Welcome to the July 2021 Technique Squad Blog Hop! I’m excited to be a part of this fun collaboration with fellow Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators. This month’s theme is the Alcohol Ink Technique. Keep reading to see my project below, then make sure to hop over to the other blogs to check out more great projects featuring the Alcohol Ink Technique.
Alcohol Ink Technique
This Alcohol Ink Technique is done by using the Stampin’ Blends on Vellum Cardstock. To manipulate the colors, you need to add some Isopropyl Alcohol (at least 90%) with the Stampin’ Spritzer, a paintbrush, or a dropper. Then you can move the ink around with the Heat Tool or a marker airbrush tool (a nasal aspirator can work as well).
A note of caution when working with isopropyl alcohol: please work in a well-ventilated area and take any necessary precautions when working with it.
Instructions
I started by gathering the following tools: 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, marker airbrush tool, the Heat Tool, a Stampin’ Spritzer (filled with the alcohol), a small funnel (makes it easier to pour the alcohol into the spritzer), a small glass bowl (with a small amount of the alcohol poured in it), a paintbrush, and a dropper or two (I dug these out of our homeschool science experiment stash!). You will also want something to protect your work surface. I’m using my large Bible journaling mat because liquids don’t soak through it and it’s easy to wipe clean.
Then you need to pick out some Stampin’ Blends and cut the Vellum to your desired size. I think 1-4 colors that go well together is a good place to start, and using the darker versions will give a stronger color. My pieces of vellum started at 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ and I decided to trim them down later.
Now you can scribble some color onto your Vellum piece. The photo below shows the marker colors before adding the isopropyl alcohol.
When you have the colors added to the vellum, then you can start adding some alcohol. I forgot for the first couple of pieces, but it helps if you use some washi tape to hold down your vellum when adding the alcohol to minimize the paper curling. I spritzed each piece with 5-8 squirts of the Stampin’ Spritzer. Then I moved the color around with the marker airbrush tool and touched up some spots with the paintbrush and dropper. I used the Heat Tool on the low setting to help my pieces dry faster.
If needed, add more of the Stampin’ Blends color to some spots (when the paper is dry). Then add a little bit of the alcohol with the paintbrush or dropper to that spot and move the color around. Don’t be afraid to play around with the tools and colors to achieve some different looks. I tested out 1-4 colors in each of my samples below:
Top left – Pumpkin Pie only.
Top right – Flirty Flamingo and Highland Heather (with some Wink of Stella added after).
Bottom left – Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, and Highland Heather.
Bottom right – Flirty Flamingo, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Highland Heather.
Once the pieces are completely dry, you can mount them to some Basic White cardstock of the same size by using the Adhesive Sheets. Then add to your card base and decorate as desired.
I used the Cutest Halloween stamp set and coordinating Halloween Punch from the upcoming July-December 2021 Mini Catalog to decorate my cards. My cards all have Basic Black as the card base, which I think helps the colorful backgrounds really pop. I also chose to leave the stamped images black and white so they didn’t compete with the background. (But you could easily add some color to them, if desired.)
Card 1
Card 2
Card 3
Card 4
It’s always fun trying a new technique, especially when you can play around with different colors! What colors would you try?
Thank you for hopping to my site and checking out my project! If you saw something you love, please contact your demonstrator to place an order. If you don’t have a demonstrator, I would love to help you!
Click the NEXT button below to head over to the next blog to see their awesome project.
Here’s a list of all the other demos participating in this hop. Check out all of their posts for more great projects.
July 2021 Technique Squad Blog Hop Roll Call
Happy Making!
Beautiful, I especially like 5he one with the skulls.
These turned out great and look fantastic paired with those stamps! My favorite is the Pumpkin Pie one—it looks so much like the DSP!
Cuteness!
Your work puts a smile on MY face! Nice job. Love how you shared about the tools and how you showed the process developing out with adding more color. Way to go!
Great technique for Halloween cards.