Stampin’ Up! has two black inks. They are Tuxedo Black Memento Ink or Jet Black StazOn Ink. Do you sometimes wonder which one you should use?
If you are stamping an image, you can use either ink, Memento or StazOn. It doesn’t matter.
When it does matter which black ink you use, is when you are colouring the stamped image and what you are colouring with.
If you are colouring an image, remember that opposites attract. If you are colouring with water you should use StazOn ink so it won’t smear when you watercolour, as Memento ink is water-based. That means that if you wipe water across it, it will smear. Saying that, if the Memento ink has dried very well and you are careful, you can sometimes get away with using Memento ink with watercolouring.
Remember if in doubt, and you are using water, use StazOn ink. After using StazOn ink, make sure you clean your stamps straight with the StazOn Cleaner. You must use StazOn Cleaner after using StazOn ink. The ink won’t come off your stamps with usual cleaning. The ink will stain them and the ink may damage your stamps too. You can then condition them later after you have cleaned them by spraying some Stampin’ Mist on your Stampin’ Scrub.
If you are colouring with alcohol-based markers like Stampin’ Blends, you will need to use Memento ink. If you use Stampin’ Blends on an image stamped with an alcohol-based ink pad like StazOn, your image will smear.
I hope you found this useful and now you know which black ink to use when you are stamping and colouring.
If you have some other things you would like to know, please email me with your questions and I will do my best to answer them. I am always looking for new things to share on my Thursday tip, so it is good to know what questions you have.
I have been crafting for years and never had a problem with Stazon, I like that it works well on acetate also,, but I was recently told that stazon can breakdown and ruin my polymer clear stamps?? When I recommend to fellow crafter. I just wipe my stamps with a tidy towel type cloth every time..it dyes my stamps, but never has affected the performance..
You do have to be careful with StazOn on photopolymer stamps, but I think the main thing is wash it off as soon as you have finished with it. Usually you have to use StazOn Cleaner to remove the ink off the stamps. Once it is clean, I also use the Stampin’ Mist to condition my stamps too.
Thanks Angela. Very useful.