Alcohol Inked Backgrounds with Gina K Designs

I've been sharing several cards over at Instagram, my Facebook Page, and the Gina K Designs & Stamp TV Group on Facebook. I've gotten several questions, so I thought I should try to share some information here.  That way I have a post to refer folks too.

Here are a few of the cards I've been sharing.  This first one was a knock off of one that Gina made about a month ago and you can find it on her YouTube Channel here.

Next off the same card, but tilted slightly toward the window so you can see the gold a bit better. 

I have some other pictures where you'd really be able to see the gold coming up later in this post.

First off, let me say there are some things that are hard to control, and alcohol inks are one of them.  In my previous blog post, I gave several Tips & Tricks so I'll share those again here.  However, it looks like I forgot the most important one, so here is that list again:

• New to the List:  Wear rubber gloves so your hands and nails don't get stained.  I buy a box of cheap ones at Amazon or Sally Beauty Supply.   I also have my nails done, so I don't want to mess up my shiny, sparkly, glittery manicure. I don't always get this much glitter, but about half the time I do.  Even if  I didn't get them done, I still wouldn't want my nails stained, so just get some kind of gloves.  The kitchen variety would probably work, but I'm not that coordinated with them, so I use disposable ones.  

• They are messy and they stain! So I have trash bags over the back of my chair and the seat of my chair and I wear an apron or an older t-shirt. My work Surface is a 48 x 48-inch piece of glass, but I use a craft mat on top of that. If you are working on a smaller panel, it's easier to contain some of the mess. 
• When working with Alcohol Inks on Yupo, you can clean up a mistake by cleaning it with a bit of alcohol ink on a paper towel or rag.
• When working with Glossy Cardstock, there is no going back. You can add ink over the top, but you cannot wipe away a mistake. You can dab at it to remove some of the texture, and then put color over the top again, but you cannot wipe away the color like you can with Yupo. In the beginning, I only used Yupo until I got a feel for how the inks moved and worked. I recommend using Yupo in the beginning but cutting the sheets into card sized panels. I like to get the 9 x 12 and cut it into four panels which gives me four pieces of 4.5 x 6 inches so I have a little extra because I like to die cut all of my background panels for that crisp, clean edge. That size is also less intimidating.
• Alcohol Inks, Blending Solution, and the Rubbing Alcohol will pretty much destroy the finish on the handles and discolor your ink blending tools when using the felt pads, so I have a couple that I use exclusively for this purpose. I'm usually trying to get more texture, so I don't often use the felt pads.
• Start with just a few colors (6-8 that will play well together) and play around to see how many different looks you can get. Once you get a feel for them and if you are happy with your results, then you can add more colors to your collection.
• Last, but not least, playing with Alcohol Inks can be very addictive! Don't say I didn't warn you! *Ü*

The biggest thing to do is just sit and play with different techniques. There are a ton of YouTube videos out there to watch if you want more information. I've tried the straw method to blow the color around but it doesn't work that well in my particular case because I've had lung surgery so my left lung has diminished capacity. The puffer works great for me. It also keeps you from accidentally hyperventilating. *Ü* You can find one on Amazon.com.

This next card is one that I made the background last fall and then ran it through my Minc Machine.  I didn't know enough about what I was doing, so I got more gold foil on it than intended.  However, It worked perfectly with this style so even if you think it's a boo-boo, hang on to it because you just never know.  I've worked with the heavyweight Yupo, but I don't like it because you cannot die cut a word from it.  Only the mid-weight works for die cutting.  I wrecked a couple of backgrounds trying.  Like everything, it is a learning process, so it was just a lesson along the way.  If you want to try the technique of running it through the Minc, I recommend a heat setting of 3 or 4, maximum.

This particular card also uses a background made last fall that I ran through the Minc.  This was much more the look I was going for, but I had been saving it for just the right project.  When I saw these butterflies on the Warm Spring Wishes Stamp and Die Collection, I knew they'd be perfect for these backgrounds I'd been hoarding.  I had several different color varieties so I used a few of these to make my cards with.   

I've also tried working with the felt pads that go on the mini ink blending tools, but I find that they just leave lint on my paper, so I rarely use them.  I'm more likely to get a foam pad than a felt one, but I primarily use the air puffer to move the ink around.  

This is another of those older backgrounds where there was initially more gold decofoil than I wanted but because of the large oval die, it totally works.  

Make sure you have plenty of rubbing alcohol on hand for clean-up and to use with the inks.  Rubbing Alcohol at 70% is my most used household cleaner because of all the glass, so I always have that in a big spray bottle.  But I like to use 91% or 99% Rubbing Alcohol with the alcohol inks.  It does stink, but I'm used to it because I've been using it since way back in the early 90's when I worked in a jewelry store with all those glass cases that people like to touch and kids like to put their noses on.  

These next few cards were all made with recently created backgrounds where I used the Pinata Alcohol Ink in Brass with the regular small bottles of alcohol ink from Tim Holtz.  I like the effect of this ink much more as it is an actual ink rather than just a mixative.  There is no need for a laminator using that ink.  I'm still learning my way around with this one, but I did order some smaller pipettes to use with it for better control of how much of that ink is actually coming out.  

I love how this card came out and I still have a couple of panels left for more cards.  The ink colors I used for this card are Mermaid, Clover, and Brass.

The red backgrounds were made with Red Pepper, Valencia, and Brass Alcohol Inks.  The Heart Circle Dies is a Gina K Designs Die.

The butterflies are heat embossed and colored in with Copic Markers in matching colors.

This last card turned out to be my favorite with the teals in both light and dark tones.  These inks are Mermaid, Clover, and Brass.  The die cut is the Gina K Designs Elegant Oval Die.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I really appreciate it when you leave a comment for me and if you leave a question, I do my best to get back to you quickly.  

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