Video: Dye Ink Watercolor

Hello. Today’s video shares how to use dye inks as watercolor. (You gotta love a technique that lets you get more out of what you already have, right?)

[All supplies are linked to multiple sources in the thumbnails at the end of this post. Affiliate links used. To watch the video in HD on YouTube, click HERE.]

Watercolor is very popular right now. There are so many watercolor products available – and that can be overwhelming. Using dye inks often works well for “watercolor” of stamped images… and you likely already have it on hand. For today’s video, I used the new Lawn Fawn dye inks. (These inks are excellent inks – click HERE for a video with more info on them. And another HERE.)

Aren’t these images from Lawn Fawn’s Fintastic Friends and Party Animals stamp sets adorable? So fun. I stamped them with VersaFine Black Ink on watercolor paper and clear heat embossed them. After pressing the new Lawn Fawn Dye inks (Lobster, Celery Stick, Peacock, Fish Tank, and Juice Box) on to an acrylic block, I used a water brush to pick up the color and watercolor the images.

The new Lawn Fawn wave border dies offer three “wave” sizes – small, medium and large. The small is perfect for the little scene I created on a small white panel for the center of the card.

For the background of the cards, I die-cut the new Lawn Fawn Cloud Border dies (again, three sizes in the set) several times out of yellow cardstock and adhered them together like a puzzle for an inlaid look.

I encourage you to try this technique with whatever dye inks you have on hand. Just experiment with different amounts of water and practice for a bit. It will work great!

SUPPLIES

Interested in the products I used? To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate and product disclosure can be found here. Thanks for the products, Lawn Fawn!) Click on the letters below each picture to go to a favorite store: Simon Says Stamp (SSS), Ellen Hutson (EH), Amazon (AZ), etc.

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS )

 

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( EH | SSS )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

 

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
(SSS | EH | AZ)

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( EH | AZ )

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | AZ )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( AZ )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( JM )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( AZ )

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | EH )

 

CLICK A SHOP:
( SSS | AZ )

 

 

 

CLICK A SHOP:
(SSS | EH | AZ)

 


Leave a Comment

67 thoughts on “Video: Dye Ink Watercolor”

  1. Sabine Edelmann says:

    I love that I can use the inks I already have to achieve this look.Very cute cards. I was waiting for this video.

  2. Renee M says:

    These are adorable! I like the fun, happy colors you used.

  3. Kelly says:

    oh my how cute!!

  4. Jackie in NC says:

    Those are so cute! I never think of using dye inks other than Ranger Distress to watercolor. I will have to do a little experimenting. Thanks for the tips!

  5. Amy A. says:

    Such cute cards. Time to get the dye inks out and play around!

  6. Nancy Ward says:

    These are just sooo adorable! Thanks for the inspiration!

  7. Susie says:

    JENNIFER, THE BACKGROUND IS TOO CLEVER FOR WORDS!

  8. janet Wilson says:

    Great demonstration Jennifer and fabulous cards 🙂 Thank you!

  9. Donna says:

    Just loved this video. Have a son, hubby and grandson who are fish nuts, have several tanks of tropical fish in our house. These stamps from lawn fawn are going to be fabulous for birthday cards and more.
    Also I just downloaded a bunch of your ink swatch pages, another project I’ve been putting off you’ve just made so much easier for me to do, thanks so much.
    I love all your fabulous ideas, for cards, stamping and make our lives so much easier.

  10. SandraMaria says:

    Fintastic cards! =) Thanks for sharing, Jennifer!

  11. Lena says:

    I recently came upon your blog and I have already learnt so much from you. Thank You! I love your video tutorials. They make life so much easier! You’re right, the market is inundated with different water colour pens at the moment and not knowing if it’s something I even want to pursue, it makes it very confusing into which pen I should invest. I do own a few dye ink pads, so I’m going to give it try first and see how it goes. I’m not a very good colourist. I’m happy if I stay in the lines, lol. Once again, thank you so much for your video tutorials and I look forward to watching loads more.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    ♥ Lena
    Lena’s Creations

  12. Barb Schmidt says:

    these cards are too cute.. I love them…

  13. Mary Jane says:

    Love, love the cards and technique!

  14. kathy warren says:

    Love the idea of being able to use the dye inks. love the color selection too. So Happy!

  15. Laurie says:

    And I thought I must be the only one to prefer the look of the piece cut right next to the edge. No white border for me.

  16. Marta Hoshell says:

    Love this video. Thank you!

