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Post by wendifful on Dec 17, 2020 6:46:59 GMT
Surprisingly, I found that several of my Hero Arts inkpads had gone semi or fully dry while all of my Studio Calico inkpads were still amazingly juicy! I would have thought that since Hero Arts is one of the OG stamp companies, their pads would outlast Studio Calico. I had a few of their shadow inks be dry, a pigment ombre ink (vintage metallic rust) and a silver ink pad that actually crumbled when I tried to swipe it across the paper. Unfortunately, Hero Arts doesn't sell reinkers (at least not that I can find), so I'm going to try ordering the Ranger ink refresher spray to see if that breathes some life back in them. If not, then c'est la vie!
Although I didn't acquire all the inkpads at once, I'd say that most of them that I own range from 3-6 years old and were a mix of full size and cube inkpads. It's possible that the dry inkpads weren't stored properly (lid could have been slightly ajar), but given that it was pretty consistently Hero Arts, it seems more like a formulation problem. The only other inkpads I had that were dry were a few Papertrey ones, but they actually sell reinkers and they're the inks I've used the most heavily, so that doesn't surprise me.
Just a tip for everyone who might be putting off swatching: for a long time I've wanted to do it, but I've seen several YouTubers say that the way to get the most accurate results is to stamp with the inkpad, not swipe it directly on the paper. I absolutely believe that's true, but the idea of cleaning the same stamp over and over and over and over put me off the idea, so I finally decided that even if swiping is a bit off, it will still give me a better idea of the color than no swatch book at all. Now that I've done it, I'm so glad I have all my inks swatched so that I can find colors more easily! So if you've been waiting, go for it!
Share your ink swatching stories too if you feel like it!
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,449 
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Post by scrapnnana on Dec 17, 2020 14:12:20 GMT
Thanks for posting. This is good to know. I feel a lot better about resisting those Hero Arts inkpads at Tuesday Morning now. I almost bought a bunch.
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Post by boymom5 on Dec 17, 2020 14:48:59 GMT
That’s so frustrating! I don’t have many ink pads currently but my Hero Arts have been my favorite! I’ll need to keep an eye on them.
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Deleted
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Nov 18, 2024 5:28:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2020 14:52:00 GMT
Thanks for posting. This is good to know. I feel a lot better about resisting those Hero Arts inkpads at Tuesday Morning now. I almost bought a bunch. I did not resist them and I think they are awful. The "pad" is level with the container, if that makes sense, and so you have to use a smaller stamp, you can't flip it over and daub all over a bigger stamp. (at least that is how mine were) and there was so much ink it literally welled up around the sides and beaded up when I used a stamp on the pad. Good thing I only bought 1 pack of them. |
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msupea
Full Member
Posts: 419
Aug 21, 2020 13:12:25 GMT
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Post by msupea on Dec 17, 2020 15:12:58 GMT
it seems like my SC, Ranger and even the Jenni Bowlin ones (old school!) seem to still work for me. My distress inks are mostly good, although the reinkers make it easy to "refill" them if needed.
I picked up a distress oxide and it leaked everywhere. I'm hoping this was just a bad ink pad, or maybe old?
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,555
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on Dec 17, 2020 15:20:24 GMT
I own mostly Memento ink pads and have never had one go dry yet (knock on wood). Of course they don't come in a million colors like some other brands...
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GiantsFan
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,500
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 14:44:56 GMT
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Post by GiantsFan on Dec 17, 2020 15:59:01 GMT
My last big craft room cleaning and de-stash, I swatched all my inks. I used a leaf sprig stamp so there was a solid (the leaf) and a line (the stem).
I put if off for a long time because why would I need to do that. But the color on the lid is not necessarily the color of the ink. Not only did I swatch on my usual neenah solar white but I also swatched on neenah desert storm. It's a good activity for a rainy day.
My circa early 90's SU! inks were surprisingly good, I only tossed a couple of those. The cat-eyes inks were dry, dry dry. Tossed 'em all, maybe 10. The rest of my inks I had good results with. I use MFT, HA, LF and GK. I also swatched all the distress and oxides.
