It's a special day!

You may have guessed, eh? It's IndigoInklings' 3 year blog-aversary! Yes, it was three years ago that I made my first post here on Blogger. I did it on a whim, never expecting that I'd still be at it years later. I'd started this blog as a way to keep track of cards that I made and how I'd made them. I'd never expected to gain any kind of readership, and things did start out slowly. For quite a while I posted, mainly for myself. After a while I became curious and added a counter, just to see if anyone ever stopped by. I was getting the occasional visitor and the occasional comment. Things really picked up though when I started posting cards that I'd made using Cuttlebug embossing folders in ways other than the traditional put-the-card-stock-in-the-folder-and-roll-it-through method. There was an interest in that and in reviews of tools and punches. People seemed to like the photos and step-by-step instructions for various techniques using dies, texture plates, embossing folders, brass stencils etc in the Big Shot, the Cuttlebug, the original Sizzix.

And so, here I am, three years later, still playing with die cutting machines and their accessories and making cards. I owe part of my motivation to the fact that I know that there are folks who like to come by and visit, so thank you! :-) I still do this mostly for me though. It's a way to relax and is just plain fun!

From time to time I do a recap. It feels like it's time to do that again. I'm going to approach it from the standpoint of crafting. Some of this will be obvious if you've stopped by here before. Some will be first time revelations. Hey, I had to have something new, eh? Here goes....

Die cutting machine: Big Shot, Cuttlebug, original Sizzix--I own all three. I like the Big Shot better by far. I won't get into the pros and cons since I've discussed that elsewhere. I doubt I'll be test-driving the Big Shot Express--I do too much experimenting and would probably break it. I'm passing on the QuicKutz Epic 6, too. Can't see that it offers anything that makes me want to replace my Big Shot.

Card stock: I use Georgia Pacific quite often. I like Neenah or Paper Trey when I want to use good stuff.

Inks: Memento dye inks are the first that I reach for these days. So versatile and I love the colors! I prefer Versafine when I'm really looking for fine details. Nothing beats alcohol inks for polished stone though. Stewart Superior's India Ink is my favorite black ink.

Coloring: I have a few Copics and Prismacolor markers and use them rarely. I like the look of the magic colored pencil technique, but don't use that often either. I've found that I actually don't color much if I can avoid it. LOL!

Dies: I find that when I want to make a die cut these days, I'll put out a folder of Spellbinders dies. They have so many shapes and sizes. They're versatile in that you can emboss with them or stencil with them. Can't beat the Bigz and original Sizzix dies though for cutting through stuff that's thicker than card stock. And the XL Bigz dies can make some really fun stuff. I don't use Cuttlebug dies very often.

Embossing: I like dry embossing. I think that's because I tend to be impatient. I think that's also the reason why I like embossing folders so much. Cuttlebug folders are great due to the sheer number of designs that they offer. Sizzix has the plus of covering a greater area, not to mention that they're packaged in coordinated sets. QuicKutz are similar to the C'bug folders, but I've found that there can be issues with the front and back of the folder aligning properly. Love their big border folders though! Texture plates and Fiskars are fun, so long as you know what to expect--texture, not deep crisp embossing. For the price, these folders all pack a lot of punch. They can be used in a lot of different ways. Just check out my sidebar to see! :-)

Punches: Most of the punches that I buy these days are border punches. The slim design punches by EK Success are my current favorites. Love the designs and the fact that they're more compact. That's not to say that I'm tossing out my Fiskars or Martha Stewart punches though.

Stamps: I used to be a red rubber stamper all the way. I've since unmounted all of my wood mounteds and I actually reach for clear stamps first. Again, ease of use and easy storage are big reasons. Clears and Memento inks seem made for each other, too.

Paper cutter: Making Memories paper trimmer and the 6" base Tonic guillotine cutters are what I use most often. Exacto and a ruler for thicker stuff. Tim Holtz scissors for rubber.

Scoring: I'm a long-time Scor-It user. I'll admit it. I love the look of the scores. After hearing so much about the Scor-Pal, I had to try it. Here's what I found....

In the photos, the Scor-It scored card stock is on the left and the Scor-Pal scored card stock is on the right.

Here a light source was aimed from bottom left to highlight the scoring.

To be fair, I aimed the light from bottom right this time.

The angle washed out some of the scores, so this time I aimed the light more directly from right to left.

