Sunday, April 10, 2011

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

32 comments:

  1. Hi! I like it, I almost forgot about sanding :). I like Raner ink the most, have lots of colors.
    You can visit me and have a look :)

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  2. Thanks for inspiring me. Most of the time I use Ranger Distress Ink Vintage photo. And I use the distreser from Tim Holtz.

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  3. I love distressing my paper and often sand or distress then ink (I like fluid chalk cats eyes) - I NEVER thought to ink then sand - love that look!!! Thanks for the tutorial!!

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  4. WOW I really love your look!! You are so right about the regular ink being a little wet and harsher looking. I am going to try the sanding now too :) I love to distress with ink, but the sanding is just a notch above. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  5. Thanks for the tutorial! I've never tried sandpaper so I'll have to give that a go! I usually use Distress ink in Tea Dye. I also love distressing the edges of the paper with the blade of my scissors scraping it back and forth. It kind of makes a mess but the results are great!

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  6. Wow, you did a gorgeous job. I love doing this and I can't think of anything I've made lately that doesn't have this technique applied somewhere! lol

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  7. Oh, what a gorgeous card. I love the look the sanding paper gives. Gonna keep that in mind:)

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  8. What a beautiful card! I like to use the Color Box Cat's Eyes in Chestnut Roan or Creamy Brown. I'm going to have to try sandpaper. I usually use a nail file. Great tutorial!

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  9. Loved your card.
    When I'm distressing I usually use Tim's Holtz distress inks & his ink blending tool. Some times it's just the edges of the paper, other times it's the entire paper.

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  10. Love this! I never thought to sand it with sand paper after you run the ink over. I use Tim Holtz's vintage photo ink for distressing the most. Although I may have to try the ink you posted. Looks great!

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  11. Great card! i use Ranger Distress Inks. Right now I love tea dye. Then I distress with my Tim Holtz distresser. Love this look.

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  12. Thank you for the lesson! I have never used chalk ink. I will have to buy som! Learn something new every day! Thank you!

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  13. I usually use the samll chalk inks, but never really knew why. I know they are convenient to hold. I loved your tutorial and the card came out fantastic.

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  14. Great card, I'm also a big fan of Jumbo Java chalk ink and I like Sahara Sand for a lighter look. :-)

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  15. I ink quite a bit. Love the idea of sanding afterwards. I like to use the Tim Holtz inks.

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  16. I use ink alot - usually cat-eye chalks - it seems to give the paper a more finished look. I have not tried sanding after inking, but will have to try it !

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  17. I love distressing my items one way or another but I have never put them together . . . and I love how yours turned out!!!

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  18. I never thought to sand after inking. What a great look!

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  19. Gorgeous card! I usually use the cutting edge of my scissors and scrape the paper's edge to rough it up, then use distress ink.

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  20. Beautiful card! I love the chalk inks, too. I use blue on blue, green on green... unless I want it to look aged. Then I turn to Tim Holtz Vintage Photo ink. I distress with my sanding files.

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  21. I ink almost everything, usually with Chestnut Roan Cat's Eye Chalk Ink. Occassionally I will use the Tim Holtz blending tool if I want a more subtle look. I don't usually sand after inking but I often sand my photos to add a little white edge to add an additional mat look without the mat. This works well when putting photos side by side or on a darker mat with a dark photo background.

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  22. Thanks for the tips!!
    I normally use distress ink to distress the papers, but to add an old effect I start creasing the paper, then I strech it and distress using the blending tool and distress ink (from Tim Holtz). I love the final result, try it!

    Hugs

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  23. I love distressing! My secret on sanding is I use the blocks for nail file blocks for fake nails to sand small chipboard pieces. I have a few emory boards in my art caddy as well! LOL!

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  24. Hi thanks for your tutorial, love it! I usually do sponging with a chocolate color ink to distress the edges of paper. I love chalk inks for a direct pad to paper technique.

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  25. Love your card. I am a big fan of inked edges. I usually use a large emery board to sand so I can see what I'm doing

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  26. Beautiful card!! I love your technique!! I usually sand or really rough up the edges and then I ink them. I'm going to try the reverse to see what I think of the effect!! I love my little cat's eye chalk inks! I use Charcoal and Chestnut Roan all the time. I also use a lot of the Ranger Distress Inks.

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  27. I love the look you have achieved using sandpaper. So going to try it out

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  28. This was a great tutorial! I really love the use of sandpaper. I have been using an emery board to get into small places. I love distressing everything!! Thanks so much for the giveaway.:)

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  29. I usually use Tim Holtz distess inks with the foam applicator. I never thought to use chalk ink--I like the color you used and your tip of dating your ink pads.

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  30. I love the tutorial! I like distressing too for my projects. I definitely think the chalk ink does a nicer job distressing than regular ink, I'll have to go pick some up!

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  31. Jumbo Java is my fave color for distressing too. But I had never thought of sanding the edges....very clever!

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