Dip-Dye Delight

With what I hope is the last batch of "wintery mix" to hit Illinois yesterday (a friend of mine said "wintery mix" should be swear words), I have my eye on spring. And what could be more SPRING than dip-dyeing? It really is a lot like egg-coloring, only it's more fun because, well, you're not dyeing eggs.

Of course Stampin' Up!'s watercolor paper is perfect for this project, but I didn't have any (I probably do, but I can't find it in the chaos of the craft room remodel--more on that another day), so I winged it with Whisper White. It worked.

But, mostly, I wanted to see what happened when I dyed different ribbons.

First, I started with three colors of reinkers. I used Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango and Raspberry Ripple. Then, I squeezed some ink in a bowl and swished around a little water until I got a tone I thought would look good. I am not scientific.

Then, I dredged the ribbon through the bowls. I found that separating the colors was best, rather than overlapping. To get the nice blending, I held the ribbon with one hand and took two fingers on the other and ran them along the ribbon until I got a nice blend. Then, I hung it up to dry. 

Here's what I learned:
The crochet trim doesn't hold ink well. It took a few dips for it to really absorb the ink. Still, it's so pretty that the extra time was worth it, I thought.

The 7/16" Trim resists ink entirely. However, when I dipped it in thePacific Point and left it alone (I didn't touch it, rub it or wring it) it took on a really cool "marina" feeling. I thought it would work well with the "High Tide" DSP in the Spring Catalog.

But, my favorite was the Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon. That ribbon sucks up water like a drought in August! It's just wonderful, and it dries so quickly that I didn't have to wait long to make a project with it.

Here's my finished project:

This is such a fun technique. It's messy, but a little ink on the hands just shows you're enthusiastic!

I'd love to hear what you do with this technique. Feel free to share, and check back tomorrow for more Archiving Adventures!