Category Archives: Distress Techniques

- Dies – Simon Says Stamp “Stitched Daisies”
- Stencil – Ranger Dylusions “Fronds of Foliage”
- Tag – Ranger #8 Manila Tag
- Distress Crayons – Ranger Tim Holtz: Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves, and Mermaid Lagoon
- Distress Inks – Ranger Tim Holtz: Chipped Sapphire and Salty Ocean
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Ribbon
This tag was my first experiment with Distress Crayons. I started with a manila tag and colored it with three different colors of the crayons, pretty much covering the whole tag. I spritzed it with water and blended the colors a bit. I applied Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink through the stencil in a few spots and then applied Salty Ocean ink all around the edges of the tag, blending all of the colors together. Along the way, I spritzed and splattered some water to add some nice spots! The focal point is the set of daisy die cuts from Simon Says Stamp, that I also distressed with Chipped Sapphire before adhering to the tag. I like how the ink picks up the faux stitching on the daisies. Thanks for visiting today.
2 Comments | tags: die cuts, distress techniques, mixed media, Ranger, Simon Says Stamp, stencils, tim holtz | posted in Distress Techniques, Simon Says Stamp, Tags

- Stamps: All Hero Arts
- CL469 – Swirl Christmas
- CL 887 Color Layering Christmas Tree
- Gemstones – Hero Arts – Baby Blue and Clear
- Die – Spellbinders Nestabilities “Fancy Tags”
- Distress Inks: Broken China and Tumbled Glass
- Ombre Ink – Hero Arts – Pool to Navy
- Neenah Solar White cardstock
I created this card for a 90-minute challenge I participated in with my Flickr Hero Arts group last weekend. The challenge, called a scramble, was to put together a holiday/Winter card using tiny stamps and it has to be completed and posted within 90 minutes. I’m pretty slow to complete my cards, so doing these are always very challenging for me! But I did it! I created the background by applying the two Distress Ink colors with an foam ink applicator and then spattered it with water. Once dry, I stamped the snowflakes and swirls (from two different clear stamp sets) with the ombre ink pad. I die-cut the label and stamped the sentiment from the CL887 set and popped it up with dimensional adhesive. I added a gemstone to the center of each snowflake for a little sparkle.
I was able to also play along in the Paper Players Challenge #273 with this card. This challenge is a TIC-TAC-TOE puzzle and I picked the three items from the top left to the bottom right diagonally shown on the puzzle board: Snowflake-Sparkle-Die-cut! Perfect! Thanks for visiting.
2 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, distress techniques, Hero Arts, spellbinders, tim holtz | posted in Challenges, Christmas, Distress Techniques, Paper Players, Winter

- Dies:
- Spellbinders “Foxy” and Labels One”
- Simon Says Stamp “Thanks”
- Metallic Gold cardstock
- Ranger Distress Inks – Mermaid Lagoon, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, and Picked Raspberry
- Doodlebug sequins
- Cardstock – Bazzill
First, I created the multi-colored background by painting with Distress Inks and water, and then spritzed it with a little more water to get some nice spots! Then I die-cut it and the fox and sentiment and put them altogether. I unified it with more metallic gold by adding the sequins. I mounted the pieces on black to make the colors pop. The Shopping our Stash Challenge #228 is Thanks, which appropriate since Thanksgiving is just a couple of days away. Thanks for stopping by and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
2 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, distress techniques, Ranger, Simon Says Stamp, spellbinders, watercolor | posted in Challenges, Distress Techniques, Shopping Our Stash, Thank You

- Stamp – Technique Tuesday “Greenhouse Society – Pansy” August 2015
- Tim Holtz Distress watercolor cardstock – Ranger Ink
- Embossing powder – Detail Silver
- Tim Holtz Distress Markers – Ranger Ink – Dusty Concord, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron, and Broken China
I’m taking the Online Card Classes Watercolor for Cardmakers: Exploring Mediums class right now. This was an image I painted as a result of Day One’s lessons using watercolor-based markers. First I heat embossed the image from Technique Tuesday with silver embossing powder. I then used Ranger Distress Ink markers as my watercolor medium. I haven’t quite pulled a card together with this yet. Thanks for visiting today.
2 Comments | tags: distress techniques, embossing, stamping, technique tuesday, tim holtz, watercolor | posted in Distress Techniques, Online Card Classes

- Dies – Simon Says Stamp “Stitched Daisies” and “Thanks” (from Stamptember 2015 and 2014, respectively!)
- Ranger Distress Inks – Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass, and Chipped Sapphire
- White Heavyweight Vellum – Paper Accents
- Cardstock – Bazzill Dotted Swiss – Deep Blue and Paper Accents – Blue Odyssey
- Punch – Marvy 1″ circle
I started out by creating a background for this card. I decided I would work with blues so I could participate in the current Addicted to CAS challenge #71: Code Word Blue. I used the “ink smooshing” technique I first learned from Kristina Werner, with Ranger Distress inks. I wanted to get some good contrast of tone and value as I smooshed the ink around. I die cut the daisies from heavyweight vellum to show off the “stitching” that is embossed on the petals. I wanted to showcase the daisies a bit more, so I added small punched white circles behind each and then repeated the circles in vellum to accent the sentiment. This isolated them from the busy background a little bit. I also applied a little Chipped Sapphire ink to the sentiment so that it stood out just a little bit more. I adhered the piece to a top-folding card and finished it all off with some Wink of Stella sparkle on the daisies. Thanks for visiting.
4 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, distress techniques, flora, Simon Says Stamp, stamptember | posted in Addicted to CAS, Challenges, Distress Techniques, Thank You

