25.11.15

Artistry Ink Pad Review

Artistry Ink Pad Experiments
          Hi friends Thank you so much for all the love showered on my Stone Decoupage tutorial post. Sharing a Christmas Card in non traditional Colors .                 The wheel barrow with flowers is a Stamplorations stamp I heat embossed in Gold and water-colored using Artistry Ink Pads [a new type of ink pad launched in India] and Staedtler water color pencils.
           I dabbed the ink pads on a craft mat, squirted with a few drops of water and used it to color the flowers and leaves on the cart. The cart itself was colored with Staedler pencils and then brushed over with a paint brush dipped in plain water.
       
Heat Embossed Sentiment
         Its raining heavily in different parts of South India and I guess that is why I was tempted to make a card in deep stormy blue with a cloud! My daughter said it looks weird for a Christmas card but I guess for the kind of weather we are experiencing in this part of the world it seems ok!
Parchment Flowers
          One corner of my card has heat embossed parchment flowers inked with Artistry ink "Blaze" shade and a cute golden Christmas tree charm I picked up from my local market.The Marianne  die cut leaf looks so glossy because I cut it from card stock I had made with alcohol inks [Check this link for more about Alcohol Inks ]
Inked edge
       The holly leaves and berries is a chipboard embellishment . The white dots you see all over my project were made using a correction pen! I am no expert at inking edges but I loved how I could get a cool relatively" un-blotchy for me" card edge using my new ink pads!
Inked Die Cut
          The Christmas tree ornament is also made of chipboard and I added a pearl string to hang it! The elegant border is a Marianne Anja Border die cut I inked while the die cut was still in the die.
         When there are flowers...one needs a little butterfly too but since it was a Christmas project I couldn't add too many so its just one tiny blue butterfly fluttering towards the cart load of flowers!
Now about Artistry Ink Pads...This review is especially for Indian Crafters since I dont think its as of now available in other countries!
Artistry Inks
First of all a Disclaimer: I am not associated with the manufacturer of Artistry Ink Pads Shilpi in any capacity. And this is not a DT post for any shop!
        I had simply congratulated the owner/ manufacturer Shilpa Kenia about launching Made in India Ink Pads on face-book and I was pleasantly surprised when she sent me some Artistry Ink pads to try !
         I am writing this review on my own since I loved some of the unique features of these ink pads  and wanted to write a frank review which may benefit other crafters!Paper Crafting is still a budding industry in India and it is so gratifying to see entrepreneurs trying to meet the needs of the indigenous paper crafting community!
What are Artistry Ink Pads?
These are dye based inks which are acid free and react beautifully with water.
If you are familiar with Distress Inks well then for all practical purposes you can think of Artistry inks to equate closely to Distress Inks in their properties and action !
          In addition to their Distress Ink like properties the  big plus with these ink pads are some cool and clever design elements in the ink pad itself which addresses some problems we crafters frequently face with normal ink pads .
Artistry Ink Pad
Currently Shilpi has 48 colors in their ink pads in 2 sizes : regular and mini. I especially love the regular one because of the cool design of the ink pads!

Artistry Ink Pad
Here are some of the salient and special features of the Artistry Ink Pads

  • InkPad is Upside down and hence Juicy Juicy!
     You may have read on several websites and forums about crafting stalwarts recommending you store your ink pads upside down to keep them juicy.I have never liked to do that because then I cant see which ink pad is which unless I go to the extra trouble of labeling them plus I dislike lids coming loose with upside down storage.
      Shilpi's ink pads are designed to store the pad upside down and the lid actually has the ink pad and you can flip it up to lie flat while you work
Artistry Ink Pad
Or you can flip it and bring it to rest atop the base for ease of working....isn't that clever!

Artistry Ink Pad
  • Lid is attached to it so you wont lose lids!  - I find this a cool design since I am not the most organized person while crafting and I do inevitably search for caps and lids ! With attached lids....no losing lids or rummaging for lids!
  • Raised stamping surface - I think this is the norm for most quality ink pads and the Artistry ink pads too have raised ink pads for ease of use.
    Artistry Ink Pad
  • You can see the name while working or stacked!

