• Tags
• Cardstock (works best with white or light colors)
• Heat Gun
• Distress Inks or Dye ink pads
• Craft Iron
• Water Spritzer
• Non-stick craft sheet or other non-porous surface

Have you ever noticed beautiful background on some stamp, tags, or scrapbook pages and wondered just how they achieved such beautiful, rich, deep backgrounds? It is far easier than you think. There are several ways to create various backgrounds, and we have covered the alcohol Ink technique earlier. Today we will cover Distress Inks and two of the many possible ways to use these. Distress Inks are another wonderful product by Tim Holtz and Ranger. They are versatile, compatible, and blendable. The things you can do with these inks are almost unlimited.

In the first method we will use the crumpled paper effect. This is simple. You first take your paper or tag and crumple it, then smooth is out. If you want more texture then just crumple it again. Don’t worry about how we will stamp on this… we will smooth it out later.

Then take your Distress Ink or other dye inkpads, two or three would be ideal, if you add too many colors you will end up with a “muddy” looking result. Starting with the color or colors you want, rub them lightly over the creases. When they are done to your satisfaction, use your water spritzer to wet the inks and paper. You will see the ink start to run. This is the intended effect. When it is to your liking take your heat gun to dry the paper or tag. When the paper is almost dry, take your craft iron and smooth out the paper. The end result is a very smooth piece with crease marks in it. When you are done with this you can leave it as is if it is to your liking or you can move on to the next method.

This next method also involves using your Distress Inks again. First you take your non porous craft surface (This must be something that can me dedicated to crafting, some techniques may stain surfaces, which is why I recommend the Non-Stick Craft Sheet above. Then take two to three colors of your ink pads and swipe them across your craft surface. When you have this done, spritz your colors with water until it starts to bead up. Then Take your paper and dab it randomly into the colors. When you are done, dry your paper with your heat gun. You can then go back and add another layer of color over this, this. Doing this two or three times will give you a very deep, rich layered look. Try this both with your paper dry, and with your paper spritzed with water. You will get different looks.

As you can see from the illustrations below, you can do these techniques either together or alone and achieve very artistic one of a kind papers for your work. Use your imagination and don’t be afraid to play, you may come up with some color combinations you may have never thought of initially that look wonderful together.