This time the light was aimed from left to right.

To my eye, even without the extra light, the scores made using the Scor-It were more distinct and deep. Having become used to the looks of the scores made by the Scor-It over the years, the Scor-Pal scores don't quite measure up. To me it'd be similar to the difference between an image embossed using embossing folder with vs without a shim. I happen to prefer the more crisp embossing. Other folks may be fine with less crisp. I'll say that for making multiple scores that line up with the Scor-Pal lines, the embossing goes more quickly. That's an advantage. (I'm still tempted to redo those lines with my Scor-It though.) With the addition of the Scor-It ruler to the arsenal, the Scor-It definitely becomes more accurate and versatile, if still perhaps not as quick--and that has more to do with the user though, eh? I'm going with quality of score and still pull out the Scor-It. Love those fun starburst and light beam patterns! Plus I'm not much into box-making. Scor-Pal is good for that sort of thing.

Adhesives: I'm a long time ATG user, the 1/4" tape variety. I use the Scotch 714 and have never had any trouble with the gun or the adhesive. I have small hands and find it very easy to use--I only say this because its size always scares people. I'm not sure why. If you look at the handle, it's quite a manageable size--it's not like you're wrapping your hand around the entire ATG, eh? It's lightweight and balanced nicely. Can't beat the price for the amount of adhesive that you get either. It's by far the most economical and most eco-friendly to boot.

What some folks hate, and what is a disadvantage for lefties, is the fact that the tape runs along the left edge of the roller. I like that! The photo above shows what I see as I sit holding the gun with my wrist in a nice comfortable neutral position. I can see exactly where I'll be laying that tape down as I pull the gun toward me. That means that I can place the tape right along the edge of my layer and I have no trouble stopping right at the edge either.

This is a view of the Glue Glider Pro. I picked it up when it was on sale at Hobby Lobby. I'd heard so many glowing reviews that I couldn't resist trying it. Smaller and lighter. Okay. Not big selling points since I don't have size issues with the ATG. Tape unwinds toward the right edge of the roller as I've indicated above.

Okay. I tried a number of ways to try to accurately see where I'd be laying my tape down. If I leaned over the top of the Glue Glider and looked backward toward the roller, I could get a fair idea. Didn't work for a good camera shot, not to mention that it was uncomfortable. So, in the photo above, I tried to get a look from the side. Still couldn't see just where the tape was. This was also awkward as far as either having to twist my wrist or lean to the left.

Here I finally just set the roller on the card stock. I'm a bit puzzled about all of the glowing reviews. The adhesive is very good! I'm not impressed by the delivery though. More often than not, the adhesive ran off the edge or too far. Not a biggie to fold it back, but an aggravation. I like my tools to make life easier for me, not more frustrating. ATG wins easily. I like Tombow Quickie glue pen for small die cut letters etc.

As for my card, the sentiment was made using the QuicKutz String Bean border alphabet. The embossed background is the Cuttlebug Number Collage embossing folder. Both were rolled through my Big Shot. The decorative starburst scoring was made using my Scor-It and the Scor-It ruler. I used my ATG to glue everything down except for the letters--I used my Quickie glue pen for those. LOTS of my faves used in the making of that card.

That covers my recap and musings as I reflect over the past three years of blogging. Thanks to all of you who read or follow me here regularly. Thanks to those of you who've taken the time to comment, too. It's appreciated. Plus, then I don't feel so weird talking to myself. :-) To celebrate properly, I'll be hosting three giveaways. I'll make new posts for those. Seems right to have three of them, so stay tuned. I'll put the first one up when I get a chance to take some pics and get them uploaded. I think you all should get to celebrate, too! :-)

House Mouse challenge #25 card

Here's yet another card that I've made this week from a sketch. This time I used the Challenge #25 sketch designed by Jami over at the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog.


The patterned card stock is by Me and My Big Ideas. The image was stamped using Memento dye ink then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. The circle and scalloped circle were cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities dies.

two more flower soft cards

I just love using Flower Soft. It's so fun! Here are a couple more cards where I've embellished with it.


This first card was embossed with the new Floral Screen Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder. And hooray! I got it right the first time and embossed rather than debossed the card front.


For this card I partially Cuttled using the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder and then added the score lines with my Scor-It. Those are Robin's Nest dew drops embellishing that card.

