We show you how to master alcohol ink backgrounds…

Alcohol ink is a really versatile product and has been making a real come-back in recent years. It comes in all shapes and sizes, from the traditional bottles of alcohol ink, to alcohol pen refills, and these days we even have metallic mixatives and pearlescent colours to play with too!

This feature combines alcohol ink with texture. Although daunting to some, as alcohol ink is not the most widely used crafting product, you don’t have to be an experienced crafter to work with it. Alcohol ink is such an easy product to master, you can get really cool results in no time.

The projects I am sharing vary in difficulty from simply using textured cardstock, all the way up to using dimensional mediums through stencils to give the texture. Adding visual texture can easily be achieved using household items like cling film or sponges.

I’ve kept the decoration of these cards really simple as the backgrounds are the focal points of the cards, and the great thing about alcohol ink is that it dries really quickly, so you can recreate cards like these in no time. When combining texture with alcohol ink, think about the embossing folders or different types of cardstock you already have in your stash, adding alcohol ink can really spice up your older products and give them a new lease of life! Alternatively, if you’re into slightly more messy crafting, pull out your stencils and texture pastes and have fun experimenting, adding the alcohol ink on the paste while it’s wet, or after it’s dried.

If you’re not into die-cutting and embossing folders, keep it simple and use materials from around the house to add texture, you never know what you’ll find in the kitchen to give cool textured effects. Try using household items like cling film or sponges.

Whatever kind of crafter you are, you’ll be sure to have a great time creating backgrounds using alcohol ink and texture, so dust off your alcohol ink, and bring out all the stash and start playing, you’ll be thrilled with your results!

1

Choose white or light-coloured textured cardstock, pick a few analogous colours of alcohol ink (I used a mix of Copic and Pearl) and an ink applicator with a felt pad.

2

Load up your ink applicator with colour, adding each one in a separate stripe on the felt pad.

3

Swipe your inky applicator across the panel, rotating 180 degrees and swiping again to get a stripy pattern.

4

Work to fill the panel with ink. If you don’t have textured cardstock, you can use an embossing folder to get a similar effect

5

Trim the inked panel to 10x13cm then die-cut elements from white cardstock to decorate the card, using an off cut of the inked cardstock as an accent strip.

6

Use a fine-tipped glue applicator bottle to add small amounts of glue to the die-cuts.

7

Add the finished panel to a white card blank and embellish with a scattering of gems.

Birthday smile- striped and leafy card
Stripy ink brushed birthday card with leafy die-cut image and sparkly sentiment
Die-cutting1 min read06 Aug 2019

You will need

  • White 11x14cm card blank
  • White cardstock
  • Pearl Ripple Tonic Studios Craft Perfect cardstock
  • Vellum
  • Silver glitter card
  • Copic Various Ink Refills
  • Ranger Alcohol Pearl Ink
  • Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
  • Gems
  • Spellbinders Stephanie Low Leaves So Very Gorgeous & Word on a Line dies
  • Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson Necessities Lift Your Spirits dies
  • Manual die-cutting machine
Thank you- narrow landscape ink blot card with leafy background sentiment
Create this cool alternative thank you card but adhering die-cut thank you sentiment to leafy layered vellum image and place onto an orange ink blot style background
Die-cutting1 min read06 Aug 2019

You will need

  • White 18x9cm card blank
  • White cardstock
  • Vellum
  • Gold glitter card
  • Copic Various Ink Refills
  • Ranger Alcohol Pearl Ink
  • Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
  • Gems
  • Manual die-cutting machine
  • Spellbinders Shapeabilities Stephanie Low Leaves So Very Gorgeous & Word on a Line dies
Celebrate
1 min read06 Aug 2019

You will need

  • White 15x11.5cm card blank
  • White cardstock
  • White Glossy Creative Expressions Foundation cardstock
  • Vellum
  • Silver glitter card
  • Copic Various Ink Refills
  • Ranger Alcohol Pearl Ink
  • Gems
  • Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
  • Sandpaper
  • Manual die-cutting machine
  • Spellbinders Shapeabilities Stephanie Low Summer Flowers & Word on a Line dies
  • Creative Expressions Lisa Horton Marble 5x7” embossing folder
Hello
1 min read06 Aug 2019

You will need

  • white 12.5x18cm card blank
  • white cardstock
  • White Glossy Creative Expressions Foundation cardstock
  • vellum
  • gold glitter card
  • Copic Various Ink Refills
  • Copic Colourless Blender
  • Ranger Alcohol Pearl Ink
  • Cling film
  • Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
  • sandpaper
  • manual die-cutting machine
  • Spellbinders Shapeabilities Stephanie Low Lovely Lilac, Joanne Fink Heart and Butterflies Border, Becca Feeken Hemstitch Circle & Word on a Line dies
  • Creative Expressions Lisa Horton Marble 5x7” embossing folder
Get well soon- glittery autumnal coloured smudge background card
Get well soon card with autumnal palette ink puddle background and die-cut branches layered on vellum
Stamping1 min read06 Aug 2019

You will need

  • White 15.5x12cm card blank
  • White cardstock
  • White Glossy Creative Expressions Foundation cardstock
  • Tonic Studios Bevelled Diamond 8x8” stencil
  • Vellum
  • Gold glitter card
  • Copic Various Ink Refills
  • Ranger Alcohol Pearl Ink
  • Moonstone Tonic Studios Nuvo Glimmer Paste
  • Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
  • Spatula
  • Gems
  • Spellbinders Stephanie Low Heart Like a Wild Flower dies
  • Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson Necessities Lift Your Spirits dies
  • Manual die-cutting machine
Birthday wishes
1 min read06 Aug 2019

You will need

  • white 14.5cm-square card blank
  • white cardstock
  • White Glossy Creative Expressions Foundation cardstock
  • vellum
  • silver glitter card
  • That Special Touch Moroccan Mask 6x6” stencil
  • Copic Various Ink Refills
  • Copic Colourless Blender
  • Ranger Alcohol Pearl Ink
  • texture paste
  • gems
  • Ranger Alcohol Ink Applicator Tool
  • manual die-cutting machine
  • Spellbinders Stephanie Low Flowers Whisper dies
  • Creative Expressions Craft Dies by Sue Wilson Necessities Lift Your Spirits dies