52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - Theme challenge #7

Hello friends!  Here it is the 3rd week of July and that means that the Design Team at  52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown has a Theme challenge for you.  Can you guess by my card what that theme is?  Yep ... you guessed it - wreaths! Here is the inspiration photo for the challenge:

I decided to try something a little different from my usual style and do some distressing.  I love this when I see it from other people but this is not usually my first technique of choice as it seems that when I try it, it comes out looking "dirty" instead of distressed - LOL.  But, the style of the DSP seemed to be leading me in that direction so I decided to give it a go and see how it ended up.

I first added pearls around the edges of the main DSP area.  Then I rubbed some Cherry Cobbler ink around the pearls and paper to "age" both a bit. This photo doesn't do it justice at all - I had a dickens of a time getting this to photograph well - argh! Here is a closer view of the details - hope this is a bit better.

I ran the card base through my Big Shot with the poinsettia textured folder and then distressed the card base with Always Artichoke ink.  I also sanded it a bit after the ink dried to give it some more "distressing".  The felt wreath also got a shot with the Always Artichoke ink to tone down its brightness just a tad (but I still wanted it to stay the focus of the card).  After stamping and centering the sentiment behind the inside of the wreath I sponged some Always Artichoke around the word.  Here's another close up:

And then it was complete -  and I stared at it forever trying to decide if I liked it - hmmmm... Yep, I like it.   Not sure that I'll do it lots, but I think with practice I'll be more comfortable with it.  Thanks for letting me share with you.  Hope you like it!

Please  visit the 52CCT challenge blog and see the wonderful creations the rest of the design team has created for your inspiration this week.  I hope that you will share your amazing creations with us as well! It's a delight to see what you come up with each week - I always find new inspiration from you too.  If you want, leave us a note and make sure you link your post back to the 52CCT blog so that others can share in the fun!  Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin UP!): Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla.  Textured Embossing Folder - Petals-A-Plenty. DSP - Deck the Halls (retired). Felt wreath (retired). Sentiment - I colored just the word Merry from a sentiment that says "Merry Christmas" in the More Merry Messages set (NEW).  Basic pearls - lots of them :o)