Reactive Distress Ink Tutorial

This artsy-looking watercolour technique is really fun! It might not be for everyone but it gives a wonderful and unique result that looks harder to achieve than it actually is, so give it a go! It works really well with stamps that you can layer, so think of your two or three-part flower stamps for example, but really you can use it for any stamp and I have a few different examples here so that you can see it in action.

The key to this technique is getting those gorgeous textured watercolour tendrils coming out of the stamped image, so you are going to need to stamp with an ink that reacts to water after it is dry. Distress Ink is perfect for this job, but other dye-based ink may work too so try them out.

Control the look by starting with a small spritz of water then adding to it if you need to. Or, if you have too much water on the paper, reach for your heat tool to dry it off quickly before it spreads too much. Have a play and see what looks you like and how much water you need to give them.

Once the artsy look is how you want it and the surface is dry, you can come back in and stamp again over the top. Using a black outline over the top looks great but there is nothing stopping you changing it up and using embossing over the top or other colours.

You can create some really special projects with this technique so have fun and see where you can take it!