So which stamped image would you prefer on YOUR card? Top? or Bottom? And why? (Please don't consider alignment in this example; I just tossed these 2 samples down to shoot the picture, so alignment doesn't count in this case.)
Personally, I prefer the bottom example because it's got cleaner details. The top one looks kinda "mushy" to me, and doesn't showcase the crisp detail of the rubber stamp's artwork. So do you know what made the difference? Same ink pad (Bermuda Bay), same person using the exact same stamping technique – only a few minutes apart, same paper…….
But what made the difference was blotting. Yes, for my personal preference, every single pad I've received in the newer firm foam style (and I have ALL of them, btw) has been too wet. Overly-inked. And therefore, transfers way too much (wet) ink to my paper, which in turn takes longer to dry, and in the meantime the wet ink wicks along the fibers of the paper until it's finally dry. Result: top image. Mushiness. You can actually watch it happen. The moment you stamp the image it looks great. Bright and vibrant color. You smile. But come back a minute or two later and it has blurred out the details. (Insert sad face here.)
So here's what I do with every single firm foam pad I get…
First, I stamp with it to test it. (See top example.) I study the results a couple minutes later. 100% of the time I have decided it needs help…
So I take a couple paper towels and fold them up together to approximately the size of the pad. And then I blot. Really firmly. I mean, after all the point of this process is to remove excess ink, right? I keep refolding the towel to get a new surface, and keep going. How do I know when I'm done? When the ink on the towel no longer looks solid and rich. (Usually 3 or 4 firm presses.) Then I try stamping again. If there's still bleeding and loss of detail after a couple minutes of dry time, I blot some more. If bubbles surface on the ink pad after tapping my stamp onto it, or I hear a sucking sound, it's a sure-fire indication it's still too wet for my preferences.
Some people have worried about the possibility of having to ink their pads more often if they do as I do. But at the same time I've heard complaints about having to reink way more often with these pads than with the former style. Personally, I have not experienced that. Perhaps because my standard is "how does the stamped image look after a couple minutes?", rather than "how wet does the pad feel?" Of course eventually I do have to reink, but I don't feel it's any more often than I did with my former pads.
But when I eventually do re-ink a pad, I'm careful to only apply just enough ink to bring it back up to my level of preference. This often means the surface of the pad may not be an even color all over; it may show darker areas or dots where the new ink was applied. But while that may look funny, I haven't found any negative affect at all on how the stamp inks up. (But that may be because my technique is to always tap a stamp all over the surface of the pad to ensure even ink coverage before stamping with it anyway.)
So if you've ever wondered where the detail went, give some "blotting" a try – and let me know what you think!
