Alcohol Ink Backgrounds | How I use alcohol inks in my Bible journaling!

Hello everyone! Today I have a fun new medium to share with you and how I incorporate it into my Bible journaling. Some of you may be familiar with alcohol inks and might be thinking that they would be horrible for Bible journaling (you wouldn’t use a Sharpie on a Bible page and same goes for alcohol inks due to the bleed through) but I’ve found some fun and beautiful ways to use them in my projects. Checkout the process video below for all the details and don’t forget to grab your FREE PRINTABLES down below.

I’ve started collecting the Ranger Alcohol Inks because I like the giant color range but alcohol inks are one of the few mediums where brand doesn’t really matter, you can even use Copic Marker refills. I picked a variety of colors to match the “This I Know” devotional kit from ByTheWell4God (Everglades, Boysenberry, Stream, Cool Peri, Statue, Moss, Willow) but you can also dilute your colors with some alcohol in a small container to get an even bigger range of colors (see video above for more details on how I do that).

In addition to the alcohol inks, you will need a few other supplies on hand to achieve similar results to mine. Alcohol inks work best on non porous surfaces like Yupo paper, plastic transparencies, vellum, and even metal. You’ll also need either isopropyl alcohol or Alcohol Blending Solution to move the inks around on the surface (there are tons of videos online that show the different effects that each gives). I like to have a blower tool or straw to move the inks when they are wet or you can push them around with a hair dryer. Pipettes are helpful for picking up diluted inks or alcohol for more precise placement. Sometimes you’ll be left with some sticky spots on your finished piece (from too much built up color) which I take advantage of and rub some Deco Foil over those areas to transfer some metallic accents to the finished piece.

Not pictured are gloves for protecting your hands while working with the inks and something to protect your work surface. I prefer to use the Tonic Studios Glass Media Matt since it’s easy to clean up and has a gridded area for organizing your inks and lids while working with them.

Here are the two different backgrounds that I created in the process video. The one on the left was created on vellum and used full strength colors while the piece on the right is on Yupo paper and I used the same colors but they were diluted with alcohol before applying.

You can grab these backgrounds as a FREE DOWNLOAD (click here for dark background) (click here for lighter background) and print them out on whatever type of medium you like to use in your projects. I like to scan my backgrounds and then print on clear sticker paper or even fabric for different looks and textures.

I use these backgrounds in a variety of ways in my Bible journaling and other projects. You can use metal dies to cut out shapes and alphas (add some craft foam to the back before cutting to create your own custom Thickers!). You can cut them down to journaling cards and use them as tip ins, adhere pieces to your background for a colorful base to your page, or use an electronic die cutting machine to cut out more intricate shapes and designs to use on your page.

Leave a comment below and let us know how you plan to incorporate alcohol ink backgrounds into your projects!

PRODUCT LIST

Affiliate links are used

Deco Foil Shop at: Amazon \| Scrapbook.com	EK Success Powder Tool Shop at: Scrapbook.com \| BTW4G	Empty Paint Pots Shop at: Amazon
HP Envy 7855 Inkjet Printer Shop at: Amazon	HP Premium Plus Photo Paper – 8.5×11 Shop at: Amazon	Plastic Pipettes Shop at: Amazon
Ranger Alcohol Ink Storage Tin Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Ranger Alcohol Inks Shop at: Amazon \| Scrapbook.com	Ranger Blending Solution Shop at: Amazon \| Scrapbook.com
Ranger Heat It Craft Tool Shop at: Scrapbook.com \| Misc	Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine Shop at: Scrapbook.com	Tim Holtz 1″ Alphanumeric Dies Shop at: Scrapbook.com
Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Air Blower Shop at: Amazon \| Scrapbook.com	Tonic Studios Glass Media Mat Shop at: Amazon \| Scrapbook.com	Vellum Shop at: Amazon
Yupo Paper Shop at: Amazon \| Scrapbook.com