Hey y'all. Well TGIF!
Another week has come and gone, or at least almost gone. I hope you are getting ready to enjoy your weekend. I've got work this weekend and a little stampcamp scheduled for tomorrow, so no rest for the wicked. :-)
So, if you've followed me at all on here you've heard me talk about my absolute
Oh, Wait! Snap! So Glad I just crossed back over from that parallel universe! NOT!!!!!!!!
Let me just ask you one question-
You know why they call it distressing right?
Because it Distresses me so! >:-(
In fact I think it's a pretty apt term because it has the word Stress in it which is exactly what it causes me!
I can not tell you how long I sit there with the paper in my hand before I can actually make my self tear it. Heaven forbid I tear too much! Then I've just wasted the paper and failed at the project. Double Fail! Today's card was the first time that I ever willingly crumpled cardstock on my own, and I can't tell you how hard it was! Even though I knew what I wanted, and could see it in my mind's eye, no lie, I must have sat there with that piece of River Rock cardstock in my hand for a good 3 minutes.... waiting.... willing my hand to close around it. It was just so hard.
Even those techniques like the Faux Torn paper, where it looks like torn paper on your card but its not. It's just where you sponged over the edge of a piece of torn paper. Well, guess what? You still had to tear a piece of paper to start with!
You know that color spritzer tool? I stay away from it when it has browns or blacks in it. You have to be careful with it. I'm always afraid instead of looking antiqued my projects are just going to look moldy and mildewed. EEEWWWW!
Why do we want to tear our cardstock? It's beautiful! It makes beautiful cards. It makes me happy!
Ok. So, I know on some deep level, ok, so maybe it's not really such a deep level, that the distressing makes for pretty cards too. And I'm even willing to admit that I like some of them. OK! A lot of them! I like a lot of them. In fact I really like the one I'm showing you today. I just don't like making them.
They STRESS ME OUT!
What if I do one of those techniques and they don't turn out? Then not only has it not turned out, but I've ruined perfectly good cardstock. Fail, Fail, Fail, Fail..... See where I'm going with this....Oh the stress...
You know if I could only channel this OCD into other aspects of my life... oh the things I could accomplish!
But..... I did have a momentary lapse and I created this card a few months back and have just been waiting for the right time to post it.
I remember the day I made it, I sent a picture to my upline Robin to show her what I had done. I was so excited that I had crumpled this stupid little piece of cardstock! I swear, You would have thought I had just discovered Nuclear Fission, or won the Nobel Peace Prize. And, God Bless her! She, the Goddess that she is, acted suitably impressed and Oohhed and Aahhed and told me how proud of me she was. I am so blessed to have her!
So, are you ready for today's card? Here it is-
I started with a base of Island Indigo. This is one of my all time favorite colors! It takes me to the ocean every time! (My favorite place in the world!) Next, is a layer of River Rock. Such an unassuming color and not really all that pretty on it's own, but really a work-horse! It just seems to change and adapt to so many colors. I love seeing what all I can pair it with. I stamped that piece multiple times with the manifest stamp, from the Open Seas Stamp set, in Crumb Cake Classic Ink. I'm so glad they kept that stamp set around. I really hope they put it in next year's catalog! Next I sponged the edges. Then came the hard part. I sat there and stared at the cardstock while it sat in my hand.
I'm not sure why it didn't magically just crumple up into a little ball when I said "Poof." Trust me I tried saying it a couple of times. No joy! Finally I had to face the cold hard facts. I was going to have to close my fingers around the paper myself....and I did... and I found no joy in that either. Unfortunately, after I un-crumpled it I realized it wasn't crumpled enough and I was going to have to do it more! OH NOES!!!!! As if the first time was not bad enough. I was already in the mindset though so I just powered on through and got it done. Luckily for me, it turned out ok, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief! I smoothed it out, kind of an oxymoronic moment to me, crumple it up to smooth it out....just saying... but anyways...I smoothed it out and lightly sponged over it with some Crumb Cake ink to make the wrinkles show up, touched up the edges a bit too and then I put it aside for a few minutes.
I stamped the anchor image in Island Indigo on a scrap of Very Vanilla and cut it out and then punched the hole at the top using my Crop-a-Dile. I took some Linen Thread and wrapped around the River Rock layer, criss-crossing across the front and then tied through the hole at the top of the anchor, leaving the ends a little long and a little frayed to hang from the top. I then mounted this whole piece to the base with Tombow.
For the focal point I used a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. I inked up the globe image from the same stamp set in Crumb Cake and stamped it first. I then inked up the image of the Schooner in Island Indigo and stamped it over the Globe. A little sponging around the edges with Crumb Cake and I adhered this with dimensionals to all 4 corners.
The sentiment in the lower right hand corner is from Petite Pairs. Such a great set. Definitely a Must-Have! I used Basic Black here.
For the inside I kept it simple, I know hard to believe...
I stamped the compass from the same set in the bottom right corner here, I stamped off once so it would be faint, I think I used every stamp in the set. (LOL)
And then, of all the things, Do you see what I see?
Ok, is it just me or is the Little Drummer Boy now playing in your head too?
Yep! The greeting's not straight! I didn't use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to stamp the second half of the sentiment! Oh Dear Lord! Do you know how much I wanted to trash the whole card at that very moment! I mean I wouldn't even have been able to just put a piece of Very Vanilla over it as a liner because the compass is so far over. No!!!!!! And because the front layer was glued down and not dimensionalled, I would have had to crumple up more paper. Well let me tell you what! It was a battle of the OCD and the "crumple" beat out the "a little not straight" so I decided I would just have to live with it looking like that, for the recipient and you and all the world to see.
Oh, I feel so exposed, so nekkid (Yes, that's a real word!) and not in a good way! Oh well, the recipient was my W.H. my work husband (that's what I called him, even to his wife *tee-hee-hee*, heck I called her my sister-wife) and he really liked it and didn't say anything about the sentiment being crooked. And you guys are my friends and probably don't care that the sentiments crooked.
Heck, I'm probably the only one who cares the sentiment is crooked! In fact, if I hadn't said anything, chances are none of y'all would have said, "Hey Shan, what's up with the way crooked sentiment?" But you know me!
So that's my deal with Distressing and the stress it causes me. I'm sure it's not likely to change anytime soon. Hopefully, I will learn to manage it a little, because I know I will learn to make some really pretty cards if I can just conquer this. But like most people with any form of OCD, I realize that it is irrational. It's just the matter of overcoming the irrational that takes some time. That's a part of the whole Scaredy Cat Adventure I'm on, and I guess you're on it too if you're putting up with me! Awww you're my support! And as such, you get to smile and chuckle and outright laugh along with me every step of the way. See comic relief for your day! That's just the kind of friend I am! Aren't you Lucky!
If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)
Well, that's all for today and for this week. I hope you have an Amazing weekend filled with friends and Family and of course time to spend Stamping and Crafting.
Till next time....
Be Safe,
Shan
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Thanks so much for taking the time to share a little love with me. I hope you find this blog to be as much of a blessing to you as you are to me. :) Be Safe- Shan