Get more from Mixed Media Supplies !

           Hi friends, this month for my DT posts Shalini sent me 2 mixed media products Whipped Spackle and Glass Beads Gel which were quite unfamiliar to me.

          I was plagued with something all of us as crafters go through at one point or the other ......un-certainity and self doubt! The reason for my confession is because  I recently read a comment by a crafter that she had spent so much on craft supplies but was unable to actually make anything as "craft classes" were expensive. Now this comment somehow touched me deeply . Being fortunate enough to attend a class is awesome but sometimes the affordability issue, concerns of whether it is really worth it or as in my case time constraints and other commitments may be a big hindrance to attending classes...but you shouldn't actually let it affect your own individual creativity from blossoming! 

          Now back to the products I am discussing ...Whipped Spackle and Glass Beads Gel are two media there is hardly any material online at this point so I had very little to guide me on how to use it. I felt uncomfortable about committing "mistakes" but then this is Art....there are no mistakes!! And I hope all the new crafters out there take this message...there will always be something new to learn..do not be afraid to experiment on your own and a special word to all the perfectionists out there[ myself included!]....It is OKAY to be imperfect now and then in ART and CRAFT !

Whipped Spackle  On its Own + Stencil

In my last post on Whipped Spackle I used Whipped Spackle embossing powder on Whipped Spackle [ loved the glamour embossing powder lent it] and also experimenting and colored with gelatos[ which I didnt like].Here showing you how gorgeous it looks just as it is.

whipped spackle

You can actually smear on Whipped Spackle  with your fingers or knife and it will hold its shape but I had a few old stencils I tried it with

whipped spackle

Love the crispness of the stencilled Whipped Spackle !

Whipped Spackle + Distress Inks & Acrylic Paints

Whipped Spackle 

I used a tree branch stencil with Whipped Spackle and once it was dry ,painted on it with distress ink [ smear the stamp pad on plastic / craft mat and dip your brush in it and paint like you normally would]

If you want a very vibrant color you can actually layer on paint on the Whipped Spackle and it will take it all without flattening/ smearing.

Altered heart

Since I was experimenting I did layer on several coats of not only distress inks but also regular acrylic paints in many areas of the Whipped Spackle branch and flowers

Resin Fairy

The cracks on the gessoed cardboard surface were made with distress crackle paint.

crackle

And here is the altered heart [which was originally the cardboard base of a cake]

Altered heart

If you want to want to know more about the supplies/ techniques I used to make the altered heart do drop by my blog later [Cards Crafts Kids Projects]

Whipped Spackle + Alcohol Ink

If painting is not your cup of tea and you want a quicker way to add color add inks to the Whipped Spackle !Here I experimented with yummy alcohol inks.

Alcohol Ink

Put whipped spackle on a plastic lid and added a drop of alcohol ink [ a little goes a long way with these vibrant alcohol inks]

Alcohol Ink

Spread the yummy looking icing [whipped spackle] on a stencil

Stencilled

Made it smooth with a plastic knife and lifted it to get beautiful crisp texture a beautiful pale green color.

Stencilled

Whipped Spackle + Glitter

Tried mixing in glitter with the whipped spackle...but that was a failure as the glitter got completely masked

Glittered

But sprinkling glitter on the Whipped spackle while it was wet was a success

Glittered

After shaking off the excess glitter...I got a beautiful shimmer on the bamboo.

Glittered

Once it was dry I used a tiny brush to brush off the excess glitter from the area between the design.

Getting Different Looks using a Palette/plastic knife

Flat

Texture media like Whipped Spackle  act like icing...you can smooth-en it with a knife to get a flat surface

Ridged

Or lift up the surface using your fingers or knife to get a beautiful ridged surface The best thing about it is that once dry the ridges don't get squashed...I put this box upside down and not a tiny part of the design got squashed!

