Technique Class - Hand Stitching 2

I know we've had a bit of a break but as you know I've had a couple of good excuses.


Anyway... Hand Stitching - Part 2


This week we get a little bit more complicated. Today we look at two edge stitches - Over Sewing and Blanket Stitch.
Unlike Running Stitch and Back Stitching which can be done anywhere on a page of project, both of these stitches need to be sewn around the edge of something, so you may want to consider using these for instance to create a decorative edge on a photo mat.
They are both very similar with only one step that is slightly different.
This is what they look like:

From the front they look a lot different, though from the back they are very similar. (Just the angle of the stitch is different really).
OVER STITCHING:
As I mentioned above you need to make your holes reasonably close enough to the edge of the paper or cardstock. Mine are about 5 - 6mm from the edge.
Start by securing your thread to the back of the page. I like to use Magic Tape but any sellotape will do. I try to leave a tail of about 3/4 - 1" in length. (Sorry about changing from imperial to metric and back again, but I use them both - I know confusing LOL).
Bring the need up through the hole from the bottom to the top.
Then keep repeating this, every stitch starts from underneath and goes up through the hole. Your stitching always heads in the same direction. Being right handed I find it is easiest to hold the card stock in my left hand then sew with my right. I create like a loop of thread from on top of the sewing (the good side) to underneath and back up again through the next hole in the line. You can vary the angle if you want, though you will find that your thread finds its way into its own natural stitch over the edge of the paper, usually at an angle that uses the smallest amount of thread possible. It has to do with the tautness of the threads and ensuring the stitches don't slip (sorry bit technical there).

BLANKET STITCHING:
Starts of the same and is essentially the same stitch with one extra little twist. You actually catch the needle on the way through to add a horizontal line of thread between the each pair of over stitches.

With the Over Sewing, the needle goes UNDERNEATH the thread, so avoiding it. With blanket Stitch, the needle goes OVER THE TOP of the thread, catching it in place. The picture above shows the the horizontal extra stitch on the outside of the edge, whereas in my example I have stitched it with the horizontal stitch inside of the edge.
It's called a blanket stitch because it was used on the edges of blankets to edge them, instead of sewing a hem. This method used considerable less material so your blanket was larger and you didn't have to buy as much material. Also most blanket material tends not to fray so the stitch could be more decorative as the main purpose of stitching was not to hide the edge and prevent the material from fraying and falling apart.

In this picture, imagine the edge of your photo mat runs along the edge where "B" & "D" are.
I know that is getting a bit technical so to lighten things a little, here is a little sample of some running stitch that I forgot to add to the last blog. 

I used the "In the Garden" In Stitchz template from Bazzill. And once again show the back as well as the front.
Watch for more layouts and projects showing hand stitching in some of my future blogs as well as my final technique class on hand stitching next week.

Change to your scheduled programme...

I know today is supposed to be an off-the-page project but at 12.51pm yesterday afternoon my hometown, Christchurch, was hit by a 6.3 earthquake. Though not as strong as the first earthquake in September last year that kicked of the nightmare that has been the lives of so many people down there, it was however considerably more devastating due to the depth and proximity to the city.
I can't comprehend the feelings and emotions that people are experiencing now, I only know how I feel knowing so many of my family and friends are in the middle of it all. They are living the horrors of it all every hour of every day.
I know in the scheme of things this probably isn't much, but I have to share some of the few memories I have scrapped of sharing my hometown with my family who are currently all safe here in Auckland. 
As I looked through my albums looking for pages I feel a loss for all the pictures I have not taken, not through a lack of opportunity, just because they are scenes and buildings that have always been there and I like so many other people, thought always would be there.
My heart goes out not only to my own family and friends but to all of Christchurch and indeed New Zealand. As we all work together, finding strength from each other I can't help saying, I've never been more proud to be a KIWI!!!
Good luck, you are all in our thoughts and prayers.

 

 
 

Blog

Sorry no blog today as this morning was my step-children's grandfather's funeral.


We hadn't been home long from that when I received a phone call from my sister to say that my home town of Christchurch had been hit by another powerful earthquake, but that our parents, who still live there, were OK.


I spent the afternoon and evening watching the news.


I should be back on board tomorrow night with another new blog though.


Thank you.

Best & Worst - Rub-Ons

One of my favourite embellishments to use on all projects not just scrapbook layouts are rub-ons, though I have to confess I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with them.

