OK People where do I start?

[LancasterLurker]

I bought a few Distress Ink pads when they were on sale at Joann's. I also have a handly thing with removable pads, and a couple of mister bottles.

What is the FIRST THING I should do now!!!??? What is going to knock my socks off and be easy? At the time, I had tonnes of ideas but they're escaping me now.

[PaperTulip]

I've just got my Distress stuff too; I've just been playing with white cardstock scraps, seeing how the ink works and the effects i can get.

[Rachelrose]

Go onto YouTube and watch this video of Tim doing a couple of basic techniques:

Distress Ink Techniques - YouTube

Start with the wrinkle free distress, where you smear the ink on your craft sheet. That is fun and will get you right into the heart of what Distress is all about, which is reactivity with water. Here is one tip for you: If you allow your ink to dry a bit before you drag it through the ink successive times, you won't get muddy colors.

There are loads more YouTubes about Distress Ink. There may even be a tutorial here on this site. I haven't looked. One YouTube series is called No Stress Distress by Britta Swiderski. I loved those videos.

Be playful when you use these techniques and don't try to control them too much.

Welcome to the addiction that is Distress Ink!!

[LancasterLurker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachelrose

Be playful when you use these techniques and don't try to control them too much.

B...b....b...but I MUST have order in all things!

[Rachelrose]

Yeah, Bexx, I hear you. It's my big problem. But you are going to find that the wrinkle free distress pieces that come out best are the ones you are least strategic about.

And watch Britta on YouTube. She covers a lot of Distress techniques and she's a great teacher. I liked the card she made in lesson #5 so much I bought the stamp she used so I could CASE it.

And when you are really ready, you can take Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 online through Online Card Classes. But not yet! You need to play a little first. What colors did you get?

[NYstamper]

Just relax and have fun! I am a precise, gotta be exact kind of gal. But I love just being able to chill and have fun with the distress inks. It is rather freeing and I think it also helps the mojo slumps.

[binkiemonstermom]

I love the advice here!!! I agree, be free flowing with them! I use the inks to distress the edges of my paper, I use them all the time. But there are some GREAT techniques to do with the inks!
My favorite is to smear the ink pad on my craft mat (has to be a smooth slick mat) and then I spray with a mister with water and drag my tag or paper through it. Very fun!!! After it dries (you can speedy up drying with a hair dryer or heat gun), it is VERY pretty effect!!! Blend colors together by smearing mulitple ink pads on your craft mat and then mist your water on. (be careful to keep light inks out of dark inks!!!)

[Rachelrose]

I would also give you this advice - the paper you use does make a difference. Some cardstocks hold up better than others to being repeatedly wetted and dried. SU Whisper White is all right. Tim Holtz uses those manila tags for all his demos.

But really, if you find yourself getting frustrated because of the paper getting too distorted or wavy or degraded, just work with watercolor paper. It doesn't have to be expensive or heavy - a 90 lb. cold press works really well.

And give your work time to totally dry. I find that Distress Inks change for the better as they settle in and dry. The colors lighten and sharpen and even out. I like to do a bunch of wrinkle free backgrounds and let them dry overnight and then they look even better in the morning!

[Phantom]

Sponge with the blending tool.

Sponge then spray!

Apply ink directly from the pad to a craft sheet, mist and lay down your cardstock on top of it.

Do some clear embossing and then apply ink, mist, etc. over it and the embossed area will resist the ink/spray.

Try different kinds of paper, cardstock, etc.

Play!

[Cook22]

Wrinkle free distress is my favourite, I use it a lot!
Well, my favourite after using them instead of watercolours, but I don't think that counts as a technique.
A recent weekly tutorial was water stamping, you'll find it in the resources section. I'm still working to get a good effect but I've seen some gorgeous cards.
You only got pads, not re-inkers? That's a pity, the re-inkers make a great colour-spray in the mini-misters (diluted with water) and with added Perfect Pearls you have your own glimmer mists.

[Phantom]

*slaps forehead* Sabrina, how could I have forgotten watercolor?!! Love them for watercolor ~ I definitely think it counts!

[CandyStripe]

If you have spellbinder dies then after you've embossed just leave the cardstock inside the die and rub the sponge over the die on the the card edge and when you take it out it looks wow just like as if you've layered it.