I stamped all my black inks (7!) on one sheet with a sentiment and a solid, just to see the difference in blacks/manufacturers. Holy cow, what a difference. I won't say who didn't preform well because my pads just might need re-inking. But I'm glad to know that Versafine Onyx Black won my test hands down for a crisp sentiment and I've stamped a lot of sentiments with it over the years.
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Post by scrapcat on Dec 17, 2020 16:10:09 GMT
Interesting.
I posted about swatching a few months back and received some helpful responses, as well as a lot of "what's the point?" responses. I ended up converting a 5x7 filofax ring notebook into my swatchbook. I just used blank paper to use smaller stamps on. I don't do it like I am anticipating a lot more inks to be moved around, I mostly put in color order then if I get a new one I just add it to page. The pages are alphabetical by brand. It was one of those things I worked on when I didn't feel like making, but doing something. It didn't take long at all.
So thankful I did! I reach for that swatch book almost every time I create! I tend to not buy full collections, so I buy cubes from various brands, & I can never remember which colors is which shade, so it's so helpful.
Also highly recommend it!
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Post by mrssch on Dec 17, 2020 16:24:22 GMT
This is a great idea as I begin my 2021 Destash.
I’ve had some inks for years and years. I need to
1)See if they still work
2)determine if I still like the colors
3)use them or
4)send them to a new home
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,082
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Dec 17, 2020 17:06:48 GMT
I swatched all my ink pads a couple of months ago. My findings: 1. All the Hero Arts ink pads (and Kelly Purkey which I think were from Hero Arts) were dry the same as wendifful2. All my Cat Eye chalk inks were dry with the exception of one. So disappointing because chestnut roan was my favorite edge-inking pad!  3. I have so many inks of very similar shades. I guess I gravitate towards the same colors because I have like 10 different reds that are all almost the same color! 4. SU ink pads are still super juicy except for one, but it wasn't closed properly. I ended up getting rid of about 20 ink pads that were completely dry or damaged in some way. Now I just have to figure out a better solution for storage. I have a Stamp-n-Storage ink pad holder for the SU inks, but the rest are in Totally Tiffany holders and while those are okay, I don't like having to open the container up to get them out. |
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Post by 950nancy on Dec 17, 2020 17:31:51 GMT
Thanks for posting. This is good to know. I feel a lot better about resisting those Hero Arts inkpads at Tuesday Morning now. I almost bought a bunch. My store just got a bunch yesterday. Ink is one of those things that I am more cautious about buying. I have mostly Prima and Tim Holtz. Mine have last for years. |
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msupea
Full Member
Posts: 419
Aug 21, 2020 13:12:25 GMT
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Post by msupea on Dec 17, 2020 19:26:55 GMT
I swatched all my ink pads a couple of months ago. My findings: 1. All the Hero Arts ink pads (and Kelly Purkey which I think were from Hero Arts) were dry the same as wendifful 2. All my Cat Eye chalk inks were dry with the exception of one. So disappointing because chestnut roan was my favorite edge-inking pad! 3. I have so many inks of very similar shades. I guess I gravitate towards the same colors because I have like 10 different reds that are all almost the same color! 4. SU ink pads are still super juicy except for one, but it wasn't closed properly. I ended up getting rid of about 20 ink pads that were completely dry or damaged in some way. Now I just have to figure out a better solution for storage. I have a Stamp-n-Storage ink pad holder for the SU inks, but the rest are in Totally Tiffany holders and while those are okay, I don't like having to open the container up to get them out. The Chestnut Roan ink pad! It was a favorite! I had a few of those. I should see if they are dry. |
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FurryP
Drama Llama
To pea or not to pea...
