I just got my first batch of Distress Oxides in the mail, and I’ve been dying to give them a try.  So many crafters have been raving about them for so long.  I had to see what all the fuss was about.  I’ve been using the Distress Inks for watercoloring for a while, and I wanted to see how the oxides differed from the inks.

The biggest difference is readily apparent when you first smoosh the pad onto an acrylic block.  The pads are much “juicier” than the regular Distress Ink pads, and the colors seem thicker and more opaque.  The color lasts a whole lot longer on my waterbrush, too.  A little definitely goes a long way with these oxides.  As far as coverage, I didn’t really notice a huge difference between the oxides and the regular inks.

Here’s a simple card that I made using the Paper Smooches Best Buds and Altenew Birthday Wishes stamp sets and Distress Oxides (and a couple of Distress Inks, too).  Whenever I’m going to watercolor a stamped image, I like to heat emboss first.  It gives me nice, safe margins to paint.  (I haven’t tried the no-line watercoloring technique yet, but it’s definitely on my list.)

I finished the card using a few strips of card stock to balance the left side.  I added a few black paint splatters, too.  There’s just something about bright colors coordinated with black and white stripes that gets me every time…love that combo!

After trying Distress Oxides for the first time, I’m definitely going to add the rest of the collection onto my wish list.  If you haven’t given them a try, you definitely should.  They are fantastic!