           The ink pad is designed in such a way that there is a projecting shelf with a colored label that is visible even when the pad is open, so you know the color even if you've multiple pads open on your craft desk
Artistry Ink Pad
The inkpad is also labelled on its side so you can stack ink pads vertically if you wish and still see which is the color!
  • Space to store blending foam 

    Artistry Ink Pad
    I think this is the feature I love the best! 
    Many crafters have several wooden blending tools and lovely rotating carousels and wooden racks to store their ink pads and blending foams neatly . I have only one wooden blending tool and store the foam blending pads rather haphazardly all thrown together and when I have to use my ink pads it means rummaging through a mess!
    Artistry Ink Pad
    These cleverly designed ink pads have a neat storage space to hold your foam pad...super cool isnt it!
 Mini Artistry Ink Pads
Mini Artistry Ink Pads
The mini ink-pads are lower priced and the "ink" is super but the mini ink pads dont have all the fun clever design features the regular sized pad has! The lid is not a flip flop, there is no storage space for foam and the ink pad is not up side down but you still have the clearly visible name feature.
Mini Artistry Ink Pads
 Now about the Cons
  • Part  of the lower panel "paper label" is not securely adhered - It doesn't peel off or anything but I felt it decreased the style quotient a tiny bit for an otherwise world class product!
  • Availability - I think these gorgeous ink pads need to be marketed better so that they are more widely available . Would be ideal if major stationary shops in cities at least stock it!
More Resources : Anita Kejriwal has posted several videos on You tube demonstrating various techniques with these beautiful inks . 

Techniques I tried in this project using Artistry Ink Pads
  • Water-coloring - I water colored the embossed wheel barrow and flower stamp using all 4 colors of Artistry ink pads - Loved the rich colors and their easy blend-ability.
  • Creating a background  - I created the blue background using the Midnight Blue Artistry Ink pad on white card stock
  • Inking edges of the paper - I often make a mess while inking edges of my card but it was easy this time!
  • Sponging through a die stencil - I especially enjoyed using the Artistry ink pads to stencil since the ink pads were juicy I didnt have to keep pressing on the ink pad with my sponge!
  • Coloring Parchment - I used "Blaze" to ink my parchment flowers.Parchment does not take well to many ink pads but these inks colored well and dried fast!
Where to buy Shilpi's Artistry Ink Pads : 
Non-traditional Christmas Card
I hope you like my card and review. Do tell me your thoughts

Supplies : Dies : Memory Box  Cloud , Marianne fence , Marianne Anja Border, Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 3, Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 1,Heartfelt creations Botanical Wings ,
Stamps : Stamplorations Dee's Artsy Impression Friends and Flowers, Heartfelt creations Botanical Wings , Sizzix- Hero Arts Ornaments 3
Paper : DCWV
Edited : This card was picked Top 5 at All sorts Use 3 dies Challenge 

51 comments:

  1. I like the storage for foam pad feature the best.
    Melissa
    "Sunshine HoneyBee"

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  2. Beautiful Christmas card in non traditional colours. Those ink pads do look rather different to the norm. Like the hinge lid effect and the ability to store a blending pad in the lid is another innovative
    idea. Thankyou for fluttering by #43 again. Hugs Mrs A.

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  3. Such a beautiful creation!

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  4. Beautiful card, stunning colours and so softlooking.
    Thank you again for joining at Stamping Sensations this month.

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  5. Wow! Such a gorgeous design here Sonia!! Love those flowers! :) Hugs & Smiles - *Vicki*
    My Blog: Stamp Smiles

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  6. This is a lovely card ! I love the elegant border ! Like the storage of the foam pad !
    Greetz
    Margo

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  7. Wow!! The design of this ink pad is amazing!! I've seen posts in FB where people used the wrong lides of DI on their pads and ended up using the wrong color the next time!! This is genius!! And nice idea with the blending foam storage. Beautiful card Sonia!! Love the parchment flowers. Nice color on them!! The tree charm is very cute!!
    -Berina
    Moxie Craftie

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  8. Sorry that these ink pads there aren't in Italy! They seem have a lot of fabulous qualities!! Love the genial system, expecially for the lidl, and I always search for caps, label and sponge during my craft work!!
    Your card is gorgous, wow! Love so much the amazing flowers, the colours and all the details!

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  9. Such a great non-traditional Christmas card, I love the colours and great embellishments.
    Thank you for joining us,
    Tina, GD on Butterfly Challenge

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  10. Oh wow, what a stunning card, Sonia!! All of the details are amazing!! I love the pretty image and the flowers!! The colors are so beautiful!! Gorgeous, gorgeous card my friend!! And those ink pads look amazing!! I love that they have storage, too!! Have a great day :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  11. Beautiful coloring!!! Awesome card!!

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  12. How sweet of her to send them!! This is gorgeous! LOVING the colors and the flowers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  13. How lovely, Sonia! Beautiful in every way! The colors are especially pretty! Hugs, de

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  14. That's such a gorgeous card... and thanks for the review tooo.... It was great to have you play along with us in ICR link party :)

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  15. Oh my, this is so gorgeous. Brilliant watercoloring :) :)

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  16. Unique features and so well researched to suit a crafters need! Thanks Sonia to highlight all these and as always a stunning creation.

