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Monday 28 July 2014

Destination Inspiration - Using Distress Stains

Hello everyone, Anne here and it is my pleasure today to host our regular feature - Destination Inspiration here at A Vintage Journey. 

 I am going back to basics using only Distress Stains (and a little stamping and embellishing).  I love using Distress Stains, they are my go to choice for colouring.  They are so versatile and easy to use, the colours stay true and they can be used in a whole variety of ways.  If you saw my post last Friday (here) you will see that I used them for watercolouring, so I am not repeating that technique here.  

In this tutorial I have concentrated on three techniques for using Distress Stains to create your tag bases.

Technique 1 - Brayering & Spritzing with Distress Stains

Take a tag, I used a white one (cut from Ranger Speciality Paper), dab some Distress Stain directly onto your mat (I use a glass one just for ease), take a brayer and roll it lightly through the Distress Stain.


Run the brayer up and down the tag, picking up more DS if necessary.  The brayering gives an uneven and very light coating on the tag, as you can see below.  Cover as much or as little as you wish.  On this sample I was happy with rolling back and forth twice.  You could use several colours here and if you do I recommend that you do them one by one, drying thoroughly each time, so as not to muddy your colours. Dry the tag thoroughly. 


Take a stencil, I have used Tim's doily stencil and place it over the dry tag.  Take some of the Distress Stain and put it in a mini spritzer bottle (Tim does a demo showing how to do this easily HERE) and lightly spritz over the stencil.  You can tape the stencil down if you wish but mine was lying quite flat and I just spritzed gently, ensuring I covered the whole area.


Carefully lift the stencil and you should have a nice covering over your tag.  Dry with a heat tool or just leave to air dry.  Some of the colour may run a little, but I am quite happy with that.


Finish the tag off by adding stamping and/or your favourite embellishments.  I used Tim's Frameworks trellis die and cut it the from another tag I created from mopping up left over stains.  I never waste any of the lovely stains! The vintage seam binding was also coloured with Distress Stains.



Technique 2 - Stenciling with Stains

For this technique take your favoured colours of Distress Stains and dab them onto your mat.  I used Wild Honey, Peacock Feathers, Peeled Paint and Salty Ocean.  Take a tag and spritz it very, very lightly with water.  I find this easier than spritzing at the next stage, with this particular technique, but the choice is yours.


Drag your tag (in this case I used a Manila one) through the stains in the same way you would do for Tim's wrinkle free technique, moving and tipping the tag to let some of the colours run.  Dry it and drag it through again until you are happy with the covering and dry thoroughly.  Remember to mop up any remaining stain from your mat onto another tag.


Dab some Distress Stain onto your mat and place a stencil of your choice over the tag.  Take a sponge (I used a simple make up one), dab it lightly into the stain and then dab gently through the stencil where you want it to show.


Carefully lift the stencil and dry the tag thoroughly.  With this technique it is best to dry it with a heat tool so the colour does not 'seep' further into the tag.  I love the effect of the DS stenciling - hard dabbing creates strong colour and lighter dabbing creates a ghost of colour.


I wanted to create a seaweed effect on my tag so I took a second stencil, some Peeled Paint Distress Stain and again dabbed it through the stencil, where I wanted the seaweed to be.


Carefully lift off the stencil and dry the tag thoroughly.  Don't forget to clean off your stencil or it may transfer unwanted ink onto your next project.


Now decorate your tag in your chosen way.  I wanted to use my favourite seahorse from the Blueprints set.  I added a starfish from the mini Blueprints set and some more grasses which I cut from the Movers and Shapers Mini Branch and Leaf die. 




Technique 3 - Wrinkle Technique using Stains

Many of you will use and be very familiar with Tim's wrinkle free technique but Tim also did a 'wrinkle' technique although I have not seen it used very often.  This involves screwing up a tag really tightly, in this case I used a manila one. You can lightly spray the tag with water to make the job easier but I used the tag dry in this case, as I wanted fairly big creases.


Unfold the tag and smooth it out.  If you pre-wet your tag the 'wrinkles' are likely to be a lot smaller.


Dab your chosen Distress Stains on your mat (about the same amount as in the previous technique) and drag the tag through the stains.  If you need more than one drag, make sure you dry thoroughly between drags.  I needed two drags on this tag.  It was still not totally covered so I spritzed a little water over the tag and let it blend.


