Anne and Paul's: Faith's Guide to Tim Holtz Distress Inks

My new favourite thing! Distress Inks really are wonderful, they're just so different, and so versatile. If you want to achieve vintage effects, they're perfect. But you can also achieve all sorts of other effects too, right from pretty pink girly cards all the way through to monochrome men's cards.

Let me introduce you to some of the things I've learnt to do with Distress Inks. And let me tell you now, I have so much more to still learn too. For one little inkpad, there really are a myriad of possibilities!

What you need to get started

Really, all you need to get started with these inks are a few things. First off, you'll need a surface to work on to. What you'll see in these photos is my XCut Glass Cutting Mat, which is ideal. But let me let you in on a little secret, all you really need is a smooth surface, so a sheet of Acetate will work perfectly! If you don't have Acetate already, we sell 12x12" sheets for £1.

Next, you need a sheet of Cut N Dry. This stuff is essentially a type of fine sponge with a foam back, the sort of thing normal inkpads are made of. You can't use your distress ink direct from the pad. Distress Inks are made differently to normal inkpads, they're a woven fabric rather than a foam. This is great, because it means they hold more ink, and therefore last longer! But it's not very easy to control for direct-to-paper techniques, which is why you need the Cut N Dry. It also protects your inkpad, and since these inkpads are refillable (refills cost £3.99) one inkpad can last indefinitely. The sheets of Cut N Dry come in A4 size for £4.99, and since you only need to cut it in to 1" squares to use, and it's washable, one sheet will likely last you a lifetime!

And last but not least, you'll need your Distress Inks! (By the way, when the new masks come in, there are new colours of Distress Ink coming in too!)
The only other thing you're likely to need is water. Nothing special, just the kind that comes out of the tap! Don't worry, I will explain...

Basic Distress Ink Backgrounds

Begin by dabbing your little square of cut-n-dry into your ink and smudging a little onto your worksurface.Always working in a circular motion, smudge the ink from the worksurface onto your card. (This is the secret!)

(That's Dusty Concord by the way, stunning colour!)

Next, repeat using your next colour. I've used Victorian Velvet. Distress Inks stay wet for longer than a normal ink, so keep working at your paper and you can get your two colours to blend into each other.

Now that in itself is a stunning background, but you can go one step further...

The Water & Paintbrush method

Once you've smudged on your ink using one or more colours, you can add water! Distress inks react very differently to water compared to normal inks such as pigments. For example, if you were to put a bit of water on say, a brown pigment ink, the colour would split giving you red and a sort of mucky green! Distress Ink holds it's colour, but it also blends with itself. So that pink and purple will blend in together, and neither will turn into a mucky green! They'll stay pink and purple. All you need to do is take a paintbrush and simply flick water onto your work.