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Altered Alcohol Ink Tins 

By: Bea Rosenleaf
Trailblazers
Mixed Media Design Team

There are some notable tips to consider when working with tin projects.  Removing the alcohol inks on tin is not quite as forgiving as on glossy paper. Once alcohol inks are applied to the tin, they will stain it. You can lighten the color, but you will not be able to completely remove it.  I always suggest playing with color combinations on paper before undertaking the tin. Also, the colors will look slightly different depending on the medium you are applying it to. The tins tend to be brighter and bolder than the paper.

Basically, you have to overcome your fear of playing with the alcohol inks!  Once you get the idea of how they work, you can do almost anything with them.  I tried daubing the polished stone technique onto regular cardstock – it will work, but soaks in the paper too fast to be able to really blend and be able to play with it.

These inks work best on non-porous surfaces such as glossy papers, tin, ceramic tiles, and cups.  Clear glass surfaces are other wonderful mediums – it almost looks like the old-fashion carnival glass from days gone by. The tumbled tiles are a porous tile and so the inks won’t work on them, as far as blending goes.  My favorite surface is textured glossy paper – oooh la la! 

Experiment! Have fun with them! They are quite addictive.

Supplies:

Tin Can (Provo Craft)
Adirondack Alcohol Inks (Ranger)
          Bottle
          Stream
          Wild Plum
Gold Leafing Pen (Krylon)
Alcohol Ink Applicator (Inkssentials)
Blending Solution (Ranger)
Embellishments of Choice:
          Ribbons, Charms, Die Cuts, Jewels, etc.

 Instructions:

1.      Gather all your supplies. Decide the colors of inks you are going to use. You can use one, two or three colors for the best results which will coordinate together. 

2.      Attach the felt to your daubing applicator. For the tin we are doing, I used two colors for the top: Bottle and Stream inks. For the bottom, I used just one color: Wild Plum.  Start with the bottom color/colors first. Put a few drops of the Wild Plum directly to the felt applicator.  If using two colors, apply a few drops of the first color and then apply the second color right next to it.  Now add the Blending Solution to your felt. 

3.      Depending upon the look you want, you can pounce, swipe, or twist the applicator onto the tin.  I used the pounced method. You will get varying degrees of color as you work around the tin. If you want more depth, go over it again and again until you get the color you want. If you want it lighter, add more Blending solution to your applicator and pounce.  While you are going around the tin, you will find that you will need to add more color and blending solution to your applicator. 

4.      When you get the look you want, stop!  Now take your applicator (don’t change the felt!) and dot on the gold/silver leafing pen. Add drops of blending solution. I find that with this step I sometimes have to add more color as I go along with more gold or silver to get the look I want. You are trying to achieve a veined look like you find in stone.  Often times I will blow on the tin as I apply this step.  This helps to spread the color and leafing while blending it to get the veined look. 

5.      Now that you are satisfied with the bottom, let’s move on to the top portion of the sides.  Get a clean felt piece and attach to your applicator.  Add the colors onto your felt. On this particular tin, I did the lighter of the two colors first, and then went back over with the darker color. When I applied the darker color, I added the gold leafing with it and did my blowing/blending technique. 

6.      If you would like to do the top, decide the color scheme you want for it and complete in the same manner as in the steps above. 

7.      Now you get the fun part of deciding how you want to embellish your tin.  The possibilities are unlimited. In this project, I used ribbon around the center.  Each tin has its own individual look and appeal.

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