Flamed Alcohol Inks on Glass Gems (Flat Marbles)


Decorating glass gems with alcohol ink has been one of my most popular projects over the last several years. They are so much fun to make and make wonderful little necklaces or magnets. But I've been on this kick with alcohol ink where I try new application methods and flaming the ink has been a ton of fun. I've tried it on several different glass and ceramic surfaces, so I decided to give it a try on the gems.


Honestly, I didn't think it would work very well. I grabbed some of my flawed gems from a batch I bought at Walmart to give it a try. If it didn't work, no big loss--the gems all had blotches or cracks in them. I laid them out on my alcohol ink flaming surface (a cookie sheet covered in tinfoil on top of a cork trivet) and dropped some ink on them and lit it on fire with a long handled lighter. To start, I just did a drop or two of alcohol ink. I didn't thin it with any rubbing alcohol since it was such a small area. the ink spread across most of the gem with this single fire-ing, so I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to get any definition or pattern with other colors.


But I kept adding ink in small drops and flaming it as I went. I used a small paint brush to move ink from one drop to another (by dipping it into the ink on the gem and then dropping the tip onto anther area of the gem) and just flamed it as I went. When I finally got multiple colors coexisting without running into each other, I called it quits.


I was really surprised with how well they came out. In the end, these were an excellent proof of concept. I can't wait to make some more and turn them into necklaces!

Comments

  1. This is exactly what I wanted to make. How would I seal them to be weather proof for an outdoor project. Plus I want to attach them with E6000. Is that possible? Super cute and colorful. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would use an acrylic spray sealer with a UV protectant as alcohol ink does fade in sunlight. E6000 works great on the glass gems and doesn't seem to interact with the alcohol ink.

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