Game Piece Charm Bracelets

I made a great discovery a few weeks ago--You can color wood with alcohol inks! I can't believe it took me this long to try it. The results aren't as bright as paper or plastic, but I liked them enough that it gave me the idea of using scrabble tiles colored that way as a bracelet focal point. I simply glued earring bails onto both sides to connect the bracelet chain. Regular bails would work too. I also made some using small dominoes.

And one last pic--my favorite mini domino ring to match the blue wave bracelet--all to be posted in my shop soon:

Game Piece Charm Bracelets

Versafine vs. Staz On vs. Chalk Ink

Recently, I ran into a problem getting a good image and sealing a jewelry project that mixed types of inks. I have all kinds of different ink pads, as you can imagine, & I've been using black Staz On for most of my jewelry projects but I ran into some problems using it with some keychains lately. 

I was trying to stamp a larger stamp image in Staz On over some Chalk Ink but when I pressed hard to make sure the whole image came through, I found it "dug into" the chalk ink, sort of removing some of the chalk ink. Plus the image wasn't as clean as I like it. Then, when I covered it in resin, it also ran a little. Normally, I don't have that problem, but I'm guessing it was because the chalk ink wasn't completely dry & the image is larger than I usually work with. You can see below how the top line is a little smudged & I had to color in the "eis" with a sharpie because the Staz On didn't give me the best image (I didn't want to press too hard & mess up the chalk ink as I'd been doing in numerous other tries).

I've also found that Staz On runs when you try to use a spray sealer instead of resin. I tried sealing with Mod Podge first but that also removes the chalk ink. Mod Podge will work fine with Staz On by itself or with alcohol inks & then you can spray or use resin with no ink running. So, I set about finding either a sealant that worked with both Staz On and chalk ink or finding a replacement for the Staz On.

What I found was Versafine, a pigment ink, by Tsukineko. I read somewhere it was good for detailed images so I decided to check it out. First off, I was very happy to see that it gave me a complete image on the very first try and didn't take off any of the chalk ink at all! Then, I made a VERY cool discovery--when stamped onto Staz On ink, you can wipe it off taking the Staz On ink with it and get a resist embossed effect without even embossing. It doesn't dry on non-porous surfaces so it can wipe off or you can emboss with it. The first pic shows the crisp image it made over chalk ink. The second pic shows the resist embossing on Staz On.

 

  

So, yeah, I'm a huge fan of the Versafine!! I'll still need Staz On for stamping on Staz On (I did try clear embossing the Versafine on Staz On but it muted the black color). But for Chalk ink, the resist emboss effect, & regular embossing, Versafine is the way to go.

By the way, these keychains are on the back of crayola dominos I found in a thrift store.

 

Versafine vs. Staz On vs. Chalk Ink

"Pseudo Emboss Resist" Domino Magnets

I've been having a lot of fun recently with alcohol inks. I also love altering game pieces. Put the two together and you can make some pretty dominos! To make the two "white" ones, I stamped images from SU!'s Pocket Silhouettes in Versamark on the dominos, sprinkled with clear embossing powder & heat set. Then, I colored with different combinations of alcohol inks until I liked them. The cool thing about alcohol inks is that if you don't like the results, just dab with the blending solution to lighten or remove ink & try again. For the domino in the middle, I stamped the image AFTER coloring with inks, sprinkled with gold embossing powder and heat set.

Finally, to remove the ink and get the clean, white image, simply heat the image again (after coloring) & wipe off with a clean cloth. The alcohol ink comes off. I discovered this while playing one day (was trying to do an emboss resist technique but the alcohol inks still stick to embossed images so it doesn't work like it would with water-based dyes--hence "pseudo emboss resist").

Stick a bit of magnet on the back, & I have pretty things to sell at craft fairs :).

"Pseudo Emboss Resist" Domino Magnets

New Pendants at My Etsy Store!

I've been really obsessed lately with making altered game piece pendants--from Scrabble tiles, Othello chips & mini dominos. I'm sure if I can find something else that works, I'll use that too! Hunting through thrift stores is just part of the fun. Of course, it's a lee-tle early for craft fair season, so I've started listing them in my Etsy store (see sidebar over to the left).

Yesterday I looked up how to make a light box to try to get better pictures of them but as you can probably tell, it's still a work in progress! I still don't think the pictures do them justice. My personal favorites to make are the mini dominos because the plastic surface lets me get my hands dirty with alcohol inks. I love combining the various colors and coming up with unique looks every time. Plus, while I've definitely seen others do versions of paper on game pieces to make the pendants, I haven't seen actual stamping so hopefully I'm bringing something a little new to the game :-)

& In case you're wondering, one bottle of Crystal Effects can seal about 100 of these puppies!

New Pendants at My Etsy Store!