This Challenge is Not Too Distressing

Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead.  I can't believe it is Monday already and time for another Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.  We have an easy peasy challenge for you this week.  We want you to show us some distressing.  For all the vintage lovers who play with us week after week, that is probably not even a challenge.  I can't think of anything I have made in the last few years that didn't have some sort of distressing on it and I'm sure it's the same with many of you!  So why not join in this week with our challenge.  You might just win a $50 shopping spree from our awesome sponsor Simon Says Stamp!

I guess you want to hear about my sample for this week's challenge.  I've acquired a few Tim Holtz stamp sets recently and they have been floating around lose, looking messy and difficult to grab when I wanted them.  I decided to make a binder for them.  I am so fortunate that I recently got my hands on a couple of new Tim Holtz products - the Kraft Resist Paper Stash and the Papillon stamp set.  I thought that together they would make the perfect distressed project.  And after working with the Kraft Resist paper, I am thrilled to report that it is AWESOME!!  I also got my first bottle of the new Vintage Photo Distress Stain and am very pleased with the results of that product also.  I was hesitant about it.  I really couldn't see what difference it would make from the inks, but it works super and doesn't get a watered down effect that you would get trying to mix the reinkers with water.  I had a wonderful Saturday playing around with all the new goodies and now present to you the outcome.  

I took the plastic sheet that the stamps come on and used it to trace a cover on thin cardboard.  I cut the cardboard and the Kraft Resist paper by hand, just about a quarter inch larger than the stamp sheet.  With my craft knife, I cut four diamonds in the paper, peeled back the edges and distressed them.  I also distressed a page from a vintage music book I purchased recently and glued it behind the openings.  Then I cut small squares with the Spellbinders scalloped square die from Ten Seconds Studio metal  and ran the squares through the Tim Holtz Patchwork texture fade.  The metal was a bit too purple for me so I blunted the color a bit by applying Slate alcohol ink and then affixed them to offset the diamonds.  

I decided to top off my pyramid with a few more diamonds in the form of Fragments.  I went to the vintage music page again, this time preping it with Snow Cap Acrylic Paint Dabber, then stamping the butterflies from the Papillon set with Jet Black Archival Ink.  After sponging the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink, I affixed the Fragments with Glossy Accents.  Next I found some ancient muslin in my sewing box (really, it has probably been there 30 years - am I giving my age away???), ripped some strips and stamped it with Jet Black Archival Ink and the large text stamp from the Papillon set.  After stamping it, I sprayed it with my home made glimmer mist of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls, 3 drops of Vintage Photo Reinker and water in a Mini Mister.  

The muslin was used for bows and to make the fabric flower.  I cut a flourish out of Grungeboard and  treated with the Distress Stain, then stamped it with the small text stamp from the same set.  That about wrapped it up.  I breathed a happy sigh and cleaned my very inky fingers.  Nothing I like more in crafting than taking something new and making it look old and worn out.  

What are you going to distress this week?  The Simon Says Stamp and Show design team has some great samples to get your mojo started.  We can't wait to see where it will lead you!  And don't forget about that fabulous prize - a $50 shopping spree.  Just think of all the goodies that would get for you!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I always love to read your comments and of course am happy to share any tips with you on how I made what I am showing.  Have a crafty week.