Hello paper friends and thanks so much for stopping by!
Today I have a special share. I was asked by the lovely people at
Couture Creations if I would be interested in reviewing some new inks that they have formulated which will be hitting scrapbooking stores soon. Of course I jumped at the chance!
I was given a few to play with a selection of both pigment and dye. In total there is 68 colours. 32 pigment colours and 36 dye ink colours. So I had a few of each to play with.
The pigment inks were the first ones to catch my eye. The colour palette is divine! Whilst they take a little longer than dye inks to dry the end result is definitely worth it. They have a high pad that is soft and juicy and the colours have the most beautiful pearly shimmery effect.
This first card I created I used the pigments inks and just some cheap blending brushes. I blended the colour through a stencil. I used white non textured cardstock. Because pigment ink stays wet for longer it is perfect for embossing. I still had plenty of time to get a good covering of ink, remove my stencil and then applied some clear embossing powder over the top and heat set it.
They blended beautifully!
For my second card I again used the pigment ink. This time I just set it aside to dry and when it was dry it has the most beautiful shimmer from the inks. The "Smile" sentiment I again used the pigment ink and heat set with some embossing powder.
A tip- when using the pigment ink for blending through a stencil, as the pigment is a lot wetter than the dye based ink use a really gentle hand so that the ink doesn't pool in the corner of your stencil and leave blobs. You will then get a lovely crisp image when you remove your stencil.
I specifically asked for a white pigment ink in my pack as I wanted to see how it went over black cardstock. WOW! It turned out amazing
Usually white ink it a little washed out but this gave me a lovely crisp print on a darker card. I did use a textured piece of cardstock for this card but had no problems at all blending the ink. I think it would "pop" even more with a second coat and a non textured card too. That's on my list of things to try!
For my next card I wanted to see how the pigment ink reacted with a little bit of water. I wanted to use it as a bit of a splash of colour on the back of my card and thought it may of lost a bit of its pearly shimmer. But NOPE! Still perfect and pretty!
But here comes the totally awesome bit - These inks cover chipboard like a dream!!!! Seriously one coat was all I needed on those chipboard leaves. And again the shimmer - oh so pretty!! Everyone knows how much I love chipboard so this for me is a game changer!
I then switched to the dye based inks.
My first card I used the same stencil and the same technique with blending brushes loaded up with the dye ink.
The result was a little softer, not quite as vibrant as the pigment but even tho they were softer, they were true to colour on the lid. The dye based inks when blending, while they blend really well the take a little longer to build up the colour. I love the soft pretty look it gave. I stamped the sentiment in the lilac dye ink and its stamped beautifully and crisp!
For my last card I decided to use both the inks together.
I stamped the image with the dye based black ink. PERFECT results! Beautiful crisp image.
I then used both the inks with just a dribble of water to colour my image. I also stamped my sentiment with the black dye ink too.
So I have to say after really putting these inks through their paces, I am definitely a lover of these little ink pads. They really pack a punch! There is a lovely colour palette and I love the smaller size as the are easier for storage and for me I find them easier to handle as well.
Look out for them soon in your local paper craft store!
Until next time
