Distress Inks and Heat Embossing

Distress Inks are so much fun.  Because they are a waterbased ink you can get all sorts of looks with them and they are very easy to blend together.  I would like to share with you a fun technique I have been playing with lately.  First of all, if you do not have a crafting teflon mat to ink on, don’t worry.  I use the wax baking paper with the waxy side up.  It works just as well.  Also I am using a blending tool (these are worth their weight) but if you don’t have one you can start off using a cotton ball.

To get started make yourself a plain tag out of a cream cardstock of your choice.  Using a script stamp of our choice stamp it all over yours tag using Stazon ink (this is important so as the ink does not blend and try to blend in with the Distress Inks later)  Already your tag looks great.

Now is where the fun really begins.  Using a flourish stamp of your choice stamp over your tag using a clear embossing ink or a VersaMark ink.










Then very quickly add clear embossing powder over the whole of your tag to stick to the embossing ink.  Shake off excess embossing powder and put back in its container.
Using your heat tool, heat set (melt) your embossing powder.






Using your blending tool or cotton ball use some Distress Ink and using a swirling action cover your tag ink the Distress Ink colour of your choice.  I have used Walnut.  One of the great things with these inks is you can add a light application of ink or increase the intencity by applying more ink.  Your embossing flourishes will now become more pronounced and show the original colour of the tag through the clear embossing powder.








Now you can let your creativity take over.  Decorate your tag however you like.  You may like to start off with adding some vintage looking lace.
You can either create your own flowers or use ready made ones and add a fun label and letter stickers.  These look great as gift tags or on the front of a card or even as a special embellishment on your layouts.



Have fun with this technique.

You will find Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads and tools on our online shop just click here to be taken to the online shop.

Please leave a comment below and let me know how you got on with your tag.  These would also look great on ATC cards or even turned into a beautiful Mothers Day card.

Happy Scrappin' everyone