Ranger Industries (http://www.rangerink.com/)
Tips when using Ranger Adirondack® Pens

In producing the Adirondack Pens Ranger wanted to provide a versatile craft tool for today's mixed-medium crafters. We manufactured a unique light-fast ink with the ability to work on a variety of substrates. It is a superior product to the normal dye ink pen. However, due to the pigment colorant and multi-surface resins in the ink there are certain practices necessary to assure that the inks flow well and stay true-to-tone.

Always store your Adirondack Pens flat. The pens contain felt reservoirs and each ink contains a variety of pigments. If the pens are stored nib up or nib down the reservoirs may cause the pigments to migrate and the colors to change or shift. A color shift can be reversed by storing the pens flat.

When necessary spritz with water to revive (or use Perfect Ink Refresher, a tip from Ranger's Senior Educator, Tim Holtz). If your Adirondack Pens seem dry give them a spritz or work them a little to get the ink flowing. Adirondack Pigment Pen Ink contains a resin that allows these inks to dry on a variety of non-porous surfaces including stone, plastic, metal and fabric. This resin may dry on the nib. There is plenty of ink in the pen and by wetting and working the tip a little bit, you will have a juicy pen in no time.

Always replace the caps on Adirondack Pens when you are not using them. Air can dry the nib out. The cap will assure that the pens stay nice and wet.

Adirondack Pen Ink works great on fabric. Heat set with an iron for permanent results.

Adirondack Pen Ink can be used on hard surfaces i.e. acetate, shrink plastic, dominoes, wood, metal and stone. Prep glossy surfaces by sanding or with the application of a thin film of matte primer. Heat set the ink with a heat tool.

GLOSSY PAPER - These pens work great on glossy paper. Both permanent and non-smearing this allows you to stamp and color images on glossy paper. Try brayering backgrounds with Adirondack Pads, stamping in Archival Ink, and accenting your stamped image with the Adirondack Markers.

VELLUM PAPER - One of my favorite uses for the Adirondack Markers. Stamp and emboss your image on vellum. Turn the paper over and color the backside of the vellum with the pens. Use a nib to blend out color lines as well as adding shadows and highlight in coordinating Adirondack colors.

FABRIC - What you couldn't do with Adirondacks on fabrics. Create accents for your art projects using Adirondack markers. Stamp image in Archival Ink, color image with Adirondack Markers, even accent and outline your image with the pens. Turn fabric over and heat-set the backside using a hot iron for a few minutes. This sets the ink making it permanent and washable. You can also accent your quilts and batik fabrics with the palette of colors only found in the Adirondacks.

DOMINOES - One of the hottest trends in the stamp word today. The Adirondack markers can be applied to dominoes directly and blended using a nib or your finger. Also try to "blitz" the color on using a marker Blitzer found in your craft store. Color the tops, sides, and more with the Adirondack Markers. Heat setting these pens provides immediate handling ability. Stamp your images in Archival Inks.

ACETATE - Create the look of stained glass with the transparent colors of the Adirondack Markers. Stamp your image with Decor-It on acetate and color the backside of the image with the pens. For added texture try crumpling up tissue paper, covering the backside of the colored acetate with Glossy Accents, and then laying the tissue over the top. Turn it back over and you have a textured marbled background.

SHRINK PLASTIC - Finally the perfect marker for shrink plastic. Stamp you image with Archival or Decor-It inks. Color the shrink plastic with Adirondack Markers, but be sure to color lightly as the colors WILL intensify once the plastic shrinks. The look is bold, colorful, and most of all permanent.

DIRECT TO STAMP - Try coloring on the stamp directly. This process is fun and the results will rival the look of watercolor. Color with Adirondack Markers directly on the rubber of your stamp (use several colors). Spray stamp with water and stamp onto watercolor paper. The colors on the stamp will blend on the paper, and you can highlight with additional Adirondack colors.

WOOD - The Adirondack Markers provide a wonderful palette for coloring on wood. Stamp image with Decor-It ink on your wood project. Color the image with Adirondack Markers and wood burn the design to highlight your work.

METAL - With the altered look being so popular, stamping on metal objects has become such fun. Try stamping on Aluminum with Decor-It ink, embossing with a stylus tool, and coloring your stamped image with Adirondack Markers. The colors come to life with the reflection of metallics.

SCRAPBOOKING - Of course the Adirondack Markers would be complete if you couldn't use them on scrapbooks right? The archival, non-toxic, acid-free abilities of these pens make them a must have. Use them for journaling, outlining, stenciling, and anything else on your scrapbook to provide a little color from the Adirondacks.