Posts: 7,272
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Jun 26, 2014 19:58:26 GMT
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Post by FurryP on Dec 17, 2020 19:47:20 GMT
The Chestnut Roan ink pad! It was a favorite! I had a few of those. I should see if they are dry. I have the Chestnut Roan. Have not checked it yet. Hey, what about Nick Bantock Van Dyke Brown? I loved that color back in the day. I have not checked that one either. |
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,082
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Dec 17, 2020 20:31:04 GMT
Hey, what about Nick Bantock Van Dyke Brown? Ah yes, I had that one too but it wasn't with all my other ink pads. I must have left it somewhere. That was such a great one! |
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Post by babylou on Dec 18, 2020 2:57:36 GMT
I swatched all my ink pads a couple of months ago. My findings: 1. All the Hero Arts ink pads (and Kelly Purkey which I think were from Hero Arts) were dry the same as wendifful2. All my Cat Eye chalk inks were dry with the exception of one. So disappointing because chestnut roan was my favorite edge-inking pad! 3. I have so many inks of very similar shades. I guess I gravitate towards the same colors because I have like 10 different reds that are all almost the same color! 4. SU ink pads are still super juicy except for one, but it wasn't closed properly. I ended up getting rid of about 20 ink pads that were completely dry or damaged in some way. Now I just have to figure out a better solution for storage. I have a Stamp-n-Storage ink pad holder for the SU inks, but the rest are in Totally Tiffany holders and while those are okay, I don't like having to open the container up to get them out. My cats eye inks never go dry, but the pads crumble and fall apart! Makes me sad... |
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Post by mamagidget on Dec 18, 2020 4:26:10 GMT
I swatched my inks a few years ago, and I too reach for my little book every time I stamp. I need to swatch a few colors that I've picked up.
When I swatched, I tossed the studio G and the Hobby Lobby brand ink pads, they were all dry. I won't purchase those brands anymore.
The two original ink pads I purchased in 2006 were (and are) still going strong! One was a Momento, the other a chalk ink in an olive green-and I have used the heck out of that ink pad!
Swatching helped me see where I had duplicates of colors (amongst various brands) and where I had holes.
A few years ago, TM had some Ranger inkpads. I bought several. Opened two and they were drrrrrry. I took them all back for a refund, and won't buy ink pads there anymore.
I did have a Ranger Archival ink go dry on me, but I like the color so I have a reinker on order.
Most of my cats eyes either dried up or crumbled. Thankfully I still have a chestnut roan and a reinker, best edge inking color of all time!!
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Post by needtime2scrap on Dec 18, 2020 13:26:48 GMT
2 of my distress oxides were extra juicy and leaked. I just took a scrap piece of card stock and scraped off the excess.
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msupea
Full Member
Posts: 419
Aug 21, 2020 13:12:25 GMT
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Post by msupea on Dec 18, 2020 13:43:54 GMT
2 of my distress oxides were extra juicy and leaked. I just took a scrap piece of card stock and scraped off the excess. Same thing happened to me with the first one I bought. (Late to the distress oxide party). I couldn't figure out where I was getting red ink on my fingers from. Until I opened the package. I have to clean it up a bit more. It's still pretty messy. |
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julie5
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,621
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Post by julie5 on Dec 18, 2020 15:39:42 GMT
Interesting. I posted about swatching a few months back and received some helpful responses, as well as a lot of "what's the point?" responses. I ended up converting a 5x7 filofax ring notebook into my swatchbook. I just used blank paper to use smaller stamps on. I don't do it like I am anticipating a lot more inks to be moved around, I mostly put in color order then if I get a new one I just add it to page. The pages are alphabetical by brand. It was one of those things I worked on when I didn't feel like making, but doing something. It didn't take long at all. So thankful I did! I reach for that swatch book almost every time I create! I tend to not buy full collections, so I buy cubes from various brands, & I can never remember which colors is which shade, so it's so helpful. Also highly recommend it! I’m a what’s the point person but........I don’t stamp much. If you’re making gorgeous cards and using inks and copics amd such, I can see the usefulness of swatching. I have the basic colors from studio calico (which totally suck ass btw) and that suits my stamping needs just fine. There are some amazing colors out there but it’s just not my jam. |
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Post by simplyparticular on Dec 18, 2020 18:42:52 GMT
What I know about stamping fits in a thimble, but I've not been impressed with the Hero Arts inks. I bought 16 of the Kelly Purkey ones in 2016 for planner use. The 12 "vibrant dye ink" ones were dry and the colors were muddy - they had more yellow tones than expected, even the cool colors. The 4 hybrid inks were better colors but took longer to dry and were prone to smear on my planner pages. And the HA weather icons rubber stamps have a weird white residue that interfere with any ink I've tried.
