Moving onto our next stamping topic, which is colouring stamp inks for bullet journaling. This can really be a reference for anything to do with colouring and stamping, but for our purposes, it is for bullet journaling. Think of this as a part 2 to my last stamping post, Stamp Inks in a Bullet Journal. You now know what stamp ink works best in your journal, now you are going to learn which colouring mediums work best with which ink. The video is uploaded here, but below, I share some close ups to see exactly how the different mediums react with the various stamp inks.
I looked at how Crayola SuperTips, Artist’s Loft Brush Pens, Sharpie, colour pencil, watercolour pencils, and watercolour paints did with dye ink, pigment ink, hybrid ink, waterproof dye ink, and solvent ink. The summary chart showing which medium did best with what ink is provided. For close ups, check out the galleries below.
Colouring Stamp Inks Supplies
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- Strathmore Smooth Velum Bristol Board
- Crayola SuperTips
- Artist’s Loft Dual Tip Brush Pens
- Sharpie Markers
- PrismaColor Pencils
- PrismaColor Blender Pencil
- Derwent Watercolour Pencils
- Art Philosophy Watercolour Paint Pans in Classic
- Memento Dye Ink
- VersaFine Pigment Ink for Fine Detail
- VersaFine Clair Pigment Ink
- Brilliance Pigment Ink
- Ranger Archival Ink
- Tim Holts Distress Oxide Hybrid Stamp Ink
- StazOn Solvent Stamp ink
- Dylusions Stamps Everything’s Rosy
Colouring on Dye Ink
Starting off with dye inks. I only had the one dye ink to test but, as long as the dye ink is water based, it’ll work similar to this one. I tested the Memento Dye Ink. It is fade resistent, water based stamp ink. Considering the ink is water based, it is fair to assume that water based colouring supplies won’t work as well.
The Crayola SuperTip, brush pen, watercolour pencil and watercolour paint all smudged the stamped image. The colour pencil did okay. There was a bit of smudging when it came to blending.
But the Sharpie did the best. The Sharpie Marker is an alcohol based marker so it didn’t interact with the dye ink like the other supplies did. Copic markers, and other alcohol based markers will do very well with the dye ink (just not in your bullet journal so stamp on sticker paper, colour with alcohol markers, and then stick it in your journal).
Colouring on Pigment Ink
For pigment inks, I tested the VersaFine Pigment Ink for Fine Detail, the VersaFine Clair, and the Brilliance Pigment Ink pad. The pigment inks tend to be thicker and creamier than the dye inks. They sit on top of the page and take longer to dry. Once dried, (and the drying part is critical), the watercolour supplies are the best to use. There is no smudging since the ink repels the water (the ink kind of pools around the stamped line), and makes the colouring look great!
Pencil colour and blending the pencil colour caused some smudging. So just make sure to colour away from the lines, or are as close to them as you can without going into them, especially if blending. The Versafine Clair held up the best to the pencils and the blending. There are some ghosting and bleed through issues with the Clair, so maybe stamp on sticker paper and then put it in your journal.
The Sharpie marker did the worst. There was a ton of smudging and, basically, the entire section that I couloured was destroyed. Definitely do not use Sharpie with pigment ink. Rather stick to the dye inks for alcohol based markers.
Colouring on Hybrid Inks and Others
I threw a bunch of different ink types into this category. I have the Ranger Archival Ink which is a waterproof dye ink, the Tim Holtz Distress Oxide which is a hybrid ink (mix of pigment and dye ink), and then StazOn which is a solvent ink.
The Archival waterproof dye ink acts more like a pigment ink than a dye ink. The water based supplies worked really well with this ink. The Sharpie smudged a lot, just like the pigment inks, and the colour pencil looked great. I would say this is second to the Clair, in terms of holding up to the colour pencil blending.
The Distress Oxide ink managed best with the Sharpie, but there was still smudging. I would suggest using the Distress Oxide without colouring. It definitely has it’s advantages, and I use them a lot in my art journaling, but not so much for stamping images.
The StazOn worked the best with the watercolour supplies. Everything was bright and vibrant – from the colours to the stamped image. It looks so good. The Sharpie was a disaster and, again, smudged really badly. The colour pencil and blending ended up smudging badly too. The issue with the StazOn to keep in mind, it will bleed/ghost in your notebook. So definitely stamp outside of your notebook and then stick it in.
Final Thoughts on Colouring Stamp Inks
I had a lot of fun testing out the different inks and supplies. As a general crafter, each ink has it’s advantages and disadvantages. If we limit the category to bullet journals, as I said in my stamping in a bullet journal post, the VersaFine and the Brilliance are my favourite. I have been using them in my bullet journals for almost as long as I have been journaling. So for colouring with stamp inks for bullet journaling, you will be good to go with one of those inks, and a set of Crayola SuperTips or brush pens.
For my next stamping post, I will talk about different stamp types and the different qualities you can expect. I will touch on stamping technique as well, since your technique is determined by the quality of the stamp.
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me below or on social media. I would love to help and answer any questions. As always, thank you so much for your time today!
Talk soon!