All of the stamp images are by My Favorite Things, stamped using Memento ink, and colored with Prismacolor colored pencils then blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen. I used scalloped Nestabilities dies by Spellbinders to cut out the layers for the images, and by the way I did use the Sizzix crease pad again and it really does make using these dies more efficient if you plan to emboss after cutting.

flower-soft lilacs

Life has been busy because school starts back up here in another week. I had a fun package arrive in the mail today though, and I just had to put some of the contents to use.


This is a card that I creatively Cuttled using the new A2 Floral Screen Cuttlebug embossing folder. I did this in order to leave that unembossed area for my new lilac stamp from Flourishes. I stamped the image using Memento dye ink, then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen. But here's the really fun part! I then applied some glue to the lilacs and pressed Flower Soft into the glue. They're acid-free sprinkles that add really neat color and texture. Using it is much like using flock. The colors and color combinations are wonderful!


This is a close-up of the flower soft sprinkles. The sentiment is also by Flourishes, by the way. I can't wait to try using these Flower Soft sprinkles on some other projects!

Works for Cuttlebug small folders, too

Just in case there are those out there who either didn't make the leap or weren't sure whether this notion would work, let me elaborate a little more on preventing folder lines. My last two posts on this subject addressed those new border folders. You can use the same idea for the small Cuttlebug folders. Those have been known to leave those pesky folder lines, too.

So, here are a couple of those folders, along with the border folders and the craft sticks that I'd used with them.


I found that other craft stick at the bottom of the photo in my stash. It's nice because it runs the full length of the border die. The small craft stick comes up just a tad short.

So, what I needed was something that would cover the embossed design of the small folders, but not overlap the folder edges. Sadly, none of my wood die cuts would fit the bill. At least not without some alterations.


What you see above is the back panel of some Cuttlebug packaging. Yeah, I still had that handy, and I guess I'm just determined to use it. LOL! I cut it into approximately 1 3/4" squares. That's big enough to cover most of the designs without catching the folder edges. I stacked eight of those to come up with the thickness that gave a nice impression. Your mileage may vary. :-) That gives you an idea of where to start though.


Another thing that you could do is use two of the bigger craft sticks side by side. Cutting one in half would do the trick. I'd thought about doing that, but my paper cutter and Cuttlebug scrap packaging were closer, quicker, and easier. And actually, you could use these craft sticks as I've shown up above without cutting them. Just let the extra length overlap the hinge of the folder--that edge doesn't leave a line anyway.


I left this card fairly plain, no score lines or ribbon, so you can see that there aren't any folder lines. These are all Cuttlebug embossing folders--the top is the new Forest Branches A2 embossing folder. I did the coloring with Memento dye ink, Prismacolor pencils, a black Sharpie, and a white Inkssentials opaque pen.

creative Cuttling with new folders

This is a quick and easy card that I made using one of the newly released Cuttlebug A2 embossing folders. This one is Floral Screen. I left the center of the card front unembossed by doing a little creative Cuttling using a die cut wood frame. The stamped image and sentiment are both by Hero Arts and stamped using Memento dye ink. I colored the image using Prismacolor pencils and blended using my Goo Gone Mess-free pen.

One thing that I wanted to point out--I know I've read at a number of forums that there's a certain amount of frustration over the fact that these A2 embossing folders don't cover the entire front of the card and that this more or less forces people to use layers. I felt the same way at first, but as I've started doing more and more embossing of the card fronts themselves, I've found that I actually do like that they have a "built-in" border. Maybe you can appreciate that I didn't have to do anything to make the edges of this card look more finished. That's what I'm talking about. :-)

more Cuttlebug border fun

I made this first card using the Sizzix XL scallop card die. I embossed the top layer with one of my new Cuttlebug Just My Type embossing borders and cut out the windows using a Sizzix movers and shapers die. The stamped images and sentiment are all by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye ink. I colored the images with Prismacolor pencils blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen. The embellishments are Prima leaves. The "berries" are faux dew drops from Michael's.

