ink + paint= fun!

Hey everyone! 

I know it isn't my usual day, but you will see me pop in every other Wed. for news and other fun stuff that I'm not allowed to share yet... So stay tuned! 

For today, I thought I would talk a little bit about ink. (yes, I know, this is the Creative Inspirations PAINT blog... but in all reality, ink and paint play very well together.)  I love using ink, and it makes and appearance in some way or another on most every project I do. 

Now I don't have every color of every brand of ink. In fact I really don't have that many brands (though my sister would probably disagree with that...LOL!)  Today I wanted to take a look at my collection of Colorbox inks by Clearsnap. (no, I don't work for them... I just happen to have a fairly good sized collection of their colors...that I got for a specific reason... that I'm not allowed to tell you here yet..)

One of the first things I do when I start collecting a brand of ink is to make a color ring for quick referencing.  Each card has the color name and type on it, and a color sample. This makes it simple to see at a glance what colors I have. It is a great way to play with color combo possibilities as well as find the perfect red ink to match your red paper.

I did the same thing with my CI paints. (And YES, I really do use these visual references a lot!)

Knowing the type of ink you have is also important! Some inks can be painted over with the CI paint, while others are better used as accents in other places. Here is a VERY basic rundown...

Pigment: Thicker, opaque, comes in squishy foam pads. This ink stays wet longer, and is therefor great for heat embossing. They work well with clear stamps.  It DOES NOT play well with water. (in other words, if you stamp your image and try to use CI paints on it, you will end up with a smeared mess!)

Dye: Juicier, more transparent, comes in felt pads. This is a quick drying ink. These inks can sometimes "bead" on the clear stamps leaving a blotchy image. Some dye ink are permanent (or Archival) while others are more water based.. The Archival ones CAN be painted over with no smearing. The  water based ones cannot. (If you are unsure what you have, test it on a scrap paper first!)

Chalk: these are kind of a combination of the other two... They dry quickly like dye inks, but they are thick like the pigment inks.  They are more opaque than dye inks, but not as opaque as pigment. They work well with clear stamps, and they CAN be painted over without smearing. 

Now... we all know how much I like things to match. SO... I have put together a quick reference guide for which Colorbox inks match which Creative Inspirations paints.  I hope you enjoy it. I love how well inks and the CI paints work together and compliment each other!

~Kassi 

(click on the images to enlarge to readable size...)