Technique Tuesday - Magic Ink Background....

You've been waiting for it, right?  Well, here it is - the technique I used on my April 18 blog entry - Magic Ink Background.  We all like the look that alcohol inks make for backgrounds but don't want to invest in a whole lot more inks, right?  And the biggest problem is that they are not in Stampin' Up!'s wonderful coordinating colors!  Well, now you can make them yourself and get that same look using your Stampin' Up! reinkers!

 Here's what you need:

Rubbing Alcohol
Two colors of coordinating reinkers (I used Pacific Point and Old Olive)
A cotton ball
Versamark Ink Pad
Clear or white embossing powder
Heat gun
Glossy cardstock
Stamp image you want to show through the background (I chose Nature's Nest's feather)

 First, stamp your image using Versamark ink numerous times on the glossy white cardstock and cover with clear or white embossing powder.

 Heat set with heat gun.

 Take your cotton ball and pull on the fibers until you made it more flat and square.  Soak it completely with the rubbing alcohol.

 Take one of your reinkers and put two drops of the ink on opposite corners of the square cotton ball.

 Take your second reinker and put in the other two corners of the cotton ball.

 Begin smooshing the cotton ball down on the glossy cardstock.  Do not rub back and forth.  Pick it straight up and move around the cardstock.

 Once you have your cardstock covered with the color as much as you want, heat it with your heat gun.  The alcohol will dry real quickly and set the ink.

 Your stamped images will begin to show up through the colors like my picture above.  If you decide you want more color, you can use your cotton ball again and put down more color until it is the way you like it.  Just remember to use your heat gun to dry the alcohol off the cardstock quickly.

Here's the card I made using this background technique.  I hope you have fun with this one too.