I like having fun with transparencies. I used a heavy weight transparency as my card base. The green layer was embossed with another one of the new Cuttlebug Just My Type embossing borders. The corner punch was Tonic. The toad and sentiment die cuts are both by Cuttlebug. The toad is attached by a pop dot to lend more dimension. The corner embellishments are Robin's Nest dew drops.

dropping a line, again

I made a card recently using these images and sentiment by Inkadinkado. This time I stamped them with Memento ink, colored with Prismacolor pencils, blended with my Goo Gone pen, and then gave some gloss to the bubbles with my clear Sakura Glaze pen. I made the background by spraying Perfect Resist on glossy paper, letting it dry, then swiping a Marvy blending blox inkpad over it. I removed the excess ink with a soft paper towel. I like the way it turned out, and I was able to get a look similar to using a brayer without the muss or fuss.

quickie cards

Every so often I like to do cards that are just very simple and straightforward. This morning was one of those times.

This first card was made by cutting a window out of some GCD Studios patterned cardstock using my four pane window movers and shapers Sizzix die. I then stamped the images and sentiments by My Favorite Things using Memento dye ink. I embellished with the ribbon and some of the Brides confetti flowers and added Liquid Pearl centers.


The main layer of this next card is from Memory Box Co's Sprout line. I embossed it with the Cuttlebug Birds & Swirls embossing folder and then cut a wavy window using another Sizzix movers and shapers die. The stamped images are by Hero Arts and colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen.


This last card features the Fiskars read between the vines corner and border punch. The stamped images are all by Hero Arts and colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and the white opaque pen by Inkssentials. The flowers are Primas.


Not bad for some early Sunday morning crafting. :-)

a few cards

This is the busy time of year with the school year winding down. I hadn't really had much time to make cards, but here are a few that I managed to finish this week.

This first one is creatively Cuttled. I used a door hanger to leave the unembossed opening where I then used a modified small Cuttlebug embossing folder to add the zigzag circle with the Hero Arts sentiment stamped inside it. I used Fiskars corner edgers to embellish the layers and then added some bling.


This next card was first stamped with Hero Arts flowers and Versamark ink, then embossed using the Cuttlebug Bloom Dots embossing folder. I scalloped the bottom edge by partially running it through one of the long scalloped rectangle Megabilities dies. The other layers were made using scalloped Nestabilities dies. The sentiment is by Studio G and the penguin is by Imaginisce, colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen. The scoring accents were made using my Scor-It.


This last card was also creatively Cuttled, again using a wooden door hanger to leave a round opening in the embossing. I used the Cuttlebug A2 Spots and Dots embossing folder. The stamped images are a mini set by Inkadinkado and stamped using Brilliance ink. The diaper was colored with the Ranger Inkssentials opaque white pen.


Can't believe that this is the first time I've posted since Monday. Feels good to get back in the swing of blogging.

a few more Cuttled cards

I seem to have a lot of Cuttled card fronts just waiting to have something done to them. I got around to doing some stamping, so I thought I'd post a few of those cards that I've finished.


This first card was made doing some diagonal Cuttling of a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The stamped flower image is by Imaginisce the sentiment is a Studio G stamp. Both were stamped using Memento dye ink and then colored with Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Goo Gone and accented with Copic Spica glitter pens. The orange border was made with the Fiskars Lacy Days of Summer border punch.


This next card was made with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. I'd partially Cuttled to leave spaces for stamping sentiments. The stamps were all by Inkadinkado and stamped with Memento ink. The scalloped circle was made using a Spellbinders petite scalloped circle Nestabilities die.


This last card was made by creative Cuttling using the Mini Mosaic Cuttlebug embossing folder. The stamped images and sentiments are by Inque Boutique, stamped using Memento dye inks, and colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. The blending was done using Goo Gone.

Ahhh, it's nice to do some crafting. :-)

Tips for diagonal scoring

Diagonal scoring can be tricky. Scoring boards like the Scor-It have a nice raised edge so that you can push your paper or cardstock flush up against it and make a nice straight score. You can't place your card flush against a raised edge when you're scoring a traditional card front diagonally though. It's also tough if your card isn't a traditional shape. I'm going to describe what I do to try to keep from having to toss too many cards into the scrap pile.

In my post about diagonal Cuttling, I mentioned that I like to set off the look of the embossed and unembossed areas of the card front. I usually do this by scoring, so that the card looks like this....


To do this, I pull out my Scor-It board and open up the card on top of it. In the photo below, I've started to line up the bottom right corner of the card front along the ridge that will make my embossed line. I like to start here because this is the easiest place to see just where to score that line--I can sort of visualize the edge of the embossing following along that metal ridge.


