I've been collecting a number of jewelry making tutorials which use alcohol inks (see below).  You can buy them easily enough in small and large sets.  But if you use a lot or are on a budget, you might well consider making your own. Check out this tutorial on how to make your own alcohol inks using permanent markers. It is by scrapbook crafter, Leslie McGrath.


The alcohol is rubbing alcohol or isopropanol. This is the alcohol nurses and phlebotomists use when they swab your skin before taking blood samples. Easily purchased from any pharmacy. You can also use vodka but then it would be a terrible waste!

It is a messy process.  She says she does not leave the marker wicks in the spray bottles even though it would make things easier. These tend to disintegrate and the fibers will clog up the sprayer part.

I have a couple of tips. Once you determine the amount of rubbing alcohol for each sprayer bottle, mark the level on the outside of the mixing cup for all subsequent mixing.  I would use a translucent or clear plastic cup for this.  Use cotton balls soaked in alcohol instead of spraying it to clean.

It might seem daft to label the bottles as the colors are self evident. However, it is a good thing to do especially with the darker colors.  If you look at her bottles in the picture above, one could easily mistake the turquoise for the blue.




Would you really save much? The short answer is yes- a lot. Leslie explained in the comments section of her video : "Everything I used, I had on hand, so my cost to do this was $0, but I will estimate my cost for you. The alcohol was $1, the spray bottles $13 (a buck each) and the markers were $5 (back to school sale item), so my total expense for 13 2 oz bottles of ink came to $19.00 OR $1.45 per bottle. I went out and priced Tim Holtz alcolol ink and it was $11.99 for 3 .5 oz bottles. So, if I rounded that down to $11, that would be $3.66 per .5 oz bottle.

Now, If you bought 13 .5 oz bottles of Tim Holtz inks it would cost you approx. $47.58, and if my bottles were .5 oz the cost would be $27.33 which would be a savings of $20.25..... BUT my bottles are 2 oz bottles. So if you bought 2 oz of the Tim Holtz ink that would end up being $190.32 for 13 2 oz bottles which would increase my savings to $171.32."


You can get 2 oz sprayer bottles here. What if you do not want to spray?  Use dropper bottles like these!  These bottles are made with colored glass so you do have to label!


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I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation.

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Disclosure
This blog contains affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation.
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