Kill Your Monday Blues with Hils Hints: All Things Distress Part 6

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All Things Distress

Part 6 

Distress Inks, and why they are so special

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This week I want to share with you a grungy layout that I had lots of messy fun with.  The subject matter is the tsunami scare that we had last month while on holiday in Phuket.  We ended up on a very muddy and slippery bit of hillside.  Given all the mud and chaos, I felt that the layout about that day needed to have a similarly messy look.

Rather than give you a list of what you need and full instructions, I’m just going to talk you through what I did.  This is because you can use whatever you have to hand to achieve a similar effect – for example, where I have used paint you could use ink.  In other words, play with what you have, get messy, and enjoy the results!

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I wanted a neutral background for my layout, so chose kraft cardstock.  It took me a while to catch up with this trend, but I am now loving kraft, simply because it is so versatile.

Next I got some bubble wrap – the sort you use for wrapping things up in.  Using a foam applicator (like these ones HERE which I got from Scrap-n-Crop.com), I applied some brown paint and stamped in one corner of the layout, just applying the bubble wrap randomly, and re-applying paint occasionally when I felt I needed to.  I repeated this in the opposite corner, but with a dark blue paint. 

I decided it still wasn’t grungy enough, so got out my misting sprays and used a dark browny-green and a dark blue.

Then I turned my attention to the lettering.  Even though I had a large photo collage (pre-prepared using Adobe Photoshop Elements), I felt I needed large letters – small just didn’t seem to work.  And, again, I wanted them to be messy.  So I got out some alphabet stamps, stamped with black soot distress ink, and cut them out.  Once more, I felt they still weren’t grungy enough, and wanted some dark brown spray mist for them.  Which I didn’t have.  So – I improvised! 

And this is where the distress bit really comes into this week’s blog.  I have quite a few distress stains, including walnut stain.  And so I thought I would try to spray my letters with it.  I eased the dabber cap out of the spray bottle, and carefully poured some of the stain into a mini mister bottle.  It worked perfectly!  When I had finished, I simply poured the stain ink back into the bottle, put the top back on, and washed my mister out.  So – there is a new use for your distress stains.

I mounted the letters onto 3-D foam squares to give the layout a bit of dimension.

It still needed something else though, and I wasn't sure what - the subject isn't exactly right for the usual embellishments like flowers, butterflies and banners! In the end, I decided to go with clocks, since all the photos were of a time we spent waiting for the 'All Clear'. I stamped two different clock images with Black Soot DISTRESS INK, and added two clock charms.

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One of my charms was a bright brass colour, and just didn’t suit the layout at all.  So I toned it down by colouring over it with a Promarker pen, and gently rubbing some off straight away with my finger.  There are loads and loads of options for altering your embellishments to suit your pages, don’t be put off just because they’re not the right colour or style!

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