  17. The idea of fish is growing on me.

  18. Colleen Howell says:

    As usual I loved the video and your technique, so lots more goodies on my wish list at SSS. Don’t know if I will ever be able to buy all of it but I will have fun trying, thanks!

  19. Sheri K says:

    So fun! Love these beautiful fish!

  20. Berina Febin says:

    beautiful cards.. very cute.. love them!!

  21. Holly Saveur says:

    such great cards..love how you made the background with the die..such a great idea!

  22. Judy says:

    Very cute cards–the ink works really well for water coloring!!

  23. Becky Kent says:

    Omg Jennifer-these are sooooo cute! I love your videos as your’re quick and to the point! In videos from other crafter’s, the person takes so long to explain what they are doing that I lose interest. But your videos are awesome! Thanks again for letting us know how to do this! Love it! 🙂

  24. Maureen Reiss says:

    These are really Adorable cards!!

  25. Mel Rc says:

    OMG these cards are so cute! So cheerful and colorful and bright. So happy 😀 I love them. And I’m blown away @ using dye inks to watercolor. Gonna have to try that! I thought it could only be done with distress inks! Go figure! These look amazing! Thanks for sharing!

  26. Jean Bullock says:

    Great video. I had no idea you could use dye inks as watercolor. Very cool.

  27. Anne says:

    I am stunned at how you made these amazingly beautiful cards! Just incredulous at how you came up with the unique way of making a background with dies and the beautiful water colouring. I looked at those stamps and could not think of how to use them. Now….wow you are an inspiration! Thank you!

  28. Mary-Anne V. says:

    So glad you have how us how to use dye ink for watercolouring…very cute cards.

  29. Denise Ward says:

    What a perfect combination! Jennifer McGuire + Lawn Fawn = Fintastic cards and a wonderful video!!! 🙂 Enjoyed the video so much and learned a lot! I always appreciate the listing of the products used in case I miss the name of something. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

  30. barbara lassiter says:

    Your videos are always helpful! 🙂 These cards are so clever and cute. The background is just a great idea and looks super.

  31. JudyB says:

    Really sweet cards Jennifer. Awesome job on the design and the way you put it all together. Thanks for sharing with us.

  32. Mary, Wausau WI says:

    Happy cards!

  33. Linda Grady says:

    Your cards are darling! Thanks for the tip about using die inks to watercolor.

  34. Rebecca Reynolds says:

    Great cards Jennifer. Can’t wait to try the inlaid background.

  35. Loly Borda says:

    Lovely set of cards, thanks for sharing the tip about dye inks, and I also love your backgrounds. TFS

  36. Brenda Lee says:

    Another great set of cards!! I love how the cloud dies turned out. Amazing look to the fish…watercoloring is fun!

  37. Gail Plaskiewicz says:

    I love the colors and the cute stamps! I have to look at the video and see how you did this. I have water colors and I love mine but hey, I also have dye inks. Its great that I can use both. You always do such nice work. I have fish stamps and a waves stamp but I don’t have a die cutting machine. I can’t afford to get one and I know when I do what will happen is it will break down and no one will be able to fix it. That’s what happened with my printer except a neighbor fixes computers and printers for a living so it will get fixed.

  38. Natalie H says:

    Jennifer, I LOVE how you did the background! Such a cute scene and all of your videos are sooooo helpful!! Thanks so much!

  39. Milka says:

    These are sooo cute, Jennifer. Thank you for sharing video.

  40. Stephanie T says:

    Wonderful cards–the “cloud” background is such a great idea. I love how it turned out.

  41. Marion says:

    These are simply adorable Jennifer! They made me smile 🙂

  42. Shirley says:

    Cute cards.

  43. staceylovespaper says:

    Love your cards today, so adorable!! Those lawn fawn colors are yummy!!

  44. DJ says:

    Great video, lots of helpful tips, and your fishy cards are Adorable!!

  45. Thanks for another great video!

  46. Stefanie says:

    Wonderful cards. Those fish are too cute so I added them to my list of must haves. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge. You make my life happy!

  47. barbara macaskill says:

    I was bitten by the watercolor bug a few months ago and am still totally in love with it! I also love how many different mediums can be used for watercoloring! Stretching my supplies is a definite must and watercoloring makes it so easy to use all the products that I have on hand already!
    LOVE the new waves and clouds dies!!! A must have!! TFS!

  48. SO AWESOME!! =) THANKS for sharing and have a FABULOUS WEEK!! =)

  49. Dawn~DesignsByDragonfly says:

    Your cards are adorable! Thanks for sharing.
    Crafty hugs,
    Dawn
    DesignsByDragonfly.blogspot

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