Tim Holtz Distress Ink DIY Color Chart

I Love my Tim Holtz Distress Inks!  Why?  B/c I love watercolor!!  For those of you who may not know, they are a water based ink which means they are soluble in water!  They come in 49 colors and are available in ink pads, markers, stains, & sprays.  I have them all in the ink pads and the markers!  They are coming out with 12 new colors in 2015.  They plan to release them 1 color per month!  Oh the anticipation!  The new color for January is called Cracked Pistachio!  It is a delicious shade of turquoise that is very vintage and kitschy!  I'll be ordering from Crafty Saver as soon as it starts shipping in Feb.  They have the best prices and customer service!

I wanted my Distress Ink chart with me where ever I go so I just made it in my journal!  My journal pages are #140 watercolor paper.  While you can use these markers/ink on just about any paper, for blending purposes you won't find anything better than watercolor paper.   So, my journal pages are 5.5" x 8" in size. I cut a small square piece of card stock 3/4" square and snipped the corners for a more rounded look. I managed to get 6 colors across and 6 colors down.  I left a 1/2" space between the rows to write in the color name.  Since this wasn't enough room for all 49 colors I continued the chart on the back.  If I do this again, I'll lay it out so that it is on two facing pages!

I penciled in my squares and then went over them with my Faber-Castell Pitt pens b/c they are waterproof.  Then I erased all the pencil marks.

I wrote in all the ink names.  I messed up on a few looking from an old chart and had to paint over them with Gesso.

After the gesso dried I filled in the names!

Here is the back side of the page.

To fill in the boxes, i used a small heart stamp and my Distress Ink pads and stamped the heart in the corner.  Next I used my Distress markers and colored in the bottom of the square.  I used my water brush to pull the color up towards the heart to show it fading into the white page.

I continued on the back.  I kept my little square template stuck to the page with Washi tape so I can add more squares as new colors are released.  After all 12 new colors are released this year then I will prolly make a new chart so I can insert them where they will belong, but for now, I'll just add them to the bottom.   I'd love to see your color charts if you try this out!! Leave a comment!  Thanks for looking!

Oh, and if you enjoy using Distress Ink in a more traditional style of watercoloring, then you've got to come over to my Facebook Group  Distress Ink for Watercolor! We'd love to have you join us!

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