Glass Beads Gel

beads gel

Glass Beads Gel is another cool texturing medium which has tiny translucent glass beads embedded in it

beads gel

Properties of Beads Gel and How to Use Beads Gel

• Looks white when you take it from the jar
• Dries absolutely Clear
• You can apply it to multiple surface like glass, metal , wood, paper on its own - no need to use any other glue
• You can use a plastic knife, brush or your own fingers to smear it
• You can use it on a stencil 
• You can Paint over it
• On drying it reflects the colors of the surface over which you used it

Sharing a few project ideas and experiments

Beads Gel with Stencil

I placed a Lord Ganesh stencil similar to the one I demoed in the Spray Adhesive tutorial over an alcohol inked background card stock and smeared beads gel over it

beads gel

Its a very quick process...once you have a flat / peaked surface which you like lift off the stencil and you get a cool image!

beads gel

What I found was that if you want it to dry quickly use a thin layer. If you use a thick layer it can actually take upto 2 days to dry clear!

Lord Ganesha Hanging

My stencilled Lord Ganesha reflects the beautiful hues of the alcohol inked background I had created on metallic gold card stock!

Here is a glimpse of the Ganesha + Handmade resin Goddess Saraswati Wall hanging [something ethnic for a change] ...full details of which I will share later on my blog.

Glass Beads Gel and Intricate Stencil

Here is the same butterfly stencil which gave such a beautiful crisp texture with Whipped Spackle in the altered heart project above not giving as cool/crisp design with beads gel ...the lime green color of the beads gel butterfly is a reflection of the mowed lawn distress ink I used on the background !

Glass Beads Gel Smeared

box

Here is the box lid I had stencilled a Bamboo design with Whipped Spackle earlier. Added some Cheery Lynn  grass die cuts and smeared beads gel over it  [seen in white]

 Here is the closeup of the smeared beads gel before it dried

 And here is how it looks after it dried [ average drying time 12 hours]

The beads gel looks gorgeous  doesnt it ?

beads gel 

And here is how the box lid looks with a multitude of materials including homemade resin fairy , Whipped Spackle , Beads gel , actual pebbles, thermocol balls , Metal charms , Crystal flowers ..

Altered Box

Painted Glass Beads Gel

In the altered heart shared above I used a leaf stencil to apply beads gel and painted over it with green acrylic paint

glass beads gel

It was too vibrant for my liking so camouflaged it partially by adding a handmade clay rose and Heartfelt creations leafy branches over it !

Altering Embellishments etc with Glass Beads Gel

This is a plastic Christmas ball decoration [can be seen in this post : Paper tree tutorial ] which I put on a bottle and coated with beads gel ...doesnt it look literally yummy!

My altered bottle got a new funky bottle cap! You can use the same idea to create cool  flower centers or and unique embellishments for your projects!

Glass Beads Gel Jewelry

Glass Beads Gel Pendant Making

You may have seen my tutorial on how to use glass cabochons and make beautiful Pendants [Glass Cabochon tutorial ] ...here is another fun way to use make pendants using Beads Gel this time- Cut a pretty paper [I used the tiny rose design from the cover of a DCWV stack] and stick it to a metal pendant base using Modpodge or glossy accents

After allowing it to dry scoop some glass beads gel and heap it on the Pendant

Glass Beads Gel Pendant Making

You can really heap it on or just use a thin layer like I did on this pendant base

Glass Beads Gel Pendant Making

On drying [ took approx half a day] this is how yummy it looks!

Glass Beads Gel Pendant 

So I hope friends you dont restrict using a particular product just for what its in vogue for but experiment with it and make your own little crafty discoveries!!
Supplies
Whipped Spackle 
Stencils 
Distress Inks
Resin Kit
Glass Beads Gel
Glossy Accent
Mod Podge
DCWV Paper
Distress Inks, Alcohol Inks
Pendants ,Charms
Glitter
Dies : Heartfelt creations Classic Leaf , Cheery Lynn  grass , Cheery Lynn  butterfly  , Spellbinders Beaded Oval, Spellbinders Floral Oval ,Spellbinders Aster, Lifestyle crafts Circle, Memory Box clouds

Let's go Inky!

Hey Friends,

How are you all? Neha here. Today, I am going to talk about 2 topics.

