Tuesday Tips & Tricks: Distress Products

Hello everyone!! Samantha here, bringing you this week's Tuesday Tips and Tricks.

Today, I would like to talk to you about the Ranger Tim Holtz Distress products that are brand new to iCopic!!

If you have never heard of Tim Holtz, well, then, you are MISSING OUT! Tim Holtz does amazing grunge and distressed style projects. You can see his work on his blog at http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/. He does some really beautiful work, like shown below:

Anyway, so the Distress line is his line of awesome products. Now if you are like me, you stick to the clean and simple style, but don't worry, these products are great for us clean and simple folks too!!

Currently in the iCopic store you can find the following awesome Distress products:

  Distress Ink Pads and Reinkers

These ink pads and reinkers are AWESOME!!! I have been playing with them lately and I don't know why I waited so long!

Here are some tips and tricks for using the Distress Ink Pads and Reinkers:

• Don't just think about getting the ink pads because the reinkers are really neat too! They come with a dropper attached to the lid so you can add drops of ink to things (think splotches and splashes, diluting the ink and using it as a dye, mixing inks, etc)
• This dye ink stays wet longer than your ordinary dye ink so that you can blend or even emboss with this ink.
• When this ink is misted or mixed with water, it will SPREAD across your paper creating a nice tone on tone look.

Embossing Powders

Now these are NOT your normal embossing powders. Normal embossing powders emboss with a glossy smooth finish. Well, these embossing powders have a matte finish! Also, they are kind of rough and bumpy because of the "release crystals" inside the powder. These release crystals cause the embossing powder to have this really neat aged and distressed look to them!

Here are some tips and tricks for using the Embossing Powders:

• Before embossing, you need to shake up the jar of embossing powder. This will make sure that all those release crystals are evenly mixed into the powder.
• When heat setting, watch for the powder to turn to a deeper tone. WARNING: It does NOT turn shiny like your ordinary embossing powder. (Remember, the key to regular embossing is heating the powder until it turns shiny, well these powders are different!).
  
• When cooled a few seconds, rub the surface with your finger and rub off some of the release crystals. This will give you the worn look.

And Rangers Mini Misters

I might be the most excited about these!! You can fill them with anything and then spray your projects with them!! Can you imagine all the possibilities these babies have?

Some tips and tricks for using the Mini Misters:

• Fill them with your Copic refill inks.
• Add a little pearl-ex powder or other super fine glitter to add some shimmer to your project.
• Fill one with water and mist over your Ranger Distress Inks to create beautiful effects.

And last but not least, here is a video I did using the Distress ink to add dimension to a flower embellishment.

I will be doing some upcoming videos showing you more methods for using your Distress supplies. I am really excited about this new product line being available in the iCopic store and I hope you are excited too! Head over to the store and check out all the wonderful colors available in these neat products.

Have a great day!!

Posted in: Distress Ink