Once I was happy with the coverage, I dried the tag thoroughly.  Next, I ironed the tag between two pieces of thin fabric.  You could also use brown paper or plain copier paper.  If you are using your household iron, do not iron directly onto the tag, as some of the stain may transfer onto the iron and then onto your clothes (ask me how I know that...)!  I use a little travel iron that I keep for craft work only.  This flattens the tag beautifully but leaves lovely wrinkle imprints.


The surface is now flat enough to stamp on.  The tag shrinks slightly with this technique and so I usually add another tag underneath, in this case a Ranger black tag and it gives a lovely little border around the whole tag.  You can see how well the stamping works, even though the wrinkles look quite deep.


I finished this tag simply by adding some vintage seam binding which I also coloured with Distress Stain.  They really are amazingly versatile!



So there you have it, three ways to use Distress Stain for creating backgrounds.  If you have not tried these techniques before I hope you will feel inspired to do so.

The current challenge (HERE), at A Vintage Journey is being hosted by the uber talented Jenny and as some of you will know, it is all about stains. My Creative Guide Teamies have created some fabulous pieces using Distress Stains.  We hope that you will get your stains out and create something, inspired by Tim Holtz and join in the journey!

For more techniques for using Distress Stain you can see Tim in a video HERE.

Products used in this post can be found at Country View Crafts as follows:

Distress Stains - Find them HERE
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamps - Find them HERE
Tim Holtz Collection of Layering Stencils - Find them HERE
Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Find it HERE
Tim Holtz Crinkle Ribbon - Find it HERE


44 comments:

  1. All absolutely lovely, Anne - a great DI which makes everything look so much fun, and three gorgeous tags into the bargain... and colours right up my street too! So inspired to go and play, but I really have to go to bed, sadly!! Ah well, there's always the morning... Thanks for the inspiration.
    Alison xx

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  2. Such fab techniques and tags. Thank you so much for the tutorials, I will definitely be able to make the most of my stains now! xx

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  3. Great Tutorials Anne. I do love the colours you have used. TFS. Hugs Rita xxx

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  4. Very nice tutorial Anne... I love your SAVE THE OCEANS... we need more of this on our tags... we need to help in anyway we can to heal our EARTH MOTHER... Love it... thanks so very much.. Love Light and Peace...Bonnie

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  5. All beautifully done Anne. Some brilliant inspiration! Thanks so much. Im off to have some fun with stains now. Karen.x

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  6. What a fabulous tutorial, and so well written - instructions made perfect sense! (that doesn't always happen with me!) Your results were lovely, and it is most helpful to see the pictures as I read. Each technique yielded such wonderful projects, and I was especially taken with the stencil ones, as sometimes I smear mine as I lift. Thanks for taking time to write this post. Hugs

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  7. Brilliant Anne, what a great DI. Fantastic step by step photos, explaining it all so clearly and the finished tags look brilliant!!

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  8. A fabulously informative and inspirational DI post Anne, it is so good to be shown techniques that enable us to create such effective backgrounds and have beautiful outcomes that bring them to life. Thank you for sharing your ideas and creativity with us and spurring us on to get these versatile stains onto our craft mats. Hugs xxx

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  9. Oh wow - thanks for the great inspirations!

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  10. Such a clear and helpful post Anne. I only have 3 colours of DIs and Picket fence....I will see if Iget a chance to play with them. Your tags are all gorgeous. The wrinkle technique was the first technique of Tim's I ever tried and my travel iron was used too. Thanks so much for the step by steps xx

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  11. Wonderful tags and techniques, thanks so much for sharing your know how on using Tim's Distress Stains!

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  12. Fabulous tags and techniques, superbly explained! Love the colours you have used and on the tag where you used the woodgrain stencil to created the seaweed - inspired! Thanks for the inspiration Anne, Hugs Carole Z X

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  13. Thanks so much for your comments everyone! I hope you have as much fun now with your stains as I do! Hugs, Anne xx

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  14. SUPERB Anne!!! I love how you've covered so many techniques in a really clear and easy to understand way here, producing three gorgeous tags. LOVE the idea of using the woodgrain for seaweed and the way the crumpled tag looked when stamped on and flat. Huge round of applause. Jenny x

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  15. Fantastic tutorial Anne! Never thought of using the Brayer so might have to give it a go. All the tags are stunning. Nikki xx

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  16. Fantastic techniques and the end results are wonderful. You DI was very inspiring Anne, especially the crumpled tag.
    TFS and huge hugs
    Annie x

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  17. Great tutorial, Anne and fabulous tags.