                - Different kinds of inks available at crafters corner

                -when to use which black ink & why (as I believe, If you know why 

                  behind anything...you never have to remember when and which...:) )

Dye-based inks 

                 

                        - Dye-based inks are quick-drying and excellent for basic stamping.

              -  It’s pads are  hard felt pad, which means it’s difficult to over-ink 

                 your stamp, so it gives clean, crisp images 

              - perfect for stamping outlines and ideal for those new to stamping.

              - They are more  transparent and thinner than pigment inks.

              - They get absorbed in paper so gives brightest image on white CS. 

                  They don't give good results with dark CS.  

              - They dry quickly so not recommended for heat embossing.

              - They can be permanent/ waterproof upon drying(ranger archival inks) 

                  or non-permanent i.e activated with water
                  even after drying.(eg. distress inks)

I am listing inks from the store which falls under this category with a brief description.

1.) Archival Ink Pads by Ranger :

        - Archival quality means fade resistant over a period of time. The inks are acid free, non-toxic and permanent on most paper.

         - On glossy surfaces, inks should be heat set to ensure permanency.

                                - waterproof makes it great for using with watercolors and/or water based markers, acrylic paints.

- Stamp cleaner is required to clean your stamps.

2.) Chalk Inks :

Chalk ink Edger by Prima               &                       ColorBox fluid Chalk inks  

                -  These inks are special kind they are dye inks with chalky pigments.

   - they provide opaque, matt, chalky, lustrous  ink coverage.

   - can be used to stamp even on darker colored card stock

   - These inks share the resilience of pigment ink

      but stamp and blend like dye ink

   - dry quickly on absorbent surfaces but if you work quickly

      you can heat emboss with them

                -  permanent when heat set, they resist smearing, 

                   bleeding or fading even when air dried. 

                - great for stamping and edging and direct to surface techniques.

                -  Works as water colors too.   

3) Distress Inks : 

            - These are water based dye ink.

             -You can use them to create an aged look on papers, fibers, photos 

           -Developed to produce a realistic weathered look

           -It has some chemical agent which delays drying time

            and makes it more blend able

           - Use it with blending foam to create beautiful back grounds.

           - excellent to use it with paint brush as water colors

              to color stamped images.

4) Memento Dye Inks : 

                 -  Tsukineko's Memento inkpads feature extraordinary fade-resistant

                    dye inks that have made them a staple for new 

                    and  experienced paper crafters.

                 - These inkpads capture fine details and offer even coverage.

                   Memento is fast drying on most papers.

                - Also, Memento inks are compatible with Copic Markers.

                - They comes in this due drop size and full size pads too.

                - If you are new to stamping and paper crafting, go for these

                  pocket friendly inks. They last for a long time and comes in 

                  many vibrant colors. They Also comes in full size pads.

5) Hero Arts Shadow, Mid tone Inks, Ombre inks 

           

Shadow  inks are specially formulated to blend into paper surfaces

 leaving a soft translucent image

 while  Mid-Tone Inks gives rich vibrant image.

The Shadow Ink line is made up of pastel tones and Mid-tones

 are rich vibrant colors.

     Ombre three of the Hero Arts midtone formula dye inks in one beautiful

 ombre  pad to give color gradation while stamping.

6) Ranger Dye Inks:

- These water based dye inks are both fade resistant and waterproof when dry.

-  Acid free. Non-toxic. Gives even coverage.

This is the card I created previously with various dye inks

Pigment inks:

-Pigment based inks are also water based but, unlike dye inks, they contain little

 particles of color. Because of this, they leave an impression that is more 

 vibrant and more resistant to water (once dry) than their dye based counterparts.

- They are fade resistant.

-They also stay wetter longer so they are suitable for embossing.

-Their pads are made of soft foam so be careful while inking stamp to prevent over-inking.

-On the negative side, they can't be used on gloss stock - they smear.

-A stamp inked with pigment ink can usually be cleaned with a wet paper towel but the darker colors 
may require the use of a stamp cleaning solution. 

