Alcohol Ink Pens - a primer

(This is my first tutorial for my DT at Mon Scrapbook. It can be read en français on their blog.)

Do you love alcohol inks, but wish they were a little easier to use? Maybe you would like to try alcohol inks, but are a little intimidated, and would like an easy place to begin? Let me introduce to you the Alcohol Ink Fillable Pen by Ranger. These pens make working with alcohol inks as easy as grabbing your favorite marker.

The pen comes empty, and you fill it with your favorite colour - there are many from which to choose. Ranger makes 48 colours, plus the blending solution. (And yes - you can also fill these pens with blending solution!)

When filling the markers, you will want to protect your work surface - you wouldn't want to drop the ink on your favorite wood table, for example. I prefer to work on my silicon mat.

Start by removing the tip with a pair of tweezers.


There is a brush tip on one end, and a fine point tip on the opposite end. Remove only one at a time.


Insert the tip of the ink bottle into the pen and squeeze lightly for 3-5 seconds. Be careful to not overfill. Replace the pen tip and cap, and repeat with the opposite end. The directions say to lay the pen flat for 5 minutes to allow the ink to flow into the tips. I found it took a little longer.


Now that you have the pen filled, here are some ideas on how you can use it. One way to use it is for coloring transparencies with more precision than using a paint brush. You can also use these to colour on transparencies you've stamped with StazOn. Just make sure to colour on the opposite side from the stamped image (otherwise, the alcohol ink will disrupt the stamped image).


Of course, you can use the pen on any surface that you would expect to colour with alcohol inks, including glossy paper, metal, glass and ceramic.

I love to use the pens to customize my embellishments, such as these pearls:

It also works great on crystals...


and dew drops!


When I can't decide which colour I want of a new design in crystals or pearls, I choose clear or white, because I know I can customize them with alcohol inks.

It's also a great way to alter plain white buttons!


I hope you will give these pens a try!

Matériel /Supplies:
crayon/pen - Adirondack Alcohol Ink Fillable Pen
encre alcool / alcohol ink - Ranger
transparent/transparency - Prima Marketing
perles /pearls - Kaisercraft
cristaux /crystal flourish - Prima Marketing
dew drops - Robin's Nest
boutons /buttons - Buttons Galore