Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Wrinkle-free Distress Ink technique

Digital stuff is a delight, but don't you just love the
pure fun of getting inky with rubber stamps?

Purple Onion Design balloon on the wind

"let the wind take you away!"

You might not be able to tell from the usual style of cards around this joint that I am obsessed with Distress Inks. I just finished making 44 custom spray inks with Distress Ink refills that I can't wait to show you, in detail.

(Not to mention all kinds of obsessive organizing
that just makes my heart sing with happy):

Distress Ink - labels - DIY sprays - reinker indexing

card


The sky background: This card is my real first try at the wrinkle free Distress Ink technique invented by Tim Holtz. I tried it way back when, with other inks, but it is much more vibrant and textural with Distress inks. I used these inks: Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Iced Spruce.

painted clouds

To make the clouds...

- I doodled some cloud shapes & cut out them out.
- Swiped over them with white acrylic paint & let it dry.
- Adhered them to the Distress Ink background.
- Pierced & stitched the outline with white thread.

purple onion designs stitched balloon

To add the balloon...

- I stamped the Purple Onion Designs balloon on patterned paper (Crate paper Paper Heart 6x6).
- Then to make a quick template for stitching the string out of black thread, I cut a scrap of clear plastic from some packaging and stamped the balloon again (in stazon so it would be permanent) pierced holes in the plastic:

balloon string piercing template

- Then I laid it over my card, and pierced holes where the string would be... and hand stitched the balloon string with a needle and black thread.
- Finally, the balloon itself is covered in clear lacquer glue to make it shiny & popped up on foam dots for dimension.

To add the sentiment...

- I stamped the sentiment in silver on tracing paper.
- Then heat embossed it with silver embossing powder.
- Finally I cut it out & adhered the tracing paper to the bottom of the clouds with gluestick and added a couple of hand stitches at either side to anchor each word visually.


(white Distress Stain edging)

Ever feel like the edges of the card need something
to tie all the elements together visually?

Sometimes white paint is just the thing, but sometimes pure paint is too bold.
The one Distress Stain I've tried out (the white one Picket Fence) is perfect...

Distress Stain card edges to finish them

If you swipe it around the edges once you get a soft white look
& you can go around a couple more times, layering it for bolder white.

If you have white Distress Stain, you might be interested
in this
Painted Distress Ink tutorial:
Purple Onion Designs Harlequine card DIY acetate tag4 Soften ink & blend with picket fence distress stain over it a little or a lot since you can build the layers






  • Stazon ink & clear plastic packaging for piercing template
  • Paper piercer, needle & black and white thread
  • Patterned paper: Crate paper Paper Heart 6x6
  • White cardstock, white acrylic paint, and Tracing paper
  • Silver pigment ink, silver embossing powder, a heat gun
  • Distress Inks: Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Iced Spruce.
  • Scor-Pal Stay Put Craft Mat
  • Distress Stain (white) Picket Fence


Here's hoping your day is delightful one,


P.S. If you're curious about the wrinkle free Distress Ink technique you can see Tim's video for it here. And he has many more videos on his new site here.

P.S. Downloading excitement!!! Thank you all so much for liking the overlays. You all made my week with your kind words! Sorry about the downloading troubles in Chrome or Explorer. If you check that overlay and other freebie posts, you'll find that downloading from any browser just got a lot simpler. Thanks again, Suruha You're the best!

12 comments:

  1. Love this Mel. The texture on the clouds from the paint is wonderful and I LOVE the way you added the sentiments - anchoring them with a stitch was brilliant! Your sky background is glorious and I am anxiously awaiting to see what you do with your custom colors of distress inks!

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  2. Hi, I store my inks one on the other in a way I can see them only from above (not like you display them which is fabulous but I'm afraid of the dust LOL.
    If you have any other idea for storing in a tiny corner that would be magnificent. I also wanted to ask you how did you make these edges http://www.flickr.com/photos/37570710@N02/7346141138/

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  3. Love the texture as well as the design. Fab card, Mel.

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  4. Absolutely Lovely Mel!
    Thank You so much for sharing!
    I must try this technique!!

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  5. Fantastic!! I adore my distress inks and use them almost every time I make anything. I'm still working on getting all the re-inkers and the only stain I've got is Picket Fence. Looking forward to the custom sprays you've got coming to a post soon!
    R/

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  6. your card is absolutely gorgeous Mel..!!!! Love it.
    Heaney xx

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  7. love it! you know I love my distress inks too! on my way to watch Tim's video.

    hugzzzzz...btw, raspberries are ripe!

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  8. I love getting inky with distress inks, too! Your sky is just gorgeous! And I am in awe of your organization!

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  9. Seriously brilliant! The textures are amazing!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog--I'm a fan! :)

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  10. Wondeful card, love all the wonderful textues and design. :)

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  11. girrrrrrrrrrrrrrl, you have some amazing talent!!!! i'm so glad i stumbled upon your blog. not only do i love seeing what you create, but i love hearing what you write. thanks so much for including the steps to your creative process. i cannot wait until you make videos. thanks so much!!!

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  12. I love the mix of stamping and stitching. This is so cool!

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♥ Thank You so much sharing your thoughts. It means the world! ♥ Mel