New in Stock

New in Stock

Happy Sunday Everyone!

A little on the late side - was

going to leave you all in peace

today but when this wonderful

article by our very own

Craftyfield popped into my

in box I just had to share it

with you.  I would suggest

you make yourselves a nice

cuppa and perhaps help

yourselves to some cake 

or a biscuit or two and

settle down with your feet

up to read on.....

Craftyfield has taken the new

Versafine Clair Inks and put

them through their paces.

Here is what she found:

"Tsukineko VersaFine Clair ink is a fast drying,

 oil based pigment ink. Like the old Versafine, 

the raised inkpad, allows direct to paper

 inking, as well as inking stamps. 

The cases have been redesigned and are now 

air tight and therefore should last even 

longer than the already long lasting Versafine. 

This new line of VersaFine inks is available in

 great vintage and bright colours, 24 colours in total,

 so you should find the exact shades you need!

The first thing I noticed when inking stamps

 is how thick the layer of ink is on 

top of the stamp, allowing for a deep colour. 

I had forgotten how juicy the old Versafine pads 

were as, one of mine is nearly completely dry 

and the other half way there. 

Still, I have had the first one for over 10 years…

Compared to the old Versafine inkpads, 

the new ones have lost their hinged lid, 

have a shorter depth, 1cm less for the same width. 

The inkpad is raised a little more than

 the old ones too, so it is easier to do direct to

 paper inking. 

The cases stack very well, with more of

 a snug fit than the old ones.

 First I tested the ink on different surfaces, 

comparing the Versafine Clair

with appropriate inks for the substrate.

On card, the Versafine Clair dries quickly and

the image is more solid than with Memento.

On glossy cardstock the Versafine Clair image 

is much brighter, and the ink appears to stay on

 top unlike the Memento, which sinks in. 

It does however dry very slowly and it is 

possible to smear a little, even after

 drying for 24 hours. 

I tried heat setting too, to no avail so if you

 must stamp on glossy with Versafine Clair

you will need to emboss.

On fabric, whilst the Versafine Clair stamps well,

 the details are blurred a little as the ink sinks in 

the material and the Archival gives the best results.

On acetate, no surprise there, Tsukineko do 

not recommended Versafine Clair for stamping 

on non absorbent surfaces and acetate is 

not absorbent at all. 

Overlooking the bad stamping (user error!), 

even Archival has trouble with such a slick 

surface but at least does dry, albeit slowly, 

and can be heat set. 

For acetate, there is only one ink that does the 

job reliably in my view and that is Staz on. 

On watercolour, the Versafine Clair impression 

is that little bit more solid, compared to 

the dye ink. Most of the texture you

 see in the photo is from the paper’s cold

 pressed grain. 

[I re stamped a small portion in the blue inks 

I used for the card and glossy samples

 to check whether the difference in colour

 was due in part to the shade chosen, and it is].

Versafine Clair is recommended for use with 

watercolours and I applied a wash of yellow 

ochre without any problems.

On acrylic paints, like acetate, the surface 

is non absorbent and the ink will not dry and 

needs to be embossed. 

This is also true for Gesso, as you

 can see in the photo on the right,  the ink 

has spread and the image has lost a lot of detail.

Use Versafine Clair on all absorbent surfaces 

(non coated cardstock, wood, fabric etc..) 

and avoid on slick/non absorbent surfaces 

such as glass, plastics and coated papers, 

unless you are embossing the ink.

Versafine Clair ink embosses well on both 

Glossy and standard card. 

The colour is deeper on card, because 

of its absorbency, and you must work quickly

 to get a good result.

 In the perfect stamping equation, 

in addition to the ink and the surface, 

there is one other variable, 

the stamp itself. 

Rubber isn't problematic but

 clear stamps can be...

First up I tested a polymer stamp, and 

clearly Versafine Clair comes on top, 

with a smooth and deep colour compared

 to the patchy impression of the dye inks 

(Distress and Memento) 

and weak colours of the pigment ink 

(Versacolor).

On acrylic stamps, the ink tends to 

bead up on them and produce even more 

patchy results than with polymer stamps. 

Compare the look of the Memento ink above 

to the thick layer of Versafine Clair shown earlier, 

the difference is striking!

With Versafine Clair the print is solid and 

perfectly detailed.

Unless you are prepared to take your 

sanding block to the acrylic stamp, 

Versafine Clair should be your first choice 

of ink, unless you are stamping on 

non absorbent surfaces!

 Now for the litmus test! 

I have pulled out my most detailed photographic

 stamp, which is very difficult to ink as it 

hasn't got any deeply etched lines (the 

image is formed of half tone-like minute dots). 

It is easy to see already from the inked 

stamp that the Versafine Clair is performing 

much better than the Memento and the

difference in the stamped image is convincing. 

The new inks passed the test with flying

 colours and I, for one is a happy bunny! 

Like the old Versafine, the Versafine Clair is 

made for detailed stamps and superior 

to all other inks I've ever tried.

On to colours. 

Colour is a personal choice, if you stamp

 lots of florals you will get some pinks, blues

 and green, whilst if you are into Vintage 

images you will choose from the darker

 colours and browns. 

To help you choose I photographed 

the 6 colours I had to test next to 

their respective lids and can confirm

 the lid images are true to the ink colours.

Personally, I'd like to get 3 shades (light,

 medium, dark) in the greens, blues and

 pink/reds, to use on layered flower stamps 

(multi-step stamps) and a brown, black, grey... 

Well, space allowing I'd have them all 

but if not, you can (preferably with a stamping

 platform) overstamp one colour with another

 to get a 3rd shade. 

I tested how the ink layers on itself by 

stamping the pink on top of the yellow 

to get the orange you see in the upper 

left corner.

Finally, as to colouring mediums you can use 

on top of Versafine Clair, both alcohol and 

water based media, can be used like the

 old Versafine. 

If using coloured pencils, refrain from using

 a solvent to blend the colours as this will 

interact with the oil in the ink.

In conclusion, although there isn’t a holy grail

 of ink able to handle all surfaces, stamps and 

colouring mediums - trust me I've been on

 that quest and gave up a long time ago - 

Versafine Clair is a pretty good all rounder,

 a beautiful ink for detail and strength of colour.

It's an emphatic YES from me!"

xXx

Thank you for such a super in-depth

look at the product Craftyfield.

I had wondered if I really need yet

another set of inks and now that

I've read the results of your

researches I clearly do need yet

another set of inks.......................!

Are you there Santa?  Are you

listening?!!

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx