This Tipsy Tuesday topic includes just some basic Stampin' 101 tips for the Care and Feeding of your ink pads.
Storage:
- I'm a little slow sometimes. I store my Stampin' Up! ink pads by family color but it took me months before I caught on that there's a little code on the end of the pad to help you keep the families together. Did you know the number of dots tells you the color family? The Real Red pad here has one dot, which places it with the Bold Bright family. Pads with two dots go to Earth Elements, three dots belong to Rich Regals, and four dots go with Soft Subtles.
- Felt ink pads are best stored upside down to keep the ink closest to the stamping surface. Fortunately, Stampin' Up! designed their pad cases so that the ink pads are automatically face down when you close them.
- If you don't have the boxes the stamp pads come in (by color family), find an organizational tool that allows you to store all of your pads flat. Always store your pads level, never on their ends (especially rainbow or Kaleidescope pads).
There are lots of creative ways to store you pads, including some cassette/8-track storage systems and custom shelves. I like the Stampin' Up! caddy because, as the name of my blog implies, I like to go to crops, and our caddy is easy to tote. The small, turn-style footprint takes just a little space on my desk. When you go out to look for something, take a few stamp pads with you and make sure your system will keep the pads flat. Here are a few on-line sources for pad storage.
- Stampin' Up! Color Caddy
- Dek Development Ink
- Storage Units Ink
- Wisconsin Stamp Supplies
- Sizzle
- Stamp N Store
Maintenance:
- Old stamp pads never die, they just get re-inked. Re-inking is very easy and saves you money in new pads. Spread a thin layer of the bottled refill ink as evenly as possible over the pad. Start in the middle, squeezing out the ink as you draw lines on the pad, back and forth. In the areas where the ink is absorbed very quickly keep applying more ink until it sinks in much slower. You can then use a stiff piece of card stock or a heavy plastic (an old credit card) to drag across the pad and spread the ink.
- Don't forget that the current In Color inks and paper will retire on July 1 (other colors may retire as well, but we won't know until July 1.) If you've purchased those pads, be sure to order re-inkers before July 1 because they'll only be available for three times the cost on E-Bay.
- Ink stains on the outside of the ink pad case usually clean up easily with a baby wipe or paper towel and a bottle of Stampin' Mist. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works well for cleaning up both stamp pad cases and stained stamps.
- Do you have some stray little threads sticking out the sides of the felt pads? Trim those easily with scissors to prevent loose threads from coming out on your stamped image.
Hopefully now your pads are well fed and taken care of with a home where they can retreat laying flat with a generous re-inking and an outer makeover.
Here's where my pads retreat.
My craft desk probably doesn't maximize space but I'm very sentimental about it. It's full of family momentos such as my Dad's roll-top desk, the steeple clock he made for my Mom that chimes the hour, and favorite family pictures. I'm a sentimental stamper/scrapper so that suits me well. There are practical benefits, too, like the OTT light (love it!), the Ranger Craft Pad to protect the desk, and lots of knick-knack drawers. I'm very, very fortunate that I have a small room in the house I get to call mine. If you'd like (and I get up more nerve), I'll share the rest of the room with you this week.
