Techneek of the Week - Distressing

This week I am going to cover some distressing techniques. Many of you may already be inking your edges, but I hope that this post helps you add some other techniques to your repertoire!!

Here is my "distressing toolkit": assorted ink pads (black and coloured), chalk ink pad, assorted sanding tools, edge distresser. Note: you can substitute a scrapbooking-brand sanding tool for plain old sandpaper from the Hardward store...it does the same job!!





Sanding

Most pattern paper on the market these days has a white core, which means that if you rub off the outer colour, you will be left with a white line. There are some companies that sell white core cardstock as well, which are solid colours with the same white core.

Sanding the edges of your paper is pretty self-explanatory, but here are some mediocre pictures to give you a better idea of where to start!

I learned this little tip/trick for sanding from a friend of mine. Line the edge of your paper up to the straight edge of your table, and then sand the edge. This will give you a "perfect" line (as perfect as it can be!), and from here you can sand more colour off to achieve the look you want.

A step beyond this little trick, is to move your paper slightly off the table and then sand again. You will have a second line. It actually looks very cool!

There are also a lot of embossed papers out there with a white core. And these papers look totally rad when you run your sanding tool over top of the raised surfaces!

Before: this paper from K & Company has a leaf & shell pattern embossed on it.

After: A little sanding with my Basic Grey file, and you can see the pattern much better. Try inking your embossed papers for a totally different look!

Inking:

There are so many amazing colours of ink pads available nowadays, but basic black is still a great way to add a little texture to your layotus. Next time you want a little bit of interest around the edges of your layout, try using a coloured ink pad instead!!

On this sheet of Prima pattern paper, I used a Whispers ink pad in Rich Plum. The raised pad allows for a really smooth application.

Chalk ink pads are another neat-o tool, that make it a lot easier to give the look of chalk to your page without having to use a Q-Tip!!

Edge Distressing Tool

Both Heidi Swapp and Making Memories have an Edge Distressing tool, and since they both work the same way, I'm just going to demonstrate the Heidi Swapp version here.

It's actually really easy to use. Just stick your paper into the slot on the tool , and scrape the blade within it up the edge of your page. The harder you push it, the more you will rip and tear your paper.

(Blogger is not letting me post anymore photos this evening...so I will get the rest of the post up tomorrow! Have a good weekend!)

I hope these little tips give you some ideas to try on your next project! Until next time...