I have a full set of the Fresco pads and reinkers and I quite like them. They are different than the "normal dye inkpad", so don't expect them to look or act like a normal dye inkpad. I think this difference is what makes them unique. I've tried them on various surfaces just to see how they handle. I found that they look best on the lighter matte cardstocks and most all vellums. Not so outstanding on glossy cardstocks. Actually, they look FANTASTIC on vellums of all colors. I know that there is no such thing as a "be all end all" inkpad. Some inkpads look fantastic on one thing, other on a different thing. Some work better than others with certain techniques. For me, the Fresco pads will be my "go to pad" when I want to work with vellums. One thing I tried and loved with the Fresco pads was shadow stamping on light matte cardstock. Get your palette/shadow stamp and ink it up with a light colored Fresco pad and stamp on a light colored matte cardstock. Now, take your detail/main image stamp, ink it up with a regular dye inkpad of darker color ink and stamp on top of the palette/shadow image you stamped with the Fresco pad. Not only do you have a nice contrast between colors (soft against dark) but you also have a nice contrast in "feel"...the flat feel of a dye ink against the soft chalky feel of the Fresco pad. It's a nice and easy way to create a cool card. The Fresco pads are also suppose to be permanent when heat set. This means you should (so I've been told) be able to stamp them on shrink plastic and then shrink it and the image will be permanently set AFTER you shrink it. I haven't tried this myself, but I've talked to some people who have and they seem to really like how it turned out. I'll have to try it soon. Since they are suppose to be permanent when heat set, this means you CAN use watercolors and blender pens with them as well, another nice contrast/feel you might be happy with. Why not try stamping an image with the Fresco pad on a matte cardstock, heat set...then use your blender pen and some powdered pigments (like pearl ex/faerie dust/powdered pearls) and color the image in with light colors of the powdered pigments. This should yield a nice contrast...soft chalky outline against shimmery color. I really think if stampers will keep an open mind concerning the Fresco pads, take some time to play with them and see what they will do for you, use them in combination with other products in your collection of supplies - you might just find out these pads are more than worth the price they are asking for them!! And don't forget, if you buy those reinkers, in essence what you have is a "paint" that will dry chalky. Yeah, use those reinkers like a bottle of paint and paint/sponge/splatter with them...have some fun!!!!

Copyright 2002   Tyra Smith Cloud9@netnet.net
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