Distressing Tutorial

Well my poor sister certainly has her hands full right now.  So for your ‘hopefull’ viewing pleasure I (Sophia) have prepared a simple tutorial.  Right now, distressing is hot, hot, hot!!  I wanted to create the same look that I have seen other’s using with distress ink’s and clear masks, but I wanted to do it using all Stampin’ Up! products.  It’s always great when we can extend the use of our products, and not have to feel frustration or the need to get something else.  Now the Christmas set that I wanted to use is still in transit, but I decided to experiment using some of my other sets.  This technique is somewhat more time consuming, but I love experimenting and playing with detailed projects.  The steps can certainly be toned down for simpler projects.

All supplies Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise indicated

Stamp Set:  Always, Tres Chic, Baroque Motifs
Paper:  Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
Ink:  Basic Black, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Caramel, Gold Encore pad
Accessories:  Acetate ( transparancies available at office supply stores), dazzling diamond, crystal effects, scallop punch, 1/16′ Hole punch, Stamp-Ma-Jig, Gold Cord, Distressing Tool from Cutter Kit, 2-Way Glue pen, Water sprayer, wax paper, sponges

Step 1:  To start off with, I layed and taped my wax paper to my table over my grid sheet. This will allow me to see how much ink I actually have.  Next I chose my first three coordinating colors.  You can choose any colors you please, but for the smearing part, try stick to no more than 3. 

Tip: any non porous surface will work.  I found the wax paper was not really re-usable, but a transparancy would probably work better and have the added advantage of being able to be wiped clean and reused.

Step 2:  In the picture above I am showing all three colors smeared, but it works best to do one at a time so that the colors don’t dry in between.  Start with your lightest color ink and smear it over the wax paper.  Spray it with a fine mist of water from about a foot away and then take your white cardstock (which should be cut to the necesary size) and smear it into the wet ink.  Put pressure on different areas to achieve a nice mottled effect.  Dry it with your heat tool.  Repeat with the other colors ( moving from lightest to darkest) following the same instructions.  Don’t try to cover the whole CS with each color, rather let the different colors show through in different areas.

Step 3:  Above you can see the CS after the first color application.  I have intensified the color more with my photoshop in this picture so that you can see the Bashful Blue Better.

Creating your mask: Ok, so next you are going to pull out a mask.  The mask can be created in several ways.  For a long lasting mask, you can use Acetate, but it is trickier to cut.  Or you can use paper which may not last as long, but will be easier to work with.    The mask can be of anything, but the best way to get interesting shapes and intricacy is to use the new Sizzix dies.  Consider using the snowflake for winter scenes, or the Tulipe Bigz Die.  Any of them will do.  Since mine are in transit, I just cut mine out of acetate using the scallop border punch and the 1/16′ hole punch.  Cutting out of acetate is not easy, and when running it through the die cut, you may have to cut sections out with scissors for those areas that did not go all the way through.

Step 4:  Now once your mask is ready you can lay it down over a section of your work.  If it is acetate then use your hand to hold it in place.  If it is paper you can use the 2-way glue pen (apply your 2-way glue to the reverse side of the paper and let it dry. Once dry it is repositionable like a post-it note).

Grab your sponge now and your Caramel ( or color of your choice) ink and start sponging along the edge of the mask, following the sponging guidlines which I layed out in my previous tutorial.  Keep your circles tight and light to avoid shifting the mask.  Next pick out your BG stamp and ink it up with the Olive.  


Step 5:  Stamp out the BG stamp over the mask, being carefull not to let it shift.

Step 6:  Next I removed the mask and stamped out my flourish and sentiment on the distressed CS in Basic Black ink, and then stamped out the Always A and bird on seperate white CS.  I cut them out, sponged them and adhered them on.

Step 7:  This is the time to randomely stamp any image that you might want to add to make it more visually interesting.  As well I added some sponged Riding Hood Red around the edges, to intensify my colors.

Step 8:  Alright if you can bear with me for the last step.  The edges of my image were distressed with that round piece on the Cutting kit.  If you do not have this then use the sanding block or even the blade of your scissors.  The image was adhered to my Riding hood Red CS and Gold ink was smeared sparingly across and along the edges.  

Step 9:  To finish the card I traced the large A with Crystal effects, Sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds and then let it dry.  Next I tied some of that gold cord ( mini catalogue) around it with a bow.  I stamped the card base with the little branches from the Always set ( in Baja Breeze) and then sponged the edges of the card front with Pacific Point, Old olive and Riding Hood red.  Image was adhered on and gold ink was carefully dragged across the edges of the card.

Now I know that this seemed like a pretty long process, but consider taking only a few of the ideas for using in simpler cards.  I hope you have as much fun trying this as I have had making it. 
Sophie