Altenew Alcohol Inks

Hello everyone! I was privileged to take part in Penny’s level three virtual workshop the other day. She chose to work with alcohol inks as the main focus of her workshop. I was happy to see this as I don’t use these very often. I think they are absolutely beautiful, but I struggle with the mess I make with them and their permanency. I even bought a clear table cloth to protect my work table!

The other key point to mention is to make sure your work area is well ventilated. I thought I would be alright, but I was not! I felt dizzy, like I was going to pass out. Even though it was snowing, I ended up having to open the window and turn on my fan. This will definitely be a technique I reserve for the spring and summer months.

Let’s get to the cards!

For our first card the goal was to make a flower image with the alcohol inks. I started by using Dew Drops, Firefly, and Andromeda alcohol inks. I used blending solution and my blower to help move the inks around to resemble a flower. I applied the ink in the order I previously listed.

My sentiment was created by using Circled Greetings: Hello die, cut three times from white card stock. For the top layer I used Altenew Silver Glitter Tape. I covered a piece of card stock large enough to fit the “hello”. Remember it doesn’t have to cover the whole area of the die, only the phrase. Layer your silver glitter layer onto the top and set aside. Sentiment Strips was used to stamp my second sentiment. I stamped in Obsidian Pigment ink and set aside to dry. It takes FOREVER to dry because of the Yupo paper.

To create the card front I placed my 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of Neenah Solar White 80# card stock into my scoring tool. I scored every 1/8”, skipping a couple lines randomly to create more interest. I adhered my card front to my card base and applied foam tape to the back of my Yupo panel. I removed the backing of the foam adhesive and applied to my card base. In retrospect, I wish I had cut the middle out of my scored panel to use on another card. No one will ever see underneath to know that piece was missing. It really stretches your supplies.

For our second card we used alcohol inks on holographic paper. Honestly, this is my favorite card out of the four I made. I love the glitz and shine! I know, you’re shocked, lol 😂.

My antique roses were made from the Craft-A-Flower: Antique Rose dies using Sea Shore and Cherry Blossom gradient card stocks. The leaves were made by blending with Nature’s Wonders ink family onto Neenah Solar White 80# card stock. I need to make one more leaf to balance out my arrangement.

I started by embossing Angled Mosaic 3D embossing folder onto some gold foil card stock. I ended up using my Spellbinders Platinum 6 to emboss this as my Gemini was cracking the card stock. For my Spellbinders I used my tan embossing mat with my folder and the platform to emboss.

For my alcohol background I used a mix of colors from Sea Shore and Cherry Blossom: Teal Cave, Galactic Stream, Pinkalicious, and Rubellite.

The third card focused on using acetate, not only for the florals, but also as a card base. Penny felt this gave the look of stained glass and I totally agree!

I was concerned about getting alcohol ink on my dies, so I cut the pieces out first. I’m heavy handed with the ink and in the past I have always had problems with my pieces being sticky. I didn’t want to have to worry about cleaning all the alcohol out of my dies. Plus, if you have the time, you can put shadows onto your florals and leaves. If you die-cut first, you have more control, in my opinion.

I die-cut Floral Doodles out of acetate and navy card stock. Before die-cutting the navy card stock I applied Altenew adhesive sheet to the back of the card stock. I still have enough extra pieces to make a couple more cards. I ordered some acetate cards by Hero Arts to use up the pieces I have.

I placed all the acetate floral pieces onto my glass mat and applied the Cherry Blossom family of alcohol ink. When I was happy with those, I cleaned the mat with alcohol and laid down the stems and leaves. I applied a mix of alcohol inks using the Green Vally ink family.

Since my navy card stock had the adhesive on the back it made it SUPER simple to apply to my acetate. Once the navy card stock was layered, I sent all the pieces through my 3-inch xyron to coat the entire back of the acetate.

For my card base, I scored the acetate sheet (5 1/2 x 8 1/2) at 4 1/4. Make sure to get a really good score line on this. The acetate is tough to score/bend. Once this was done I created my other card base that I will layer inside. I created a top-folding A2 card that was scored at 5 1/2. I put the card front into my Organic Linen 3D embossing folder and ran it through my Gemini machine.

Now it is time to assemble! I put scor-tape on the back of the acetate card. I then exposed the adhesive and lined the acetate back to the inside of the card stock card. To cover the adhesive through the acetate, I then applied a piece of Neenah Solar White 80# card stock that was 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 over the center. I then folded down the embossed front and flipped over the acetate front and scored to reinforce the score lines.

It’s now time to apply the beautiful alcohol inked florals! Since they are covered with adhesive, it is super, super simple! Just find a layout and apply your florals, voila!

My final card was made outside the workshop on my own time. We had created the panel with alcohol inks during the first part of the workshop. I used a mix of the Enchanted Garden inks with Shadow Creek and Mountain Pine (from Green Valley).

Since this background sat for a couple of days and I was 100% sure it was not sticky, I did die-cut from the background. I used Garden Picks to create my florals. Since the panel was only 4 x 6, I did not have enough to create three leaf clusters out of it and create the florals. I decided to use vellum and gold foil card stock for my other leaves. I was happy with the outcome.

My florals were layered using thin 3D foam squares between each layer. I like the dimensional look I get from this technique.

I recently purchased the Dotted Starburst Debossing cover die and have been dying to use it! I think it works great, adding another bit of texture and interest. My sentiment comes from the Circled Greetings: Thanks die. Again, I only focused on cutting out the phrase “thanks”. I used some blue violet card stock from my stash and layered it three times. It still needed something, so I sprayed it with Iridescent Shimmer ink spray.

I placed my sentiment in the lower right hand corner. It is so close to the edge as I didn’t like how my trimming went of the “s”. Up against the side it didn’t seem so obvious. One of my florals I adhered flat to the card panel and added foam squares to the back of the other. Who doesn’t love dimension??

I hope you enjoyed my cards today. This is definitely a technique I need to explore more. I definitely struggle with the messier techniques. Due to COVID, I definitely have enough gloves to keep my hands clean! LOL 😂

It is always such an honor to help another crafter on their crafting journey. I want to thank Penny for developing this workshop and allowing me to be part of her journey. She helped me on my creative journey as well.

Thank you so much for sharing your day with me!

Until next time, stay safe, healthy, and happy crafting!