Using Alcohol Ink With Polymer Clay And Other Craft Supplies
Featuring Cool Adirondack Ink From Tim Holtz and Ranger:
Did you get any new craft supplies for Christmas? I sure did and one of my stocking stuffers was a 3 Pack of Tim Holtz' Adirondack Alcohol Ink. The set I received is called 'Nature Walk' and includes the colors Wild Plum, Butterscotch and Stream (See Photo). Tim Holtz from Ranger is one of my favorite crafter's out there. He has the coolest line of products!
Here is an Amazon link if you want to check out his inks:
3Pack-NatureWalk-WildPlum-Butterscotch-Stream
I have been 'dyeing' (hehehe) to get my hands on some 'real' alcohol ink because my homemade alcohol ink recipes are just not strong enough for some of the techniques I have been wanting to try out.
One of the things I really love about working with polymer clay is the crossovers it has between many of the different craft media's.
Scrapbooking supplies such as alcohol inks, pigment inks, embossing powders, rubber stamps, glitters, punches, embossing plates, eyelets, brads, stencils, powdered pigments, papers and much, much more, can all be used with polymer clay!
And it isn't just scrapbooking that is compatible with polymer clay. There is also painting, screen printing, woodworking, beadwork (of course), wire working, sewing, knitting (buttons and beads), jewelry making, collage, mosaics, mold making, sculpting, dollhouse miniatures, dried flowers rosary making, and on and on!
So if you like to work in any of these media's, you may want to consider adding polymer clay to your craft supplies inventory! Or if you are already working with polymer clay, you should consider combining it with some of other things listed above. Polymer clay is the mixed media artist's dream!
It is a new year! And with every new year comes new possibilities. One of my 2009 goals is to come up with some creative ideas for using alcohol inks in my polymer clay bead making techniques! Ooooh the possibilities!!
Do you use Tim Holtz' Adirondack Alcohol Inks
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Comments on Using Alcohol Ink With Polymer Clay And Other Craft Supplies
11:00 pm
Cindy,
Thanks so much for adding this post! It is just what I have been wanting to learn about!!! You read my mind, Girl!!!
I will really be looking forward to learning all of the techniques that mix mediums with polymer clay. I can hardly wait!!!
Thanks and Hugs to you,
Cindy Erickson
8:56 am
I just "discovered" alcohol inks and polymer clay last month, when challenged to create a holiday ornament for my Mixed Media Art Guild swap. I used the alcohol inks on polymer clay swirls all over a jumbo glass ball, and the result was fabulous! It was the most ornament 'stolen' in our swap!
7:18 pm
@Cindy E.: I'm glad! The thing to remember when you use alcohol inks on raw polymer clay is to let the ink dry before you mix it in or bake it. You don't want to trap the alcohol inside the clay, just the dye.
@Michelle: That must have felt good, seeing everyone fight over your ornament! I've been experimenting with the inks and loving how the beads are turning out. It's a fun thing to use to! Thanks for coming by and leaving your comment!
7:26 pm
I LOVE Alcohol Inks! I got that same set about 4 months ago, and then went and got all the other sets a few weeks later. I only had time to make one set of beads with them before I moved and I LOVED the way they turned out. I really did not use a certain technique, I just used drops of color on some Premo Peral and gently blended the clay. Here is a link to a picture of them [follow name link above]. The pictures doesn't do them much justice, as they look much better in person.
5:13 pm
They look great KB! I am loving the alcohol inks too!
One tip is to make sure to let the ink dry before you mix it into the clay, so the alcohol gets a chance to dissipate and just leave the dye behind.
That way you won't run into any problems of getting bubbles in your piece when it bakes! It doesn't look like this happened to you though, just thought I'd mention it since it probably has happened to others.
Thanks for sharing your pictures!
9:02 pm
I love the alcohol inks and have all of the sets. I have made all different looking stone beads by mixing the alcohol inks into the clay and well as the pearl x powders. I have also used the inks and powders in acrylic floor finish such as Pledge or Future and it makes any plain looking bead pop. I also use the inks for coloring transluscent clay to form new colors.
3:41 pm
Thank you Diana for sharing your wonderful tips! There really are so many beautiful things you can do with polymer clay isn't there?!
11:08 pm
Has anyone used Adirondack Alcohol Ink "Metallic Mixatives? I posted this question on another page here: beadsandbeading.com/blog/alcohol-ink-polymer-clay-bead-making-projects/5388/#comment-29719. I'm wondering if they work well with polymer clay. For instance, can they be mixed into translucent clay like the regular colored inks? If so, is the clay still kinda translucent, or does the metallic ink make it really opaque? Thanks for any help you can give me on this!
11:11 am
I have not used the Metallic Mixatives with clay yet, but since they are compatible with the alcohol inks, I assume that they should work with polymer clay. Test it out on a small sample to be sure. Just like using alcohol ink, make sure to let the ink dry so that the alcohol evaporates, before mixing into your clay. Let us know how your experiments go.