Alcohol Ink Card Set Tutorial -- Part #1

Did you ever have a project that took on a life of its own? I did and this is it. I had the idea to use alcohol inks with the silhouette of a clipper ship from Bombshell Stamps' A Pirate's Life stamp set. So, I set out making one little scene. I wasn't totally thrilled with it, but it didn't totally reek, so I made another. Then another. Then another. Until I had five little circles. Being me, I couldn't decide which one(s) I liked best, so I decided to make five cards. Then I decided to decorate matching envelopes. Then I decided that the cards & envelopes needed somewhere to live, so I decided to make a little box for them. Well that couldn't be plain, so I made another alcohol ink scene for the front of it and a magnetic closure for the back of it. Somewhere in there, I thought to myself, "Self, this would make a decent tutorial", so I started to take photos. Then to top it off, I tried to put the five cards and the envelopes into the little box I made and they wouldn't fit because the cards are layered and have dimensionals and pearls. But I finally decided that enough was enough and fit three card/envelopes into it and am calling it done. :D


Alcohol Ink Scene:
Supplies
Glossy paper
Alcohol Inks (I used Caramel, Latte, Stream, Bottle, Butterscotch, Cranberry, and Stonewashed)
Applicator/Felt
Blending Solution
Archival Black Ink
Little Clipper Ship Silhouette from A Pirate's Life set by Bombshell Stamps
Inksentials White Pen by Ranger
Stamp Positioner
Prismacolor Black marker
Removable Scotch Tape

1. Cut circles from glossy cardstock and cut one piece that is big enough to cover the front of your little card-box. My card-box measures 6" x 4.75" x 5/8".

2. Put tape horizontally across the circles and rectangle slightly above where you want the first line of color. For the cards, that would be the "sea". For the card-box's front panel, that would be the "sand". Photo #3

3. Add a few drops of each color alcohol ink to the felt on the applicator (Stream and Bottle for the "sea" and Caramel & Latte for the "sand".

4. Pounce the color on, being sure to twist the applicator, so the color is not uniform. Continue to pounce the color on to achieve some depth of color. You might need to add additional ink to the felt. When you're relatively happy with the result, add a bit of blending solution too the felt and pounce that on to blend and add a textural look.

5. Pull up the tape and throw away.

6. Pull the felt off the applicator and set it aside.

7. Add another horizontal line of tape for "sunset" or the "sea" and follow the directions above. The Sunset is Butterscotch and Cranberry alcohol ink applied separately.

8. When you're done with the "sea" and "sunset", add the "sky" by applying Stonewash to a clean felt and pouncing that to the top of the scene and a bit over the yellow and red of the sunset. Continue to add Stonewash and the other colors until you're happy with the result. You can lighten and/or blend with the blending solution. Photo #4

9. Give the piece a few minutes to dry.

10. Ink up your stamp with permanent black ink, use a stamp positioner, and stamp the ship over the sunset on the sea's surface. Photo #5

11. If the image is "spotty", go over the silhouette with the black Prismacolor marker to deepen the image.

12. Using the Inksentials pen, add whitecaps, seafoam, and waves to the sea.

This is getting long and it's getting late, so I'll do part 2 (the envelopes), card construction, and the little card-box tomorrow. Wait! It IS tomorrow.

Ha.

Anyways, thanks for visiting. I hope you come back for the rest of the tutorial.