Nothing like a little distressing to clear your mind!

As I was saying the other day, we're in the middle of trying to buy a house at the moment and it's taking a lot longer than we anticipated to hear back from the sellers. This has left us in a prolonged state of waiting, with butterflies in our stomachs, hoping, but trying not to get our hopes up too much! You know the feeling! I sat down to do some cardmaking on Sunday evening and decided to pull out the Distress embossing powders I had bought last month but not put to the test yet. I had the faded jeans and shabby shutters colours and thought they would be good to do another take on the card I did using my paint dabbers on the flower stamp to create grass and sky in the background.

I stamped the Hero Arts Flower Medley stamp onto white cardstock and heat embossed the faded jeans and shabby shutters distress powders, rubbing over the image when it was set to remove the release crystals, creating the distress effect. I loved the distressed look it created and carried it on by distressing the edges of the piece by running the blade of my scissors up and down the edges to give them a torn look. I did the same with a piece of brown textured card stock and adhered the image to it at an angle. I wrapped twine around three times, tying a small bow on the left side. I then stamped a cream coloured card with Hero Arts La Lettre in Antique Stain distress ink several times, wiping off ink on random parts of the stamp before stamping to create an old faded look. I went back with antique linen on a blending tool to distress the edges of the card, and also frayed burlap on the very edges after distressing with my scissors as I did with the other pieces. I adhered the pieces onto the card at an angle and then stamped the sentiment which I altered from the Hero Arts Everyday Sayings by cutting the stamp in half and mounting it on my clear block in the desired position.

I loved how this card came out and once I had one done I got in the distressing groove!! Here's some more I created....

I had some samples of ColourCore cardstock that I had received which as the name suggests have a coloured core and are designed to be sanded to created a distressed look. I pulled these out and went to town on a red piece in the card above, sanding and using my newly (to me!)  discovered technique of distressing the edges using scissors. I stamped La Letter in frayed burlap and sanded over it again. I love how the piece turned out almost looking like fabric with all the texture and faded colour. I used my Hero Arts Handwritten Christmas stamp, using the masking technique to change its layout. I stamped Hero Arts Flourish Pine onto a cream card and distressed the edges using scissors and inking with antique linen. The felt poinsettias and leaves are by Making Memories and I picked them up at Target. I stuck them on with Glossy Accents and then embellished with stick on gems in the centers of the flowers.

 Next up is a really simple card I made using a seahorse stamp I had bought from a designer on Ebay and hadn't been able to work out a way to incorporate it into a card yet. I just stamped the image using Vintage Photo onto a piece of cardstock, and inked over with antique linen and frayed burlap using the blending tool, and once again pulled out those scissors to distress the edges! I used another piece of the ColourCore cardstock, this time in brown and sanded it a lot to give it a really distressed look, again with the scissor distressing too lol! I just adhered the pieces onto a matching coloured card and stamped the simple sentiment also from the Hero Arts Everyday Sayings underneath in Stazon.

 Then I moved on to this little owl stamp I got in a set of bird stamps (can't remember the manufacturer, sorry) at Joann when I went on my very first ever stamp supply shopping  trip a couple of months ago! I kept trying to use it, and really wanted to use it in a card for my grandmother who collects owl ornaments, but was never happy with the results. I finally got one I liked!! I used the same techniques and inks as in the seahorse card, just using patterned paper for the mat this time. I also stamped Hero Arts Design Block Flourish onto the card with frayed burlap and swiped the blending tool along the edges to blend. The card has a glossy finish to it so the ink didn't soak in well. I blotted over it with a paper towel to pick up some of the sxcess ink and it gave it a more soft, smudgy look that I thought really matched the feel of the card. The sentiment is from Hero Arts Birthday Messages.

The colour scheme and idea to add the beads on wire wrapped around the image was inspired by the current Etsy Inspired Challenge,  in particular this necklace from their featured Etsy store Happy Day Designs:

 I just love the look of the turquoise and browns together. They have lots of other beautiful beaded necklaces also, lots of fun 'window shopping' over there!!

Finally, one last card made using all the same techniques and supplies as the cards above, using another stamp I had bought and not found use for yet!! I just had to get this stamp from the Tim Holtz collection for Stampers Anonymous, after all it is my personal mantra... and the inspiration for the name of my blog!! This time I stamped Hero Arts Dots and Flowers on the green distressed cardstock panel, and the card, again wiping off ink in parts of the stamp before stamping to create a more distressed effect.

Oh what a fun stress relief that was, I am now hooked on distressing!!

Thanks for stopping by

Lynsey x