Tag: Easy Backgrounds

Hello friends. I had some fun playing with my distress inks and other products and created several backgrounds. Sometimes it’s nice just to play with mediums and not think too much. I love distress inks because they create cool effects when water or other mediums are combined with them. I ended up with 6 backgrounds I will later turn into cards. Stay tuned for that post…

For these backgrounds I decided to test out the reaction Distress Oxides and Distress Crayons had with water and also salt plus white vinegar. I also tested Cold Press Watercolor Paper and Strathmore Bristol Smooth Multimedia Paper. I was actually surprised at the reaction of the watercolor paper to the salt and vinegar.

For the first set of backgrounds, I started the process by ink blending on both the Cold Press Watercolor Paper and Strathmore Bristol Smooth Multimedia Paper. I used Kitsch Flamingo, Worn Lipstick, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Inks. I sprayed water onto both panels with the Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer, let it sit for a few minutes and pat dry with a paper towel.

I then used Abandoned Coral, Carved Pumpkin, and Worn Lipstick Distress Crayons and smeared them with my finger (Tip: Wet your finger a little to smooth). Then sprayed more water again.

Observations: One thing I noticed is that the distress crayons are much harder to move and blend out on the watercolor paper. They require a lot more water then on the Strathmore Bristol Smooth Multimedia Paper. But the colors look more saturated and vibrant on the watercolor paper.

Once all the ink was dry, I mixed some Perfect Copper Perfect Pearls by Ranger with water and randomly added splashed and went around the edges of one of the panels.

Once all dry, I used the Stampers Anonymous – Tim Holtz – Ledger Script Stamp with Ranger Archival JET BLACK Ink to both panels. I used the Stampin’ Up! Timeless Textures Rubber Stampset (retired) with Spiced Marmalade and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Inks on the watercolor paper panel and stamped using the Tim Holtz® Stampers Anonymous Wildflower Layering Stencils (THS035) with Ranger Archival JET BLACK Ink on the Strathmore Bristol Smooth Paper panel.

Finished the panels by adding splashes with watered down white Gesso on both and black ink on the watercolor paper panel.

For the second set of backgrounds, I started the process by ink blending on both the Cold Press Watercolor Paper and Strathmore Bristol Smooth Multimedia Paper. I used Scattered Straw, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed Lawn and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Inks. I sprayed water onto both panels with the Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer and sprinkled Coarse Salt, let it sit for a few minutes and pat dry with a paper towel and rubbed off the salt. Be very gentle with this because you can tear you paper if it’s still wet.

I then used Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch, Mustard Seed, and Vintage Photo Distress Crayons and smeared them with my finger (Tip: Wet your finger a little to smooth). I reinked the panels with Mermaid Lagoon and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide Inks to brighten them up a bit. Then, added more salt and water to see if it would react again.

Observations: I didn’t see much of a reaction to the salt on either papers. Not sure if I didn’t leave it on a sufficient amount of time or if only the regular distress inks react to the salt. Again, the distress crayons are much harder to move and blend out on the watercolor paper and the colors are more vibrant on the watercolor paper.

Once all the ink was dry, I mixed some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder by Ranger with water and randomly added splashed and went around the edges of one of the panels.

I used the Kaisercraft Postmarks Background Stamp with Ground Espresso Distress Oxide Ink and Stampin’ Up! Timeless Textures Rubber Stampset (retired) with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Ink on the Strathmore Bristol Smooth Paper panel and Stampers Anonymous – Tim Holtz – Ledger Script Stamp with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Ink and Tim Holtz® Stampers Anonymous Wildflower Layering Stencils (THS035) with Ground Espresso Distress Oxide Ink on the watercolor paper panel.

Finished the panels by adding splashes with watered down white Gesso and Ground Espresso Distress Oxide Ink on both panels.

For the third set of backgrounds, I started the process by ink blending on both the Cold Press Watercolor Paper and Strathmore Bristol Smooth Multimedia Paper. I used Milled Lavender, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire, Cracked Pistachio and Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Inks. I sprayed water and white vinegar onto both panels with the Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer and sprinkled Iodized Table Salt (fine grain), let it sit for a few minutes and pat dry with a paper towel and gently rubbed off the salt.

Then I did some ink smooshing with a few of the colors above, added water, white vinegar and salt again and let it sit for a few minutes.

Observations: Again very little reaction to the salt on either papers, But when rubbing off the salt from the watercolor paper panel, some of the areas of the paper pilled and rubbed off. Not a big deal; it just adds to the texture.

Once all the ink was dry, I used some Lindy’s Magical Shakers in Alpine Ice Rose, Magnolia Magenta Gold, and Time Teal Travel with water and added to some areas of the panels.

I used Stampin’ Up! Timeless Textures Rubber Stampset (retired) with Seedless Preserves, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Inks and the Stampers Anonymous – Tim Holtz – Ledger Script Stamp with Ranger Archival JET BLACK Ink on the watercolor panel. Then, on the Strathmore Bristol Smooth Paper panel, I used the Stampin’ Up! Timeless Textures Rubber Stampset (retired) and the Kaisercraft Postmarks Background Stamp with Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Inks and the Tim Holtz® Stampers Anonymous Wildflower Layering Stencils (THS035) with Ranger Archival JET BLACK Ink.

Finished the panels by adding splashes with watered down white Gesso and black ink on on both panels.

Stay tuned for another post creating some quick and easy cards with these panels in the near future.

Supplies

Thanks for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed and I’ve inspired you to give these backgrounds a try for yourself. They are lots of fun to make! Leave comments or questions below or feel free to email.