Bright and Cheery Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Cards

Hey friends!  I don't know what's come over me lately, but I've taken a little sidestep from my typical grungy makes and done some bright and cheery cards.  One of my sweet Instagram followers commented that she never used Distress Inks because she associated them with dark/distress and prefers brighter colors.  To that I replied, I certainly understand where her thoughts are based, but the colors are pure and it's all in the way you layer them.  So I posted THIS shaker card and THIS atypical masculine card as examples.  I've taken that a few steps further with three cheery designs today...

I used Fossilized Amber and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxides to create my inky panels for this card.  I stamped an image from the Tim Holtz Sideshow set and the Theories set.  The small text is from Tim's Simple Sayings set.  The "happy" die is from the new Shadow Script #2 dies I'm so crazy over.

I truly love how Distress Oxide stamping looks!  I always give my image a fine mist with water before making the impression.

I went a little crazy with the stitching, but love the fun edge it gives to these designs.

My second card features another image from the Sideshow stamp set.  I used Blueprint Sketch DOX for the background and on the foreground panel added a tiny bit of Antique Linen DOX.

Again borrowing Madelyn's Simple Sayings for this sentiment, layered over a string bundle.  The xx (kisses) marks come from one of Tim's On The Edge dies.  I cut the bottom of my stamped panel with the scallop border from the Stitched Ovals die.

To add interest to the background, I cut bubbles from the Mixed Media die set and did some wonky stitching.  I added one tiny torn strip of black dotty washi tape to balance the design.

My final card features white embossing of the gears in the Dapper stamp set.  I used the above mentioned inks with the addition of Cracked Pistachio DOX.

I embossed the gentleman from the Dapper set in black for the tag and added a sentiment combo of Simple Sayings and a Shadow Script 2 die.

This cool set belongs to my friend Bonnie and I was so excited to use it for the first time!  I finished my card with a bit of tissue tape, stitching and splashed gesso/water.  I know not all of you have gone to the dark side like me - ha ha ha, but I truly hope you'll give Distress Inks and Oxides a chance.  I have hundreds of pads and these are the ones I ALWAYS use.  In fact, they just sit on my tabletop because I have to access them easily for everything I make.  Now go on and get inky my friends!