White Alcohol Ink Backed Glass Gems


So, a couple of weeks ago I posted a retrospective of alcohol ink glass gem projects. After going through the old projects, one of them was bugging me. Not long after picking up the Pinata ink sets (that come with white ink), I tried adding white ink to the back of my inked glass gems to help make it easier to see the color on the transparent surface. It was pretty much an abject failure. I figured I could make it work, now that I know so much more about inking...well...we're not quite there yet, apparently.


I chose some large flat glass gems. I think I picked these up at Walmart ages ago. I don't know if they still sell them. But you can usually pick up large flat glass marbles/gems at craft stores. Or pick up cabochons somewhere that sells jewelry making supplies.


I used a paint brush to apply the ink to my gems for this project, but a felt applicator also works well. I started with a layer of Ranger Mojito (green) and added Pinata Baja Blue.


I dipped my paint brush in both colors of ink and made dots and lines on the gems until I liked the look of them. (See, they look pretty good here--don't worry, I'm going to mess them up soon.)


I let them dry till they were dry to the touch and then sprayed their inked sides with a couple of coats of Kamar Varnish to seal the ink so it wouldn't react with the white ink when I applied it.


As soon as I started painting the white ink on the gems, I knew it wasn't sealed well enough. I tried dabbing and painting in neat stripes, and it didn't much matter (though the ones I carefully dabbed on were a bit better). The green and blue ink immediately reacted with the new white ink and became a mottled mess. So, what went wrong? Well, I rushed the process, so I probably need a couple more coats and a whole lot more dry time between everything. On the up side, they are better than my first attempt at using white ink on gems...so...you know...progress. 


So, these didn't turn out the way I hoped, but I did learn that you can make some nice gems with just a couple colors, and that there is potential for this process to work. I'll post again if I ever manage it--or even if I fail spectacularly. :)


Here's one where you can see the different layers a bit better. It sort of worked. I have hope that I can refine the process!

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