Thursday 30 June 2016

Alcohol inks and Yupo.

Hi everyone, Ruth here with this weeks inspiration post. I'd only recently heard of Yupo paper and intrigued by it, I thought I'd buy some and have a play. I've only explored it with alcohol inks so far and thought I'd share my results with you.




Intrigued too? Hope so!


To start with there are a few different types of Yupo available. The SAA was the first one I bought and is lighter weight and less expensive. Ranger also make a translucent one as well as white. I wasn't really sure where to start with Yupo but after some You tube searching found a few fabulous videos from joggles.com which seemed to be focusing on alcohol inks.

The links are below and I own up straight away to saying most of the techniques I've used are from the videos. I'm not going to explain all the step by steps as she does it so well in the videos and offers a wealth of advice so, do check them out.

Alcohol Ink on Yupo paper   &  Alcohol Ink, Metallics and Stencils


My first experiment was with drops. If you want to do this technique it's important you handle the Yupo as little as possible to avoid any finger oils getting on the paper. The two on the right were on the thinner paper and I did find the drops bloomed better on the thicker paper. Literally you just drop 'drops' on. A cotton bud and isopropyl alcohol was used to shade by stippling and I've attempted a little doodling to create some funky flowers as it is my floral themed challenge this month.



Next laying stencils on and using lots of lovely inks. One of the wonderful things about alcohol inks is that you can't make mud, you can blend colours you wouldn't normally and they just don't make mud, you can see this in the first 'drops' experiment as well. Leave the stencils in place until the ink has dried.


Before I started using the inks on stencils, I put deli paper underneath to catch any drips. The inks go through the deli paper creating some lovely marks, they can be used on cards or journal pages.


Any stencils you use will get quite dirty, usually I don't mind but the alcohol can dry quite sticky so I decided to clean them on top of more deli paper with alcohol blending solution...result more bonus papers!


Something I did experiment with is the round foam applicator. Normally you use felt on glossy card or Yupo but I thought I'd try something else. I started at one end and went from dark to light using a pouncing motion. There is a lovely quality to the results you acheive on Yupo, very smooth and very forgiving as the inks don't sink into the paper, I really did enjoy playing with these mediums.


This piece was done on the translucent Yupo and although it's hard to see, it produces a different and lovely effect, almost of more depth.


Using a pouncing motion you can acheive stripes and spirals.


Some of the more traditional effects


Pouncing again...as you can see, lots of pretty papers were created.


The thinner paper worked beautifully for cards. This piece was stamped with archival ink and then wiped with a dry cloth to reveal the underneath.


Some further stamping of a sentiment and I don't think a simple card needs anything else.

 


The results so far


As the card says...Thanks for stopping by and hope I've given you a little taster of using Yupo if you haven't already tried it.

Don't forget you have another week to join in with our challenge 'Floral Frenzy'  Ruth x

13 comments:

  1. Interesting post and some fab results, loving your cards made with the pieces too

    Kathyk

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  2. Thanks Ruth. You must feel like a mad scientist sometimes with all your potions and experiments. It's always fascinating to see what you come up with. Thanks so much for sharing the results. I'll be digging out my Yupo paper again for sure. Lx

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  3. Oh My! What fabulous playtime you had and such fantastic results! I love the cards you have made! Hugs, Chrisx

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  4. Fantastic results Ruth with lots of wonderful colour and patterns. I wish the Yupo paper was a bit heavier but I do like that it does not warp and buckle when you start adding lots of wet mediums. I wish they would make an art journal out of it or if they already do, I wish someone would tell me where to get it.

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  5. these are amazing Ruth - so much colourful fun - love it to bits xx

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  6. Thank you so much for the informative blog post, learnt lots! Fabulous results and I suspect you'd get different ones every time you tried them. You look like you had fun 'playing'...Stunning and unique..thank you x

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  7. Oh wow Ruth, these are all fabulous! x

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  8. WOW, Ruth! I'm so impressed with your experimentation. These backgrounds are total coolness! Love your CAS, yet artistic cards. <3

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  9. OMG, Ruth, this is such an inspirational and wonderful post! Your backgrounds are simply fantastic! So artistics and so fabulous! Love it! xx

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  10. Amazing effects and some gorgeous finished cards. That green stained glass effect on the translucent Yupo is simply stunning. Great tip about keeping deli papers nearby for cleaning up and getting some more decorated papers into the bargain. Thanks for sharing your experiments.
    Alison x

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  11. Thank You for sharing this fabulous tutorial Ruth. Love the colourful outcomes you have achieved

    Hugs Annie xx

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  12. Brilliant Ruth ! I really fancy getting my hands on some of this. I love alcohol ink. the colours and patterns you've achieved are gorgeous. Thanks for the inspiration ! Toni xx

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  13. Really loved the results you came out with Ruth!! Thanks for showing us your different techniques! xx

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