Pretty in Pink Conditioning

I wanted to experiment with the lovely tree from Waltzingmouse's Blessed by You set. It sorta kinda worked and shows the importance of conditioning clear stamps before use with dye inks.

I inked up the whole image in a pale brown from Memento and then used a Pretty in Pink marker from StampinUp to color the leaves. I was going for the blooming tree effect I was seeing all over town that was making me happy and sneezy at the same time.

The light brown was light enough to be covered by the pink nicely, but as you can see if you click on the image to see it bigger, it's a bit blotchy.

This is why it's important to condition stamps before using them. Fresh from manufacture, both clear and rubber stamps can have a film on them that makes ink pool, like water pools on your freshly waxed car. To strip off this film, you can use either a soft emery board or a white eraser. Then clean the stamp well, and it's good to go.

Some people like to ink their clear stamps with VersaMark ink (which is colorless and clear) first, then dye inks, to prevent pooling.  This works, but I've always found it annoyingly two-step. VersaMark and other sticky inks (VersaMagic, VersaColor, Brilliance, pigment, etc.) rarely if ever pool. Runnier inks like SU classic, Memento, and Memories are much more likely to pool.

Some people like the distressed look of pooling ink. Generally, I'm not one of them. But this time, I make an exception. It's a sweet and dreamy look on this particular card.

But you can bet I conditioned this stamp after I made the card.

That's the kind of neat-freak I am!

Supplies
stamps: Waltzingmouse Blessed by You
ink: Memento and SU marker
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: ribbon, half pearls