What type of ink?

partly depends on your goals and uses. I think the mini cubes are probably a good value if you want a lot of colors and don’t have a ton of money and space to spare. There’s a discussion on the stamping board right now about the Gina K minis and some other options. I think the downside to the minis is that they don’t hold as much ink.

If you want inks for stamping smaller things in the backgrounds of layouts then the minis may be sufficient. If you’re looking for inks for card making or bigger projects, or for mixed media type applications you might need something a little different. Distress Oxides are great for playing with (blending, water activated stuff) but they don’t give the cleanest stamping (better than regular distress though). Catherine Pooler inks are really vibrant and juicy- they’re good for stamps with bigger solid areas. Scrapbook.com has their own brand of inks that can be used with stencils and blending or for stamping images - Shimelle has used them on a lot of layout recently and seems to be enjoying them.

There are so many other brands though, with many devotees (SSS, Hero Arts, SU! etc) and I think most of them are really good - you might be better off asking if anyone would have an ink they hate and would recommend avoiding. There are a few ink discussions on the stamp/cardmaking board that have a lot more opinions and info.

I reach for my distress and distress oxides for techniques but not stamping. Love them, but not for stamping.

For stamping, I reach for my die inks - I have hero arts, gina k, lawn fawn, simon says stamp. Dare I say, they all seem equal? Go with the colours you love! Every company has them now, I think they're all pretty good quality. Find colours that make your heart sing I'm eyeing the new Pink Fresh...love the colours, want the rainbow

99% of the time I use Archival Ink. I even have all of the minis. They are the only inks I have the minis because the ink is SO good!

It def depends on what you are trying to stamp.

For outlines, sentiments, etc. I prefer Tsukineko Versafine Onyx Black.

For using alcohol makers I use Memento Tuxedo Black.

I prefer the regular Ranger distress inks to the oxides. I like the oxides on darker color paper, but I have no problem blending the regular distress inks and like their vibrancy more.

I tried Gina K cubes and I like her color choices. But I found I really like having color families for layering and creating depth, so I tried the Altenew mini cubes. I had ok results with them, but a little patchiness. So when I saw Pinkfresh's selection of inks and the cube families, I went all in on a scrapbook.com sale and stocked up. At first stamp I was a little concerned about the splotchy look and color tones, but they improve as they dry.

I bought my Mom a whole set of the scrapbook.com inks for what I thought would suit her purposes, but she found a lot of them dried out before even using and the colors were not that vibrant.

I also still reach for my Tsukineko tear drop chalk inks (which they sell in Michaels and joanns) and I still really love them. I've probably had some for 10+ years and they still work just fine.

I def prefer the mini cubes bcz they are easier to handle and control, also they are generally only $2-3 so if I get a bad one or the color isn't quite right, it's not a big loss.

What kind of stamps?  Rubber, photopolymer (clear), acrylic (also clear)?  All are fine to stamp with, but I would make different recommendations based on what you're using.

Shakti - While not don, I have exclusively used Tsukineko inks for almost two decades! I'm not a cardmaker & only use inks for minimal mixed media on layouts (i.e. basic stamping, stenciling, embossing, inking edges), so I prefer pigment inks for their archival qualities. I initially purchased only cubes (e.g. VersaMark, VersaFine, VersaColor, VersaMagic, Brillance) in an array of colors (as stated upthread) but rarely used & have since donated all of them. Currently, I own full-sized pads of VersaMark & VersaFine Clair (Morning Mist, Nocturne, Twilight, Pinecone). 

For pigment ink I’m with Don—Tsukineko is great. For regular die ink I go with Ranger mostly. I like Lawn Fawn and Hero arts as well. I did buy some cubes thar were a different brand and sold in color sets. Those went dry really fast so I’ve stuck with regular sized.

Like don & PaperAngel, I really like the Tsukineko products. I don't do a lot of stamping but usually prefer a pigment ink. I have several of T's chalk inks in the dewdrop case; love those as well.
Years ago I bought lots of the Colorbox inks, full sized pads & cat-eyes and found that the pads disintegrated over time. The inks were lovely but their longevity was terrrible. (I think that co has since gone out of business.)
This past year (due in great part to reading this board I have started quite the collection of Distress Oxide inks and so far I really like them for stenciling. Still new to me so I can't speak to their longevity or versatility.

Don't worry, this isn't the NSBR side. We won't eat your head off lol 😆

I'm pretty sure I saw your original post PaperAngel, because those were the four VFC colors I bought for stamping general/every day sentiments. Also Rain Forest. And I did remember Don's comment about Tsukineko and sought it out again.

Last year, I got Delicata Sapphire to stamp my Christmas card sentiments. I just got Ruby and Emerald for this year's holiday cards. If you're batch-producing, a shimmery pigment ink is a nice choice because it doesn't add steps like heat embossing all the sentiments would, but adds some special sparkle quickly and easily.

I feel like everyone (who doesn't market their own ink) shows stenciling and ink blending techniques with Distress or Distress Oxide Inks. I don't like the colors and I don't like the hype.

The Dew Drops seem like one of those bigger than cubes though not full-sized formats. Sounds like you find them to be a nice size to use, hoopsfn.

I’m definitely not a seasoned inker, but I just wanted to say - is it possible your stamp bled due to the surface of the paper? Unless you used something like cardstock, then ignore me.

Your description of the ink bleeding reminds me of how there are certain labels (KPs from her shop before PP) that have a slick surface I can’t stamp on. Every ink I try will bleed out through the fibers to some degree - Momento, Staz-On, VersaFine, SC, AE pigment, nothing works. Some bleed out quickly, some are more delayed. Those labels just hate ink.

I have such a mix of ink pads, a few of this, a few of that. The only complete set I have is the Versafine Clairs. I like how they stamp and there are only 24. I use Memento if I am colouring with my alcohol markers. I have the Staz On and Versafine in black. I use my random Distress inks for blending. I have a few Pink Fresh and Altenew mini cubes because I like the four shades for layered stamping. I bought a set of Catherine Pooler mini inks to try and I love the colours, but on more solid images I have been getting some blotches. That could be user error though.