I’ve already gone a couple of rounds with Silhouette Mint stamps and Versamark Watermark Ink for heat embossing and, to this point, the results have not been great. I’m giving one more round with the Versamark Reinker, and I’m using a tip that I picked up from viewer Mary, who said that she uses a baby wipe to wipe excess ink from the entire stamp before stamping with it. She’s been getting great results with this method and the Silhouette Mint brand ink, so I thought I’d give it a shot with the Versamark ink.
I also wanted to see whether the type of image that you use for the stamp makes any difference in the results, so I made one stamp with a more complex image (a monogram from my Classic Monogram Wreaths font) and one a simple image with a lot of solid areas (I used a letter from the Chunk Five font – it’s a free download).
Unfortunately, even after generous use of a powder tool, I was not able to get consistently crisp and clean heat embossed images with either stamp. There was always some excess embossing powder that stuck in the areas around the stamped image. With the more simple image stamp, you can much more easily come in with small, dry paintbrush and remove some of that excess embossing powder. But, for me, the quality of the results just wasn’t worth the effort that it took to get there.
The results aren’t bad, per se, but they’re not as good as I’d like them to be, especially since you’ll need to stamp out at least a dozen or more impressions just to get to the point where the heat embossed images look decent. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer but, unfortunately, Versamark doesn’t seem to be an ink that plays well with Mint stamps. I’ve gotten better results using Silhouette Mint brand colored inks for heat embossing. They’re not perfect, but they’re not too bad.
NOTE : In person, the amount of excess embossing powder left around the stamps is more pronounced. I turned down the brightness in parts of the video so you can see it better, but it’s still hard to see just what it looks like in person.
Check out the video below to see how I set up the stamps in Mint Studio, as well as the testing and results with the Versamark reinker:
Supplies Used in This Project
The following supply list contains affiliate links. I make a small commission if you purchase through these links, and I really appreciate it if you do!
– Classic Wreath Monograms Dingbat Font
– ChunkFive Font
– Silhouette Mint Studio Software
Silhouette Mint Supplies
– Silhouette Mint Custom Stamp Maker
– Silhouette Mint Stamp Kits (with the stamp base / block)
– Silhouette Mint Stamp Sheet Sets (just stamp sheets)
– Silhouette Mint Inks
For Heat Embossing
– Versamark Reinker
– Neenah Solar White Cardstock (80lb.)
– EK Tools Powder Tool
– Ranger Embossing Powder, Liquid Platinum
– Darice Multi-Purpose Heat Tool
– baby wipes
– paper towels
