Can I get a HIP HOP?

Sad times, these. When passing ruffians can say "Ni!" at will to old ladies... Hmmmm...I know there was a thought there before the movie interrupted...what was it... Oh I know!! This is the second to last HIP HOP EVER at Unity.

Well. You know... I'm sure Sept. 1st will bring something absolutely wonderful from the Unity crew, but this is a little like taking that security blanket away from a 2 year old! So, I will act like one! For a little while...until I see the new blankie Unity has for us...maybe...



On the Hip Hop today...the ladies were talking at one point about Ranger Distressing Inks. I was amazed, nay appalled!, that some of them didn't know how they differed from 'regular' ink, and what all they can do. I whipped up this little project to show just a smidgen of what I do with them.



This project (actually is part of a bigger project that you will see later because I know you are all such faithful readers and you would never ever want me to think you don't hang on my every word...) is a little collage that's going on a scrapbook page depicting some of the beautiful work that you all have shared with me! I'm almost as bad as that first-time mom who keeps every little scrap of paper her baby marked on forever and ever and ever. I do NOT want to part with your beautiful works of art, so they need a home!

They will live in a scrapbook album all about you peeps! Are you excited?? I am - I think this will be a fun project! Not only that, but it will document our relationships through time, what was going on in our world that caused you to send me something, something funny you said in a forum, how your kids are growing up, etc etc etc.

Here's the educational part of the program. I have a scor-mat, but if you have a piece of waxed paper, aluminum foil, basically anything non-porous you can do this neat trick. Take your Distressing ink pads, and wipe them on that non-porous surface. Use as many colors as you like. If you're a purist, you can blob down ink separately so you don't taint your yellow pad with blue, ok?

Take a water bottle, mister, anything that can put out a fine mist of water. Spritz it over your inked up non-porous surface. Working quickly use your finger to break up the solid blobs of colors - just squiggle your finger all the way acrossed, back and forth, here and there just so the inks don't have a clear "edge" to them. The finer your mist, the less you stir, and the faster you move will make a finer pattern. The longer you wait, the more you stir, the more likely you are to have blobs of color or inks that just look muddy.

Plop your paper (whatever kind you want to use, cardstock, patterned papers, glossy, etc.) face down into this watery world of color. Squish it. Peel it up and consider it. Like it? Great - let it dry or use your heat setting gun. Don't like it? Add more color, plop the paper down and repeat until you like it.

My sample here is mottled nicely, and the colors are faint hues rather than overpowering color. That, my friends, is distressing ink. A water reactive dye ink that you can do TONS of things with. Want more info? Check out Tim Holtz's website where he has a lot of tutorial videos using the distressing inks. Oh - I crumpled up the paper after it was dry and hit it with a little more distressing ink, and along the frayed edges.

Hey - I have a sneak peek coming later today. With news about a blog hop...stop back by and see what it's all about! Follow me on FaceBook too - you'll know almost instantly when I change my blog!

Happy hangover! Ta for now, ~ky