Sunday, August 5, 2012

Getting Flirty with the New Close To My Heart Pigment Inks

One of the really fun products in the new CTMH Idea Book are Mini Pigment Ink Pad Sets.  These ink pad sets come in a tower of 10 colors.  The sets correspond with the new color families of Basics, Enchantment, Adventure and Whimsy.  All of the great CTMH 40 colors are are included in one of these categories.  Colonial White and White Daisy are the "go to" neutrals and they are not included in color families but are still readily available.

Many people have asked what you do with pigment inks.  Well, pigment inks are more opaque than the traditional dye based variety and are made to "sit" more on top of the paper.  Because of this, they are slower drying and can be used for heat embossing!  What these towers now means to us is that we now can include embossing on our projects in all of the wonderful CTMH colors by using the pigment inks and clear embossing powder!  :o)

Pigment inks are also great for Home Decor and 3D projects because of the intense color.  I decided I wanted to give my new inks a rigorous try by putting them to the test on a canvas board.
First I stamped the flourishes and sentiment in Colonial White pigment ink on the black canvas.  The Colonial White is not new and comes in the standard CTMH sized stamp pad.  I set this aside to dry.  Again, pigment inks are much thicker than dye based inks so drying does take some time.  You can speed the process with a heat gun.  Next, I set out to make the flower and leaves. They are both from a brand new set called Love Blooms (C1511.)   First I stamped the solid portion of the flower using the Goldrush pigment ink.  I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  The second step was to over stamp the cooled image with the corresponding line stamp in Autumn Terracotta.  Following that step, I sponged the image with both Goldrush and Autumn Terracotta to create the shaded appearance.  The embossing created an ink resist surface and the Goldrush pigment ink showed up beautifully. The completed flower was then cut out.   I did the leaves a bit differently.  I first stamped the solid image in dye based Olive and then stamped the veins in New England Ivy pigment ink and heat embossed.  I wanted to give a textured look. 
Last was the assembly of the canvas project.  The pattern paper is from "Flirty"...another of the new paper packets.  The pin flowers are also new and in an embellishment packet (Autumn Leaves Assortment...Z1749.)  The ribbon is the Color Ready Seam Binding....love that product, too, because you can now have ribbon in any color you want.

My vote is that the Mini Pigment Stamp Pad Sets are great!  With the option to have embossing in ever color, along with the ability to stamp on canvas our creative possibilities are endless.  Remember, pigment inks are "thicker" and take longer to dry.  If you have any questions about using the Pigment Inks, please ask me.  For Now, Happy Crafting!

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