which white ink?

[Tanfastic]

Hi Peeps.

I was wondering if you could give me some advice on selecting a good white ink for stamping over coloured papers/cardstock. The main thing I want to do is add my own stamped backgrounds to various coloured card/paper (plain and already patterned) to make my own custom papers for cards and scrapbooking. I've got some Inkadinkadoo (sketchy flourishes) and damask stamps that I think would look great but I haven't had any success with the inks I've tried so far.

I recently purchased white Ink It Up! (dye based) from Hobbycraft but it was really faint on coloured paper and I had to press the pad really hard on the stamp to get a decent amount of ink on it. So I swapped it for Hobbycraft's Ink Pad (pigment based) and this one is worse - it's completely transparent on coloured paper. Is it because they are cheap (under £3.00)?

I was considering buying StazOn in white as I have the jet black and apart from it being a bit 'sticky' it gives good impressions, but as the white one isn't cheap, before I splashed out I was wondering whether anyone had a preference or a recommendation. I was also looking at Adirondack Paint Dabbers but the shop I looked in only had Metallic Pearl and I didn't really want a shimmery image. I've since found one in 'Snow Cap' on Scrap Revolution's site but wasn't sure if it would be better to go for this acrylic paint dabber rather than ink.

Any advice you could give me would be really helpful.

Thanks so much!

[cattylady]

I've never liked the Ink-it-up inks, the pads seem to dry up very quickly.

I've got a Stazon white -its called Cotton White - and it does give quite good coverage on plain dark colours, can't say I've tried it on a patterned background though. As with all Stazon it needs a solvent cleaner to get it off the stamp. I found it dries up quickly on the pad too - it comes with a re-inker which you really will need (I suppose this is why its expensive).

I also use a Brilliance (pigment) ink called Moonlight White, I like this on vellum, I don't think it would be dense enough to use on colours, though I have used it on black & it was quite a nice effect.

To be honest I dont think ANY inkpad will give a really dense white like you can get with the pens. Whether this matters to you depends on the effects you're after.

[maggiemae]

Yup! Staz-on Cotton White and Brilliance Moonlight White would be my 2 recommendations too - with ink you get what you pay for.

If you want really white images then I would suggest stamping using versamark then heat embossing with white embossing powder.

[Hysteri-CAL]

Yup! Staz-on Cotton White and Brilliance Moonlight White would be my 2 recommendations too - with ink you get what you pay for.

If you want really white images then I would suggest stamping using versamark then heat embossing with white embossing powder.

Ditto !

[Tanfastic]

Thanks you guys!

I had thought of embossing but didn't really want a raised effect. I don't mind if the white isn't really bright, I just want it to show up on the paper really and the cheapies I bought didn't do that.

Someone's offered to let me try their StazOn and Brilliance ink pads, so I think I'll do that then decide.

As for using pens - I'd love to invest in some for colouring in and stamping but haven't decided on which ones would be the best for my needs - a whole other thread there! I've also read a couple of the posts on different colour pencils for colouring in stamped images and I can't make up my mind on those either, plus cash is really tight at the mo so I'll stick to my background stamps and decide on image colouration when I get some more suitable stamps. (I want everything!!)

Thanks again

Tan xxx

[Fairysparkle]

Clourbox pigment ink Frosty white is my fave

[Tanfastic]

Hi all

just to say a big thanks to everyone for their tips and recommendations, I have finally solved my problem with two Adirondack paint dabbers in Snow Cap and Pearl. As they are acrylic paint I can use them on a range of surfaces and they are strong enough to cover coloured card/paper.

Sorted!