Artistry ink by Shilpi is a rich water reactive dye ink. It is suitable to use to create distressed effects on various craft surfaces. It comes in 48 shades, and I used Indian Jamun to conduct my set of tests.
(Please note that this ink was not included in the original test documents from the Playing with Inks range, but you can easily add the results to the bottom of the downloadable table)
Let’s discover the properties of Artistry Ink:
Shilpi describes it as a rich, water reactive dye ink that is acid free (in other words, also a water-based dye ink). It is suitable for different media like scrapbook papers, cards, photo papers, watercolour papers, canvas, mount boards, ribbons etc. It is also suitable for use with various mixed media and other techniques.
It comes in a nifty container that I find very innovative. The ink pad has a flip-top design that automatically stores the ink pad upside down.
When it is open, it folds into place and you can still see the colour name label clearly.
It has a special compartment at the top where a blending foam can easily be stored.
The ink pads are stackable and the ink colour label can still be seen clearly when stacked.
I find this container really helpful when storing and using these inks!
Stamping with Artistry Ink:
Artistry ink stamps well, the image is however not solid, but slightly distressed. Artistry inks are matt inks and not metallic, so no shiny image.
As expected, the dried stamped image is affected by water, the ink moving on the cardstock. Surprisingly, the alcohol also made the ink bleed a little.
This dye ink was visible when stamped on a dark background. As you can basically see through a dye ink, I am not sure how this property of Artistry ink will be useful in crafting.
The Artistry ink can be used to stamp on glossy photo paper. The image still looked distressed, but it dried quickly and worked well.
Other uses for Make Art Ink:
This ink is water-based and can be used to blend with water to create beautiful splats. It can also be used as a watercolour-type paint.
Gel medium and gesso is easily coloured with Artistry ink. I was impressed by the brightness of the gel colour after being coloured with Artistry ink.
Artistry ink is a works well when doing ink blending, stenciling and chalking.
I found that this ink dried very quickly and I could not use it for heat embossing at all.
My Conclusion about Artistry Ink:
This was the first time that I used Artistry ink and I was happy with the results. I think that it will be a good alternative to Distress ink. It has a really cool container and it is much cheaper than the Distress inks here in South Africa (A Distress ink pad is almost 3 times the cost of an Artistry ink pad). I hope this gives you a good idea of the properties and uses of Artistry ink.
Remember to play with your inks to find new and interesting ways to incorporate it into your craft projects.
PLEASE NOTE: All the opinions are my own. None of the products have been sponsored.