New Distress Color GAH!!!

I'm surprised it's yet another blue. By itself I don't mind the colour, but as someone else said I have other blues that will work better with my stash than this.

Yes. 

That’s like not liking chocolate. How can it be!?! 😉 I’m fine with the color but will see if it actually fills a gap. 

I have a theory—and they are often wrong—that sometimes loving Oxides has to do with how someone learned to use them. I was lucky because an extremely talented instructor taught a workshop at an LSS when the first colors came out. It was a small class so got plenty of help. She also wrote a meaty handout. 

Oxides kind of remind me of paint without the mess or gloppiness. I’ve wondered if I hadn’t taken that class, if I’d love them so much. And btw, I often don’t use water with them. They just blend like butter for backgrounds or die cuts. 

And agree re choices. I had a lot of Copics because I thought I should like coloring. But I didn’t even like it when a kid. I took some classes to make sure it wasn’t that I couldn’t use them. Then I got rid of them. Some people were shocked. 

I like it! It reminds me of an old SU! Color not quite navy (at least on my screen). I tend to just stamp with the oxides and do the occasional blending background and I'm good with that.

The packaging is deceiving because the color is a dark teal. When you add water it really wicks out into some beautiful blues. Goes great with other colors that were shown in the live. I like inks as they are a more vibrant color but oxides do blend well!

Do you mean you like Distress inks more than Oxide inks? Or some other type?

OT Just curious since you like vibrant, if you’ve tried Versafine Clair. Extremely vibrant pigment inks, though fast drying, and they’re magic. 😳 After you stamp and they feel bone dry, they still can be heat embossed five to sevenish minutes afterwards or sometimes longer. Exactly how long probably depends somewhat on humidity. And they stamp extremely crisply. Oh, and they do second generation stamping beautifully, sometimes third. 

They’re a later version of Versafine. I love them for detailed stamping. 

Oh, yes!  Love the VF Clair!

I love blues, but not another one, Tim!

We need a true grey! Like a black grey. (or gray, if you use that spelling). Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke both look brown-ish to me. Iced Spruce, green; Weathered Wood, blue.

That would be nice, though I’d love a taupe. Distress browns have yellow, red, slightly green undertones or are extremely dark, not that I don’t like Ground Espresso, etc. But where’s the latte or chocolate milkshake? 

Have you tried blending Black Soot with Picket Fence on a mat, although Picket Fence isn’t a real Distress Oxide? Black Soot with Hero Arts Unicorn might work. 

I recently bought quite a few mini cubes that were Distress Ink and noticed the same problem. A lot of my older cheaper brands had dried up. I'm a basic stamper, so I haven't delved into oxide inks yet. These were colors that had been out a long time. More recent inks were very hit and miss.

I was underwhelmed and then saw the swatches and now I want it too. Whoopsie. This is even after unpacking a box with some of my inks and realizing I have 4 unopened oxides and no space. It's so hard not to want all the colors. What I should do, is really look at my collection and see where I have gaps and then place an order after I get my crafty room unpacked. Maybe this will motivate me.

*Goes to look at scrapbook.com instead of starting to unpack

I'm confused. What are you supposed to do with regular distress inks? I thought they were better for getting crisper images. I thought the oxides were for stamping and doing other things like blending.

I always thought they are for blending. And spraying with water for effects. I might be wrong, but I don't think I've seen Tim ever stamp with them.

It’s not that regular Distress isn’t good at blending - is is. It’s just that Oxides are easier. But they’re two different looks, with regular Distress being translucent and Oxide opaque. And if you don’t like an Oxide color or made a mistake, you can cover it with a different color as long as the first color is dryish. 

The two can be used together. Like the card I mentioned in a class where bright Oxide colors were used but to tone it down and appear aged a regular Distress brown was lightly applied and used for edging. 

Since regular Distress is translucent, it won’t show up so well on dark paper. With Oxides the ink sits on top of the paper so you can see the color well. But some people do stamp with them and if you’re getting a good image that’s what counts. I was going to say a stamping platform will help and you’ve got that covered. 

A lot of techniques are with water - with both types. I’ll find a couple videos I kind of remember and list them. 

I don’t think you wasted your money at all, and 50% off is a great.