Sarah Jane's Craft Blog

I picked up these square vases from Dollar Tree knowing they'd be fun to ink since their mostly flat sides would mean I could lay them down to ink. So after testing out the T-rex warm and cool tone sets , I decided to try using their inks with fire--and these vases would be just the ticket. Flaming alcohol ink is a ton of fun , but I've never set this brand on fire...so onto yet another experiment! I set up my area to be fire safe. I put a silicon mat on my table, followed by a couple of cork trivets , then a baking sheet covered in foil (mostly to keep it from getting all inky). Then you'll need a long necked lighter and some rubbing alcohol (mine's in the little bottle ). I started by getting a base of ink in a few different colors. I selected a shade of green, blue, aqua from the T-rex sets . Then I added a bit of rubbing alcohol and moved all the inks and rubbing alcohol away from the baking sheet and lit the ink (and rubbing alcohol) on fire. The ink spreads and...

I've been enjoying finding new ways and different objects that I can try out the plastic wrap method for applying alcohol ink . I came into the possession of several of these cylinder vases and was trying to think of what I could do with them. I had some success using the plastic wrap method on a glass vase where I used spray paint , so I thought I'd try that again, but this time with a different shaped vase, some lighter colors of ink, and a different color of spray paint. So I laid out my craft mat , a sheet of plastic wrap (I used Glad Cling Wrap--not press and seal), and some alcohol inks . Making sure the plastic wrap stayed a bit rumpled, I squirted and dripped my alcohol ink on in a random pattern until the plastic wrap was covered in an area about the size of my vase. Then I set the vase onto the plastic wrap and wrapped it around the vase. Then I set it aside to dry. When using this method with vases, be sure to put something underneath them t...

During last week's project , I mentioned that I had found two vases that I wanted to craft with in my stash of glassware. Well last week I spray painted over the ink, this week I decided to spray paint the vase white (on the inside) and then use the plastic wrap technique, that I've finally gotten a hang of, on the outside. So I took my vase outside and covered it in plastic wrap and painter's tape to keep the spray paint on the inside of the vase. I gave it several light coats of white semi-gloss spray paint  and let it finish drying overnight.   When I unwrapped it the next day, it was a lovely plain white vase. I laid out a piece of plastic wrap large enough to cover my vase and dripped ink all over it. I went a little overboard actually, but had a lot of fun covering it in ink drops. I used a rainbow of both Ranger Inks and Pinata Inks . I set my vase onto the plastic wrap and wrapped it around the vase. I tried not to w...

A few weeks ago I decided to try to spray paint a candle jar after I had inked it. It turned out pretty well. The ink popped and was bright and vivid instead of the usual translucent result. I was excited to try it again. When I cleaned out my stash of vases and sent several off to the thrift store, I had a couple of plain glass vases that would be perfect for inking. So my first thought was to try the spray paint method again. This time, I figured I would go for something a bit more subtle; since usually when inking glass, you go for the brightest most saturated colors so they show up well on the glass. I opted for a beachy set of light blues and some purple alcohol ink . I started by swirling a bit of rubbing alcohol around the vase and then letting it drip out. Then I applied some blue inks and swirled them around. Unfortunately, there was too much rubbing alcohol still in the vase, so I had to pour the ink out onto my craft mat  to get a surface that the ink would ...