Simon Says Stamp and Show...Whatever Makes You Happy

Good morning and welcome back to another marvelous Monday morning with Simon Says Stamp and Show.  This week we invite you to show us Whatever Makes You Happy.  What a cool  challenge - well actually it's not very challenging - LOL.  All you have to do is make whatever sort of vintage creation pleases you and link it up to our challenge site.  You might just be the random prize winner or come in Top 3 and get that coveted badge for your blog. 

Here's what makes me happy this week.  As you can see, I am FINALLY getting into the Christmas mood.  I really resisted it because I wanted to give the other fall hollidays and harvest celebrations their due plus I didn't want to get burnt out on Christmas by sarting too early.  But what really makes me happy is distressing and aging my craft projects.  Honestly, there is nothing more fun for me than taking something new and making it look old and worn out.  I really did have fun with this one.  The edges of the paper were distressed with a Tonic Paper Distresser and then I took a Koi Water Brush, picked up some brown ink and wet the edges of my paper with it.  I took my fingernail and roughed up the damp paper a bit more.  I think it gives it a subtley different distressed look.  Other products and tools used here are: Martha Stewart Snow Flurry Border Punch, Spellbinders Create a Flake I, Ranger Clear UTEE, Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and Tim Holtz Odds and Ends stamp.   The vintage image is from a LunaGirl holiday CD set I purchased a couple of years ago.  The red gingham ribbon was a bright, crisp red and white with sort of a plastic red edging on each edge.  It needed to look OLD.  So I mushed it around in a puddle of Vintage Photo reinker and water, crunched it up and dried it with my heat tool.  That made the plastic edging peel right off and then I frayed it a bit more.  The result pleased me more more than the original bright newness did. 

Now it's time to skip on over to the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge blog and also stop and say hello to our fabulous design team on their personal blogs:

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey

♥ Dan - My Crafty Life

♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing

♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'

♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???

♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart

♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity

♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose

♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe

Thanks again for taking the time to stop and see what I have made for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.  I hope you are inspired to play along this week. 

Blessings & hugs