Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Hand Sanitizer & AI's

Not sure if you're like me or not but every once in a while odd things show up in my craft area.  Sometimes if I think hard enough I'll figure out how it got there...other times it's just a mystery.  Well, today I was clearing off my desk and I found a small bottle of hand sanitizer.  At first I was like?!?!?   But then I thought about it and realized that after we recently sold one vehicle and bought a different one I was going to switch my "essentials" from one to the other.  Well for some reason this bottle ended up in my room...I suppose I was going to take it to the truck when I was asked to get/do something in my room. 

Anyway, I thought since it was there it might be fun to mess around a bit with it to see what I could do.  I figured since hand sanitizer had lots of alcohol in it like Alcohol Inks it might be a fun place to start!

So, I pulled out a bit of glossy cardstock, my AI's and the sanitizer and set about playing!

Hand Sanitizer & AI 001

First I smeared a dollop of the sanitizer over the cardstock....  A nice thick coat ~

Hand Sanitizer & AI 003

Added a few drops of AI....

Hand Sanitizer & AI 006

And set about mixing it with my finger!
Here's how it turned out....

Hand Sanitizer & AI 007
Now this was so much fun, I couldn't just stop with one.....
Hand Sanitizer & AI 008
Hand Sanitizer & AI 009
The interesting pattern on this one was created by letting it partially dry then using the heat tool to quickly evaporate the rest of the sanitizer. 
NOTE: Heat tool & Hand Sanitizer is not a good mix!!!  The fumes were pretty nasty so I would advise against it even though it does make neat patterns.  If you do give it a try be sure to do so in a well ventilated area.  Otherwise you'll end up with one heck of a head ache!
Hand Sanitizer & AI 011
Hand Sanitizer & AI 018
Hand Sanitizer & AI 017
Some things I discovered...
Papers make a difference ~ the light colored example in the right hand corner above was made on regular plain old cardstock.  The colors move but aren't as intense as on the glossy cardstock.  I guess that's because the sanitizer soaks into the paper fairly quick pulling the colors in along with it.
If you vary the amount of gel you can achieve a deceptive amount of depth.  I noticed in areas where the sanitizer was a thinner coat the color seemed intense while the areas that were thicker created layers of color that you could actually see when dry.  (check out the green/yellow piece and the blue triangle above). 
Using one color creates a variety of hues while multiple colors can be seen in layers depending on the amount of mixing.
All in all this is a really fun medium to play with. 
Just remember NOT to heat it...
Bad news!
Tomorrow time permitting I'll share a few cards I am making with this technique.
Till then, have fun playing!


  1. These look great Roni! Hand Sanitizer is great for removing acrylic paint from stencils!

  2. You try everything!! Great technique, great colours

  3. Stunning effects you've created - I can see I'll have to try this one!!

  4. This technique is definitely one to try. Thanks. X

  5. This was so much fun to read! Loved your results. And thanks very much to Karen above for the stencil cleaning tip!

  6. Oh What Fun!! I love using found stuff from my table to create new techniques!! LOL... Don't heat it!!

  7. Great! Kinda makes a cool, tie-dyed look. :)

  8. Roni,
    Leave it to you to find yet one more unconventional product that magically becomes a new art medium in your creative hands!
    Just the other day, I remembered the magical way you turned a plastic container from candy into that beautiful Easter Egg with the scene tucked inside.
    Roni, I think it just might be time for a new book to showcase all of your new discoveries.
    Thank you for always being a source of inspiration!
    Love, Kathy Jones

  9. Thanks for the great tutorial. I used it here:

  10. Your technique is awesome! I wonder how it would do in the sun, maybe sitting on something that had absorbed a lot of heat and thus could radiate it the paper?
    I read recently that straight rubbing alcohol is a good paint remover. The hand sanitizer would be easier to handle, though.

  11. thanks for sharing, I love this technique!

  12. What an amazing technique! Thank you for sharing all of your insights!!! I look forward to playing with it :-)

  13. Thanks for sharing. You are very creative and daring!

  14. I always have a bottle of hand sanitizer by my work table, but never thought to use it this way! When my fingers get too inky and I start smudging my work, I just squirt a little hand sanitizer on my palm and rub it all around my hands and fingers. Voila! No more smudges! It doesn't remove the ink from my fingers, but it totally dries it so I don't ruin the card I'm working on. I will have to try this technique! The butterfly card is gorgeous!!


Thanks for your thoughts and comments!