[LancasterLurker]

Loads of ideas here, thanks ladies. They're still sitting prettily in the drawer, but I have high hopes for this weekend! And no, no reinkers. Thought I'd go with the original first and see how I got on.

[Rachelrose]

Did we overwhelm you? It's easy to get all riled up about Distress Ink, because it's just so much fun to work with.

I will reiterate - start with wrinkle free distress as shown by Tim on the video. Use watercolor paper so you get good results and don't have to struggle (like I did when I started and then whined on the forum because the surface of my paper got weird and dried all wavy). You must work on a Craft Sheet. You can do plenty without the reinkers, I only just started buying them myself.

Keep us posted on how you are doing. I'm always happy to talk about Distress Inks!

[LancasterLurker]

No - not overwhelmed, more like I can't even SEE my craft sheet at the moment. I keep it taped to my desk with a piece of foam underneath. However, I've been naughty and not tidied up after myself!

[Cook22]

Because they sponge so well, they're great for the Retiform technique. It's not taking full advantage of their potential, but it's something else you could do with them.

[shazsilverwolf]

Its definitely all about the playing, and watching Tims videos. One tip- DON'T throw any of your play pieces away! Even if you think they look terrible. What I do is stamp an image onto a piece of acetate (I actually use OHP film from Staples) then lay it over your inked pieces.You can move it around, change the orientation, etc. You will be surprised how often a piece will come to life with the right image on it, even when you were ready to bin it. ;)

[Rachelrose]

I had to go look up what the Retiform Technique was, Sabrina! I looked at Beate's tutorial and wow, I really want to try this! I agree, you don't have to have DI's to do this (Beate actually does use them in the video tutorial), but I have to say that I have tried sponging using SU dye ink and I find Distress Inks so much easier to work with. For people who are used to sponging with regular dye ink, the trick is to really use a lighter hand. Distress Ink picks up onto the blender in a much more saturated way.

I agree with you, shaz. I've have pieces I thought were awful, useless, and when I actually stamped on them they looked really good. Your idea of using acetate (you could use the plastic sheet from a stamp positioner if you have no acetate) to see where on the piece you want to stamp is a great one.

[shazsilverwolf]

Rachelrose, I used to always say stamp positioner sheet, as thats what I used most often,lol. Then I bought some OHP really cheap from Staples in a sale, and realised that by stamping on that with Staz-on, I could keep the samples to use again. I do the same thing now with Stampscapes/scenic stamps to build my images up. You can also save the clear film from all sorts of packaging (chocolates etc) to do the same thing with.

[LancasterLurker]

OK I wouldn't say I've mastered the technique, but I finally had a go at Wrinkle-free Distress tonight. Funnily enough, a friend asked me to make a "grungy" baby card. I panicked, then reached for the distress ink!

So far I just have a sample card, but I am planning to work it up to a full card tomorrow. I'll post it then... wish me luck!

[Rachelrose]

Looking forward to seeing it!

[winnieu]

I love distress inks. Use them almost daily. I started by watching Tim Holtz' videos on his site. He is a great teacher, and others on youtube. I do his months tag and they will use his inks too. I use them a lot for backgrounds and the wrinkle free technique is one of my go to's like Cook22. Most importantly, just have fun with it. You will get different looks each time, and have a bunch of backgrounds ready for when you want to make something.

[Turleyfamily]

I have EVERY one of the distress inks..... I use them on almost every card I do.... either as a distressing element, a background technique or as a painting medium. Just LOVE the stuff. :p

[javagirl984]

Wow, lot's of great tips and advice! Something else that I found with Distress Inks is that you can stamp line images and color them with alcohol based markers. I had stamped an image with some one time and forgot that I had used the DI ink instead of my normal Memento and began coloring with my Copic Markers. Then I was pleasantly surprised that the stamped image was not affected at all by the markers. Awesome accidental discovery.

I use distress inks for most of my projects as regular stamp pads. They are my favorite. I need to get the rest of the colors that are missing from my collection and all the refills.

I will have to check out the videos and try some techniques when I get some time to play. Thanks again to everyone that shared ideas and tips. And thanks to Bexx for starting this thread.

