August with Inks - Distress Inks

Hello friends! I hope you are spending a beautiful day with your creative passion.

To celebrate our inks month on the ATP blog I would like to tell you a little bit about Distress Inks. I'm sure most of you already know them pretty well, but there are so many techniques that you can try out, so there is always something nice to share. 

Distress Inks from Ranger are acid-free water-based dye inks. You can find them now also in smaller pads that are perfect for stamping or to be packed when you're traveling! 

Remember to use them with Ink Blending Tools (they also come in mini sizes!) that can help you control your inking. If you like to be super-organized you can store them on this beautiful, metal rack with a vintage look.

A good tip to protect your Distress Inks from drying out is to store them upside down.

I organize them writing their names on the boxes - it makes my work way faster.

Like I said, there are so many techniques to have creative fun with Distress Inks, but today, I'd like to focus on my favourite ones.

Inking edges? I know you've already heard about it, but what about inking edges and then adding a few drops of water to the inked surface to create an even more aged look?

Painting with Distress Inks! Simply tap a chosen Distress Ink on your craft sheet or acrylic block and spray with water. Take a soft brush and use the Ink to colour stamps, resist canvas or just have fun and simply paint.

Distress Inks work like watercolors so you can get many interesting effects. Ink edges, add some stamping and your background is ready.

Stencils and Distress Inks - that's a perfect combination. You can layer stenciling but remember that you must start with the largest patterns and the lightest colors.

You can also try a version of printmaking. To create a unique and colourful background, tap two or three colours of Distress Inks on your acrylic block. Then spray some water and touch your block with a tag or a piece of paper to make the print. Dry and repeat with different colours.

Stamping with Distress Inks. There are many ways to do that and each time you'll get a different effect.

• you can stamp on wet paper;  
• stamp and then spray some water on the print  
• you can even spray with water directly on the ink on your stamp. 

Experiment and find your favourite method.

Do you know about Distress Reinkers? Basically, they are used to reink your stamp pads but hey, let's get creative. :)

You can create your own sprays with them (just add a few drops of ink to a spray bottle and fill it with water - just like we did with Ecolines), but you can also paint with them. Mix the Reinker with water on your palette and simply splatter with a paintbrush.

As you can see, there are so many ways to play with Distress Inks. All you need to do is to try, experiment and have fun.

If you use them with water, the effects can be quite unpredictable and that is what I like the most about them. I hope you'll have great fun! 

pssst! Did you see newest Distress Inks colours? 

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Twisted Citron

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Blueprint Sketch

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Hickory Smoke

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Abandoned Coral