Re-inkers 101: Re-inking Your Stamp Pad

Probably my favorite thing about Close To My Heart products is that they match...the cardstock, ink pads, accessories, etc, and that includes the re-inkers. Customers ask, "When do I need to re-ink my stamp pad?" There is no standard answer. It's going to depend on how often you use a particular color, in what ways you use it and other variables (like, did you forget to close it overnight?!). Sometimes I'm not even aware that my ink pad needs re-inking until someone else uses it or I use someone else's and notice a difference.

• If, in spite of seasoning your stamp, using the "squishy thing" or versamat as a stamping surface, and standing up to stamp, you still can't get a good, clean, crisp image, you may need to re-ink your stamp pad.
• If you recently made 100 Christmas cards with Cranberry or Wedding Invitations with a solid stamp, you may need to re-ink your stamp pad.
• If you are a consultant, and have a lot of people using your stamp pads, you may need to re-ink.
• If you do a lot of sponging or direct to paper with the same neutral color, you may need to re-ink your stamp pad.

So, how DO you re-ink a stamp pad? 

1. Double and Triple check that your ink pad and re-inker are the same color. 
   
2. Check that the lid is tightly on your re-inker bottle and gently shake. 
3. You do not need to use a whole bottle of re-inker to revitalize your ink pad. It may only take a small amount.
4. Lightly (don't flood it) and carefully go over the pad in small amounts and various directions. You can add a few drops at a time or, I like to draw a fine line left to right, top to bottom and/or zig-zag, etc. Watch as the ink soaks into the pad...if it sinks in quickly, keep going, if it seems to take a while to soak in, maybe it wasn't as dry as you thought. You can always add more.  
   
      
5. Put the lid back on the reinker.
6. If possible, close the ink pad and let it set for a bit, even 5 minutes, for even distribution. Side note...our patented ink pad design allows gravity to keep the ink on top of the stamp pad. Back in the "old days" we stored our flip top pads upside down

Next:  Re-inkers 201:  The Spray Pen...

Studio J progress

I hope you were able to find time to play with Studio J last month. I got my order in just under the wire on Sunday night.  I ordered 29 double page layouts...all from events BEFORE our son's wedding. Now working on the actual wedding and reception pages. Here is one of my layouts...

You'll notice that I used Claire paper, which is retired. This is the paper (stashed, begged and bought) that we used for the invitations and boxes. Even if I had enough paper remaining, Studio J gave me the option of using additional prints from the paper pack that I don't have. The wedding colors were orange, teal and dark blue. I added Lagoon accents throughout to bring in the teal color.

Any of you that know me well, know journaling is neither my strong suit nor my favorite part of scrapbooking. Studio J doesn't let me forget about journaling the way traditional scrapbooking can be "in progress" for years. I could print my pages without journaling, add it later but it's much better (IMO) to do it now and have a cohesive look. Although, here's one of my favorite "cheater" ways of journaling...adding factual information, LOL! You should see some of my vacation pages, you'd get a history lesson from reading about the museums, etc. we visited!

PS...It doesn't work to write posts in a timely fashion if you don't schedule or post them...

PPS...My computer died of alcohol poisoning (not my fault).