Distressing tutorial

I said the other day I would show you how I distress large numbers of papers in a short amount of time.  This is my method, however right or sane it is.  You can do it this way, with a few less papers, or skip it all together.  Personally, I LOVE distressing paper.  It is the fastest way to add a little shadow without getting to Artsy Fartsy or robbed of your precious time.  This is the ink I use.  It is a little more expensive than the regular ink pads, but for some reason, it works better for this.  They sell it at Micheals, Hobby Lobby, and most scrapbook/stamping stores (not sure about Joanns).  They also sell this ink in a bottle with a dropper.  I buy this to re-fill my ink pads.  It doesn't tell you on the bottle that you can use it for that.  I think because it saves you $$$.  I can re-ink enough times from that bottle to equal 4-5 stamp pads, and the bottle costs the same as a stamp pad :0)

Works best with cardstock, but really works just fine with thinner paper too.  I start out by making piles of 5 or 6.  You get a thicker edge when you go as few as 3, but I find the thinner distress is fine for most projects.  The strips of paper I am showing you are only 1 1/4" wide, so they don't have much room, just need a little su-em su-em.  I make the piles so I am ready to go.

Next, stair-step the papers, based off of a corner, so there is about a 1/4" of each paper showing.

Rub that ink on the paper.  It is that easy.  You can rub with the stamp pad parallel to the paper (like shown in the picture) if you want just the very edge to be inked.  I don't usually do it this way.  I like a little messiness on the front.  I like to hold it so it almost completely facing the papers and run the stamp pad along the edge.  I ink a little more heavily at the corners.  If you are worried, cut a few sample pieces of paper and practice first.  It really looks better if there are a few spots where the ink is heavier or lighter.  Think of it as organized chaos.

I went lighter on these little guys.  When done with the one side, I lay them out (to let the ink dry) and do the next pile, then the next, until they are all done on one side like this...

Now time to pick up that first pile and start all over again.

Notice how the bottom side of this pile is distressed, the un-done side is stair-stepped and ready to distress.  Repeat the steps all over again and you are done!  Distressing is one cheep and easy way to make a fun project really *POP*