But, I've said it here before--why guess when you can make things a bit more foolproof? Yes, I've successfully eyed it and gotten it right, but there are three more lines to score after this first one. I needed a better plan. Okay, yes, I learned that from experience. :-)

So, here's one way to double check. I use something with two nice straight edges set at a right angle. If you've been Cuttling diagonally using those long Sizzix plates, then BINGO! You can use one of those.


In the photo above, I've placed the short edge of the clear plate flush against the raised edge at the top of my Scor-It. Sliding close to the scoring rail, I can double check where my first score line will be made compared with where my embossing starts and ends. Once I'm happy with it, I can score my line.


Here I'm just showing another option. This is a clear triangle ruler. You can use a regular ruler, too, as long as the short edge is wide enough to be stable against the raised edge of the scoring board. I also like using something clear so that I can see embossed design through it.


Here I've made the first score line and I'm getting ready to make the second one. This is where it's really nice to have a way to check the placement of your line before you make it because if it looks off, then it's rather eye-catching and not necessarily in a good way.


Here I'm basically making sure that my lines will be parallel to each other. I've placed my card over the rail where I think the next score line should go. I slide the clear plate along that raised edge at the top of my board and I make sure that the first line that I scored is still lining up parallel to the scoring rail. The rubberized texture of the board holds my card in place while the clear plate slides easily over the top of the card, so that I can move the plate back and forth from the scoring rail to my first scored line until things are lined up just right. By the way, it took me A LOT longer to write that than it does to actually just do it. :-) When I'm satisfied, I score my line.

Make all of the score lines in the same fashion and you end up with a card that can look something like this when you've finished it off with some stamping and embellishments....


The stamped swirl image is by Inkadinkado and stamped using Memento dye ink. The butterfly die cut was made using a Spellbinders die and embossed and colored with that die as well. The flowers and leaf are Primas.

If you use craft sticks to creatively Cuttle as I've described before, you can set off that embossing with score lines, too. I went through the same steps to score the following card as I did in the one I described above. You just need to tilt the card a couple of different ways because the design changes direction.

For this card I used the Cuttlebug Perfectly Paisley embossing folder and embossed using craft sticks. I set off the embossing with score lines made with my Scor-It. The stamped images are an Inkadinkado mini set and stamped using Tsukineko Memento dye ink. I colored the images with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with my Goo Gone Mess-free pen. I accented the headlights with a Sakura clear Glaze pen.

By the way I don't have a Scor-Pal. The idea would be the same though. You'd have your card face down in this case and set at an angle on top of the board. You'd position your card so that your first score line makes a nice border between an embossed and unembossed area of your card. Depending on whether one of the other scoring grooves falls in a spot where the next line would ideally be scored, you may or may not have to move your card. If you do have to move it, a clear straight edge can help you make sure that things are lined up properly again before you make your other score lines. Hope that made sense. :-)

Megabilities & scalloped A2 card edges

If you've followed blogs and posts about Spellbinders' Nestabilities dies, chances are that you've seen Nichole Heady's short tutorial on making a card with a scalloped edge. You can read that post if you click here.

What I did this morning was use the same technique, but with a rectangular scalloped Megabilities die, to cut scallops on the long edge of a full-size A2 card. This was kinda nifty because I know that some folks have mentioned that it would be great to have a simple scalloped border punch without the holes that you get with the Threading Waters border punch by Fiskars. If you happen to have this set of dies, you're all set!

I started out with my Big Shot, a 5 1/2" X 8 1/2" piece of cardstock, and the largest die of the smaller set of scalloped rectangle Megabilities dies.


I passed the card stock through the die so that only the leading edge would be cut.


I put the top cutting plate in place and got ready to run it through the machine.


Here's how it turned out.


I used this technique to make the following cards.


This first one was made with the card stock that was pictured in the example above. I embossed the card front with the Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers embossing folder. The images are by Inkadinkado and were stamped using the new Memento dye ink by Tsukineko. I colored the images with Prismacolor colored pencils and blended with the Goo Gone Mess-free pen. I then cut out, embossed, and layered that image using Nestabilities dies.


For this card I used the scalloped Megabilities dies to make my layers. The images are all by Pink Paislee and colored using Copic markers and a Copic blender. I added the sparkle with Diamond Stickles.

