Tim Holtz Distress Ink Mini Pad – Water-Reactive Ink 1", Gathered Twigs

The Tim Holtz Distress range is a complete color system for scrapbooking, art journaling and mixed media. Although all products belong to the same family, they are not the same. Each sub-range has a different formulation and reacts differently on paper and with water.

Below you can see what each Distress product is and how it works.

🎨 Distress Inks

Water-activated dye inks designed for blending, layering and reactive techniques. They absorb into the paper and move with water, creating aged effects and organic backgrounds.

Available as:

• Distress Ink Pads
• Distress Mini Ink Pads
• Distress Ink Mini Kits

🧪 Distress Oxide Inks

Hybrid inks combining dye and pigment properties. They produce a soft, chalky finish and react strongly with water, creating the signature oxidation effect.

Available as:

• Distress Oxide Ink Pads
• Distress Oxide Mini Ink Pads
• Distress Oxide Mini Kits

💦 Distress Spray Stains

Water-activated dye inks in spray form. They soak into the paper, delivering fluid movement and expressive color for backgrounds and mixed media work.

Available as:

• Distress Spray Stains

🌫️ Distress Oxide Sprays

The spray version of Distress Oxides. Hybrid oxide inks in liquid form, offering chalky oxidation effects with strong water reactivity.

Available as:

• Distress Oxide Sprays

✨ Distress Spritz

Translucent shimmer sprays. Not a base color medium, but designed to be applied over other Distress products for shine, highlights and finishing effects.

Available as:

• Distress Spritz

🖍️ Distress Crayons

Solid, water-reactive color sticks. They activate with water and provide intense pigment, texture and control for mixed media applications.

Available as:

• Distress Crayons (single & sets)

✏️ Distress Watercolor Pencils

Watercolor in pencil form. Water-reactive and ideal for detail work, shading and controlled color application. These are color tools, not inks.

Available as:

• Distress Watercolor Pencils (single & sets)

🛡️ Distress Archival Inks

Permanent, waterproof archival inks. They do not react with water and are used when a stable stamped image is required before adding wet media.

Available as:

• Distress Archival Ink Pads
• Distress Archival Mini Ink Pads
• Distress Archival Ink Sets

🧭 Which Ink Do I Need?

Each ink pad is designed with specific uses in mind.
Some work best on paper, others on fabric, and others on non-porous surfaces — and this directly affects the result you’ll get.

To help you choose without trial and error, we’ve organized our inks based on how they actually behave in use, not just by brand name.
This way, you can more easily see which ink suits the technique and surface you’re working with.

🖋️ Pigment / Oil-Based Inks

When you want clean, controlled stamping with strong detail. These inks mostly sit on the surface and work beautifully with embossing.

Choose from:

• Tsukineko VersaFine Clair
• VersaColor
• VersaMark

🎨 Dye / Water-Based Inks

When you’re working with color, blending, layering, and backgrounds. These inks absorb into the paper and are designed for effects and movement.

Choose from:

• Pinkfresh Studio Ink Pads
• Graphic 45 Ink Pads
• Studio Light Ink Pads
• Spectrum Noir Dye Ink Pads
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks
• 49 & Market Dye Ink Pads

🧪 Hybrid Inks

When you want strong surface color, water-reactive behavior, and a more chalky finish that works especially well in layers.

Choose from:

• Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks
• Nuvo Hybrid Ink Pads
• Spectrum Noir Finesse Ink Pads

🧱 Permanent / Archival / Solvent Inks

When you need a permanent impression or you’re working on surfaces where standard ink pads won’t perform well.

Choose from:

• Ranger Archival Ink
• Distress Archival
• StazOn
• StazOn Metallics

Solvent-based StazOn inks are also suitable for non-porous surfaces, such as plastic, metal, glass, and ceramic.

🧵 Textile / Porous Surface Inks

When you’re working on fabric or porous materials and need the color to properly bond with the surface.

Choose from:

• Tsukineko VersaCraft Mini Ink Pads

🖨️ Press / Letterpress Inks

When working with press or letterpress techniques, where ink is transferred through pressure rather than absorption.

Choose from:

• BetterPress Inks
• Maker Forte Color Hive reMARKable Ink Pads

⚡ Quick Guide

• Clean stamping & embossing → Pigment
• Color, blending & backgrounds → Dye / Distress Inks
• Chalky layers & water-reactive effects → Distress Oxides / Hybrid
• Permanent results & non-porous surfaces → Archival / StazOn
• Fabric → VersaCraft
• Press techniques → BetterPress / Maker Forte