I'm in distress

That's distress mode...one of my favorite styles! Today I am going to show you a messy and fun technique that I haven't done in a long time, but it was so much fun that I can't wait to do it again! I have used Sweet Peas and chosen the smaller image from the set. This way it was easier to color up 3 samples quickly and I wouldn't feel so bad if I ruined one...and I did *blush*

So here we have Distress Ink in Tea Dye, a re-inker and a pad, and a Mini Mister filled with water. I also use a disposable rectangle aluminum pan.


First I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black dye ink (waterproof!) on Flourishes Classic White Card Stock and colored with Copic markers.


Next I crumpled it up! Yes, I said I crumpled it up. Go ahead...you can do it! Done? Not so bad, right? Scary yes, but it felt kinda good...I know it did.



Now pull out that pan I mentioned and place the image in the center and give it a good misting with water. And I mean good. I don't want your paper to be completely limp and fall apart, but you want the water to start soaking in so that the next step will flow easily. You can kind of see that there are tiny puddles in the folds of my paper.



Okay, put the image aside just for a minute while you add a couple of drops of ink to the pan. Now mist those drops really well and swirl the pan around until you see blobs of diluted color like in the picture below.

This is a small image I am using. I have been known to add lots more ink and water, mixing colors, and really soaking my image. Even dropping the ink directly onto the paper and letting it run. That's really messy-but the results are gorgeous!


Okay, now if you thought crumpling was scary just see what you have to do now! Take the image and smoosh it face down into the ink puddles. Yes, smoosh and swirl, and keep picking it up and turning it over to make sure you have sufficient ink coverage. You might like the whole thing covered or just some of the image. I like to cover the whole thing! Add more ink if necessary until you like the results.



Now you just need to let the image dry. Or if you are like me and impatient, then you can hit it with the heat gun. I usually do that and then re-ink if I want to deepen the color. This is what it looks like dry.



Okay, just one more scary step, I promise! I slightly crumple the image again, it will fold in all the same creases originally created, and then I lightly swipe the ink pad over the top just highlighting the folds.



Now you are ready to use your image on a card or project. This is what mine looks like all finished.



This is really fun and the result are never the same twice! Give it a try!