Crafting Boot Camp #1 - Ink Pad Care

I've decided to start a series of tips, strategies, and ideas for those rookies out there new to crafting. I know that I wish I had many of these tips when I first started out, so I am hoping that these tips will be useful to those people who are just diving into crafting. Without further ado, I present Crafting Boot Camp (CBC)!! :) For CBC's first tip, I want to talk about ink pads and how to best keep them stored. It was after a few weeks of stamping and creating when I learned that ink pads are best stored UPSIDE-DOWN. The reason for this is that we should think of the ink pad as a dense sponge containing the ink. Gravity is NOT our friend in this case and will draw the ink to the BOTTOM of the pad's container/holder if we store them normally (right-side-up). So for optimum use of the ink, store your pads facing down. Now, with regards to Stampin' Up!'s ink pads, they are already constructed so that if you look at the top, the ink pad is UPSIDE-DOWN on the inside. Basically, the ink pad is adhered to the TOP of the pad's case. So, we want to keep Stampin' Up! ink pads with their "tops" pointing upwards. Something else to keep in mind when you've used your ink pad: After you've stamped your stamp on the ink pad and placed the image on your paper, close the ink pad promptly. Air is one of the ink pad's worst enemies. That being said, heat is also an ink pad's nemesis and your ink pads should be stored somewhere that won't get much hotter than room temperature. This means that if you purchase some new ink pads, try not to leave them out in your car on a day where temperatures are reaching 100 degrees! :) I hope you've gotten something useful from this article and if you'd like to add something, please place it in a comment below so that others can learn about ink pad care. :) Thanks for reading!