Tutorial: Alcohol Inked Glass Ornaments

Rather than making the glittered glass ornaments, today's tutorial is going to show you how to make Alcohol Inked Glass Ornaments!!

I cannot begin to describe how pretty these are in person!!  I wish you could see them!!  As gorgeous as these are, I really thought I'd see projects like this all over Pinterest, but I never saw a single one!!  Maybe this tutorial will start a trend!! hehehe

In the tutorial, I'm going to show you how I made the "drippy" look of the blue ornaments.  At the end, there will be close-up photos of the other designs and I'll explain how I created those too.

This is a pretty long tutorial so lets get started!!

Step 1: GATHER SUPPLIES

- Empty clear glass ornaments

- Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks & Mixitives

- Alcohol Blending Solution

- Embellishments (ribbon, lace, etc.)

- Glue (I used Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue)

- Aluminum foil & lots of paper towels

Step 2: PREP AREA

Alcohol ink will stain just about anything it touches.  Be sure to properly protect your work area.

Cover your work area with aluminum foil.

Have many, many paper towels on hand.

Step 3: PREP ORNAMENT

Remove metal top and set aside.

Squirt some Alcohol Blending Solution into the ornament.

Swirl the solution so it "washes" the entire inside of the ornament.

Dump out excess solution.

Important: Do not use water!!  Water will cause the alcohol inks to react differently to the glass!!

Step 4: ADD ALCOHOL INK

Put 5-15 drops of alcohol ink inside your ornament.

Swirl ink around the ornament until completely covered.

Note: Depending on the color, the ink may not fully adhere to the glass.  It's okay!!  It will eventually.

Step 5: ADD MIXATIVE

Add a few drops of your mixative.

Swirl around the bottom of the ornament to mix the inks.

Continue adding your primary color alcohol ink and your mixative until you get the color you want.

Swirl the ink mixture around the entire ornament to coat it again.

Note: Again, don't worry if the ink doesn't stick right now!!

Step 6: THICKEN MIXTURE

I found that the best way to get your ink to really stick to the glass is by allowing the ink to thicken.  This step takes a long time!!

Over the course of about 5-15 minutes, allow the alcohol in the ink to evaporate.

Continue to swirl the ink mixture around the entire inside of the ornament and gently blow into the ornament occasionally to help the alcohol evaporate.

When the ink begins to move much slower that before, you know you're ready to move to the next step.

Step 7: CREATE INK DESIGN

Swirl your thickened ink mixture around the bottom half of your ornament.

Once you have an even layer covering the bottom, quickly flip the ornament over.

Allow the ink to drip down the sides.

Note: This next part is pretty tricky!!  Have aluminum foil and/or paper towels under your ornament at all times!!

As soon as the drops begin to reach the opening of the ornament, flip the ornament right-side up so the ink drips in the opposite direction.

Note: If you find that your ink is staying in just one or two large areas, allow the ink to drip back to the bottom and start this step over again.

Again, when the ink starts to collect in bottom, flip it over so the ink goes back up again.

Repeat this process over and over and over and over again until your ink is basically completely dried.

Allow to dry completely.

IMPORTANT NOTE

If you don't like the way your ornament is turning out, don't panic!!  Alcohol inks are extremely forgiving!!

You can always add more ink to your ornament, thicken the mixture again, and start your design over!!

Also, as long as your ink isn't totally dry you can start over at any time by squirting some Alcohol Blending Solution into your ornament and "washing" your ornament again!!

Step 8: DYE ORNAMENT TOPS

Alcohol inks can be used on just about any glossy surface, including metal!!

Add a thin layer of ink to the metal ornament top.

Dab off excess.

Let dry completely.

Put back on glass ornament.

Step 9: EMBELLISH OUTSIDE

Decorate the outside of the ornament using lace, ribbon, cord, gems, etc.

FINISHED!!

Each ornament is so much prettier in person!!  The details that the alcohol inks create are indescribable!!

For each version, you'll want to follow the tutorial above, but stop after you thicken your ink mixture.

OPAQUE VERSION

You can't see through these two ornaments at all!!  They're totally coated in ink!!

Both use the same color inks (Cranberry and Gold), but in different proportions.

- You'll need a lot of ink in order to make these!!  Double, or even triple the number of drops used for each ornament!!
- Once your ink mixture has been thickened, continue "rolling" the ink around the inside of the ornament.

- When you notice that most of your ink has stuck to the sides of the ornament, you can set it down and just let it dry.
- As it dries the ink and the mixative will partially separate giving your ornament a really neat almost-crackle finish!!

LAYERED 2-TONE VERSION

I love how this ornament kinda looks like like a hilly landscape!!  You can image the gold being a sky and the green being hills!!  Believe it or not, that was my intent!!

- Start with your top color (gold in this case).
- Once the ink has thickened "roll" it around the top 3/4 of your ornament as though you were going to make the Opaque Version (above).
- Do not let your ink dry!!
- Once there is a good coat of ink (and it sticks well) add a good bit of your bottom color (green in my ornament).
- Mix the ink with the remnants of your top color by swirling it in the bottom of the ornament.
- Thicken the ink.

Note: This is next part is pretty tricky so go slowly and remember to work your way down!!  If you try to work your way up, you won't up with the neat layered effect!!

- "Roll" the ink around the middle (the equator) of your ornament and then back down to the bottom.
- "Roll" the ink back up toward the "equator", but do not go as high as last time and then "roll" the ink back down to the bottom.
- Repeat this process until your ink has almost completely dried.
- Set the ornament down and let it dry completely.

