Alcohol Inks

Today I went to a class at Nikki Zipp to learn all about Alcohol Inks....

It was absolutely fun to play with these wonderful, creative inks. I must admit I have to practice to get perfect, but even my mistakes didn't come out to bad. I kept thinking that I was using distress ink and kept applying the alcohol ink in a circular motion which was a definite NO-NO. You have to tap all around the transparency but very quickly before it dries. If you miss a spot and you go back to fix it - it actually messes up (for me) the smooth marble effect.

I don't really like this one very much, but it was my first attempt and I absolutely love the wild colours. The photo doesn't do it much justice either - it actually looks much better in person than on the photo.

Can't really remember which colours I used on the transparency - but the one definitive colour is definitely the wild purple and silver mixative which were blended with the blending solution.
The butterfly was stamped onto white card stock and adhered to the transparency with yellow brads and then adhered to yellow and then black card stock.
Not too bad for my first attempt. :)

Alcohol ink on glossy paper- no.2

OK, the first attempt was on transparency and then I played with the different colours to see the various effects you can get by mixing the various colours together.

The 2nd option we did was on glossy paper and I opted for one colour only - Stream. I find using the alcohol ink on the glossy paper much easier than on the transparency because you can go back and fix your mistakes. Also once the card stock has been covered completely you add a mixative - if you want - and in this case I used the Pearl mixative which was blended with the solution. This also helps to fill up open gaps that you may have missed the first time around. Unfortunately this cannot be done on transparency-

I think the reason for this is because the blending solution also acts as a cleaning solution and could wipe the ink off the transparency - I stand to correction...

I stamped the flower image - I think this is a Tim Holtz stamp - onto the glossy card directly with Jet Black Archival ink. This was then adhered to black card stock and fixed with black brads which was further adhered to a teal colour card stock. Not too shabby Nige!

I enjoy the sexy look of the transparency but my nerves are totally shot to ensure that the whole transparency is covered fully before the ink dries and also knowing that should I go back to fix I mess up the smooth marble effect...Nerve-Wrecking!

 

Remove ink from stamped image on transparency - no.3


So we tried again, I must admit this is definitely my favourite of all the cards we did today. The colours and the alcohol inks just worked beautifully together.

The transparency was coloured with stream and denim. The leaves were stamped with Jet black archival ink and just before it dried the black ink was removed with a clean cloth - the alcohol ink somehow made the black stamped image into a clear almost white image - absolutely amazing - you just have to try this to believe it.

The sentiment was also stamped in jet black archival ink but left to dry.

What do you think? I LOVE IT!

So, we learnt how to ink both glossy paper and transparencies - the next one was foil! I'm not really sure if this is foil - but it looks like foil - the only difference is the back is sticky. The foil is adhered to card stock.
The foiled card stock is embossed with the cuttlebug and your favorite embossing folder. I don't think that the flowers did my foil justice - but we will survive.

The embossed foil is then inked the same way as the glossy paper.
I didn't finish the card - but you can then stamp your favourite sentiment on card stock and adhere it to the card or attach a ribbon...the options are endless.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class and played some more on both the transparency and glossy paper:-





Ballerina on transparency

 


As you can see if you don't work quickly in a grid the ink dries very quickly and you end up with blotches all over. The ballerina was stamped with jet black archival ink and adhered to black and blue card stock.

I absolutely loved the colours on this glossy paper. I cant remember which colours were used but I know there is definitely, butterscotch - Rust - Espresso and some others in there. I should have made a note of the colours used because they are absolutely stunning. The sentiment and tree was stamped with archival ink. See practice makes perfect!


Thank you Nikki - I really enjoyed the class