Birthday Bunch
Be sure to join Stampassion’s Birthday Bunch. Next time you’re in the shop, just ask us to enter your birth date in our customer data base or e-mail me at info@stampassion.com. Then, anytime during your birthday week, defined as the Monday through Sunday period your birthday falls within, you will receive 30% off the individual rubber stamp of your choice! Check with the shop for the obligatory rules and regulations. Please note that this is good on in-store purchases only; mail order is excluded. Happy birthday, from me, to you!

E-News Group
If you haven’t joined Stampassion’s E-News Group, please do so. Members receive notification when our web site is updated, which is done quarterly, at the minimum. Additionally, you will learn about promotions, classes, special events, new arrivals and any last minute happenings. This is a low volume group, with no more than 1 to 4 mailings per month. To join, just go to our Home Page and click your mouse on “click here to sign up for online updates!”. To make certain that your new subscription will not be blocked as "spam" or unwanted e-mail, please be sure to include our e-mail address, info@stampassion.com, or domain name, stampassion.com, on your list of allowed senders. And if your e-mail address changes, please let us know.

Tips for Stamp Class Students
• You may not want to wear your favorite clothes to class; it's an inky and potentially messy place.
• Layer your clothes. The classroom can get quite warm when we’re working on a hot project.
• Remember your glasses!
• Bring a folder or baggie to take home your works of art.
• If you really want to use double stick tape, please bring it.
• We provide basic tools, but if you have a favorite scissors or whatever, feel free to bring it with you.
• Please avoid wearing perfume or any fragrance to class.  Many of our teachers and students are allergic.
• Classes do start on time, so please be prompt.  You may miss something important!
• Socializing with other stampers is one of the benefits of attending class.  However, chatting during class may prevent you, or the student next to you, from hearing important instructions.  Focusing on the teacher's directions will help insure that everyone finishes and is satisfied with their class projects.

All About Inks
• We are great believers in re-inking stamp pads frequently! Dry ink pads are often the culprit behind stamped images that appear washed out or wimpy, while well inked pads deliver rich, dramatic detail and color. For instance, we love Brilliance Ink Pads, but find that the quality which makes them quick drying, also necessitates frequent re-inking for strong, true color. Stampassion carries a full line of refills for the ink pads we stock. So, don’t throw out your ink pads, get yourself some refills and use them! We’ll be happy to show you how to do this properly.
• If you aren’t getting a good impression when you stamp, it may not be the stamp or the stamper, but the pad surface. Ink pads are constructed of different materials, from foam to felt, and one is often superior on a particular surface or stamp. There are no hard rules; you will need to experiment. So, if you’re getting a less than spectacular result, try the same stamp with different inks. For example, Ancient Page will often produce the best result with intricate stamps on textured paper.
• Every stamper should own a variety of basic black ink pads: pigment, like ColorBox; Ancient Page, watercolor or Memories; Crafter’s; StazOn and Brilliance. If you have these pads, well inked, you’ll have the right one for just about any stamp, surface or technique.
• There’s lots of confusion over which ink pads you can use with embossing powder. A basic rule of thumb is: you can emboss with pigment and embossing inks, you cannot emboss with dye or water based inks. Pigment and embossing ink pads include the brands: Top Boss, ColorBox, Cat’s Eye, Encore, VersaColor and Brilliance. They will remain wet long enough to hold the embossing powder so you can melt it with a heat tool. Dye based ink pads include: Stampassion, Marvy Matchable, Ancient Page, Memories, Fresco, Vintage, Kaleidacolor, Adirondack and Vivid. ColorBox Chalk Finish Ink Pads are a hybrid ink. Their matte finish is beautiful, so embossing may not be necessary.
• If you find your ink isn’t drying, you may be stamping with pigment ink on a coated paper. Papers termed glossy, krome kote and matte coat, have a clay coating that results in a very smooth stamping surface. However, this coating will not allow pigment ink to sink into the paper to dry. For the best result on coated paper, try a dye based ink rather than pigment. The exception to this rule is Brilliance Ink which will dry on just about any surface, including vellum, polymer clay, mica tiles, PolyShrink, brass charms and more.
• If you’re the impatient type or just want to insure that the ink is dry before proceeding with your project, quickly heat set it with a Heat Tool.

MicaMagic Ink From Clearsnap
Acid-free, MicaMagic inks have been a tremendous hit since their introduction this summer. The ink air dries quickly to a stunning luster or sheen and like all pigment inks, is light fast. MicaMagic, comes in thirteen lusterous colors: Silver; Antique Gold; Yellow Gold; Copper; Bronze; Red; Pink; Purple; Lilac; Baby Blue; Bright Blue; Green; Black. MicaMagic is ideal for all papers, PolyShrink shrink plastic, polymer clay, Style Stones and, in fact, almost all surfaces. It can be heat set for faster techniques or improved permanence. Also, thin coats produce transparent effects.

