Re-Inkers Uses

Tips: You may want to use rubber gloves.

Objects for Creating Backgrounds Using Re-inkers:
* Kooshball — dab in re-inker and paint
* Marbles — put in a shallow dish with drops of re-inker, roll side to side
* Rubber Ball — bounce it in re-inker and then on paper
* Piece of Mesh — dye it or use a sponge to create a cool grid on your paper
* Bubble Wrap — dab in re-inker and then press onto paper
* Sandwich Baggie — bunch it up, dab into ink and then on card stock
* Sponges — any of the variety, dab and paint; try any household object

TECHNIQUES:

Shaving Cream Technique:
Use re-inkers to make your own specialty papers with this technique. Spread the bottom of a shallow 9 X 12 pan with a layer of shaving cream. Spread out the shaving cream with a spatula to about 3/4” thick. Put a few drops of coordinating colors of re-inkers in a random pattern all over the shaving cream. Take a toothpick and swirl the shaving cream around until you achieve the look you want. Press a piece of white card stock (1/4 sheet is easier to work with) face down into the shaving cream. Gently peel the card stock up and scrape off the extra shaving cream with a spatula or paper towel. Dry off the extra bits with a clean paper towel. The shaving cream will come off the card stock, but the ink pattern will remain. Don’t be afraid of smearing the ink. It will stay where it originally touched the paper.

Paintbrush Technique:
Select a paintbrush and palette . You will actually paint with the re-inkers. It works best to first emboss your image. Embossing gives a nice edge for the ink to blend to. You can also mix the re-inkers and come up with your own designer color.

Christmas Ornaments:
Take clear glass ball ornaments and remove the top. Place approximately 10 drops of one color of re-inker in clear glass bulb ornament. Swish the ink around to coat the bulb. Turn the bulb upside down and let the excess ink drain off into a paper/plastic cup. Pour approximately 1/2 teaspoon glitter into the glass bulb, QUICKLY put a small piece of paper or plastic over opening, to protect your finger, and now shake. Pour out excess dyed glitter. Put the top back on the ornament.

Crystal Effects and Re-Inkers:
Besides adding Crystal Effects straight from the bottle, to give it color, add a drop or 2 of a re-inker. This will give a raised, 3-D effect to your stamp project. Add a bit of dazzling diamond glitter to the mixture and now you have a colored glitter gloss perfect for adding that extra special touch to any card or project.

Easter Egg Background:
Try making your own designer paper using the re-inkers doing the following technique. Use a paper towel that you have "wadded" up, dip in re-inker color and then pounce it all over the white card stock. Doing this with 2 or 3 colors ends up looking like dyed Easter Eggs.

Resist Techniques:
To do this technique you can use several things: wax paper, white crayons, rubber cement, or Versamark with clear embossing powder. After you get your stamped pattern on the paper use an eye dropper to put some drops on the page. Hold the paper slanted down and let the ink run across the page. The ink is resisted in the areas where you have placed your wax, crayons, glue, or Versamark.

Tissue Paper and Re-Inker Batik Method:
Stamp a pattern using VersaMark ink and a bold type of stamp onto tissue paper. Sprinkle on clear embossing powder and use heat tool to emboss. Then use the re-inkers and "drop" ink onto the tissue paper. The ink absorbed into the paper where there was no embossing. Be sure to protect the area in which you are doing this.

Watercolor Brayer:
Drop spots of several re-inkers onto a piece of plastic wrap. Fold wrap in half to spread ink around. Then unfold and ink your brayer by rolling it across this newly created palette of color. Then spritz with a water bottle and roll out onto your card stock for a watercolor look.

Liquid Applique:
Using the white Liquid Applique, squeeze a bit out and mix it with your choice of re-inker. Allow it to air dry for a smooth, shiny look or “puff” it up with a heat gun. It picks up the color of the ink. Take several colors of your special mixed liquid Applique and squirt on card and then brayer all over the place. Then heat with heat tool and stamp various stamps on top using black ink.

Dye Mulberry:
Use the re-inkers to change white Mulberry into any color.

Dye Ribbon:
Use the re-inkers to dye white ribbon. This is a great way to get a coordinating ribbon for your projects.

Paper Casting with Re-inkers:
Place stamp with image side up on table. Select up to eight squares of toilet paper, and stack them. Dampen them with water and lay them over the stamp. Place a hand towel on top and gently press down expelling some of the water from the toilet paper and molding it to the stamp image. Now paint on the color you want using your re-inkers and a paintbrush. Carefully remove all the toilet paper at one time from the stamp and lay aside to dry. The image will appear similar to paper casting!

Tissue Paper/Window Sheets (Acetate)/Re-inkers:
On a sheet of window sheets (acetate), squeeze out a blob of clear gel glue. Spread with your finger and leave it fairly thick. Drop a few different colors of re-inkers on glue and spread around. Add more drops to achieve a marbled look as desired. Cut a piece of white tissue slightly larger than the glue/ink area and wad it up. Unroll and leave wrinkly. Place on top of glue/ink and set aside to dry (peel back a corner to check that ink is dry). When dry, peel tissue away from acetate and use whole or in pieces for a cool background. Finished paper has the look of stained glass.

Aluminum Foil/Re-inkers:
Pull a piece or foil off the roll. Fold it in half , then open. Squirt some of your re-inkers on the foil. Fold the foil in half again pressing together, with your hand or brayer. This allows the inks to mix into each other. Open up and lay a blank card in the inked foil. Fold the foil over the card. Smooth your hand over the foil allowing the ink to get on the card. Open the foil and look to see if you need to add any more paint- if so…repeat the process again.

Tie Dye:
Cut open the bottom and one side of a page protector so it opens like a book. Dribble three or four colors of re inkers on one side. Close and mush colors around. Open page protector again and place two half sheets of GLOSSY card stock back to back and lay on ink. Close page protector and lightly brayer to press ink into paper. Open page protector and set papers aside to dry. Can be repeated twice more to make six papers per inking.