My Colorbox Doodlebug petal pigment set is so juicy I make a mess. Same with the Tsukineko chalk inks - I've never figured those out.
The CTMH inks I bought in 2009 are still great. I guess I should check my cats eyes - I only really use those for edging and I haven't been doing anything aged looking.
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Post by joblackford on Dec 18, 2020 19:15:22 GMT
I don't have a lot of inks but I echo the thumbs down on the Kelly Purkey Hero Arts inks. I got the full set of mini cube hybrid inks for my planner or PL, way back, and didn't like them much at all, didn't really use them, despite how good I thought they looked when KP used them. When I revisited them a couple of years later a lot of them were completely dry. Very disappointing.
I'm glad that over the years I've tended to pass on the ink pads that I wasn't using so at least someone had a chance to enjoy them before they dried out.
I also just got on to swatching after buying some new Catherine Pooler inks. I need to do my Oxides as well. I just used some scrap cardstock. No fancy templates and pocket pages. I just needed something I could hold up and see 'is this teal color going to go with this patterned paper?' It's helpful. I stamped a solid heart and did a little swipe, maybe should add a little leaf or some other outline, but what I have is better than nothing.
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Post by anniefb on Dec 18, 2020 20:07:33 GMT
That's really disappointing. I haven't swatched my ink pads, but maybe I should do that to check them all out. I have quite a few Amuse pigment pads from back in the day plus Altenew, some from PTI and my new favourites from the Stamp Market.
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Post by refugeepea on Dec 18, 2020 22:39:14 GMT
All my Cat Eye chalk inks were dry with the exception of one. So disappointing because chestnut roan was my favorite edge-inking pad! I still have that one, but the pad is not the best. I have a reinker for that, so hopefully it will last longer.
I ended up getting rid of about 20 ink pads that were completely dry or damaged in some way. Now I just have to figure out a better solution for storage.
I use these for storage and I obviously did NOT pay that much for them. It was the first image I found. I mostly have mini cubes. I store them upside down. I have a Ho Ho Ho stamp. I stamped one Ho on white cardstock, used a circle punch, and adhered it to the back of the ink pads. It's easy to slide each drawer out and decide which Ho to use.  Each drawer can store quite a few. You do have to be sure to check in the back because the drawers don't slide all the way out.
I haven't done a swatch book. My stamping is very random and most of my inks are no longer being made.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,679
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Dec 18, 2020 22:45:40 GMT
I created a little set of swatches one night when I felt like doing something crafty but didn't want to scrap. I wasn't sure I would use it when I made it but I reach for it constantly. I made 3x3 cards and stamped a solid ink splot stamp for all my swatches. It certainly opened my eyes to how often I also gravitate towards the same shades, and it helped me identify the colours I just don't like so I've been able to donate several ink pads. I'm now also much more intentional in my purchasing, pulling out my colour swatches before I go down the add to cart rabbit hole of "it's so pretty".
