Tag Archives | Distress Oxide vs. Distress Ink
SUNSHINE-some-ink-swatches-with-close-up-stamp

Ink Blended Tags for Inspiration

Hello! Today I’m up on The Hedgehog Hollow blog here to share these Ink Blended tags for Inspiration.

I love how these turned out! I used the quiet, unassuming line stamp in the lower left corner of this stamp set from the Hedgehog Hollow May 2020 Kit.

Check out my video for all the details, and a SECRET for getting almost any ink combination to blend well. Watch below or in HD on YouTube:

For all the ink combinations I used, head on over to The Hedgehog Hollow.

I’m often asked what supplies I use to make my cards and projects, so I’ve put together a list using affiliate links when possible. If you make a purchase with these links I may receive a small commission. These help me to keep up with blog costs and continue bringing you fun projects. Thank you so much for your support!

Here’s one of the backgrounds I created inspired by one of the tags…I can’t decide if it should be a vertical or landscape card! lol. So I haven’t attached the hello sentiment until I can decide.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed the May kit this year…it’s already sold out, it has been so popular.

See you next time!

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both-cards-2

Life Looks Beautiful on You

Hello! Today I have another card share for my Altenew Educators Certification Program. This time, I was inspired by Jennifer Rzasa in the Clean & Simple Boutique Cards class.

Clean & Simple definitely does not come easy for me, but Jennifer suggested adding a little something extra like foil or embossing powder. This gives the card a bit more flair and still remains clean & simple.

Here’s my take, (it is difficult to capture the shine of the gold in photos, so please keep scrolling for more pictures):

I just love the look of this stamp set (Build-A-Flower: Anemone)! I used a variety of purple inks to get this look. Since I don’t have my Altenew inks yet, I combined both Distress Ink and Distress Oxides to get this look.

The idea was to add a gold embossed stem to the Anemone, but this stamp set doesn’t have any stems, so I drew one on using a Versamarker!

Gold embossing powder adds a pop of shine

I have a video below to show you the process, or watch on YouTube:

Just imagine all the different color combinations you can try on this flower. I love the big change in colors I got here, but for a more subtle effect you could simply use one or two colors and double, even triple stamp in that color.

I hope you enjoyed this project today. I often get asked what products I’ve used, so I have a list below. I use affiliate links, when available, at no extra cost to you. When you purchase using these links, I may receive a small commission. This helps me to keep up with blog costs and continue to bring you projects like this! Thanks for your support.

Love this Anemone set! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Dramatic Anemone
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finished-oxide-card

Comparing Distress Ink & Distress Oxides: Watercoloring

[This is the second in a series of comparing Distress Ink vs. Distress Oxides. See the Blending comparison here.]

The next question I had was: “Can you watercolor with the new Distress Oxide inks?” And, since it’s the end of shark week, I used sharks as my subject.

sharks-with-distress-oxides

I used Tim Holtz watercolor paper and Distress Oxide inks here. I found that YES! You can watercolor with the Oxide Inks. They are a little chalkier than normal watercolor, and they don’t blend quite as well, or have the watercolor feel (or “blooms”). Also, they do COVER the black stamped images a little. But that is easily remedied by going over those lines with a black marker.

shark-distress-ink

The original Distress Ink was definitely more like watercolor. You could add and get that watercolor “bloom” feel. So I liked that. And it was a little easier to add water and drop in color to have it react with the water.

Here’s the finished cards:

side-comparison-watercolor

I realized (after I was done) that it would have been easier for this comparison to create exactly the same card for a more accurate test. Lol.

The verdict is: you can watercolor with either one. It might be easier with the original inks, but I really liked the chalkier look for these sharks!

Have you tried watercoloring with Distress Oxides?

I have more comparisons coming soon!

finished-oxide-card

Products used:
(retired products from The Alleyway Stamps)
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stencils-with-foxes

Distress Oxide Inks: Blending & Stencils (How do they compare?)

I will admit, I was skeptical about the new Distress Oxide Inks. In many pictures I saw using the Distress Oxide inks, they looked chalky and not as vibrant. They also looked muddy and unimpressive to me.

Now, I love my original Distress Oxides for inking, but they are not so good for stamping. So when I got the new Distress Oxides as a birthday gift, I thought I would put them to the test!

I have many categories to test them and see how they compared. BOY, was I surprised at some of the outcomes!

Today, I am comparing them for ink blending and stenciling.

DISTRESS OXIDES vs. DISTRESS INK (original): INK BLENDING

This was the first category that really SURPRISED me!!

sharks-life-is-good-side-by-side

Check out this ink blending! Now, these are not exactly alike (but I had to create some differences so I knew which one was which). The blending LOOKS great on both! I used the same cardstock, the same techniques, the same colors, and the same stamps.

LEFT= Distress Ink (Original)
RIGHT = Distress Oxide

You can see there is a little difference in the Oxides (They are a little less vibrant), but overall they still look GREAT! And, the Distress Oxides are SO EASY TO BLEND!! In fact, they stay on the surface a bit so if you get a harsh line, you can usually blend it out. I was impressed by the ease of blending with them.

sand-and-water

Take a look at the variation in color I was able to get with the Distress Oxides here on Bristol Smooth paper. I really like the way it blends on this paper (it was even easier to blend on the Bristol paper).

lifesaver-bear lifesaver-bear-2

Here I tried the same background with and without water droplets. When using Distress Oxides, the water droplets are definitely more pronounced (than when using original Distress Inks)!

sunset-blend     sunset-blend-with-drops

Here I used 3 colors to blend a “sunset.” Then I added drops of water. I did not like how the water droplets were so random at the top on the Worn Lipstick, and some of them were irregular in other spots, too.

So I thought to myself: “Hmmm….I wonder if I can cover those spots up as if they never existed?”

GUESS WHAT?!?!? YOU CAN! (see how the white spot on the very top is no longer there?)

sunset-blend-with-drop-blended-out

All I did was take more Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink and blend over that droplet. Because it has some pigment properties and sits on top of the paper, it also has the ability to “cover up” some mistakes! So cool.

DISTRESS OXIDES vs. DISTRESS INK (original):  STENCILS

So here’s the next comparison that surprised me. I took the same stencil and applied Distress Inks on one card front, and Distress Oxides on the other. Take a look:

stencils-with-foxes

LEFT= Distress Ink (Original)
RIGHT = Distress Oxide

I did not expect this! I was able to get a brighter result with the Distress Oxide Ink because it seemed to blend THICKER. I really liked how bright it was! Wow. Seriously so amazing. I need to try this technique again!

So after these studies, I found that I really enjoyed both. I still tend to reach for my original Distress Inks more (for blending), but it’s because I only have a limited amount of colors in the Distress Oxides. But just before I was nearly done with my comparisons, Ranger released 12 more colors!! Yay!

I hope you enjoyed this comparison. I have more experiments to share throughout the week comparing these two amazing inks. So please do come back!

 

[Disclosure: Affiliate Links used where possible, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!]

Products used:
Distress Oxide Inks
Distress Inks
Lawn Fawn: Life is Good
Lawn Fawn: Duh Nuh
Waffle Flower: Bear & Bird
Paper Smooches: Life Saver
Hero Arts: Flower Stencil
Altenew: Foxes Hug Me
Waffle Flower: Awesome Die
Waffle Flower: Celebrate Die
Neenah Solar White 80# paper
Bristol Smooth Paper
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