[winnieu]

I use my refills often to make spray inks and put the perfect pearls in, and to make my own ink pads like Tim showed on his 12 tags of christmas. They are fun so you can mass produce a bunch of cards with fun detail.

[Rachelrose]

Candystripe, just reread your post and figured out what you meant. Great idea! Never thought of doing that! The die acts as a mask.

[annie*]

Quote:

Originally Posted by javagirl984

Wow, lot's of great tips and advice! Something else that I found with Distress Inks is that you can stamp line images and color them with alcohol based markers. I had stamped an image with some one time and forgot that I had used the DI ink instead of my normal Memento and began coloring with my Copic Markers. Then I was pleasantly surprised that the stamped image was not affected at all by the markers. Awesome accidental discovery.

Really?!??!! I didn't know that!

[asuncionshija]

If you aren't a "grungy" stamper then you might want to check out Jennifer McGuire. Some time ago she had a series on Two Peas called Thinking Inking. Still one of my favorite resources! You can check it out here on the Two Peas site. The link should take you directly to the first video (all about Distress Inks!) and it will rock your world!

[Joeknee]

Just found this thread ~ lovin' it!! Isn't Tim the most awesome

I went to a show about a month ago and he was there and he was doing a demo with all his inks and also something that is called "Ink Refresher". Of course I had to have it and it is very hard to find. He distressed his tag then used this ink refresher and it made the tag really pliable. To me it took on the look and FEEL of leather or suede. Really cool!! Now he used that on the tag, but you can use it on other paper too - just not sure how it would feel since I felt the tag he used.

Just another option ;)

[LancasterLurker]

Let me see if I can link my card...

The Demented Spoon: Grungy baby card

I also made one in pinky shades for myself to send. Pretty pleased, but must remember to emboss first, I tried after and it was an epic fail!

[Cook22]

That looks fabulous. Your background turned out great, and I love the gate.

[smriti]

Distress is not my thing so I avoided DI for a long time thinking what would I do with them. Then slowly and gradually I saw all the wonderful things people were doing with it and now I love them!

My favorite technique is to stamp a background in versamark, clear emboss it and then sponge all over with either single or multiple colors of distress inks. I LOVE to do this! It's so therapeutic for me :-)

[Rachelrose]

Great card, Bexx! You are on your way!

[LancasterLurker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cook22

That looks fabulous. Your background turned out great, and I love the gate.

It's a cot/crib! Oh no... Hope the person it's intended for doesn't make that mistake - eeeek! I intended to emboss that in gold, but after I'd done the background, I kept getting EP all over the card so I abandoned it. Lesson learned. I couldn't face starting all over (see what I mean Rachel, I just ruin cards by being too lazy to fix mistakes!) so I worked around it.

[LancasterLurker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smriti

My favorite technique is to stamp a background in versamark, clear emboss it and then sponge all over with either single or multiple colors of distress inks. I LOVE to do this! It's so therapeutic for me :-)

Had a go at that tonight - AWESOME. It looks so graduated & subtle that I feel like a pro. Clearly I am not, but they are really forgiving inks aren't they!

[Rachelrose]

Hey, sometimes a work-around results in something even better than you planned!

[Cook22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LancasterLurker

It's a cot/crib! Oh no... Hope the person it's intended for doesn't make that mistake - eeeek! I intended to emboss that in gold, but after I'd done the background, I kept getting EP all over the card so I abandoned it. Lesson learned. I couldn't face starting all over (see what I mean Rachel, I just ruin cards by being too lazy to fix mistakes!) so I worked around it.

Blush - if I'd looked twice and seen the mobile over it, I would have realised for sure. It was the distressed background I was focussing on ;-). And there are so many wrought-iron gates and railings around at the moment with Halloween round the corner.

[LancasterLurker]

You've given me an idea Sabrina so not to worry!

[smriti]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LancasterLurker

Had a go at that tonight - AWESOME. It looks so graduated & subtle that I feel like a pro. Clearly I am not, but they are really forgiving inks aren't they!

Oh yes they are! The results are always so beautiful that they make you happy :-)

[jeanne3579]

I had nearly all the DI and reindeers and gave them all alway in my last purge. I am sticking with one line of dye inks and one line of pigment inks. I have not regretted my decision as I can get a close enough (for me) likeness of any technique with the products I have and don't have stuff sitting around unused.