Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks, Tiles, Tables and Beads

A couple months ago I was given some ugly old ceramic tiles. As an artisan, everything has potential for me, so when I was asked if I wanted them, I naturally said "YES!" They sat around for awhile and I tried different things, but I could get nothing to stick to them. Color just rubbed off. Then I thought about alcohol inks. I knew about them, but I'd never used them. So I went to that place where craft supplies are soooo expensive and I bought every color they had of Adirondack alcohol inks. Tim Holtz is the expert and purveyor of these fabulous inks.

So I started playing with them. The first photo is my first effort with the inks. It's one of the tiles:

It's much prettier than the photo - the colors I used were Ginger, Latte, Caramel, Cranberry and Gold. I made liberal use of the Alcohol Blending Solution.

Then I got carried away. I had an old ugly table that my neighbor gave me, and she'd painted it white. My decor is all earth tones. So I used the same colors and did the table top. This is how it turned out. Next one I'll blend better, you can see the lines where I had to re-ink my felt - but in some ways it looks nice - my friend, Karel, says it looks like tree rings. :)

What's really cool about this treatment to the table top is that just as I was getting ready to seal it I happened to spill a cup of tea on it. HORROR! Guess what? I'm not sure what the chemical properties of those inks are, but the liquid just puddled and beaded up and when I went to wipe it off, gingerly, so I wouldn't take color off the table, no color came off. None. Not even when I wiped it vigorously just to see if I COULD make color come off.

I don't treat the things I make gingerly. They have to be usable and if they can't pass a "break" test, then it's best they break before someone buys them. These inks passed the "break" test.

Now I just have to finish the table. LOL.

This is my latest effort with the alcohol inks. I inked a tile and have laid out wire and beads in a floral pattern. They're not permanently attached yet, because I'm not sure this is the design I want, but it's an idea.

I love these inks. Since I'm a working artisan, (read "starving artisan") these inks, while expensive, may be worth every penny. I sell my items at local gift shops that cater to local artisans, so we'll see how the tiles sell.

Artfire - Winner of the 2011 Reader's Choice Award at About.com

Artfire-Winner of the 2011 Reader's Choice Award for Handmade Items

Being part of the ArtFire community, I'm pretty proud of this award. Artfire is a great artisan community. Friendly folks and lots of cool stuff to buy. I have a shop there, which I'm still stocking with beads, jewelry-making supplies, swarovski crystal beads and prisms, and a few items I've made. I don't have a ton of stuff there yet, but will have soon. I also take custom orders and can fill bulk Swarovski crystal beads and prism orders at an excellent discount to my customers.

Congratulations, ArtFire!

How To Make Ear Wires

This is a fabulous video for making ear wires. You'll save a lot of money on ear wires if you make your own. If you don't have a flex-shaft, a dremel will work, or you can hand-file (but that takes more time).

These are great for your own designs or to sell in your store. Make 'em! Experiment with them, hammer, don't hammer, use copper, gold, silver - wrap part of the stem above the loop, add a bead below the wrap - do what you want. Basic, easy, and very pretty.

No-Heat Spiral Head Pins

This is a very easy way to make a decorative headpin for your earrings or pendants. This is an excellent tutorial, and for those who don't have a torch, you can make lovely head pins this way, and you can make your bottom coil whatever size you want, depending upon what you are using the pin for. She's using 22 ga wire, but I use 24 half-hard for this.

More Head-Pin Making

This is a more advanced method of making a headpin. She's a bit more comfortable with her torch - While I'm fine with holding my torch straight up like that, and putting the entire pin in the flame, you MUST know where the end of the pin is, because that's the ONLY part of the wire you want in the hottest part of the flame. If you leave the wire in too long, it will melt away, and then you'll have something to toss in your broomstick casting pile. A video for that later. :)

Always, always, quench your metal once you've put it in the flame. I'd dump it in pickle after quenching to help remove any fire scale if I were using sterling silver - fire scale is the dark spots that rise to the surface when silver is heated. It's the copper in the silver and if you're making anything bigger than a head pin, you will need to spend a lot of time polishing this out and it's a pain in the butt.

How to Make Head Pins

This is an easy way to make your own head pins. You can use a creme brulee torch for it - or a hand-held torch, but it's easier with a free-standing torch (at least for me). It's a great technique, and she's absolutely right about using fine silver as opposed to sterling. I've done it with sterling silver and it's a bit harder - it takes longer for one - because sterling is an alloy, made with copper. Keep in mind as you do this that you need to hold your pin vertically because as the bead forms in the fire, gravity will cause it to pull downward, thus creating a sphere, instead of a lopsided lump, which is what will happen if you hold your wire any other way. :)

You can leave your head pins with the ball on the end. To flatten them, I simply used a fine drill bit and drilled holes (very fine bit)in a 2X4. The holes have to be small enough so that you can drop the pin down them, but not have the ball go through. Then I just give the top a whack with a hammer. If you are going to polish your pins, go ahead and use your planishing hammer. If not, use a rawhide mallet, as this will not mar the silver.

Wire Weaving Techniques

This is a technique that is very easy and makes gorgeous jewelry. You can use it for making pendants, bracelets, rings, necklaces, etc. She's got a tool kit that she's selling, and if you want to buy it, I believe her website is shown on the vid. However - I've tried this with my bench vise and it works just fine - most silver-workers have the same tools. For those who don't know how to solder, I'll find a video that will teach you how to solder - it's rather simple, but you do need specific tools and supplies for it.