Non-Drying Stamps?

[nightsinger]

I have done a stupid thing, and am hoping someone can suggest a way to fix it.

Comments

[dotgasmic]

my only theory is puttin a hairdryer to it, or maybe embossing powder and then the dryer?

[nightsinger]

I've got an embossing heater; it warps the paper in nothing flat. :/

But, then, warped paper is better than smudged ink, so that may be our only option!

Thank you!

[midorable]

as soon as it is dry, put the paper underneath phone books for a day.

[nightsinger]

I'll give that a shot tonight on one of the several I've smudged -- I'll pull out my math textbooks from college for weighing it down, if need-be, lol.

Would a sheet of wax paper keep it from sticking to the phonebook/textbook/etc? Or would it even be necessary? I've only ever let things air-dry after embossing.

Thank you very much!

[midorable]

I can't tell the cardstock, is it matte or glossy? What type of ink did you use?

Here's the thing, if you use something 'juicy' on glossy paper, it'll be very difficult to dry. My suggestion, one is silly one is not.

The not: use a heat gun (not a blow dryer) and use extreme heat to attempt to dry it out. The silly: while you're heating it w/ a heat gun anyway, might a well use clear emboss powder and 'set' the image and won't deter the color, and raise it up.

p.s. i'm an embossing freak. ;P

[nightsinger]

It's moderately glossy -- satin finish rather than high-gloss, but it's definitely coated paper. The ink is Colorbox's silver, so it's pigment rather than dye. Doing after-the-fact research tells me I should never have thought it would dry. Sigh.

I hadn't considered clear embossing powder -- but we definitely have the heat-gun to use it. The embossing powders we have on-hand are all coloured, haha. That's a fantastic idea!

Thank you!!

[fub]

I agree with the embossing suggestion. And it'll give the cards an even more luxurious look!

[nightsinger]

I'm giving it a shot, and letting it sit undisturbed under a big math textbook on my dining room table for 24hrs to see if it avoids the warping. :)

Thanks!

[roina_arwen]

Hmmm... my idea would be to attach a piece of clear or lightly frosted vellum or acetate (as seen here) over the card front with some pretty brads or ribbon.

[eloriarl]

Stick one in the oven (low temp)to test to see if it will set the pigment inks and not burn or warp the pages.

Pigment inks WILL over time set without heat, but it depends on the brand.

Putting vellum over it will only eventually smear the inks.

You either gotta be patient, or heat set it.

[nightsinger]

I've gone over one with a heat-gun; it did warp the paper but did not set the ink... I've got a new one (with embossing powder) weighed down by a math textbook now, so we'll see if that helps the warping. If so, I'll try one a bit more thoroughly with the heat gun without the embossing powder and see if that works.

As for patience... :) My original test was on 10th November 2008... and it still smears, lol, albeit not as badly as the newer ones. If the ink takes over two months to set by itself, I don't think it will be feasible to wait.

[midorable]

so, how did it go?

[nightsinger]

I just got home and checked. :) The textbooks worked a charm; they definitely did keep the paper from warping! Thank you for that suggestion!

I also picked up a different brand of spray-on shellac which seems to be working better so far -- Krylon's matte spray, at the suggestion of one of the girls at work. At least, the ink didn't start immediately melting off, so I call that improvement, lol. I'm going to let that dry overnight as well, and see which effect my fiancé prefers.

Thank you so much for the help!

[katzechicx]

Well, I have nothing to add to help salvage. But, if you have to redo it, I recommend Versamark ink the image and then dry embossing white over it.

Best of luck!