"day 6" -tim holtz(c) 2008
supplies: craft sheet, adirondack alcohol inks/cranberry, red pepper, ginger, lettuce, meadow, stream, wild plum, adirondack blending solution, adirondack paint dabber/snow cap, glossy accents, distress inks/peeled paint, black soot, weathered wood, faded jeans, broken china,, mini mister, heat tool (ranger); koi waterbrush (sakura); stamps/sheet music V1-1339, pine branch G2-1186, splatter U1-1261 (stampers anonymous); clear paintables (prima); shimmer stickers (making memories); bling (heidi swapp); glue dots dot n go (glue dots); tag, ribbon, metal snowflakes, paint palette
step 1: working on your non-stick craft sheet, create an alcohol ink palette by dripping approx. 10 drops of alcohol ink into a plastic paint palette. use one reservoir per color. (*it’s important to work on your craft sheet when using alcohol inks to protect your work surface as alcohol inks will stain.)
step 2: allow ink palette to air dry completely. (*do not force dry with a heat tool. the alcohol inks must be DRY to do this technique…crazy huh?)
step 3: you’ll need a waterbrush and blending solution for this next step. (*i get asked if you can use rubbing alcohol for this technique and the answer is no – it just won’t work the same.)
step 4: remove brush top from waterbrush and fill with adirondack blending solution. (*blending solution is a solvent that contains a resin that will reactivate the alcohol inks and allow them to blend and adhere to non-porous surfaces. as far as the waterbrush, i prefer it over a paint brush for better control, but if that’s all you have a paint brush will work fine. i am using a koi waterbrush from sakura. this is the BEST waterbrush for this technique since you can unscrew the cap and the barrel is completely open for easy filling. -NOTE: once you fill your waterbrush with blending solution, you can no longer use it with any other type of liquid including water.)
step 5: choose a design from a clear paintable. these are pre-printed transparencies that can be colored. (*you can also stamp a piece of acetate with a permanent ink, but you need to color on the opposite side you stamped.)
step 6: place paintable over tag to determine which are you will use since these are sold only in 12×12 sheets. (*if you are not using this on a tag, cut it to whatever size you wish.)
step 7: place tag over paintable and outline it with a sharpie.
step 8: cut paintable to size of tag.
step 9: prime your waterbrush by pressing down on your craft sheet with the brush. this will start the flow of the blending solution. next simply swipe the waterbrush into the dry palette of alcohol ink to reactivate the ink with the blending solution and load the brush with color. (*how cool is this? the alcohol inks will never "not" work, this palette can be re-filled indefinitely!)
step 10: begin painting with alcohol ink on either side of the paintable. this inks will flow from the brush tip. for more concentrated color do not press down on the brush which will not add as much blending solution. keep in mind the more blending solution in the brush, the lighter the color will be. you can simply re-swipe the brush back on to the palette to reload your color.
step 11: to clean your brush simply wipe it on your craft sheet – the blending solution will clean off the color. (*do not wipe brush on a towel as this will dry out the bristles of the brush.)
step 12: to lighten an area you have already painted, simply brush over it with a "clean" waterbrush since the blending solution will reactivate the inks on the paintable just like they did on the palette. (*in other words, you can NEVER make a mistake since the inks will always reactivate with the blending solution.)
step 13: continue painting the areas of your paintable with various colors from your palette.
step 14: clean your brush by wiping it on your craft sheet.
step 15: you can also mix colors to create your own custom colors. just swipe the brush in a color, paint it in the center of your palette or your craft sheet and swipe into another color and do the same. then just brush over both colors mixing them to your liking. (*remember it doesn’t matter if these inks dry- they will always reactivate with the blending solution.)
step 16: paint a wash of color on background areas by simply brushing over a color to lighten it out to create a wash. let dry.
step 17: remove your shimmer stickers from the packaging. (*laugh all you want – this is an important step that many overlooked in class!)
step 18: load your waterbrush with color from your palette.
step 19: paint over the shimmer stickers. (*okay…BREATHE! yes, this is so cool isn’t it? but seriously – i LOVE this font set of shimmer stickers. i will be using it year round! oh the possibilities of all of the things you can color with alcohol inks. stickers, glass beads, charms, bling, wire, eyelets, brads, and even staples. nothing is safe anymore… it can all be painted with alcohol inks!)
step 20: paint whatever letters you’re going to use on your tag, but while your at it, play around with different colors on different latter’s. (*if you don’t like a color, simply brush over it with a "clean" waterbrush to remove the ink. remember you can’t make a mistake here…). let dry.
step 21: for tag background, swipe various colors of distress ink on to non-stick craft sheet.
step 22: repeat for additional colors – just be sure not to swipe one color directly over the other to avoid contamination.
step 23: mist inked craft sheet with water from mini mister.
step 24: be sure to mist enough water to create "droplets" of color – this is very important! (*the main reason we need to do this technique on a craft sheet is notice how the inks do not migrate together even though we’ve added all this water to them.)
step 25: press tag on to inked sheet and lift off.
step 26: dry tag with heat tool. (*the tag will curl but not to worry as it will flatten out too.)
step 27: repeat previous step by tapping tag on to remaining ink on craft sheet.
step 28: dry additional layers of ink each time.
step 29: stamp pine branch stamp a few times with peeled paint distress ink on corner of the tag.
step 30: ink sheet music stamp by SWIPING the black soot distress pad across stamp. DO NOT tap the ink pad on to the stamp. (*by swiping instead of tapping the ink on to a stamp, you will achieve a second generation or lighter stamped image. this is great when you want your background images to be more subtle. cool action shot isn’t it!)
step 31: stamp the sheet music at random on the tag trying to avoid the pine branch.
step 32: ink pine branch stamp with black soot distress ink and stamp over the previous stamped areas off setting the images so it provides a shadow.
step 33: apply snow cap paint dabber over the INKED side of the paintable. the alcohol inks should be dry by now as drying time is under 1 minute for alcohol inks. (*i like to paint white over my painted images so when i flip it over the color will pop over my background.)
step 34: continue painting over all areas you want to highlight. (*be sure you’re painting over the alcohol inked side.)
step 35: paint around the edges of the paintable with the dabber. let dry.
step 36: apply glossy accents over painted edges of paintable to adhere to the tag.
step 37: press on to tag and let dry. (*glossy accents dries completely clear so it will not show any adhesive.)
step 38: apply snow cap dabber over splatter stamp.
step 39: stamp on to top edges of the tag to create a snowy effect. reapply paint to stamp a repeat around the entire tag. (*this is one of my most favorite stamps when you want to create a splattered look without flinging paint or ink all over the place!)
step 40: remove inked shimmer stickers from sheet and apply them to your tag.
step 41: apply bling strip to tag – this is such an easy way to add some sparkle. (*remember if you want the bling to be a color – just paint it with the alcohol inks too!)
step 42: apply glue dots to metal snowflakes or other metal embellishments. (*glue dots can adhere just about anything and the best part is the embellishment stays flexible. this is very important especially when you’re sticking something to a slick surface.) *read the end of the post for more info on the snowflakes…
step 43: attach embellishment to tag.
step 44: bend metal accents to create dimension. (*you can also use ghost snowflakes for these embellishments and ink them with silver metallic mixatives which are alcohol inks too.)
*in the details: check out how the colored glitter stickers sparkle against the painted paintable. the twinkle of bling and metal snowflakes add to the dimension. the idea of painting a slick surface give an effect like no other!
