How to fix SU Ink Pad and Refill Separated

[Chenin Sante]

Does anyone know how to fix this? I bought Stampin' Up! Lovely Lilac Ink Pad and Refill a few years ago. I became ill and now that I'm better, I'm stamping again. I opened the new ink pad, but the color was clear with no pigmentation. And the ink in the refill has separated, I could see it. I shake it but it does not mix. Does anyone have a solution how to fix this? I contacted Stampin' Up! But they told me it was an out of stock color.
Thank you in advance for your help.

[fionna51]

I've never had this happen, but I could make some suggestions.

For the refill, the top "spout" is a separate piece that can be popped out of the bottle. Carefully remove that and add a stainless steel bearing or bb, then replace the "spout" part and the lid. Shake. Shake some more. Eventually the bb will begin to work on the settled dyes in the bottle. Hopefully that will work.

For the stamp pad, a question. Is the felt pad completely empty of ink...totally white...or is the ink settled into the bottom of the felt and just not in the top part? It shouldn't be totally white, the dye should have settled like the refill. Try using the back of a metal teaspoon to "massage" the pad really well. That might bring the ink back to the surface. Or if you get the refill mixed you can re-ink a little and continue to massage the pad. There's also something called Ink Refresher that might moisten the pad so that you can work any settled ink back up to the top.

Good luck and hope that helps...

[Chenin Sante]

Hello Fionna51! Thank you so much for taking the time to help me. I will give your suggestions a try and let you know what happens. The Ink Pad is not white, more like a cream. But it is wet. So I will bet you are correct in that the ink pigment sank to the bottom similar to the refill. God bless you! Chenin Sante