Get dirty with Distress inks!

Dear readers,

I hope you guys have been busy scrapping and waiting for your next Studio Calico box to arrive! :D
You guys are going to LOOOOVE the November kit! :)

Ok so today I thought I would show you one of my favorite products : the Distress Inks from Ranger. Those are amazing! You easily use them as regular ink but also blend it with water and make great stuff with it!

Here's a little how-to to get started with those inks, and, as you might have noticed before, you'll find in the SC shop all of my favorite color inks ;p

First of all, now that you can definitely work with the Distress Inks without embossing your stamps first, simply foloow these steps but avoid the stmaping/embossing process ;)

What I like to do when I work on some tags is to choose my favorite stamp at the moment (obviously, this SC hot air ballon is my fave at the mo'), stamp it onto a tag with Versamark ink and emboss it with CLEAR embossing power (personnally, the ZING one from American Crafts is just the best). Then emboss your design with a heat gun.


Rub one (or two) distress ink on a craft sheet & spray water over the ink.


Dip your embossed tag onto the ink.


It will look like highly pigmented water color (which is the reason why I SO love the distress inks!).


Put your tag over and over again into the ink and don't forget to use heat gun every now and then to make the ink dry, then put it back into the ink.


Here, on this tag, I used some blue distress ink at the end, just here and there.


I love how my embossed stamp has an aged and distressed look too! :)

And here's my layout! :)


Take care everyone! :) See you on the Studio Calico website!
Céline