Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Paint DIY Scratch Art

Remember those scratch art bookmarks you used to get as a kid?  I do!  And I remember LOVING them!  Halle brought one home the other day and I thought, "How can I do that?"  At Valentines day the girls took homemade LOTTO scratcher tickets we made using silver paint mixed with dish soap.  But, we had to protect the bottom layer with the messages with clear duct tape.  That wasn't going to work for me.  I wanted my scratch art to be easier.  I did a quick google which showed people using that dish soap/paint mixture but their scratch art undercoat were oil pastels and crayons. Meh.  Not bright enough for my liking and then I would have to take the time to color every inch of the paper I was working on.

Light bulb.

Ranger Ink Distress Paints by Tim Holtz are permanent.  That means, I can use them for my bottom layer and once completely dry, I can layer over my black "scratch" layer and it won't affect the paint underneath.  Haven't used or heard of Distress Paints yet?  Head over to Craft Test Dummies to check out my full review of them! 

So let's gather up some supplies.  A crafty, mise en place, if you will.  (Top Chef was on today)

Paint brush, Ranger glossy cardstock, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paints, dish soap (not dishwasher detergent), shish kabob stick (Toothpicks are too small for my giant man-hands).

I cut my glossy cardstock down to ATC size for manageability. It was my instinct to use the glossy cardstock for this project; I honestly don't know how well it would turn out on a regular cardstock or copy paper.

Go ahead and paint your glossy cardstock with BRIGHT distress paints. You want these colors to POP.  Let them dry COMPLETELY before the next step.  You can go ahead and get your heat gun out to speeden up the process.  (You can also use Ranger alcohol inks for this bottom layer.)

Now, lots of people out there have different paint-dish soap ratios out there, but I'm just going to tell you what worked for me.  (It's not buffalo wing science. hehehe.)  I used about one tablespoon (or less) of dish soap and just a few drops of black soot distress paint.  Since distress paint is so fluid, a little really goes a long way. Try gently to, "fold," the paint and soap together; you don't want to create a lot of bubbles. I used a disposable souffle cup (my BESTEST friends in the kitchen & craft room) with a lid to save my leftover paint for later.  If you leave your soap/paint exposed to air you'll get one of those jelly membranous layers that will make for a big gloppy mess later.

Apply the paint mixture in even lines across your cardstock.  DO NOT go back over the brush strokes you already made; this will pick the black paint right back up and then you will be in a never ending story of brush on, brush off.

Have I told you how fabulously OPAQUE distress paint is?  You could get away with doing only one coat, but I did two on mine.  I do not recommend using a heat gun to dry your paint/soap layer.  It works but you will start burning/boiling parts of the soap and it creates a weird texture on your paper.  Just be a patient little grasshopper while they dry. I also want to note, your craft space at this point will smell like you've  been doing dishes for fifty-seven years straight with no break.  You'll feel like a genie in a bottle of palmolive.  Oh, and if you're working on a Ranger craft mat, which I highly suggest, wipe up the black paint while it's still wet.  It's a much bigger mess if you wait until it dries.  Learn from my mistakes, my little swans.

Voila!  Now you've got your own scratch art!  Share it with the kids!  Hoard it all for yourself!  You can grab masks and stencils to create shapes or just doodle away!  You'll want to have a paper towel, craft rag or dirty thigh around to wipe off your scratching stick as you scratch.  If for some reason your black paint doesn't scratch off, you didn't have enough dish soap in your mixture. Try again.  No big deal.  (I totally messed up my first batch.)  If you dig the chalkboard trend, skip the first step of paint and just make black and white scratch art.

Wait, I see a hand in the back of the room.  Do you have a question?  Yes?  What's that?  Speak up.  Oh, you're wondering if this technique will work with the new metallic distress paints???   WHY YES IT WILL!  I know Tim is off on a Tuscan adventure soon and I would always have my dad get me a Venetian mask when he was in Italy so I was feeling inspired...

I cut a mask image out on my Silhouette and repeated the above process using the metallic distress paints.  I have to say, this was FUN to make!  When your done scratching with your shish kabob stick, snip off the stabby end, paint it using a metallic color and glue it to your mask.  You are now ready for a masquerade, my friends!

Well, thanks for sticking around crafters!  Let me know if you try making your own scratch art using Distress Paints!

I will be at CHA in Las Vegas next week and you know I will be all OVER that Ranger booth reporting for Craft Test Dummies.  Head on over there, check out my crafty twitter @SaraJaneCrafts for updates.  I ordered myself a fancy monopod and adapter for my iPhone so I won't have as shaky videos!  Yay for new toys!