Ink Comparisons

Hi everyone! I'm doing something a little different today.

It all started with my blog friend Michelle asking on Facebook about the new Memento Luxe inks. I recently bought about half of the ink pads, and I've been very impressed about the coverage. Gayatri asked whether the inks appeared opaque on colored cardstock. I didn't know, so I did a bit of testing as I was cataloging my inks.

Jennifer McGuire did a fantastic ink comparison with the Luxe inks HERE (it's a must-see). I wanted to share what the inks look like on other cardstock colors.

I used a clear globe stamp from the You Are Here set; I wanted to test a solid clear stamp. All of the photos are in natural light, for better or for worse. ;)

First up, here are the inks on PTI's white cardstock:

There were only two tags I re-stamped. The coverage was that good for a solid stamp with a single inking. No Versamark primer, no huffing on the stamp, no over-stamping. It's pretty remarkable. I should apologize for my atrocious handwriting. ;)

I also stamped the colors on PTI Kraft:

I will say that I did have to re-stamp the Pear Tart since the color was more uneven. It might be just my particular ink pad, though. The Dandelion is very vibrant--I love it! 

Next up are the reds, pinks, and purples:

The Angel Pink is a little harder to see on kraft. For me, if I were using Angel Pink, I would probably stick to white or cream unless I was embossing (they are pigment inks).

Next are the blues: 

If there are any Stampin' Up ink fans, the Danube Blue is very similar to the retired Brilliant Blue. I thought all four of these colors showed up well on kraft.

Still with me? I raided my scrap pile and did tests of all of the inks on different cardstock colors. To spare you a 100-photo post, I'll show three. ;)

Here is a Lilac Posies on a lighter-colored cardstock:

The medium and darker ink colors stayed true on the lighter color cardstock. The lighter inks were more translucent on this color of cardstock.

Next up, I stamped Bahama Blue on PTI's New Leaf:

I was very impressed with the intensity of the color. Not all of the colors looked vibrant on this medium-colored cardstock, but a surprising number did. I think it was at this point that I added a couple of Luxe inks to my online shopping cart. hee hee

Lastly, I tested a dark cardstock:

I was pushing it trying the Dandelion, but you can still tell that the ink is yellow. The Danube Blue and Nautical Blue retained their color on the dark cardstock very nicely.

Stamp staining doesn't bother me too much, but I thought I would share what the stamp looked like when I was done:

I had never used the stamp when I started, and there is only slight staining after stamping ~50 times with the Luxe inks. I did clean the stamp after every impression. The Dandelion was the only color that I saw stain the stamp.

Please drop me an e-mail or comment if you'd like to see a particular picture--I do have other photos.

Thanks for bearing with me. Have a great day!


Supplies
Cardstock: (New Leaf, Spring Moss, white, Kraft) PTI; (Fig??) Paper Source
Clear stamps: (globe from You Are Here) Two Peas in a Bucket
Inks: (Angel Pink, Rhubarb Stalk, Morocco, Peanut Brittle, Dandelion, Peart Tart, Olive Green, Teal Zeal Bahama Blue, Danube Blue, Nautical Blue, Lilac Posies, Sweet Plum Memento Luxe) Tsukineko
Die: (Tag 2) WPlus9