Creating backgrounds using distress inks (part 1)

Distress inks are a great way to great your own back grounds - you can be as bright and contemporary or as muted and vintage as you want.  And it is a really easy technique to master - if i can do it anyone can!!

You need a few basic items to start:-

• distress inks (although you can also try airondack inks)
• cut and dry foam, or a blending tool and the foam pads, or brushes
• smooth cardstock

 I used smooth cardstock and cut a tag.  I love my blending tool, and the foam pads are re-useable, just wash them clean after use.
The inks I used for this tag were Vcitorian Velvet, vintage photo, frayed burlap and faded jeans.

 I started with the VIctorian Velvet and inked up the foam pad.  In order to get a softer look, start circling the ink on youtr craft mat, working onto the cardstock.  You get a much smoother look by circling, and as some of the ink is taken off you get a softer look. 

 You continue building up the colour, moving round the tag, and going over the areas you have covered until you get the depth of colour you want.

 I made the corners and bottom darker than the middle of the tag.

I then took the faded jeans pad, and repeated the process, focussing on the top of the tag.  Again, I started circling the blending tool on the craft mat to make sure I didn't get blotches of colour.

 You will find that you leave finger marks on the ink when you are turning the tag - to prevent this use a peice of card and put it over the ink and hold the tag down - if that makes sense!

 So here is the tag, having been distressed .

Now i wnt to make the edges darker, so I repeated the process using vintage photo ink, just round the edges, repeating over the parts I wanted darker.

 You can see how I have circled the tool, so I get a blended edge to the colours.

You can dry the inks off between colours using a heat gun.  I personally prefer to leave them wet as you get a smoother blending of colours in my opinion.  And remember they will dry slightly lighter than they look when you first put them on.

I finished the tag off by stamping Visible Image butterflies and vintage photo and victorian velvet, and Visible Image tall grass in frayed burlap.

Do pop over to the shop and facebook group to see what other fabulous things are in stock.

And don't forget, there is also a That Craft Place challenge every fortnight - you can find it HERE.