Ink a Dink, a Pad With Ink

I've been working my way slowly through a lot of brands of ink pads, seeking a favorite. I will work with an ink for a while, learning its properties and the way it behaves, then I move on to a different ink.

I've tried dye inks, I've tried pigment inks, hybrids, permanent, water soluble and non. I prefer pigment inks to dye inks and water soluble to non. Therefore, hybrid inks don't trip my trigger. Chalk inks I like, but the dark colors stain my stamps and I'm a clean freak. Some pigment inks come with a very juicy inkpad and I don't like to use them until they have dried up a bit. Some have a very soft inkpad and I can't control how much ink I apply. Some inkpads are too dry and/or dry out very quickly. I have re-inkers, but I'd rather not have to haul them out each and every time I use the ink. Some inkpads, like the Ranger Distress inks have a small inkpad and inking a larger stamp can be a PITA. I've found that many of my Adirondak pads aren't level and I have to make sure that I'm pressing firmly enough to flatten them to get a stamp evenly inked. Many pigment inks take a very long time to dry.

Versamark pigment ink has a firmer inkpad, is a pigment ink and it's water soluble. It also dries quickly. I really like using it. The pad I can find most easily is a standard small size. I've also got Archival Ink in jet black and sepia in the large pads. That's another ink I rather like. These are the ink pads with the monk using a quill on the front of the pad. Yeah, that one. The pad for both brands is firm, level, and not too juicy but will still ink up a stamp without requiring that you bang it against the ink pad for a while.

I used to see videos of people tapping an ink pad on a stamp, or just seeming to press the stamp to the ink gently and poof! there would be this perfect image. I was always fighting with my ink pads to get them to behave well. I tried the Versamark and the Archival ink pads. Go ahead, point a camera at me. My stamp pads now behave.