Playing with Alcohol and Stampin' Blend Markers

 

Today I played with my Stampin' Blends markers and rubbing alcohol.  I've done this before on a previous post, but today I have included some photos to show the steps.  I chose to use the Dandelion Wishes stamp set because of the transparent images.  That way they didn't take away from the background.  This stamp set is on the retiring list.

My supplies were a piece of Vellum Cardstock, the largest Water Painter (empty of water), Stampin' Blend Markers in Dark Highland Heather, Dark Balmy Blue and Dark Pool Party, and finally some alcohol, at 99%USP, in a small container.  The higher percentage the better.

I added colour to the Vellum with the markers.  I went to the edge of the cardstock this time but you don't have to since the colours do spread.  I also overlapped the colours a bit making sure that I was working from the lightest colour to the darkest.

Next, I picked up some alcohol with the Water Painter and began dabbing it onto the coloured sections.  You can see in the photo above that the ink responds right away.  Continue adding alcohol to the brush and dabbing on all sections until the colours react.

You'll have inks blending together so you want to make sure that you have used colours that compliment each other and don't turn into brown mud.  While the surface is still wet you can pick it up and tip it to make the colours run together more or move to a different section.

Even if you have moved the ink around, you won't know what you've ended up with until the alcohol has dried and this doesn't take too long depending on how much you've used.  If you are happy with the end result go ahead and finish your card.  I generally use too much alcohol and end up diluting my colours so I add more.

To add more colour in the lighter sections, just colour with the Stampin' Blends to fill them in.

Repeat the process with adding alcohol with the Water Painter, letting it dry, and adding more colour as needed until you end up with the result you want.

I added ink two more times until I ended up with the above background. 

To finish off the card, I stamped the images and greeting with Versa Mark and used Black Embossing Powder.  I love my Black embossing powder and will continue to use it until it runs out.  I'm sad it's no longer in the catalogue.  Anyway - I like how bold the images are when embossed.  I did use the embossing buddy prior to embossing!  I didn't want to take the chance of any extra black adhering to the edges of the colours.

The background has been attached to a piece of white cardstock using Mini Glue Dots.  I chose white, but you can try different colours to see which effect works best for you.  The base of my card is Pool Party.

And that's all there is to it.  It's a fun technique but you have to be patient with the colours and let them do their thing.  You will never end up with two pieces the same which is half the fun!

That's all for today - I hope the photos and explanations are of help to you.

Joan

Dandelion Wishes - 151345 - $27.00