Playing with Distressing

Good Monday to you! Today I thought it would be fun to play a little with a technique that's been around for years and years. There's no wrong way to distress something. There's many different ways to achieve a "distressed" or "aged" look on your projects. I get emails pretty frequently from other scrapbookers asking what inks I use and how I distress my cards. So.... today I will show you. Hopefully my step-by-step photos will help but if you have any questions be sure to leave a comment and I will make sure to respond and help if I can.

My very favorite ink to use is chalk ink called "Jumbo Java" by Versa Magic. They sell it in the dew-drop form (small) but I actually prefer using a standard size ink pad. The chalk inks work well for me because they aren't so wet looking and harsh on the page. Also... if you notice... when I buy a new ink pad I always write the date on it somewhere so I have a quick reference to which pad is oldest. Depending on the project itself.... I may want a darker or lighter inking application and the older the pad or the more it is used, the lighter the ink applies. To achieve the distressed look just take your ink pad and literally brush it along the edges of your paper until you've inked everywhere you want it like I've shown above. Next, I sand all the edges of the paper where I inked. You don't have to sand the edges off if you prefer the darker more bold inked look. I prefer the more subtle look but remember... there's no wrong way to do this. Just what you personally prefer. But now you can see the difference between the two with a little sanding. I just use regular sandpaper, no specific tools for this. Now here's a photo of Bo Bunny's FABULOUS cardstock distressed. I especially love inking this paper because of the texture of it. You also get a fantastic nice white core of the paper showing through once you've sanded the edges of it. Love it!!! Here's my final project all pieced together. I love adding some machine stitching to my cards as well so that's what I do once I've sanded my edges. I love the look of distressing but I don't use it on projects that I want to achieve a "clean" look with. What's your favorite ink to use? Do you have a different technigue for distressing something? I'd love to hear! Leave a comment and tell me what you do or if you liked this quick and simple technique-driven tutorial. When I post again in two weeks I will pick a lucky person to win some fun Vicki B. goodies from Bo Bunny! YAY!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies used on this card: Vicki B. Bubbly, Vicki B. Noteworthy, Passion Fruit Journal cardstock, Mom Knows Best cardstock stickers, Kiwi 5/8" Double Dot ribbon