Stressed about Distressing?

In response to a great question to a previous card post about the how, what and why of distressing, I’m devoting an entire blog post to the technique. Jessica asked specifically about distressing in tight spots and what to use when distressing, so I will answer those questions specifically as well as why anyone would go to the trouble of distressing. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Like my professors and teachers at school always said, there’s no such thing as a stupid question! Sometimes I forget that while I’ve been doing this for over 10 years, a lot of my readers probably haven’t!

Distressing

The distressing technique, according to Dictionary.com is an antiquing process used in a wide variety of crafts:

Distress: (noun) to dent, scratch, or stain (furniture, lumber, or the like) so as to give an appearance of age. Dictionary.com

It’s more well known to the general public in wood or metal crafting, but paper crafters use the technique with different tools to give an aged appearance to cards, scrapbook albums and other paper projects. For most of my card projects, when I say distressing, I usually mean to apply a distressing technique around the edges of the paper, as opposed to applying it to the entire piece (if that makes sense). With a lot of card and layout designs I have seen, distressing isn’t used so much as a method of antiquing but as a way to add depth and a frame to the paper you’re working with. It is also a great way to add another coordinating color to your designs. A lot of paper I use isn’t really designed to have an aged feel, so using distressing to give it an antique feel would be a little odd.

The Tools

Seasoned paper crafters can correct me or suggest more tools to use, but the three main distressing tools I use and know of are:

1. Sandpaper or sanding block
2. Ink
3. Scissors or Xacto knife

I will go through each tool to explain the different technique and the various effects it will have (also what paper and materials are best for each) in the next section. For my time and money, I generally use ink over sandpaper or the blade of my scissors or Xacto knife. Simply because with ink, I can use a variety of colors and tailor the distressed effect with whatever paper I’m working with. For instance, if I’m designing with blue paper I can use a variety of blue inks to make my cards and layers of paper stand out more (or green and reds with Christmas cards, etc). In contrast, with sandpaper or scissors, the effect will always be a lighter edge, rather frayed. While this is a really cool look, it doesn’t work for every project and can get messy with all the “paper dust” rubbed off. Unless you’re real good with scissors and razor blades, I would caution against using the Scissor method. Not that you could easily cut yourself, but it takes a lot of practice to get the technique right without cutting up the paper and making a mess of things.

The Methods

1. Ink

   

   Color Box Cat's Eye Fluid Chalk Inkpads

   As I mentioned above, using ink pads to distress is my favorite method of distressing. Using regular-sized ink pads you might use for stamping is a little awkward, so I use Cat’s Eye ink pads from Color Box. Versa Mark also makes a small square ink pad, but I prefer the Cat’s Eye because they are so much easier to use and GREAT for getting into tight spots (like, say the inside of chipboard letters, etc). Cat’s Eye ink pads come in a fluid chalk ink or pigment ink – in general I have come to love the chalk ink colors a lot more than the regular inks. These tiny ink pads aren’t real efficient to use for stamping, unless you’re using small stamps, so I generally reserve mine for distressing. They cost around $2 ($1.99 in most stores) and come in a wide range of colors.

   

   Distressing

   

   Distressed Page

   To use these ink pads for distressing, simply run the ink pad around the edge of the piece of paper. Play with the ink pad at different angles to get more or less of a distressed edge. The amount of ink on the edge is really up to your discretion. Some paper and designs look great with more of a distressed edge, some look better with only a slight darkening. View the above photos for examples of what I mean by “run the ink pad around the edge”. The picture on the bottom shows the effect of distressing. The left edge of the paper is distressed with a chestnut roan ink (possibly not my first choice, but works for this demonstration).

   Ink pads like these Cat’s Eye pads are fantastic for almost any paper, including chipboard. I love using these inks for my mini chipboard albums and projects. I hate seeing the edges of chipboard (looks like cardboard – ugly!) in my projects, so I rub some ink along the edges to cover them up and finish the album off! They work really well even to get into little crevices and the insides of chipboard letters – simply angle the ink pad, or use the tip of the “cat’s eye” to get into corners.

2. Sandpaper or Sanding Blocks

   

   Making Memories Sanding Block

   The application of sandpaper or sanding blocks is the same as it is with using ink pads. Simply run the sandpaper along the edge of the paper – experiment with different angles and harder rubbing for the effect you are going for! Try it out on a piece of scratch paper, too, beforehand so you don’t accidentally ruin your project. Sanding blocks like I have aren’t great for getting into little crevices or doing the insides of letters, but little pieces of sandpaper would work great since you can fold and crunch them up quite a bit. These work great with chipboard, wood and thick cardstock. I have used them with regular text-weight paper, but it’s more difficult to get the look I want since the paper tears easily. I have used sand paper and sanding blocks for distressing the entire piece of paper too to give the whole thing an aged look.

   Sand paper is easy to find at any hardware, craft or lumber store – and generally pretty cheap. These pieces last a long time and can be easily stored. I have a scrapbooking-specific sanding block made by Making Memories that costs a couple dollars. It measures 3 1/2 x 1 x 1 1/2 and has different grades of sandpaper on all sides. I got mine 2 years ago and it still works great. Since it’s so small it is easy to store as well. Making Memories also has an entire kit dedicated to distressing (though, to be honest, I don’t think I would ever use all the pieces and can get by just fine with my ink and sandpaper!). To view the kit, click HERE.

3. Scissors or Xacto Knife

   

   Scissors and Xacto Knife

   The same method used in the two above techniques is used with this application. Except, you are using the edge of scissors or an Xacto or utility knife. I have never liked this method much – it’s inefficient and I have never been able to get the effect I am looking for. I learned this method in a card class about a year ago and have never used it since. The scissors or knife blade doesn’t scrape the edge of paper very well and I (hopefully others are much more proficient with their tools than me!) always end up cutting into the paper instead of gradually rubbing off the edge. That said, this is probably the one method that requires tools you would most likely have at hand, whether you are a seasoned paper crafter or not. Any kind of scissors will do – though I don’t have enough experience to know if sharper scissors work better or not.

I hope this helps give a somewhat better idea of what the distressing technique is all about and how you use it and what tools you can use to achieve the distressed look! As always, please bombard me with questions when you have them!

Thanks for creating with me!