Tip Tuesday: Distress Inks

Today we would like to give you some tips for using Distress Inks. We hope you will find them useful.

Tip #1
These inks are a little different from other water-based inks in that they stay wet a little longer so they can be used well with embossing powder. Stamp your image with distress ink, add embossing powder, shake off the excess, and heat to melt the powder. Works as well as embossing ink, but comes in so many great colors! Use clear powder to have the color show through, or use opaque colored powders with different effects with different base colors.

Tip #2
Press a distress ink pad onto a clear acrylic stamp mount. The ink will puddle up and can then be used like water colors with a brush and water. But it can also be stamped from the block onto paper, leaving a block of color on the paper.

Tip #3
A Ranger craft sheet is a natural partner for distress inks. Swipe a distress pad across an area of the craft sheet. Spritz with water, heavily in some areas, lightly in others. Place cardstock on the inky area. Lift off carefully. Let dry. Repeat with other colors as desired. Makes a FABULOUS background!

Tip #4
You can paint directly from the distress ink pad. Simply place the tip of a damp brush against the pad to pick up color. Paint as you would with water colors.

Tip #5
A drop or two of distress reinker on a slick surface like the Ranger craft sheet or an acrylic block can be like watercolors, too, but will be brighter and more vibrant than ink taken from the pad.

Tip #6
Distress reinkers are PERFECT for use with Cut n' Dry to make custom, multicolor ink pads. Start by stamping the image you want the custom pad for in a permanent ink onto the Cut n' Dry. Then simply color in the areas of the image with the reinkers. The colors won't mix with each other, and your ink pad will be perfect for that image!

Tip #7
Because distress inks stay wet longer than regular inks, they blend better than regular inks. Use a blending tool to apply ink in a swirling motion, and blend into adjacent areas of color for beautiful effects.

Tip #8
Water has amazing effect on Distress ink. Once you have your background down, try dropping a few small droplets onto it. Or stamp an image on it using water as your ink. The ink will flow out away from the water for dramatic (though somewhat unpredictable) results.

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