Fun card and paper and ink differences

I've been looking for a few stamps that contain some gentle humor.  I'm not interested in images with women drinking martinis or elderly ladies being vulgar, commentary on body parts or body functions.  Just something that will make a friend smile and not make them wonder about me!
Easier said than done!  I was able to pick up a couple of stamps at the rubber stamp show in June that made me smile. The Stamp I am using for this card was from 'Carmen's Veranda' which is a sub company of Lost Coast Designs.

This is a nice large stamp with super fine engraving.  Large stamps like these can present certain difficulties  in getting a good image.

First I tried, plain ol' block, no good

The I tried plain block with speed ball press

Similar results:

next: My mega mount

Equally dismal results

this isn't even half of the images!!

I know I had the right ink

I sanded the stamp, tried glossy paper, used a brayer on top of the paper placed on top of the stamp

I felt like it had to be the paper not soaking up the ink,  other than the glossy paper I was using cardstock I normally use in my printer for digitals.  It works great for the computer perfectly generated  images , it also works well with coloring methods.  It was not working well with the old school rubber on ink.  So I switched papers and went to old faithful Neenah solar white 80#.

First impression, using mega mount!

You'll see the real difference in the final card.

I use Neenah paper in my printer, the paper I use is smooth 65#  it's pretty inexpensive:

It has a lovely smooth surface that holds ink nicely and colors well with alcohol, watercolor, chalk and pencil - a very nice paper for printing and coloring digitals, especially at 9.00 per 250 sheets!

Here is a Magenta image using this 65# paper and the same ink:

It came out perfect the first time.

(I love this stamp!!)

However

Apparently it isn't smooth enough for a good image from a superfine detailed rubber stamp and I needed to switch to the Neenah Solar white which is a super smooth finish.

it is also 26.00+ a ream

Neenah Solar white in card base weight (110#) jumps the price up another 20.00.  Still a good price for an excellent paper

It all has to do with how the paper is polished at the Mill and whether there are long fibers and short fibers and a dozen or so other things involved in milling.  Make for very interesting reading.

So with all that said here is my card with a bit of humor:

Colored with Spectrum Noir

 I'm not supported or compensated by any of the mentioned companies I've mentioned.  

I am sharing what I have learned and I hope you find this helpful!

Thanks for stopping by and for all the kind comments I appreciate them and find them encouraging!

Ginny M