MicaMagic is not recommended for embossing since it dries too quickly. This same quick drying quality can make the pads appear to be dry. Why? Because in order to achieve this property, a “thixotropic” vehicle is used. This means that the ink is fluid when it is agitated, or in use, but when left stationary, it will tend to gel. For this reason, MicaMagic ink pads may appear “dry” when first opened, or if left to rest for awhile. If this is the case, simply massage the pad surface with the back of a plastic spoon to activate the ink and bring it to the pad surface. Just like Brilliance Ink, it is recommended that you purchase matching reinkers for each of your MicaMagic ink pads.

What’s Up With Those Distress Inks from Ranger?
I’ve included this information from Tim Holtz, who helped design the award winning Distress Inks. Distress Inks are a different type of ink with a variety of “best” uses. They are designed to create an aged look on papers, fibers, photos and other surfaces. The color palette is a range of “vintage” hues, from ivory to darkest brown and black, as well as six new colors, Milled Lavender, Peeled Paint, Tattered Rose, Mustard Seed and Fired Brick. Here is Ranger’s description of the six original colors:
• Antique Linen: the color of aged lace or linens found among the cherished heirlooms in your grandmother’s trunk.
• Old Paper: the color of weathered and timeless book pages tucked away in the attic for generations.
• Tea Dye: the orange/brown hue of saturated tea bags with the results of dyeing in a tea bath for days.
• Vintage Photo: this color is captured right out of the photographs from times gone by.
• Walnut Stain: the rich, dark stain of an old walnut tree; perfect to create a dark wash of color.
• Black Soot: from the depths, a black like no other — this is the one you’ve been seeking.

To distress paper with these new inks, start by crumpling the paper. Unfold and using the direct-to-paper technique, rub the Distress ink pads over the surface, working with several colors or just one. Walnut Stain, the darkest of the brown tones, is ideal for this. Next, spray the inked surface with a JudiKins Spritzer. You will immediately notice the ink “traveling” outward when water is applied since the inks are designed to react with water. Heat setting is not necessary, but you may do so with a Heat Tool to speed up the drying process. If you allow the surface to air-dry, most of the color will end up on the edges, which may be the look you are going for. Distress Inks will retain their color value even after wetting them. Other brown dyes sometimes break down, leaving a pink or green hue.

Distress Inks have many stamping applications since their special formulation provides a versatile finish on papers, yet allows for use as a “regular” ink pad. Tim likes to stamp on uncoated papers, then immediately rub the image with a cloth. This will soften or shadow the image without smudging the details. The darker tones, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Tea Dye and Black Soot, are wonderful for this use. They also work well on glossy card stock, since areas of the image will bead up and/or look pitted, automatically providing a distressed look. Brayering on glossy card stock is also a nice look. You can manipulate the inks with different tools, brushes, your fingers or anything else. Even after the ink is applied, you can achieve amazing texture and color shading.

Distress Inks are at their best on photographs. Whether you’re a scrapbooker or not, you can use all types of photos, vintage or new, on paper arts projects. Distress Inks work well on all types of photos — ink jet, laser, toner copies, regular photos (matte or glossy) and even color photos. Start with the lightest value, Antique Linen or Old Paper, using either a brayer or going DTP, direct-to-photo. Cover the photo in the lighter colors, blending afterwards with a brush or your finger. The inks stay wet long enough for you to blend out any lines or marks, which other inks pads would typically leave behind. Next, age the edges with Vintage Photo or Walnut Stain by applying the pad directly to the edges, then soften and mix the tones with a brush or your fingers. To really finish aging the photo, you can lightly sand it with a medium grit sand paper (do avoid people’s faces).

Reinkers for Distress pads are also quite versatile. They come in vintage looking glass dropper vials and are perfect for aging batches of tags, fibers, lace, etc., in baths of Distress Inks and water. You may also create your own palette of colors to hand-tint any black and white photo, color by color, using Distress Reinkers and a plastic palette. Have fun!

About Thermal Embossing
• Remember that when embossing, all stamps are not created equal. Embossing powder spreads as it melts and will fill in finely etched details. A highly detailed art stamp will deliver a much better result if it is just stamped, not embossed, or embossed with Detail Powder. Detail Embossing Powder is ground finer than regular embossing powder. However, it will not raise as high as traditional embossing powder.