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  17. beautiful card... and detailed info as always... thanks :-)

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  18. Such a lovely card...Soothing colors...Superb coloring...Great points, tips and highlights for the new product.

    Thanks for playing along Watercolor blog hop at ICR. Good luck dear!!

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  19. Awesome review and it was great to have you join the ICR blog hop !!

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  20. Awesome card...n gr8 review of Shilpi ink pads...

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  21. Amazing card Sonia. And thanks for sharing about the new ink pads, your inputs does help

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  22. beautiful card Sonia!! thanks for the detailed review !!

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  23. What a post Sonia!! First of all about your card -> It is simply gorgeous..love the die cuts and those flowers look wonderful! About the Artistry ink , I am sure I am gonna try them out! It is a pleasant surprise to see them made in India! Love the box design too! :)
    Suchi xx

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  24. I admire your creations. Stunning all the time. I will try to visit Craft Universe shop in Mumbai in two weeks I will be in Mumbai. Love artisty inkpads. I love them. you explained so nicely of usage and storage of ink and pad. Thank you. Love xx

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  25. wow...stunning card with so much detailing and thanks for the review on inks too...!!

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  26. So beautiful Sonia, This cute ink pad is also interesting :)

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  27. Gorgeous card! Well now I'm having ink pad envy :D. A terrific review of all the ink pads features. I, too, like it having a place to store the blending pad. I hope these get to the UK soon. Debra x

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  28. This is a real stunner Sonia, so much work but so worth it, it's like a Summer's day and the vellum embossed flowers the crowning glory.

    Many thanks for sharing with us at Stamping Sensations and Allsorts challenges.

    B x

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  29. This is so beautiful, thanks for joining us at Allsorts this week. xxxxx

    I have some candy on my blog, xxx

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  30. This is beautiful! I love those flowers! I love that Christmas tree charm too! :)

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  31. It's a beautiful card and anyone receiving this wouldn't mind a bit that it's not done in traditional Christmas colors.
    I like the design of those ink pads. The attached lid, the upside down storage and the space for the blending pad are all excellent ideas. Too bad they aren't sold here.

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  32. Wow Sonia, your card is just stunning! What a gorgeous and original design for a holiday card! I am loving the look of these ink pads, my favourite is the little storage space for the foam pad, what!!!!! Awesome! Have a great day. hugs :)

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  33. Gorgeous card and fabulous tutorial Sonia..Loz

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  34. Stunning card, I keep looking at all the things you've added to it, just stunning.
    Hugs, Lori m

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  35. Wow. Card is beautiful as all your creations are. Thanks for sharing the info about the ink pads. I needed that :) thanks a lot....

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  36. You are a pro at writing and reviewing a product ! Loved reading it and the card too :)

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  37. This is so gorgeous, what a pretty card, the flowers look amazing!
    Hugs Jacee
    Simply Paper Card Design

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  38. You always write the most fantastic posts Sonia. These ink pads look brilliant and I love how they hold your ink pads. Super colourful festive card.
    Julie x

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  39. Really gorgeous Christmas card, Dr. Sonia. hugs, Teresa

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  40. Woww Such a lovely creation.

    Akshma

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  41. What an informatively splendid post! Love the way ur card turned up to be ... very different & elegant... Its an out of the box project as much as the "MADE IN INDIA" ink pads are... Am so thrilled to have learned about some awesome happenings around.... Thanks so much for hopping with us Sonia!

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  42. WOW!! such a pretty card. Thanks for hopping and linking your card at ICR!!

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  43. Your card has so many embellishments that are glittery...just lovely! Thanks for playing with us at Outside the Box. hugs, :)

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  44. Another Gorgeous creation and so many beautiful details on this project! Thanks for joining us again at Power Poppy!!!

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  45. This is great thanks for playing along st CHPPC xx Jan DT

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  46. Oh my goodness! what a beauty and the way you have treated that stamp... it makes my heart flutter :) thank you so much for making it look so pretty !!

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  47. Beautiful flower design and dies. I like the colour combination.
    Best regards Petra

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  48. How lovely blue Cristmas card. Love the vellum flowers and blue inking on the background. Thank you for sharing your pretty card with us at Stamping Sensation. I hope you join with us again in our new challenge.
    Eret x

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  49. Oh my, Sonia, what an amazing piece of work! It's lovely and so much to look at! The colors are gorgeous and I love those sweet flowers! I'm delighted you shared it with us over at the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style!

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  50. Ooh it's so interesting to see the colours of my felt elf inspiring something so totally different! Great project. I think a stormy sky and a cloud are good on a Christmas card, we mostly just have rainy weather here in South England too! Thank you so much for joining in with Frosty Festivities 2015! x

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  51. These ink pads are now available through Clarity Stamps in England if anyone is interested. Xx

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