I must admit, I can be a bit of a watercolour snob! When trying new supplies, I am always a little sceptical that they will meet up to the standards of my current favourites. However, I greatly respect Tim Holtz and the products he puts his name on. The Distress line is key in my creative process, so I was intrigued and optimistic about the new Distress Watercolour Pencils.

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tim holtz distress watercolor pencils

Simon Says Stamp kindly gifted the three sets of new watercolour pencils to me, and I quickly set up a swatch card to try them out. I have to say, I was very impressed! I scribbled the pencil onto the swatch card on the right side of each rectangle and then used a damp watercolour brush to pull the colour across to the left side of each rectangle, diluting the colour as I went. If need be, I used the damp brush directly to the pencil and added the intense pigment to the right side of the swatch area to deepen the colour. 

I was anticipating that the pencil, when scribbled onto the card, would not fully activate with the water and you would still see pencil lines. However, I need not worry because the pencils, on this card, Fabriano Artistico Extra White Watercolour Card, did fully disperse. I think the card you use is important, so I feel it is best to try the pencils on several options. I do this with every new supply I get. I try them in my sketchbooks, where the paper quality is lower. I try them on student-grade paper and artist-quality card too. Unsurprisingly, I often find the higher quality card gives the best results. 

The pigment, as you can see, is also very intense and bright. The paler colours were a little chalky, but that is the nature of the beast when trying to create pale or pastel colours. 

beautiful deep embossed snowflakes

Having swatched the pencils, I was keen to try them out in the real world. I was inspired by how, when I swatched the pencils, I touched the Seedless Preserves and Prize Ribbon together, and the colours blended beautifully.

I pulled these two pencils out of the Set 2 tin and scribbled them over a piece of watercolour card that I had embossed with the Glistening Snowflakes embossing folder. I have to say how lovely and deep the embossed image of the folder is. So elegant and truly Christmassy. I scribbled the pencils over the raised areas and then diluted the colour with a damp brush. To deepen the colour, I also scribbled the pencils onto the wet card to give a more intense lay down of pigment.

 To finish off, I splattered liberally with the pigment left over on my brush and also with Perfect Pearls solution for a little shimmer.

The Glistening Snowflakes embossing folder also comes with a matching die. I embossed a second piece of card and then used the die to cut the intricate snowflake from the middle. I attached it over the snowflake on the card but at an angle so that you could still see the snowflake underneath. For the greeting, I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Let It Snow set on a Navy card, trimmed out and foam mounted over the snowflake. I finished off with sequins, clear droplets and Honeysuckle drops.

supplies

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.