Alcohol Ink on Yupo Pendants


Ages ago I bought some Yupo. Yupo is plasticized paper that's used for mixed media art--especially media that thrives on glossy surfaces like alcohol ink. There are other similar products now, like Nara, and other Alcohol ink "papers." But it's not cheap, so I haven't used it for much. But I thought it would work perfectly for making necklaces with the bezels and cabochons that I have since it would use so little of the paper to make them.


So to start with, I needed to get some ink onto some Yupo. I decided to use my T-Rex ink for this project since the colors are lovely, and I'm trying to get more use out of them. So I got out a craft mat, a can of air, some rubbing alcohol and a hand bulb. I also grabbed a paint brush in case I wanted to make some fine details. I'm just using a 5 x 7 sheet of Yupo, and it should be plenty of paper for this project.


I started with a magent-y purple. I dripped some ink on the paper and then used a bunch of rubbing alcohol (in the white bottle) to get the ink flowing.


Then I used a can of air to move the ink around on the paper until I had a nice base coat of of the color.



Then I added in an aqua color and was pleased with how it turned the magent-y color into more of a true purple as it mixed.


I added a bit of gold ink and some rubbing alcohol drops with the paint brush and was happy enough with what I made. So, I set it aside.


Several days later, I dug the sheet out again and decided to make the next part of the project (the color on these photos is off for some reason--it was a cloudy afternoon and all my pictures came out orange-y). I grabbed a 1-inch circle punch and some e6000 glue to create my necklaces.


I cut circles all around the outside edge of my little sheet of Yupo, trying to get the most interesting patterns. I was still left with quite a bit of inked Yupo for other projects, and I cut out enough circles to make 15 necklaces (if I wanted to). 


I picked my 5 favorite circles and made them into necklaces. I started by putting a tiny bit of e6000 on the bezels to glue the circles in place.


After the paper was glued down, I put a small circle of glue (about a pea size amount) onto the paper.


Then placed the cabochon/glass gem on the glue and pressed down until the glue disappeared and started to come out of the edge.


Then I repeated the process for all of the necklaces.


Leave them alone until the glue dries. If you're impatient like me, the partially cured glue will make a mess and turn into glue boogers as you try to clean it off the edges (I had serious grade school flashbacks of rolling up nuggets of rubber cement). If you wait until it's dry, it's much easier to clean up any excess glue, but be sure to check them a couple of times in the first hour or so for bubbles and press down more to remove them if they appear.


After I had waited as long as I could stand and had mostly cleaned up the glue remnants, I strung the pendants up with some faux suede cording.


Even though I was impatient with the glue, these turned out great, and I have so many more circles of inked Yupo if I want to make more!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plastic Wrap Alcohol Ink on Small Ceramic Bowl

Image
A while back I picked up some small white bowls from Big Lots ( these look similar ) with a nice satin finish. I already inked one bowl using the flame method , but I still have a few bowls left, so I decided to give one the plastic wrap treatment. I got out my craft mat and some alcohol inks . Then I cleaned my bowl with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and removed the sale sticker from the bottom. I tore a piece of plastic wrap off the roll that was large enough to cover my bowl, and I set it down on my craft mat, being sure not to smooth it out. Then I dripped ink on the plastic wrap until I liked the combination of colors and the plastic was mostly full of color. Then I placed my bowl in the center of the plastic wrap and carefully applied the plastic wrap to the sides without smoothing it out too much (so it keeps the wrinkled pattern). Then I flipped it over to dry. I ended up using 7 colors on the bowl. I wanted something bright and fun so I we
Read more

Splatter Resist Alcohol Ink Tile

Image
I still have some ceramic tiles left from my last run to the hardware store, so when I remembered I had saved the contact paper heart from my Valentine's Day Glass Etching project, I knew exactly what I wanted to try. I grabbed some bright alcohol inks , canned air , a 6 inch ceramic tile , and my contact paper heart. I originally cut it out free hand by folding the contact paper, so it doesn't have to be perfect, but I'm sure if you have a cutting machine you could use that to make whatever shape you'd like in contact paper or vinyl. I peeled back the paper backing and applied the heart to the middle of the tile (as best as I could eyeball it). Then I rubbed down the edges of the contact paper. I squeezed out a drop of alcohol ink near the edge of the heart and used canned air to blow the drop out from the center of the tile. I usually hold the can with my right hand and a plastic lid with my left (I use the lid from the small plastic box I keep
Read more

Alcohol Ink Washer Necklaces

Image
I received a package of alcohol inks for Christmas and then bought a second set with a 50% off coupon at Michael's.  I've used them now to make coasters and to decorate some candle holders .  I was just getting my sea legs with these inks to begin with.  I applied the ink directly onto the surfaces and played around with rubbing alcohol as a blending solution.  But I thought it was high time that I used an applicator to use them the way they were intended.  Of course, the applicator is just a stamp with some velcro on it and it costs 6+ dollars....not to mention buying the pre-cut pieces of felt. So I figured I'd make my own.  I was very much in a use what you've got mentality, so I grabbed a scrap piece of wood and a couple of strips of velcro (hook and loop tape).  I used the hook side and lined two pieces up next to each other.  Luckily they were just the right width. I had the sew-on kind of velcro, so I spread some tacky glue thinly onto the surface
Read more