Flamed Alcohol Ink Washers


My dad gave me a bunch of washers from his garage stash for Christmas, so I just had to ink some of them! I thought I'd try out a new technique. Most of the time when I use alcohol ink on washers, I use a felt stamper (tutorial for stamped washers). But recently, I've been on a flamed ink kick. It works the best on larger surfaces like ceramic tiles, but I managed to make it work on some glass gems, so I figured it might be worth a try on washers.


So I set up my flamed ink station--teflon craft mats on the table (mostly for ink splatters--but they are heat safe too), a cork trivet, and then a cookie sheet covered in tinfoil. I set up my alcohol inks and rubbing alcohol on the other end of the table and only bring my colors I'm using over to the pan when I drip the ink onto the washer, then I set it aside away from the flame. I use a long handled lighter to set the ink on fire.


I dripped some blue ink (sailboat blue) on the washers first. I just swirled it around each washer.


Then when I held the flame over each, it spread the ink out and made it set. The ink doesn't really flame on the washers unless you put a lot of ink on them, so the flame spreads it out and dries the ink, but doesn't really catch.


I continued by adding purple (twilight purple) and green (clover) to the washers and flaming them.


I finished the washers by adding a little bright pink (raspberry) and then using a tiny paint brush dipped in rubbing alcohol to smooth the ink up to the edges of the washer. And then I used the brush to break apart some of the bigger sections of ink with drops of rubbing alcohol (the lighter circles of ink are from drops of rubbing alcohol).


Be careful of putting too many colors on the washer all at once. My first attempt sort of failed because I put a bunch of colors on and lit the washer on fire (with actual flames from all of the ink). As I continued to try to break the colors up, it just turned into a black sticky blob of ink. Fortunately, I was able to clean them off with some rubbing alcohol and a napkin and start over.


As long as you go one or two colors at a time and don't use too much ink, these turned out really bright and beautiful! I can't wait to seal them up and turn them into necklaces!

Comments

  1. So informative I am tempted to try this medium and very interesting method ☺

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    1. It was so much fun. I love flaming alcohol ink! (As long it's small quantities--large surfaces get tricky with big flames.)

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  2. Great project. Did you have to put a sealer on the finished washer. Did the color rub or chip off over time?

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    1. Yes, I seal these. They don't chip or flake too much, but since I usually turn them into necklaces, they have the potential to be around hairspray and perfume, which both contain alcohol and can make the ink run. I've used mod podge, acrylic sprays, and dimensional glazes to seal these. They all work fine as long as the ink has had a bit of time to cure. Some acrylic sprays sealers will react with the ink. I've had the best luck with the Krylon artist series sealers.

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  3. These are so cool to make. I added some silver on top and fired it. It broke up and let some colors through. Then I layered some more colors and fired until I got what I wanted. It helps to dab with a paper towel between colors. I have applied some Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to them and domed it. The colors are so brilliant! Since some ink got on the other side I will add more mod podge to the other side after these are completely dry. Thanks for the tips.

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  4. Wow! Cool. Thanks for the idea.

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  5. Can one use pinata inks/ any brand?

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    1. I have successfully set Pinata inks on fire. :) I often use Ranger and Pinata inks interchangeably with my projects.

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