Hi Karen, Little tips for best results in creating these spray inks. Never use tap water since most treated water has chlorine and fluoride which remove color over time. Since intense is not light-fast once water is added this is a must. When making your spray you should heat a small amount of bottled water to first add to the spray bottle to desolve the ink particles much better. If you do this there is very little sentiment. The water should hot/warm, but not boiling. After the particles have desolved you can fill the spray bottle the rest of the way with room temp bottled water. I know these tips will help you accomplish making a better spay ink. Happy crafting! Kathy B.

Thank you, Karen, for these Inktense tutorials. I have both the pencils and blocks and I love using them. I’ve been hankering after some ink sprays but couldn’t afford them, now I can make some sprays from the blocks! I just happen to have a bunch of spray bottles that I bought at a dollar store some months back. Yaaaay! Thank you for all your tutorials, I really enjoy them. Blessings 🙏

Karen, I know that I've thanked you in the past, but I bought the Ink Tense pencils without really knowing what I was getting (newbie!!, lol) you have taught me so very much about them. The one piece of advice I wish I would have known beforehand came from Barb Owen. She said buy the largest size you can afford so you don't get duplicates. I bought the 24 count and now I wish I had the 48 or 72. You had said I could use the pencils the way you use the blocks, so I just saved the shavings from when I sharpened mine. You were right again!

Thanks Karen, and thanks for giving Lindsay a shout out! I have subscribed to your channel!

Yay, I'm also Canadian! This is a great informative video. Thank you I'm looking to go to dollarama tmrw for spray bottles.

I want to purchase them, and your tutorials have been mega helpful! Thank you!

When you sprayed various colours through the stencil it had a bit of Ken Oliver's Colour Burst effect that looked rather interesting. Another new thing to try! TFS :)

In regards to spray bottles, I used to order mine from Dick Blick but had very bad luck with them. They never lasted very long. I now order them from e-bay, search word - perfume atomizer. Seems to work fine and I saved money.

I have the whole inktense line from pencils even the charcoal, skins etc to the inktense bars and they are way too expensive for me to grate them up into a spray. Good info though if I ever decide to make a spray. I use mine to create graphics on cloth then quilt it.

I have already decided to do this! I almost bought Jaquard Alcohol Inks in a set for 20.00- so glad I didnt. I am making alcohol inks. 50% will have water so it should work well and is at the dollar store. I think, well I am sure, that alcohol will be faster drying on my papers, and I dont like overwetting.

the Intense blocks are very expensive if you buy them individually. so the best is to grate what you need and put into spray bottles.

A serrated steak knife run along the block does a really good job of "grating". A fine edge to the knife is better than coarse but you can try either.

I'm working on a set of huge butterfly wings. If this is permanent and doesn't come out of fabric when it's dry, do I need a fixative at all? or can I just spray it on where I want and let it dry? Thanks! (Yep - I'm a newbie)

the reason why you are still getting the reactivation is because the ink has to be bone dry as i can only go by what i have seen on our vids you definitely need more drying time i have just bought a set after watching loads of vids but yours was the one that helped me make the decision lol i make sure my ink is DRY DRY and i tested it just to make sure hope this helps

Thanks so much Karen! Great ideas! I am also in Canada, what dollar store did you find these bottles at as we have Dollarama too!

you can buy the little bottles empty at Walmart in the travel size section.

The Inktense blocks & pencils have become permanent for me once U wet them on your paper then let them dry. I'm not sure why they lifted on u when used as a spray. Could the lifting have occurred when they were still a bit wet. I've sometimes wished I could lift a spot but was unable to do so. I haven't used them yet as a spray only as in a painting. Let me know please. Jewell

Sprayed tissue paper would be pretty used in gift bags, boxes, or baskets. I'm going to watch #3 right now.

Could you add matte medium or air brush medium maybe 50/50 to water or leas water to make it perm?

Using a micro grater would probably help with making a finer grind.

What fixative do you suggest using with these? Thanks for sharing your experiments!

Hi Karen, I brought in the upc off of the package to my dollar store and they were able to order in a couple of cases of the strayer sets in for me. They are the exact ones you have. I was wondering if you know where to buy the Derwent Inktense pencils in Canada for a reasonable price. I am in B.C. Cathy

What kind of fixative would you recommend? I'm new to art journaling :)

i listened to Derwent website and they said not for synthetic fabric? what is your experience?

Wouldn't using rubbing alcohol make alcohol ink?

How well did they work when you used the alcohol?

The water is probably over saturated so what comes out isn't going to set, since it hasn't fully dissolved. Maybe. Haha

What happened with the alcohol?

They just aren’t bright enough