water. They are water resistant or waterproof when dry so can be used on porous and non porous surfaces. They can stain stamps and you will need a stamp cleaning solution to clean stamps. Examples of these sorts of pads are Ancient Page Dye Ink by Clearsnap and Memories India Ink Black Dye Ink by Stewart Superior

Solvent-Based Inks
Solvent-based inks are designed for stamping on nonporous surfaces, which makes them ideal for projects involving metal, acrylic, glass, glossy photos, Vellum and transparencies. It will stain your stamps and must be cleaned off stamps using a solvent based cleaner. It's what I use when I want an ink resist for etching metal. An example of solvent-based inks include StazOn by Tsukineko and the ink in Sharpie markers.


 Then there is the whole world of types of paper and card stocks. Generally paper crafters use 180-300gms card stock. It depends on how sturdy you want the base card. The higher the grams on the card stock the thicker and sturdier the card will be. Gloss card is used for printing photos on, stamping photo stamps on and making bgs with inks and sprays etc. Gloss card can be very cheap(inks sit on surface and doesn't sink in well which is good for doing ink jet transfers) or expensive which lets the ink sink in more and making the images less likely to be affected by water and other mediums. Watercolour paper comes in different grams and will be rough(cold pressed) or smooth (hot pressed). Its absorbent and there are many many ways to use it.
Then there are coated papers, Valiums (films), tissue papers, hand made papers and so on...the list is really endless. A lot of the time with paper and card stock its more about getting some and have a play and see what you can do for yourself with them. The same is true with the vast amounts of inks and ink pads out there. I've only mentioned a mere few. All usually have info re the ink type, its use and how to clean up afterwards on the back as a guide. There really is no right and wrong and many techniques using inks have been discovered simply by people playing outside those guidelines. My little guide is the tip of the iceberg so just Google away if there is more you want to know.

I've always bought the re inker at the time I buy a new stamp pad and that's a BIG tip I pass on. It's darn annoying when your ink pad runs dry and you have no re inker!. To re ink you just add drops on the surface of the pad and gently massage in the ink with the nozzle of the re inker or re ink as per manufacturer guidelines. You can even buy blank stamp pads and make your own ink pads if you want. Not everyone does but I also store my ink pads upside down so the ink is more likely to be on the surface when you need it. ALSO if your ink pad comes with a covering film or plastic cover on top of the pad KEEP IT. Remove it for stamping and then put it back on. If you get sick of removing and reapplying it just place some double sided tape under the lid to attach it in place and you want even have to think about it. My last tip with ink pads is if they come loose from the base you can glue them back down with Super Glue even if they are wet with ink. Hope this helps someone :o).
hugs
Annette In Oz