Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
What is the best way to do this? I tried last night by covering the ribbon with water and adding several drops of the ink. I let this sit for hours and the resulting color is very light. Is there a better way to do it? I've googled it and can't find anything talking about using the reinkers this way -- and I know I'm not the first to think of it! ;)
Thank you in advance for any ideas!
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
The ribbon you're using will have an effect - polyester, for example, won't take up as much colour as cotton or silk. What kind of ribbon as you trying to dye?
You could try the method for crinkled seam binding - video here - using water and reinker in a mister in place of the Perfect Pearls.
I'm sure it is polyester - it is just cheap white ribbon. I also tried embroidery thread but that too came out light. I'm wondering if I am not using the right ratio of ink to water. Maybe I watered it down to much?
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Funnily enough I was thinking the same while trying to get to sleep last night! I'm not sure what you meant by "covering the ribbon with water" but if you meant the ribbon was in a container with water and you added just a few drops of reinker then yes, it was probably too weak a solution. As a guide, if you make your own spray in a mini mister, you'd typically put a dropper full of ink (not one drop, the whole of the glass dropper that comes in the bottle) and top up with water so I guess that's probably close to 50/50.
I keep several baby food jars that are about a quarter full. It's a mixture of water and re-inker. I used the amount of drops to add the density of color that I wanted. I hate to waste my things so keeping the liquid mixture in a container that I could close up was good for me. Now if I have ribbons or white flowers that I'd like to add color to, I just pop them in the jar and either let it sit or shake it up. I've seen where people will keep the liquids in a used water bottle if they didn't have access to baby food jars. I buy seam binding on Ebay. It's pretty cheap, and you buy it in a roll of 100 yards. It's great because I can always alter it to be the exact color to match my projects. Good luck!
I keep several baby food jars that are about a quarter full. It's a mixture of water and re-inker. I used the amount of drops to add the density of color that I wanted. I hate to waste my things so keeping the liquid mixture in a container that I could close up was good for me. Now if I have ribbons or white flowers that I'd like to add color to, I just pop them in the jar and either let it sit or shake it up. I've seen where people will keep the liquids in a used water bottle if they didn't have access to baby food jars. I buy seam binding on Ebay. It's pretty cheap, and you buy it in a roll of 100 yards. It's great because I can always alter it to be the exact color to match my projects. Good luck!
Great tip about the baby food jars. Now I just need to find someone with a baby.
If it's color saturation you're going for try using alcohol inks or Rit dye. You can blend alcohol inks to make new colors and control the saturation by diluting with rubbing alcohol. Rit dye comes in a ton of colors and can also be mixed to create new colors; dilute with water.
Have you tried running the ribbon across the ink pad and then hanging it to dry over night? I've had that work for some ribbons and some inks but not all, so try a small piece with your combo of ribbon and ink and see if it works.
Have you tried running the ribbon across the ink pad and then hanging it to dry over night? I've had that work for some ribbons and some inks but not all, so try a small piece with your combo of ribbon and ink and see if it works.
Good luck.
Bahb
Along with this idea is just to spritz them with Glimmer Mist in a box (to catch the over spray) and crunch them a bit and let dry. They turn out beautiful but more vintagey than a solid color. Someone mentioned using dyes; be careful, they will discolor your skin and anything around, so be careful if you go that route. I am sure the colors will be more concentrated for you with that method than misting, if that is your goal.
As others have said, it could be the ribbon. And I, too, suggest no water if you want a darker color. An easy way is to use a Ranger Blending Tool and foam.
Ink up the foam with Distress Ink. Lay the ribbon flat down on the table (craft sheet), put the applicator on top of that, hold down lightly and pull the ribbon through. You can do multiple times for darker effects.
When I dye ribbon with reinkers, I do it in the bathroom sink - just splash some water onto the surface of the sink so that it's wet, then drop reinkers onto the porcelain, and toss my ribbon around until I like the color of it. It's probably unconventional, but it works, and it's easy to rinse the extra dye down the drain.
using Tim Holtz distress reinkers to dye ribbon