As far as the new Memento inks, they were definitely fast drying. I know that they're supposed to be good for detailed stamping, but they were perhaps still a bit juicy at this stage and bled a bit on the cardstock. I'd still opt for Versafine ink for when I want to be sure to pick up really fine details. The Memento ink did work well with the Copic markers and didn't bleed. I stamped using London Fog to make the lines a bit more subtle.

new MCP comparison

Last night I said I'd do a more formal comparison of possible blending agents for magic colored pencil. Here it is. But first, a disclaimer! I'm not a great colorer/blender to begin with, so keep that in mind when you look at these images, okay?

I stamped a Rhonna Farrer/Autumn Leaves image four times on a piece of Beckett Expressions cardstock using Archival Jet Black ink.


Next, I pulled out my Prismacolor colored pencils and tried to color each of the images similarly.


I then blended the colors of each image using one of four different blending agents: Goo Gone Mess-Free Pen, Icky Sticky Stuff Remover, Orange Plus, and Sansodor. Like last time, I used a blending stump. Well, except for with the Mess-free Pen. I've listed them alphabetically, not according to the order in which I used them.


In the above photo you can see the results of the blending phase of my experiment. I'll show you which image was colored with which agent in the following photo. Scroll down when you've had a chance to do a bit of independent and unbiased judging of the blending. Or just scroll on down.


Now again, I wanted just a bit more of a comparison. You'll notice that each image has a free flower--the one where I used blue at the center. I colored that one with a different blending agent. To keep things simple, and I do like simple, I just blended that part of the image with the agent that I'd used on its left. So, the single Orange Plus flower was blended with the Goo Gone Mess-Free Pen, the single Sansodor flower was blended with the Orange Plus, the single ISSR flower was blended with Sansodor, and the single Goo Gone flower was blended with ISSR. I hope that made sense.

Let me say now, that I'm not going to review the Goo Gone again since it's been the subject of a couple of posts here already. You can find links to those in my colored pencil sidebar menu.

The Orange Plus did move and blend the pigments, but not as well as the other three. It was also trickier to use. Too much and it tended to break down the cardstock--NOT a good thing! Too little and you had to work at it to get the color to move. There was a small window of opportunity where it worked well, but it wasn't easy to consistently use that correct amount of fluid. It also had an annoying tendency to make the stump squeak when coloring. I think I have a new, more environmentally friendly cleaner that I'll be using here in the kitchen.

The Sansodor did its job as usual. I will say that compared to the others, it definitely was the worst as far as fumes. Nothing else came close to being so... aromatic. ;-)

You can see a closer side-by-side comparison of the Sansodor and ISSR below. I didn't compare these two directly when I mentioned the ISSR before as an alternative, so here's that comparison for you. The Sansodor is upper left and the ISSR lower right.


Both worked as far as moving the pigments. The ISSR colors look a bit more vibrant in the photo. This is true in real life, too. In retrospect, I think I'd laid down a bit more color in that ISSR image to begin with though. And don't forget that the single flower in the ISSR image was blended with the Sansodor, so there's a bit more of a comparison that you can make.

My conclusions after all of this?

Orange Plus--probably a good cleaner, but not a good choice as a blending agent for MCP.

The Goo Gone Mess-free Pen was by far the simplest and easiest to use. No stumps, no dipping, no odor. I'll add here that the lack of odor does not make it safe necessarily, eh? It's still better to use this in well-ventilated areas and not hover directly over you image for long periods of time. But for ease of use, it's hard to beat the pen.

The Sansodor, like Gamsol, has been the agent of choice for this technique. These odorless mineral spirits are not completely without odor though, and despite keeping only a small amount of the stuff exposed to the air, the fumes were noticeable. Then there are the safety issues and environmental issues with those products.

The ISSR with its ability to move and blend pigments, its lack of odor, better safety profile, along with the fact that it's more environmentally friendly seems to make it the best choice, at least of these four that I tested here. I found it in a local grocery store. I'm not sure how widely available it is, though at least you don't have to order it from abroad.

Lastly I should mention that Zest-It has been used for quite a while in the UK by artists as a safer alternative to odorless mineral spirits. A year or two ago I read a discussion about folks using it but couldn't find a vendor for it here in the US. Still can't. It's a citrus zest-based product, but you'd have to order it from the UK at this point. That's still something to keep an eye out for should it become available on this side of the pond though.

Edited to add: I posted an update to this that might be worth looking at if you're interested in using Goo Gone in place of odorless mineral spirits. You can read that post HERE.