Shabby Postcard - Challenge Day at A Gem of a Challenge

Hello!

It's time for this week's challenge over at A Gem of a Challenge, and the theme this week (Challenge #76) is "Distress It."  This challenge will run from 8:00 AM April 20 to 6:00 PM April 26, and the prize for the winner will be 2 individual digi images (NOT SETS) from Pink Gem Designs.  So do head on over and see what the rest of the lovely Design Team have created, then join us, won't you?  We'd love to see you!

My card today uses two digis from PGD, Butterfly Postcard and Keep Calm and Eat Cake.  I have quite decided I like combining digis, and these two go together like, well, cake and frosting.  Speaking of which, my cards lately seem to have had lots of "card frosting."  Guess it's a clear indicator of how I like my cake.  A little cake (or card) and LOTS of frosting (embellies).

I've noticed a lot of challenges lately focusing on Earth Day, which is April 22, and their requirements are to recycle something, which inspired me to use a couple of recycled items on this card. 

 One is the paper toweling I used for the roses. 

After spraying some ribbon with some of my homemade shimmer sprays (pink and brown), I used a paper towel to wipe up the interior of my spray box, and I liked the look on the towel, so I sprayed it a little more and die cut it with SB Rose Creations dies to make roses!  You can see where the original wiping section was, but that just gave more depth to the resulting flowers.

The other recycled item was the gold leaf I used on the buttons.  There are always "crumbs" left over when I use gold leaf, and I do hate to throw them away, so this time I used them on some buttons.

The remaining flowers were airbrushed with Copics, and the leaves were enhanced down the centers with Copics as well.

Perfect Pearls form the centers of the flowers.

And I couldn't resist a teeny, tiny gold leafed button to use as the "postmark."

Close up of the messy bow with another gold leafed button and some linen thread.  You can see the distressed edge of the base layer on which I also stamped some French script for depth, then sponged around the edges with distress inks.

And that, dear readers, is my distressed card for today's challenge.  Please do join us at A Gem of a Challenge this week - we'd love to see you!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

The Shabby Tea Room #162 - Pretty Shabby (recycled paper towels and gilding "crumbs")
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner #58 - Spring Has Sprung
Tuesday Throwdown #143 - Focus on the Sentiment
Creative Card Crew #34 - Handmade Flowers
Frilly and Funkie - Upcycle for Earth Day 
Red Carpet Studio #32 - Hollywood Noir
Inky Impressions #105 - Punches/Dies
Fussy and Fancy #87 - Vintage

613 Ave. Create #15 - Sketch