- Stamps –
- Ranger/Dina Wakley Media “Scribbly Birds”
- Printworks “Thank You”
- Patterned papers – KaiserCraft “Outdoor Trail” 6-1/2″ paper pad
- Ranger Distress inks – Squeezed Lemonade, Bundled Sage and Dried Marigold
- Wood button – Prima Marketing
- Enamel dots – Teresa Collins – Orange
- Twine – Little B – Naturals
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Kraft paper
I created this card with one of the cute bird images by Dina Wakley. First I applied Ranger Distress inks to the paper, blending the three colors in a somewhat random manner. Then I stamped the image onto the inked cardstock and cut it out. This background paper is spot varnished, so it has a real sheen to it (I think you can see it in the photo). I used the current challenge sketch at Retro Sketches (#179) and also will enter this in the Shopping Our Stash #217: Put a Bird on it! Using inspiration from the sketch to put this card together was pretty fun. Thanks for visiting today.
2 Comments | tags: cardmaking, Dina Wakley, distress techniques, KaiserCraft, Ranger, stamping | posted in Challenges, Distress Techniques, Retro Sketches, Shopping Our Stash, Thank You

- Dies – Simon Says Stamp – “Stitched Rectangles” and “Frames” (two die cuts from this set)
- Stencil – Simon Says Stamp – “Circle Dots”
- Stamp – Simon Says Stamp (designed by Hero Arts) – “Brave (OWH)”
- Cardstock – Bazzill (white) and BoBunny “Passion Fruit Dot”
- Inks – Ranger Distress Inks – Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, and Shaded Lilac; Hero Arts Ombre pad – Pink to Red (used on sentiment)
- Bling – Hero Arts and Mark Richards
I created this card for two Simon Says Stamp (SSS) challenges. The Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #26 is to create a card using pastel colors. The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is to create a project featuring three colors. So I made a card that has three pastel colors and lots of polka dots. I created the background by applying Spun Sugar and Shaded Lilac Distress inks through the SSS stencil. I then blended Tumbled Glass ink onto cardstock and die cut it for the sentiment. Three gemstones were attached to three of the background dots for just a little sparkle. I layered all of the elements onto polka dot-covered cardstock to tie it all together. Thanks for stopping by.
1 Comment | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, distress techniques, Hero Arts, Ranger, Simon Says Stamp, stamping, stencils, tim holtz | posted in Challenges, Distress Techniques, Simon Says Stamp, Thank You
Hero Arts Stamps:
CL738 – Messages with Flourish
CL834 – Stamp Your Own Plant
CG613 – Simple Leaf Background
Hero Arts Frame Cuts:
D1004 – Rectangle Frame
Twine – My Mind’s Eye “Chalk Studio”
Cardstock – Bazzill and Worldwin
Ranger Distress Inks
I created this card as part of a personal challenge on the Hero Arts Flickr group, where we challenged ourselves to create a card with at least one Hero Arts product within a 90 minute timeframe. I made it (barely!) within that amount of time. I’m very slow and methodical, so any timed challenge is really tough for me! The background was something I made after taking the first day of Online Card Classes “Background Check” class. I used Distress inks and water, plus a lovely Hero Arts background stamp to make the background. A very fun technique! Thanks for visiting today.
2 Comments | tags: cardmaking, die cuts, distress techniques, flora, Hero Arts, leaves, my mind's eye, stamping | posted in Challenges, Distress Techniques, Online Card Classes, Thank You, Uncategorized

- Stamps – Hero Arts “Large Flower Background – CG403” Sentiment from LP277 OWH “You’re My World”
- Lace – Hero Arts – Cream Adhesive Lace
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Pearls – Queen & Co.
- Inks – Ranger Distress Ink – Victorian Velvet, Old Paper, and Pumice Stone
This was a fun card to make. Over in the Hero Arts group on Flickr, I participated in my first “scramble” challenge. I had 90 minutes to create a card using something from Hero Arts that fit the theme. The theme today was “vintage.” It was sort of a comedy of errors on my part, but I squeaked in at the end of 90 minutes, completing this card. I used Distress Inks direct to the stamp and then spritzed the stamp with water and stamped the image onto watercolor paper. I then added some layers of cardstock and a sentiment from a Hero Arts Operation Write Home (OWH) set. I will add this to my OWH box that I’ll be sending off at the end of July. Thanks for stopping by.
1 Comment | tags: cardmaking, distress techniques, Hero Arts, watercolor | posted in Backgrounds, Challenges, Distress Techniques, Miss You, OWH

- Stamp – Penny Black “Allegro”
- Patterned paper – Bella Blvd. – Campout Collection: “Gone Fishing”
- Bling – Mark Richards – Crystal Stickers in Light Blue and Lavendar
- Cardstock – Bazzill
- Distress Markers – Shabby Shutters, Spun Sugar, Mermaid Lagoon, Stormy Sky, and Dusty Concord
I created eight (alike) Artist’s Trading Cards (ATCs) to trade with my Craft Stamper group that meets monthly. This technique was featured in the May 2015 issue of Craft Stamper magazine. This technique works really well with imagery that is not perfectly representational since coloring your image is not necessarily within your control. The watercolor medium is Distress ink via Distress markers, with a spritz or three from a water bottle! Thanks for stopping by today.
1 Comment | tags: distress techniques, flora, penny black, stamping, watercolor | posted in Artist's Trading Cards, Craft Stamper, Distress Techniques