Grunge It Up!

Some of the best tools in any scrapbooker’s bag of tricks are grunge brushes, templates, and masks. You can fade and distress embellishments, blend papers and photos together, and minimize patterns underneath journaling. They are quick and easy and oh-so-versatile! Here are two ways to get you started.

Grunge BrushesOne of the coolest things about brushes is that you can actually use them as erasers. I use this trick all the time. These letters quickly become part of the background with just a few clicks.

When using a grunge brush as an eraser, remember to vary the brush size and opacity. You’ll get a faded, worn look in no time.

This same look can be achieved with text. Type your words (journaling or title), simplify the layer, and then erase away. Just use a light hand so it doesn’t get difficult to read.

Grunge Paper TemplatesYou can quickly make embellishments, papers, or alphas look worn or distressed by clipping a grungy paper template to them, then playing with the Opacity and Blending mode settings.

You can even combine the grunge eraser technique and the grunge paper template technique to get something really faded and messy.

I hope you’ll soon love working with grunge products as much as I do! And I especially hope you’ll share your creations with all of us in the Scrap Girls Gallery. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

(Click on the image below to be taken to the product page)

Tutorial written by Anna Mansfield