    I was playing with mine at weekend, just need to upload to the challenge :)

    Chris xx

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  18. Amazing tags and fabulous tutorial Anne!! Love the colours used and the end results are so gorgeous!! Brilliant work!! ox

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  19. Anne, thanks so much for sharing these techniques. I have seen them before, but it's amazing how I'd forgotten them - it's so good to be reminded. I love the colours that you've used and the results are fantastic! Jean.x

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  20. A beautiful set of tags and great tutorials. Well done Anne!

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  21. Brilliant tutorials Anne,more ideas to try,thank you :)
    Donna x

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  22. LOve this post!!! Great tutorial! Barbarayaya

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  23. Anne these tags are super gorgeous and show just how versatile and wonderful these are! love the step by step tutorials ...a great tutorial x

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  24. Great tutorial Anne, I only have a few DS colours and haven't really used them as I must admit I am a little intimidated at how fluid they are. However I feel inspired by your tutorial to "just go for it" lol. Thanks for all the tips and techniques you shared, all of your finished tags are just beautiful. Hugs Lottie x

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  25. Hi Anne, I loved all these tutorials I will be trying these out... Gorgeous colours & effects.... Thank you Anne for the inspiration.... Hugs May x x

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  26. I'm so excited that it's my friend that has written this tutorial, I really enjoyed it. I have three distress stains that I bought after we used them together. Hope I can come and play some more xxx

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  27. What beautiful backgrounds you created with different techniques using stains Anne! I can't wait to get home from work to play!

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  28. Anne, you have rocked the Distressed Staining world! What a great tutorial and the backgrounds are pure magic. Love all the different techniques you have shared with all of us. Hugs!

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  29. Fabulous fabulous tutorials and finished tags sure do have the wow factor. Stunning work Anne.
    Julie x

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  30. Brillian tutorials Anne and lovely clear pictures to help understand the many techniques you have shown. Mo x

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  31. Brilliant techniques and tutorials
    Off to try them!
    Thanks for the inspiration

    Jools x

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  32. This was brilliant, Annie! Honestly, you did such a lovely job of explaining. Thank you for demystifying some of the process to the point that I almost feel as though I could even try it! It is wonderful to see you presenting your skills and talents here!! Hugs, Darnell

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  33. Absolutely gorgeous colours and blending. The layering of patterns is lovely too.
    Heather T

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  34. Hello Anne and thank you for the really useful step by step tutorial and ideas. I love the gorgeous colours and how everything just comes together. x

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  35. Lovely Anne! Beautiful tags and a great tutorial ! Love the colours you have chosen , and the stained ribbon is gorgeous. X

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  36. THANK YOU for these clear instructions. I am up at the lake and it is mid afternoon...35 degrees Celcious! DH is calling to go swimming and the RV and bunkhouse need cleaned for company tomorrow.
    Will pop back tonight when DH is asleep and head more of your fab techniques.

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  37. Gorgeous tag, step by step instructions which is great and lovely colours used.xx
    ♥aNNie The Journey is the Start

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  38. Your instructions are very clear. Thank you! Tags are beautiful, love the Save the Ocean one.

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  39. Fabulous, Anne! I love all of the DS techniques you've shown us--the braying technique may be my fav, but I use them all :) Great inspiration to start us off on the right foot for the latest challenge :) XOXO-Shari

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  40. An incredible tutorial from you Anne and it surely took you forever and a day to create this post.
    Expertly explained with beautiful results.
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  41. A brilliant tutorial Anne! Love the colours you have used! (A couple of my stains seem to have changed colour!! ) You can probably guess which is my favourite!! Hugs, Chrisx

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  42. I love all three Anne - they look wonderful, each with terrific depth. Lovely to follow your clear tutorials - thank-you for all the fab little details. Nicola x

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  43. What an excellent tute! Terrific tags and a very cool challenge theme.

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  44. EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT !!!

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