DIY Ink Sprays

Another items that I really like using is the Distress Spray Stain. Every time I go into Hobby Lobby I admire the colors that Dylusion offers in their spray inks. However the spray inks are right up there with the stencils, expensive. So I went to YouTube. I found a couple of pretty good tutorials that I thought I could pull off. The first one is on how to use food coloring paste to make a watercolor spray. You can find the video here. I hit the Dollar Tree and picked up 6 small spray bottles, then headed over to my sister's house to raid her cake decorating supplies. This is what I came up with.

Materials Used:
Wilton brand food color paste in leaf green, rose, red, lemon yellow and violet
McCormick liquid food coloring in black
Spray bottles
Warm water

I filled the spray bottles mostly full of warm water. (Orange is pictured here but it was too dried out to use)

I put a glob of paste about the size of my pinky nail  into the bottles and shook until the paste had disolved

I tested out the new colors with a couple of stencils I had cut using my Cricut Explore. I blotted off the excess water with a paper towel. I like the results.

 The black liquid food coloring did not work as well as the paste food coloring. Though truth be told I think the color it did become is pretty cool and unique.

I also found a tutorial on how to make your own alcohol ink sprays. You can find that video here.

Materials Used:
Permenant Metallic Makers (from the Dollar Tree)
Isopropyl Alcohol
Spray Bottles
GLOVES!!!
Pliers
Plastic cups (from the Dollar Tree)
Scissors
PAPER TOWELS!!!

 I pulled out the nib and tossed it in the cup. Then using the pliers I took the marker apart. I used my scissors to slice open the plastic. Then I cut the marker into smaller pieces so it would fit in the cup. I let it sit for a few minutes, swirled it arounds several times, and even used the end of a paint brush to mash up the filament. I poured the alcohol into the spray bottles and even squeezed the liquid out of the filament pieces.

Blue Shimmer                                                                                            Silver Shimmer

The blue turned out nice. The silver is difficult to see on its own. But I think it would add a really nice touch over the top of distress ink or acrylic paint.