Craft Prouct Review: Versamark Dazzle

VersaMark Dazzle in Frost and Champagne

My sister was walking through the local craft store and texted me: “Versamark DAZZLE?” I texted back: “Unfamiliar- BUY NOW!” So she did, and we had to crack them open and give them a go.

Now, just a bit about VersaMark pads. Usually they are a spongy foam pad that is saturated with a pigment ink- but with out the ink. That is, it’s the media but without the color. This means that you can stamp on plain paper and get a “watermark” effect or use it as an adhesive (I use this word lightly) to get mica powders or chalks to stick.  It’s also very effective with embossing powders.

So the concept with VersaMark Dazzle (made by Tsukineko) is that there is a hint of color and metallic shine in the ink. They come in Frost and Champagne and I tried them both out.

On to the swatching!

First I used both on white paper.

The effect is so subtle, it's almost impossible to photograph.

The top line of swatches is using Frost, the bottom is the Chamapagne. First I stamped an image and embossed it with clear embossing ink, then the stamped image, then direct-to-paper.

With the Frost, you get no color or metallic shimmer with the embossed image. You get a faint watermark with the stamped image- the frost is almost impossible to see on white, though. When applying direct-to-paper, you definitely see the shimmer- it’s almost a pearl.

Using the Champagne, you do get a faint gold glow with the embossed image. (However, you can’t see any shimmer.) You see the slightly bolder gold shimmer with the stamped image- this is nice even on white. When applying direct-to-paper, however, the champagne color just looks muddy metallic. Not my favorite use of this pad!

Now on to black paper:

Ok, same drill: top row is using Frost, the second row is using champagne.

Like on the white paper, you don’t see any color or shimmer when embossing with the Frost. The stamped image showed up nice and crisply, and I really liked it alot. When applying direct to paper, you really she that shimmer pop!

The Champagne had similar results on black paper- just a faint gold glow when embossed. The stamped image was a little fainter than I thought it might be- but direct-to-paper showed up very well and the color was truer to “Champagne.” I’d use this technique only on dark papers- it’s the only way to get any real impact.

I decided not to try using the pad as an adhesive for chalk or mica powders because that would completely obscure the shimmer in the pad. The ink is the same as in the VersaMark, so you can certainly use it for those applications in a pinch.

I decided to whip up a few projects using the Dazzle pads, just to see if I could use them in a project effectively.

First, I tried stamping on some textured cardstock so I could add it to a tag.

VersaMark Dazzle doensn't show up well when stamped on textured cardstock.

Hmmm. That’s kind of an epic fail right there. So I  moved onto stamping with Frost on an embossed tag, and using some direct-t0-paper to highlight the embossed areas:

Unity Stamp, Sizzix embossing folder, Nestabilities die.

Very faint… as a matter of fact, when you view it straight on, you can’t see the stamping at all- not even as a watermark.

The Frost disappears on textured cardstock- not even a watermark.

So then I tried darker, smoother cardstock and used Frost to stamp a text block as a background.

The frost shows up better here (held against the light.)

And here’s another view of the card front- note that the Dazzle Frost actually looks black on this navy paper- but you see a frosty shimmer if you tilt the card.

So, kittens, here’s my opinion- for the retail price of $10.00 USD, this is a little pricey and not a lot of bang for your buck. I LOVE my regular VersaMark pad and have two of them, in fact, for different things. But my suggestion is save this ten bucks and go splurge on some Perfect Pearls (which work marvelously with the VersaMark stamp pad) and then you’ll have FOUR different colors of shimmer to choose from. (And you can use your Perfect Pearls with a bunch of other things, too!)

Rarely do I advise against a craft product, and this is one of those times. Sorry, Dazzle. You didn’t dazzle me at all…..

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About Jenny

Chief Craft Test Dummy, Craft Evangelist, Founder, Editor, bottle-washer, trouble-maker, and creative whirlwind.

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