I’m back playing with my alcohol inks! Warning: They are addictive!! It’s fun when I need to some background designs to set aside for future cards or if I’m in a creative slump and I just need a jumpstart. And, you don’t need a lot of supplies…some yupo paper and a few alcohol ink colors, blending solution and a straw is all you need. There’s other little additives that you can use for extra touches and I’ll talk about that more in this post. But, basically all I did was mix alcohol and the pearl inks with blending solution and blew through a straw for the cards I’m sharing today.
I was first introduced to alcohol inks with my Simon Says Stamp card collection. If I hadn’t subscribed to the kit, I’d probably still not know how much fun these products are. My style of crafting primarily involves watercolor and CAS (Clean and Simple) styled cards. I thought alcohol inking wouldn’t be my thing but boy was I wrong and I’m glad I was!
Sometimes, when you’re putting down the alcohol on paper, it’ll look like a hot mess and you might even think you won’t like it. One of my tips is keep blowing the ink to get it to move and then let it dry. It dries quickly too, after doing that you might really love the outcome. And if not, there’s still other things you can do and I’ll touch on that with a couple of the cards in this post.
I’m sharing this card first, it turned out to be my favorite of this collection. I just loved the blue variations of color and the direction in which I forced the ink to go. I actually mixed Alcohol and Alcohol Pearl inks together so it does have a light shimmer but the true color shines through which was what I wanted.
For these first few cards, I used Alcohol Pearls (Tranquil and Intrigue) + regular alcohol ink color (Stonewashed). The 3rd card I wanted a softer look so I just ran my yupo paper across my glass media mat and picked up the remainder of the blue ink on the surface. I added some blending solution as well to move the colors around. I love the dreamy look I got!
Sometimes, you don’t initially get the results you want and that was the case with these last 2 cards. I wasn’t liking the blending but since alcohol inks are so forgiving, I didn’t give up. I kept adding more color and more blending solution. For this card I used a combo of Alcohol pearls (Tranquil and Sublime). I decided to not make it the focal point and instead I cut out an oval die on cardstock and put the alcohol background behind it.
I added the SSS Dahila die that I cut out of silver and gold glitter cardstock and added it on top with the sentiment. I really like the outcome, so what I learned is if I don’t like the blends, don’t throw it out unlike watercolor where you need to let it dry before you layer. Alcohol inks work differently in that you can keep blending and you can reactivate it once it’s dry by adding more blending solution or Isopropyl alcohol (91% or higher).
Overall, I have a lot of fun making abstract backgrounds and holding them for future cards. I still have a LOT to learn about alcohol inks and I’ll share more later on as I get better at it 🙂
List of supplies:
Note: some of these links to the products I used are affiliate links meaning if you purchase through them, I’ll earn a small commission and it is no extra cost to you. Your purchasing helps support our small business and we appreciate that so much! – Kim
- Ranger Alcohol Pearl Inks (3-set) – https://amzn.to/2tgakfR
- Ranger Alcohol Ink (Stonewashed) – https://amzn.to/2RctcEK
- Ranger Blending Solution – https://amzn.to/35Q2kjd; SSS – https://bit.ly/2QX6Hog
- Yupo Paper (heavyweight) – https://amzn.to/30f8pV8; SSS – https://bit.ly/3abIG4p
- SSS Dahlia Die – https://bit.ly/2FR5bxt
- Mvchif 6-Die set – https://amzn.to/3afamFJ
- Sizzix Oval die set – https://amzn.to/3acVYxF
- Benecreat 6-set shapes dies – https://amzn.to/2Rr45hE
- CZ Design Reverse Love sentiment strips – https://bit.ly/2TqfUqH
- “You are always on my heart“ (from the SSS Leafy Frames stamp set) – https://bit.ly/2uNGrnz
- Neenah assorted pastel cardstock – https://amzn.to/35Q1vqw
- Neenah solar white 110 lb. cardstock – https://amzn.to/2QZnpDE
- Darice Assorted Glitter Cardstock – https://amzn.to/2QUnHLM
- The “Love” and “Be Happy Be Bright Be You” are sentiments that came from separate stamp sets I bought at a thrift store and there’s no label with them so I don’t know the manufacturer 🙁
- Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting machine – Spellbinders – http://shrsl.com/22bbi; Amazon – https://amzn.to/2srxlMv; SSS – https://bit.ly/35Xnv2w; Scrapbook.com – http://shrsl.com/22bbp or grab the bundle – http://shrsl.com/22bbr
- Misti Stamping Tool – https://amzn.to/2ZvDQcD
- Teflon bone folder – https://amzn.to/2VcfC8
- Martha Stewart Scoring Board (not available on Amazon) – EK Tools has a similar one – https://amzn.to/38815NV
- Tim Holtz Paper Trimmer – SSS – https://bit.ly/2Jb0L7V
- Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat – https://amzn.to/2lawwDO
- Pastel A2 assorted envelopes – https://amzn.to/2otIsCO
- T-ruler – https://amzn.to/2yC8ncS
- Gina K. Designs Connect Glue – Gina K. Designs – http://shrsl.com/1zxzk; SSS – https://bit.ly/2QXChSX