Products in this category are

Mama Elephant Inks:                                                Ranger Pigment Inks

check my previous post with these inks HERE 

 

Clearsnap Colorbox Inks                                                            Memento Luxe Pigment inks.

Versafine Inks

Versafine is Tsukineko's unique pigment ink with an extraordinary ability to

 crisply capture finely detailed images.

         It requires separate mention as they are natural oil-based pigment

 ink that dries quickly on matte cardstock delivering great stamping results for fine detail. 

Their pads are hard and made of felt unlike other pigment ink's soft, foam pads.

The ink works with watercolor and markers.

                The inkpad is designed to last 3-5 times longer than regular inks.

In my opinion this is the finest stamping ink.

Solvent-based inks

-StazOn is a popular brand of solvent-based ink, as it has a mild smell and is 

available in many colours.

-Solvent-based inks are quick-drying, archival, acid-free, permanent inks.

-They are designed to use with non-porous and semi-porous surfaces like  acetate, glass, plastic, cellophane, aluminum foil, leather, shrink plastic and even metal.

 - You need stamp special stazOn cleaner to clean your stamps.

 Many reviews says they damage clear stamps.

- As it is  solvent based, ink pads dry out faster and needs re inking frequently. 

Alcohol inks

-These are special dye-based inks designed to give a pretty, polished-stone effect.

-They are quick-drying and permanent, and can be used on lots of surfaces including glossy paper, acetate, shrink plastic, foil and metal.

- Use this transparent alcohol ink to create colorful and dazzling effects on these slick surfaces.

-This acid-free, fade-resistant and fast-drying ink comes in an easy-to-use precision tip bottle for easy application.

You have to use special ink blending tool with felt applicator and blending solution

 to get desired effects. 

-Check the pendants I created last year from washers HERE.

A acrylic  tag for Keys,  stamped with stazon. 

Acrylic tag, coloured from back with blue alcohol ink. Front stamped with Stazon  and printed paper glued on the back.

Acrylic tag painted with  alcohol inks, golden mixative. Silver heart charm was colored with gold mixative.

 Now I will come to the second topic.

-when to use which black ink & why 

-As we saw,  there are two variation of inks 

permanent/waterproof and non-permanent.

-Permanent inks have alcohol in their ingredients which makes them water proof.

-While non-permanent inks has water as their ingredients

 and so they are not water-proof.

-Now, as we know that water and alcohol do not react  with each other.

- If you use a dye ink with a water-based marker, your image would run when you color. This is because dye inks are water-based, and water-based products  will react with each other 

-And same way if you stamp an image with an alcohol-based ink and then color it with an alcohol-based marker, the image will smear. This again is because the two products  have ingredients that will react with each other.

- So use opposite inks and medium e.g for water coloring use Versamark or Archival and for copic or any other alcohol markers - use Memento.

Following are few swatches I made using Memento, Versafine, Archival & StazOn for stamping flowers and  different mediums to colour them. 

For the above swatch, I have used Distress ink for water colouring so you can see memento bleeds if you use with water base medium. Check the crisp  stamped image with versafine & it works with water based medium too.

Above, I have used water color marker... all three except memento works. But detailed stamping with Versafine is incomparable.

For the last one I have used Copic to colour. Memento works best. Archivsl and stazon doesn't as they have same ingredient - alcohol as copic.

You can use Stazon with water color but I wouldn't recommend it as they spoil your clear stamp and leaves black residue even after cleaning. It is ment to use on nonporous surface so let's stick to it...:) .

See how Stazon will mess up with your stamp. The stamp is permanently stained. As you can see on the paper, I tried to clean it with cleaner ( it is regular cleaner not specially for stazon) and stamp off ink but that thing wouldn't budge.  So be careful  while using so specific products.

So if you have memento and versafine you are good to go as far as paper is concerned . No need for stamp cleaners too. 

 There are lots of products available so figure out why exactly you want it. 

READ PRODUCT DESCRIPTION.

Invest in versatile products.

Never buy a thing just because someone is recommending or using. 

Read reviews and make a conscious choice.

And most importantly, enjoy whatever you do!  

Supply used from store:'

StazOn Black Ink