Stamp Pads & Embossing Powders by Steph Schirmer

There are enormous amount of stamp pads and embossing powders on the market for every level of stamper to feel comfortable using. Everyone has their favorites and uses them for different things. There are all kinds of inks from pigments, dyes, chalks and embossing powders from detailed, distress, ultra thick, clear, and colored. Lets try and break some of them down.

Pigment Inks:

Pigment Inks are a slower drying inks which allow you to emboss on a variety of things from paper to wood. If you stamp pigments on glossy you must always emboss or the inks don’t dry. You can also do several printings with pigment ink getting a subtle print after each time you stamp. Pigments can also be used on Polymer Clay. There are a wide variety of companies that offer pigment ink and you just have to find one you like working with. Here are just a few:

1. ColorBox and Chalks
2. Versacolor
3. VersaMark
4. Brilliance
5. Color It by Ranger
6. Encores



Dye Inks:

Dye Inks are the most common used ink in stamping because they dry instantly. They are versatile, water based, fade resistant and some are even scented. They allow you to stamp an image and work with it right away. Dyes can also be used with Polymer clay. There are a wide variety of companies that have dye pads, and again find one you like and work with it. Here are just a few:

1 Adirondacks
2 Vivids
3 Ancient Page
4 Distress Inks
5 Kaleidacolor
6 StazOn
7 Fresco Chalks
8 Sea Shells
9 StampinUp
10 Memories
11. Marvy



Embossing Powder:
Embossing powders have come along way with time, besides being gold, silver or clear now you can get a whole rainbow of colors. There is also a line of distress powders by Tim Holtz and Suze Weinberg has a whole line of Ultra Thick. The Ultra thick or UTEE can be used to make some cool effects, embellishments and you can coat things complete with Ultra thick over and over. The VersaMark pad was the popular pad to emboss with. There are several heat tools out there that are needed to heat up the embossing powder like Marvy, Milwaukee, Heat It, Stampin Up and prices vary, so finding on in your price you be easy.

A side note to the VersaMark and Clear Resist pad, these pad are used in a stamping technique called resist. These pads stamps clear and when dry and dye inks are placed over them the images pop out of the paper. They also can be used to stamp an image in the background on dark cardstock and when they dry you can see them, the sample by the dye inks shows this.



The main thing is to try stamp pads and embossing powder to see which one you like. Don’t invest in a whole line till you know they are something you will use over and over, and a great tip is to always buy a reinker when possible.

I want to thank the following people for their help with my column, I can’t do this with your help, Lis, Mary, Cheryl, Viki and Daylene.

If there is a topic you would like discussed please let me know and I will be happy to address it.

Steph Schirmer
sschirmer@stampersmall.com
 

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