VERTICAL STRIPES VERSION

This was the first Alcohol Inked Glass Ornament that I made and without the outside embellishments, I really didn't care for it.  However, the stripes are pretty cool!!  Unfortunately, you can see through a good portion of this ornament.

- Start with the ink (red for this ornament), because you're going to want your stripes to be mixative ink.

Note: You can add 1-2 drops of mixative into your ink for coloring purposes.

- Thicken the ink.
- "Roll" the ink around the entire inside of the ornament as though you were going to make the Opaque Version (1st version above).
- Do not let your ink dry!!
- Pour out the remaining ink.
-Put 4-5 drops of your stripe ink (gold mixative in this case) on the inside rim of the ornament.
- Allow the ink to run down the "wall" all the way to the bottom before starting your next stripe.
- For wider stripes, add more drops and "roll" the ink down the "wall" very slowly, allowing the ink to pool as it runs down.
- For more opaque stripes, drip the ink down the "wall" of the ornament, allow the ink to thicken in the very bottom of the ornament and then "roll" the ink back up towards the top and then back down to the bottom.

Note: When the drops first run down the "wall" of the ornament, the alcohol in the ink will remove part of your 1st color.  To reapply the red ink, I allowed the stripes almost completely dry and then I made the same red ink mixture for a second time in the bottom of the ornament.  After it thickened, I just "rolled" it up and down the sides until I was finished.

I must say this has been one of my favorite tutorials so far!!  I really hope everyone likes it and gives this project a try!!  It was so much fun and now I just need more glass ornaments so I can make some more!! 

Thanks for reading!!  Until next time...

Projects: Attack of the ATCs!

Yet another relatively new project I've been working on: Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). If you're unfamiliar with ATCs, they are 2.5"x3.5" pieces of art. They can be any material or medium as long as they fit into a trading card sleeve.

I've recently started making some with alcohol inked backgrounds and embossing and/or collaging. I plan to start painting some in the near future, but I want to improve my painting skills before I do so.

ATCs are meant to be traded, not sold. If you plan to sell your mini-art, then they are considered "Art Cards, Editions & Originals" (ACEOs). A popular place to trade your ATCs is on www.ATCsForAll.com. You can browse a gallery of available ATCs as well as list your ATCs for others to contact you for a trade. My ID on ATCs For All is "Venus Designs". I list all available ATCs on this site only. Some of the ATCs below are still available on this site.

I've included pictures of some of my first ATCs below All of them have alcohol inked backgrounds. As always, if anyone is interested in a tutorial, just post a comment saying so and I'll do my best to write one as soon as possible.

Projects: Altered Puzzles

I've been a busy little crafter lately and I'm loving it! Besides starting an international crafting group with some friends, I've also been doing a bunch of projects on my own!

First let me tell you about this group we're starting because you may want to do the same thing with your crafty friends! We've named ourselves the Crafty Goddesses and will eventually have a website; for now, we're using Skype, Google Groups and Flickr to communicate with one-another. Our small group conducts crafting experiments, where we each receive a package of identical supplies, make items out of them, and then we compare each-other's projects and styles. We hold group and individual swaps and swap series. We also pen-pal in various pagan ciphers, such as Theban and Ogham. (Anyone who is interested in joining our group should

contact me at virgotigergirl@gmail.com because membership is by invitation only. There is a waiting period and a basic membership requirement that must be met before officially becoming a "Crafty Goddess".)

After discovering the artwork of Georgina Ferrans, aka PhizzyChick, I've become inspired to try all kinds of new paper-crafting projects! When I saw her altered jigsaw puzzles and instructions on her Flickr page, I just had to try making some of my own! Luckily, when I went to A.C. Moore they just happened to have packs of 4 kiddie puzzles for only $1.00!! I stocked up on them and bought about 5 packages!

My first attempt, was okay. I love blue, especially dark blue, so that's what I used as my primary color. I quickly learned why all of PhizzyChick's puzzles used paler colors as a base color. Looking at my first altered puzzle, you'll notice that I had to use silver paint (acrylic paint and alcohol inks to be exact) to brighten up the project. I attached a snowflake sequin with a mini silver brad and embossed the word CURIOSITY on one of the middle pieces. I used deco-tape on the bottom piece, decoupaged 2 Norwegian stamps on the right-hand piece, glued a clear plastic dragonfly on a corner piece, and glued 2 bats to the single silver one. The rest of the pieces were either stamped and then painted or just doodled on. (Sorry about the blurry pictures, I couldn't find my camera so I used my phone.)

Now my second altered puzzle is coming along a bit better than the first because I'm using lighter colors. This one is missing two pieces because I'm not done with them yet, but I still wanted to show my progress and the difference between the first darker one and the second lighter one. I decided to more clearly decorate the border of this one and I think it turned out pretty nice!

Starting in the upper left corner (1-10), here's how I decorated these pieces: (1) added a green border and used a sharpie to create a dotted edge, (2) attached a green star with a silver mini brad and glued on another star-shaped sequin and then painted on a few smaller stars, (3) painted a dashed edge, stamped a flying dragonfly and then accented it with hand-painted black ink, (4) missing, (5) attached 2 pieces of deco tape diagonally and added a black Sharpie border, (6) decoupaged a piece of sheet music to the puzzle piece and then dyed it with watered down blue acrylic paint, (7) added a section of a scrapbooking border sticker and then stamped the rest of the piece with black pigment ink and a spiral stamp, (8) stamped and then painted this piece with acrylic paints, (9) missing, (10) decoupaged a section of an old road map and will be adding a purple border to this piece. Whew, that was a lot!

Again, I used PhizzyChick's tutorial on her Flickr page and was inspired by her works of art. If you would like ME to post a detailed tutorial on this blog, please let me know and I'll do my best to post one!