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Post by wendifful on Dec 18, 2020 22:49:46 GMT
I swatched all my ink pads a couple of months ago. My findings: 1. All the Hero Arts ink pads (and Kelly Purkey which I think were from Hero Arts) were dry the same as wendifful 2. All my Cat Eye chalk inks were dry with the exception of one. So disappointing because chestnut roan was my favorite edge-inking pad! 3. I have so many inks of very similar shades. I guess I gravitate towards the same colors because I have like 10 different reds that are all almost the same color! 4. SU ink pads are still super juicy except for one, but it wasn't closed properly. I ended up getting rid of about 20 ink pads that were completely dry or damaged in some way. Now I just have to figure out a better solution for storage. I have a Stamp-n-Storage ink pad holder for the SU inks, but the rest are in Totally Tiffany holders and while those are okay, I don't like having to open the container up to get them out. That's crazy jediannie! I thought for sure when I posted this that there would be many people saying that their Hero Arts pads are still good. I'm surprised that there are so many others who have had problems, but somewhat relieved as it means I haven't done something wrong personally. To me, the biggest issue with the HA inkpads going dry is that reinkers are not sold! That's just a weird choice for such a prominent stamping company, in my opinion. I've never been a big reinker person in general; in total, I own three basic reinkers (VersaMark, black StazOn, black Archival) and five Papertrey reinkers. I know some people like to buy full sets of inks and reinkers (which is awesome for them if they stamp that much), but I've always thought I'd just wait and buy a reinker if and when I need it. With the rise of foam inkpads (Catherine Pooler, Stamp Market, Concord & 9th), I think reinkers will be making a comeback, as from what I understand, they need to be reinked more often than felt pads. |
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Post by wendifful on Dec 18, 2020 22:53:09 GMT
Interesting. I posted about swatching a few months back and received some helpful responses, as well as a lot of "what's the point?" responses. I ended up converting a 5x7 filofax ring notebook into my swatchbook. I just used blank paper to use smaller stamps on. I don't do it like I am anticipating a lot more inks to be moved around, I mostly put in color order then if I get a new one I just add it to page. The pages are alphabetical by brand. It was one of those things I worked on when I didn't feel like making, but doing something. It didn't take long at all. So thankful I did! I reach for that swatch book almost every time I create! I tend to not buy full collections, so I buy cubes from various brands, & I can never remember which colors is which shade, so it's so helpful. Also highly recommend it! I'm glad it's worked out for you! What prompted me to do it was that I needed to color some embossing paste and I wanted a certain shade, so I had to try all my green, red and pink inkpads. After doing that and seeing how I could use the swatches to figure out color pairings, I decided to go for it too! |
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Post by wendifful on Dec 18, 2020 22:58:10 GMT
I created a little set of swatches one night when I felt like doing something crafty but didn't want to scrap. I wasn't sure I would use it when I made it but I reach for it constantly. I made 3x3 cards and stamped a solid ink splot stamp for all my swatches. It certainly opened my eyes to how often I also gravitate towards the same shades, and it helped me identify the colours I just don't like so I've been able to donate several ink pads. I'm now also much more intentional in my purchasing, pulling out my colour swatches before I go down the add to cart rabbit hole of "it's so pretty". This is a great point that you and mamagidget made! I have the same problem with preferring some colors, so it does help see the gaps. And when I was looking at ordering a Concord & 9th ink cube yesterday, I had Sorbet (kind of a orangey-pink) and Seaglass (an aqua) in my cart. Since I just did my swatches, I know that I have about eleventy million aqua inks, so I decided to pass on Seaglass and buy Sorbet, which is a really unique color. |
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,679
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Dec 19, 2020 2:15:26 GMT
One other benefit I've found since swatching is I now use more of my ink pads more frequently. I would typically use the same three or four, but with the swatches I can see that the other pink ink I own is actually a better match than my go to.
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Post by 50offscrapper on Dec 19, 2020 4:06:41 GMT
I have Close to my heart ink pads and Stamping up pads that are still good 10 years later.
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Post by marg on Dec 19, 2020 12:45:27 GMT
Swatching helped me see where I had duplicates of colors (amongst various brands) and where I had holes. Swatching my inks is my January plan. I really want to see what duplicates I have. I suspect a bunch of my The Stamp Market and SU inks will be similar - TSM Cherry Kisses is a perfect match of SU Poppy Parade, for instance. TSM based their palette on a selection of SU inks. I'm currently swatching my Copics. I swatched a Copic colour chart before but I never found it useful - the little rectangles were too small and it turns out I prefer to flip through a tag-style swatch book and compare colours rather than just stare at a sheet with all the colours on it. This is really silly, I'm sure, but it stood out to me that Jennifer McGuire always discouraged her viewers/readers from buying reinkers - she always said that her inks rarely went dry and if one did, she would just buy a new ink pad. So now in the context that Hero Arts doesn't sell reinkers, it makes sense that she would say that. However, once she was talking about Distress Oxides and she said that for those you should buy reinkers because you'll need them - I haven't found that to be the case personally. Anyway, the reinker thing is something I've literally pondered over the years because of her - because I always automatically bought the reinker when buying an ink pad. I've had some of my SU inks for 17 years now, and have reinked only my most used colours. |
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Each drawer can store quite a few. You do have to be sure to check in the back because the drawers don't slide all the way out.
