by Zeborah Loray

Ranger Products
These are the Ranger products I have and use in my artwork. They carry a LOT of products. As I aquire more of them I'll add to the list. I've been very happy with all of my Ranger purchases. Haven't found any of them to be a disappointment.

• 1. Glossy Accents
  An acid free, 3-D, clear gloss medium. Dries to a very hard, glass like finish.
  I use this for so many things. I use it as a glue, it dries clear so it is great for using with microbeads.
  I also use it as a glaze for adding dimension to pieces. Sometimes I use it just for the shine.
  I've used it for doing some of the faux dicro pieces. Give the colors a lot more depth. Works great over Friendly Plastic Faux Dicro, too.
  I used it for extra dimension on some of the parts of my skelly closet.
  It sets up solid - you can use it to fill in the backs if you are doing molds with foil candy wrappers too.
  This is an excellent and very versatile product. I wouldn't be without it.
  
  
• 2. Alcohol Inks
  Acid-free, fast drying, transparent dye inks. Developed by the talented Tim Holtz. He comes up with the coolest toys for us.
  I can't say enough about these inks. I'm addicted. I admit it.
  I do recommend buying the blending solution also.
  I've been using Krylon leafing pens with the alcohol inks- but I'm hoping to try out the new metallic blends soon. I'll keep ya posted.
  I have a bunch of stuff I've done with them up at the After Midnight Stamp site. There is some other great work shown there too, by various artists.
  
  

• 3. Distress Ink™ Pads
  Tim Holtz Distress Inks are acid-free, non-toxic, fade resistant, water-based dye inks.
  I wasn't sure I was going to take to these. I don't do a lot of vintagey stuff. But I find I am reaching for these ink pads more and more lately.
  They aren't always obvious in my work- because they are one of the inks I use when i'm building up colors and textures- so sometimes they get covered up. I use them a lot when I am getting a base coat of color on canvas. I love the way they spread out and blend. And sometimes they are very subtle if I am toning down something by lightly inking with these.
  But they are staying right up there on the top of the pile- they haven't been migrating away- so I use them often. I love the way the colors have a muted feel, yet are still richly pigmented.
  I often use them to "dirty up" something I want to have that aged look- and of course, they are PERFECT for this. ;)
  
  The photo shows the inside of an album covered with Tyvek with Distress inks- and I did a few tags when Iwas first experimenting with it. The other piece is shrink plastic. I used the Distress inks over it after I had shrunk it and sanded it.
  

• 4. Tim Holtz's Distress Ink™ Reinkers
  I'm really in love with these. They give a beautiful translucent finish over- well- anything you put them on.
  You can rub and scrub with them- they act like a stain and give so much depth and warmth to things.
  

• 4. The Melting Pot®
  Oh yeah- the Melting Pot. How did I manage without this?
  I use a lot of molds. You can do molds with embossing powders in other ways- but it's a PIA without this tool. If you want to do much with molds- you NEED this. Trust me- buy it. You won't be sorry.
  Nice for dipping stuff into EPS also. One of my favorite projects using the Melt Pot and the Clear UTEE is shown on the After Midnight website. Melt Art pins done with Sheer Heaven.

• 5. Adirondack® Acrylics
  Very good quality acrylic paints. Same great colors as the rest of the line. These have a slightly metallic sheen to them. Not as glitzy as the Lumieres, but sometimes that is a good thing. ;)
  They aren't as thick as Golden's heavy body tube acrylics- but they aren't quite as thin as the fluid acrylics. Nice texture. I like to apply them with my fingers. :) Very sensual paints.
  Haven't tried them on fabrics yet- but they are permanent on fabrics.

• 6. Adirondack® Pads
  Great colors. Earthy and rich.
  I like the removable hinged lid on the cases.
  The reinkers are great straight from the bottle for laying on a thick coverage for backgrounds. I also like to overload the pad itself with ink- you can really get some intense color on your stamps this way.

• 7. Heat it™ Craft Tool
  I didn't think I needed another heat gun. I was wrong.
  Yep- it is quieter. That's nice. It is less likely to scorch delicate papers and it works well with vellums. That is a big plus.
  What they fail to mention on the Ranger website is that it is the only way to go for using the Heavy Embossing Powders. Your OTHER heat gun? It blows EP all over the room, right? You have to put your project in a box and keep reapplying the powder to the project, which is immediately all blown off as soon as you try using the heat gun. Ok- I know- I could hold the project up and heat it from the bottom. Great, if you are working with paper. Not possible if you are working with glass or metal. Ouch- burny.
  The Heat It tool might take a little longer to get the powder to melt- but it lets it stay where you put it.
  I LOVE my Heat It tool.

• 8. INKssentials Memory Glass™
  I have the 2X2 pieces. I use these more than the other glass slides. They are a perfect fit for so many stamps. I guess I just prefer the square format. They make the long thin ones too- and a smaller square.
  Really really nice with alcohol inks. :) Ok- so I think everything is really really nice with alcohol inks. We all have our weaknesses.

I buy my Ranger products through After Midnight Art Stamps, LLC

You can check out more information on them at the Ranger website.
They have lots of information on their products and you can see what all the new stuff you NEED will be. Check out their FAQ files- you'll learn a lot. And they show some great projects.

I'll be posting more product reviews soon. I get so many questions about which products I use. Hope this info is helpful.