Dip Marbling- An Inky Technique Tutorial!

Hello!
Thought I'd share some old school, back in the day type ink techniques for my next few posts.... get out stash and tools you already have and create some funky new art!
Today I want to share the dip marbling technique. This is a technique I shared in Craft Stamper magazine a couple of years ago, and as people liked it then, I hope you like it now!
This is the finished piece....

All you'll need are some alcohol inks, (metallic mixatives are fab not not essential!), a container deep enough to have a piece of card dipped into it, and some water.
Fill the container with water....

Drip in some inks. Alcohol inks work because they sit on the surface of the water for a while, something other inks don't do! Adding metallic mixative ink will give you a bit of texture as well as shine! This is an odd picture...looking down onto the surface of the water after I have dripped the ink onto it...

Once the inks are sitting on the surface, dip  a bit of cardstock into the water. Some cards work better than others, thicker is better as it can take more water! Dip the card straight down.....

The card breaks the surface of the water, dragging the inks on the surface down onto the cardstock. Bring the cardstock straight back up through the water. This needs to be done quickly, so the cardstock doesn't take on too much water!

You're now dealing with a very drippy wet bit of card!

Dry it off straight away before it goes all mushy...

The inks give the colour, all be it a little paler than the shade in the bottle! The metal part of the mixatives clump up on the surface, giving a flaky, textured area to your marbling. The mixative that is dissolved in the water gives a sheen to the background, difficult to see in pictures but noticeable in real life!
As both sides of the cardstock  entered the water, you will create a double sided background! This is fab for things like book pages, otherwise it's a difficult decision as to which side to use. This one:

or this one:

I went with the pinker side!

The inks blend together wonderfully....

You can see the flaky bits of metal, some dull and some shiny.
I added to the shine by melting some grains of silver UTEE...

My Stampotique figure is watching over the marbling...

Why not have a go, it's good old messy fun!
Trish xxxxx