Monday, June 25, 2012

The Depths of Distress...!!!

Now that may sound like I'm having a severe nervous breakdown, but it is in fact a cue for a great deal of inky fun and discovery! At Simon Says Stamp & Show we are all totally distressed as my post title is the new challenge theme for this week...
Distress Inks, Stains, Crackle, Paint, Markers, Powders, tools... there's plenty to choose from and I'm sure nearly everyone has a pot of Distress something in their stash! I decided to go for Distress Inks and Stains and created a bright and flowery triple tag to liven up my day...
Normally, for some bizarre reason,  I'm someone who likes to be very consequent in my choice of stamps for a piece - all Wendy, all Tim, all PaperArtsy, etc. But today I wanted to order the whole menu and ended up with Tim, Wendy, Claudine H and Dylusions goodies on my desk!
I started by inking up my tags with a variety of colours including Tumbled Glass, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed and Fired Brick. I added a few water drop flicks to add interest... andI over-stamped Tims Mixed Media Dots in Picket Fence Distress Stain.
Then I went to town with a flurry of stamping using Distress Inks and lots of my Wendy Vecchi stamps. Just mixing and matching, using part and whole sections of the stamps to build up the layers... Also used a few bottle tops dipped in Distress Stain and my fave...
- random stitching in bright yellow thread (it was already on my machine and I was too lazy to change it - but I love it now!)Distress Inks are not as vivid as Archival ink so you get a great faded look which is perfect for this kind of layered effect... and it gives an idea of depth to your piece. I sprayed Claudine's Sticky back canvas with Cut Grass and Bubblegum Pink Dylusions inks and heat set before stamping Wendy's funky flower and leaves in Black Archival ink. Added a few dots for fun!
I stuck them to the tags adding press stud centres and parcel string stems and finished off with a sentiment all thanks to my trusty typewriter! The colours and blooms make me rather happy! So if you are stressed... grab some inky colours right now and de-stress with Distress I say...!
Hope you day is a little brighter now too. Do play along this week - I'm sure you have hundreds of ideas for Distress stuff! Don't forget to check out the Design team blog for more lovelies and see if you might just end upa s the winner of this fabby $50 voucher! Thaks for the peek - that's me over and out...until the next time.
Sarah.

27 comments:

Helen said...

I love your triple tag! Such wonderful colours, and use of stamps. Also, many congratulations!!!! Ruby is just beautiful.

SusanLotus said...

Lovely tag trio!
Have a nice summerweek! :)

Annie said...

Really love the colours you've used for these Sarah.
Hugs,
A x

...the yorkshire fox... said...

...my first thoughts were gosh has the baby not arrived yet then I saw Helen's comment, so firstly a huge congratulations to you & Hubby, well done glad Ruby arrived safely :) & secondly super gorgeous Tags all bursting with colour & energy a total eye pleaser!...Mel :)

Jacqui Chimes said...

I love this project and also Congratulations - hope all is well

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Fabulous,ous trio of arty tags. I love your inky background so much depth and interest to the background. The colours are blended beautifully and the random stitching I always love. Gorgeous flowers and I love the twine for the stems. Hope you have your feet up and are improving by the day. Take care, love to all. Tracy x

Anonymous said...

Wow, gorgeous tags ! I love the bright colours !
Best regards Berdien

Redanne said...

I too, thought you were still waiting but read Helen's comment. Many congrats on the safe arrival of Ruby, such a beautiful name. Fabby trio of tags, love the colours and adore the WV flowers. Hope you are well! Crafty hugs, Anne x

Alie Hoogenboezem-de Vries said...

Great vibrant colors and lovely images! It shows a lot of creativity!

greetings, Alie :-)

Michelle Gregory said...

very pretty.

Von said...

Wow what a cheery eyefull of yummy colours :)
Von x♥x

Hels Sheridan said...

Mwhahaaaaa, and I have this very piece of gorgeousness in residence in my living room... I LOVE IT... tis even more spesh in the real... hope all is goodly with you and bubs xxx

Kate Yetter said...

Wow, gorgeous set of tags. i love the bright colors and all the patterns. The background is especially busy and eye pleasing! Congrats to you on your beautiful 'Ruby'. She is a cutie! How are you still finding time to craft?
Best wishes,
Kate

Janny Jager said...

Very very nice tags and beautiful colors

Greetings Janny

Inkypinkycraft said...

This is sunny and bright!! Lve the colours.congratulations on the birth of Ruby! She is beautiful! Hugs trace x

Candy C said...

Gorgeous depths of distress piece, Sarah! I love the bright colors, the stamping and the cute dimensional flowers! Very cool project! Congrats again on little Miss Ruby. I hope she is being a perfect little angel for you. :) <3 Candy

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

Gorgeous tags, Sarah!! I just love the bright cheery colors you chose and the canvas flowers are so amazing!!

Congrats again on sweet little Ruby!! :)

*mwah*
Steph
Simon Says Stamp!

Marijke said...

great tag trio, love the colors you used

Dragon said...

Great work!!! and the tags are a bit of all right too!!!! Welcome to the sisterhood of motherhood. Ruby is totally beautiful.
CONGRATS to you all
Frankie
xx

Hettie said...

Gosh Sarah! What a lot of bright colour and gorgeously done!
How on earth do you get time to craft with young Ruby? Or have you got her getting inkie already?
Hugs
xx

Sarah said...

I loooove the bright colours and fun funky flowers! This is freakin awesome!

Art By Wanda said...

These are gorgeous!!!!!!!!!

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

I love your color scheme. Blessings!

Words and Pictures said...

Wow... I'm so shy of bright colours in my crafting, but you make it look effortless and gorgeous. Beautiful!

Words and Pictures said...

plus you found time to have a beautiful baby too!! Congratulations! x

Sandra said...

Those vibrant colors are popping of my screen and saying Hi to me! The layering of all the stamps and coloring look amazing.

Enjoy motherhood and I'm looking forward working together at S&S

Hugs,
Sandra

Kezzy said...

Oh loving these tags, they look so modern and funky, the colours really pop, they look amazing. Kerry xxx