make your own alcohol inks
paper, tutorial, DIY

DIY Alcohol Ink! Make it yourself on the cheap and clean out that box of old markers!

Laura's Craft Closet

Alcohol Ink can give gorgeous results. SO MANY beautiful possibilities!

And I wanted to try it. I wanted to try it on multiple mediums…including paper! I love to try new things, especially when they can be incorporated into my art!!

But the price of quality alcohol inks kept me from rushing out to get a bunch of colors (ok, kept me from putting a few sets in my amazon cart, ha ha).

So I did what I always do: I made it myself!

rainbow of DIY alcohol inks

It was so easy to do, helped me clear out my old dried out markers, and created some beautiful paper that I then used for a few Fall/Thanksgiving cards. I want to share my steps with you:

Supplies:

supplies for diy alcohol ink

  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Travel bottles (2oz)
  • Scissors
  • Needle-nose pliers
  • Old Markers
    • I used dried-out crayola and sharpies, but others will work, too
    • I used 2-3 markers of each color for each ounce of rubbing alcohol
  • Gloves (unless you enjoy stained hands!)
  • Newspaper or paper towels

Steps:

  1. Pour rubbing alcohol into the travel bottles until half-full. You want to leave room for the markers and the shaking. Pour rubbing alcohol into bottle to fill halfway
  2. Organize your markers by color. Use scissors to pull off the top and bottom of the old markers. These came off easier than I thought they would, but can still be a bit messy! Use pliers to pull out the felt part on the inside of the marker that is soaked in ink. I left some of them inside their plastic sheaths, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Do this one color at a time (and wipe off your tools between colors!). pull apart markers
  3. Drop the marker pieces into the travel bottle with rubbing alcohol. I used 2-3 markers of each color into each bottle. Close the top of the bottle. drop marker pieces into bottle
  4. Swirl and shake the markers in the alcohol. You should see the ink becoming more and more pigmented.           shake marker in bottle
  5. Repeat with other colors.   repeat with other colors
  6. Let these sit at least overnight. Carefully remove the felt marker pieces from the bottles. Now your alcohol ink is ready to use!!

 

I’ll post my creations and tutorials using these beautiful inks in the coming days and weeks. I’m so excited about this!!

die cut leaves from alcohol inked paper
Sneak peek at one way I used the inks for some Thanksgiving Cards!

I hope you found this tutorial useful! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at laurascraftcloset@gmail.com. It was easier and took far less time than I had anticipated. Making these inks myself allowed me to get creative with my projects while learning the best techniques without worrying about “wasting” the inks. I can’t wait to share these with you, crafties! These inks go a long way, but when I run out, I’ll feel more confident considering the fancy colors from the name brands…unless I make my own again!

Happy Crafting!

 

 

Enjoy Life kick butt card
paper, tutorial

Kick Butt Encouragement Card

Laura's Craft Closet

You are doing great today. And we can all use a little extra encouragment in our lives.

I’ve found that it’s those moments where I need a little extra push, it’s most important for me to remind friends in my life how strong they are. So I sat down to make a few cards.

I was needing a bit of inspiration, but when I pulled out the Enjoy Life stamp set, I knew which stamps I wanted to include. I love this Enjoy Life set!

Enjoy Life kick butt card

Here’s how to make this quick card for your favorite people who might need a little reminder that they can kick some butt today:

Supplies:

Poppy Parade 8-1/2" x 11"" Card Stock"

Watercolor Paper

Brusho Crystal Colour

Stampin' Spritzer

Enjoy Life Photopolymer Stamp Set

Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad

Classic Label Punch

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Steps:

  1. Cut Poppy Parade Cardstock to 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. Fold in half.
  2. Cut Watercolor Paper to 4″ x 5 1/4″.
    • Lightly sprinkle Brusho crystals to make a background.
    • Spritz water over the crystals and tilt the colored water over your paper until you achieve the look you want. I attempted to make mine look like a sunrise using three different colors.
    • Let dry completely (super important!).
  3. Stamp the grasses and the person using Staz-on ink in Tuxedo Black.
    • Adhere the watercolor paper to the poppy parade card base.
  4. Unfortunately, the sentiment isn’t as simple as stamping and cutting apart. But I’ll let you know the secret: Masking! Take a post it note, cover the words you don’t want stamped, and ink  as usual. Remove the post it note, and stamp onto a Poppy Parade scrap.
    • Repeat this for all three lines of the seniment, leaving space between each line.
    • Punch out using the classic label punch (or a corner rounder will achieve a similar result).
  5. Adhere the three lines using dimenstionals.

I’m playing along with the following challenges:

 

So easy, yet so pretty and a great reminder. I hope this quick tutorial encourges you to pick out some fun stamps and kick some butt. And maybe send a little encouragement to someone who needs to hear it.

Happy Crafting!!

wine tags made with half full stamp set
paper, tutorial

An Easy to Make Wine Bottle Tag for your next holiday party!

Laura's Craft Closet

Hello Crafties! No secrets here: I love wine.

Showing up to a party with a bottle of wine is a quick and easy way to thank the host for the invite.  But you’re crafty. And you wanna put a personal touch on that bottle of wine. Whipping up this wine tag is a great way to put a personal touch on your gift.

wine tags made with half full stamp set

I’ll show you the super-quick steps to create the Merry Merlot Wine Tag on the right! (But they’re both delicious!)

Supplies:

Half Full Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Merry Merlot 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

Stampin' Write Markers New Color Assortment

Everyday Label Punch

Labels To Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Stampin' Dimensionals

Twine Baker's Whisper White

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Instructions:

  1. Cut the Merry Merlot cardstock 2 3/4″ x 8 1/2″.
    • Score at 2 3/4″.
    • Round the top corners.
    • Using the 2nd smallest circle die from the Stitched Framelits to cut out the wine bottle hole.
    • Stamp the wine bottles randomly on the tag.
  2. Stamp wine glasses on a scrap piece of white cardstock.
    • Color the wine glasses using your Stampin Write markers. I chose Merry Merlot and Petal Pink
    • Spread Diamond Glaze over the wine in the glasses. It easily flows over the area you squeeze it and dries into a clear and hard surface. This stuff is underrated, for sure. A little goes a long way!
    • When these are dry, fussy cut the glasses out and glue them to the wine tag.
  3. Stamp the wine sentiment (and the Label outline if you’d like).
    • Punch out the sentiment using the Everyday Label punch. (It’s like this stamp was made for this punch!)
    • Use Dimensionals to secure 12″ of the twine to the back of the Label, and then attach it all to the wine tag.
  4. Bring to your favorite host!

I have been having a ton of fun with this Half Full Stamp Set, so I’ll definitely be posting some of my favorite creations very soon! If you are a follower, you’ll get to see these! If you aren’t (::gasp::) it’s easy: just hit that follow button at the top of the column on the right! Don’t worry, I don’t bombard your email, but you’ll see when I have new fun posts!

I’m entering this creation into the Addicted to Stamps Anything Goes #316 Challenge and the Crafty Creations Anything Goes #377 Challenge!

I hope this tutorial offered you some “creativity juice.” I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Happy Crafting!