Project 2 Using Alcohol Ink to Distress Backgrounds

A week or so I posted about how to use alcohol inks on glossy papers to create interesting backgrounds in multitude of colors. For today's post, I wanted to share another project where I used the inks to create backgrounds of different sorts on regular paper.
You may have noticed my new blog banner for the month, it's featuring my latest set of Sweet HeART magnets in a series I'm calling "Love Letters". Why love letters? Well, the main reason is that the background is actually a black and white photo copy of a love letter & envelope I have in my stash of papers from 1944. Pretty cool, huh? If you are a paper collector, it's time to utilize your stash into something other than just collecting dust in a box somewhere!

These magnets are made on recycled wood particles made into molding, which I recruited my trusty family handy man to cut up into about 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 pieces. I sanded them, then painted with white gesso, then painted black.
Other material used for this project:
distress ink
alcohol ink
soft charcoal pencil in black, white, and tan
affirmation words cut from a book
decorative scrapbook paper
acrylic paint
stencils such as drywall tape and sequin waste
heavy duty magnets

Here you can see the main colors I used-butterscotch, rust, vintage photo and antique linen.

I wish I had taken a photo of the plain black and white copy after adhering to the wood, but I didn't. After I did adhere the paper, I took the alcohol ink and dabbed it onto the wood piece. I then rubbed the distress ink pad on the magnet and spritzed with water. This gives you the aged affect. No two are alike. That's a beautiful thing. We like unique, right?

Here's a shot of the black and white photo copy of the love letter from Roger....oooohhh Roger dear, he was such a romantic! Makes my heart swoon :)
At this pint, I added on swipes of green, brown, and white acrylic paint and used my stencils.

Add on your cut hearts and affirmation sayings.

Out line and decorate further, then I took the black paint and fixed up the sides and did a color wash over some of the edges.

Walah.
Here's the finished product in all her glory.

I did varnish both sides prior to adhering the magnet so that the charcoal doesn't rub off and they are protected for your enjoyment.

Many many magnets. If you try this at home, you will soon realize that I am selling these for way tooo cheap..LOL.
The littlest projects sometimes take forever to do and it's hard to recoup the time and effort to put in them. I can't help myself though, they are fun to make and even cuter and more precious in person.

Last but not least, here are some grubby tags I made using a similar concept with the addition of embossing powders and some inspirational stamping. They make great adornments to your gifts, or even bookmarks as these are the big tags.
The underlying distressing came from soaking in tea and spices then baking on low heat for a short time to dry.

Did I tell you all that I have a crush on Tim Holtz? LOL I do. I bet we could make beautiful magnets together ;)

Have a creative and wonderful week!