• I love that in general they are all so easy to use. You simply cut out the desired design, position it and rub it into place.
• I hate that there are exceptions to the general rule above... and that some do not seem to want to rub-off AT ALL no matter how hard or soft I try to rub them off the backing paper, no matter what tool I use either.
• I also hate those that come off TOO easily and when you open up the pack you find that they are now permanently affixed to the backing sheet and are therefore unusable.
• I love sheets of rub-ons where the manufacturer has squished in lots of designs onto one sheet including lots of small images because you feel like you are getting value for money as you can use them on so many projects. Or even better... two or more sheets in the pack!!!
• I hate manufacturers and retailers who skimp on their designs per page and then charge the earth for only a few rub-ons.
• I love that we can now find so many different coloured and colours of rub-ons, other than just black and white, though I still love these as well.
• I hate that I can't always get the colour I want, of the colour combination I want (okay maybe I am just getting picky now lol), though I do understand the high investment required by retailers if they have to or choose to stock a huge variety of products and colours. I understand when they choose only to stock the most popular styles and colours - it just doesn't mean I have to like it. And yes I understand that you can't keep 100% of the people happy 100% of the time.
• I love that some overseas designers and manufacturers are starting to cater for the AUS/NZ markets by including words spelt our way such as "MUM" & "MOM" and Autumn as well as Fall.
• I hate that we are still bound by US/UK seasonalities though for the majority of products. For instance most Christmas products are Winter themed and coloured, and most Winter themed products are also Christmas related. And what about countries like AUS & NZ who have temperate Winters... NO SNOW????
• I love manufacturers that include a rub-on tool/stick even if only a wooden Popsicle stick (and even though I now have hundreds of them).
• I hate manufacturers that assume you have hundreds of Popsicle sticks at home, so DON'T include a rub-on tool with their product. Not everyone is experienced with a HUGE STASH (like mine).
• I love that there is so much variety available... no longer just black letters. Now we can get different coloured letters, words, phrases, images, backgrounds, different materials, full pictures, components to make up pictures, scenes, all sorts of themes and combinations of all of the above.
• I hate that too often the images and phrases tend to be very generic. I wish more designers and manufacturers would cater to things/lives etc outside of the box. For instance - blended families, adoptions, tom-boys, Civil Unions (instead of just male/female marriage), unusual pets, women and girls who like cars (or trains for Miss Wendy) and not just for the boys... or maybe its just me who wants to scrap outside the box????

Question for you...

"What alternative theme would you love to see a manufacturer bring onto the market as a new theme for rub-ons or any other embellishment for that matter?"

Layout - Warts & All

I was having a bit of a bad day sometime late last year. I was a little bit down as I was having no luck in finding a job (among other things). My darling husband text me to see how my day was going and to cut a long story short I vented to him.
He came back with a message to comfort me telling me that regardless of what I was going through or how I was feeling about myself at the time, he loved me just the way I was and married me "warts and all".
It may not have been the most romantic way of putting it, but it said it all to me. And even now just thinking about him telling me this makes me cry HAPPY TEARS. Thinking and knowing that he loves the whole me (even though I am INCREDIBLY HIGH MAINTENANCE at times) he still accepts and loves me good and bad, baggage and dreams, warts and all.

Off-The-Page - LOVE

LOVE - The Valentine's Day altered present I made for my darling husband.
(And he growled me for both giving him a present and sending flowers to his work LOL)

Card Day - Two cards from almost the same materials

Two very quick cards I whipped up tonight, a couple of pictures and a personal message in this blog.


I wanted to challenge myself to make two very distinct cards using the same materials with a common look to them as well... so here is what you get...

 
On a personal note it is with sadness that I share the news of the passing this afternoon of my step-children's Grandfather after a short illness. Although it was expected, the news has still come as somewhat of a shock to all of the family. At least his suffering has now ended.
As to be expected we never know how things will play out with all the arrangements that need to be made, so I apologise in advance if I miss any blogs over the next week. I know you are probably frowning to yourselves and saying I don't need to explain and I thank you for you understanding. I will however try to pre-prepare some posts.

Granddad Steve (Stewart) Sumbler, you will be missed.

Technique Class - Hand Stitching

If you have done any kind of sewing in the past, you should have no problem with adapting what you have done with fabric to what to do with cardstock and paper. The only real difference is paper is considerable stiffer than fabric - generally speaking.
If however you have never sewn before, then learning to sew may feel at first somewhat akin to learning a foreign language or trying to breath underwater - just not that natural. Still hopefully I can take some of the mystery and difficulty out of it so you no longer feel the drowning sensation. I will try to make it as easy as possible... though as with all my blogs... don't hesitate to ask me any questions if it doesn't make sense. I think I know what I'm talking about... I just may not be able to translate that into comprehendable English.


Materials aka what you need:

• Craft Project - though if this is all new to you, I would suggest trying it out on some scrap card stock first... and yes card stock is easier to sew than patterned paper
• Needle - not too big an eye (the hole the thread goes through) but big enough to get your thread through (otherwise you will give up in frustration before you even start)
• Embroidery thread or fibres such as wool

To make it a bit easier on yourself you will also need:

• Awl or something else to poke small holes in paper to sew through - it makes it HEAPS easier to sew through the cardstock if you have already pre-punched you holes. Just bear in mind you want the holes to be small enough so that they disappear under the thread, but big enough that you can easily get the threaded needle through the hole.
• Stitching template (although not essential, if you are new to sewing, using a template shows you where to push your needle in order to make some kind of pretty picture)
• Mat or mouse pad - to put under your cardstock so that when you poke the hole through the cardstock that you don't damage whatever is underneath... you... table... you... (you get the picture). I prefer a mouse pad - one of the old floppy & squishy ones, though I know my friend Miss Wendy likes using her harder cutting mat. It's a matter of personal preference and what you can find.

RUNNING STITCH:

This is the easiest stitch to do.

Starting from underneath (the WRONG SIDE) of your cardstock push your threaded needle up through the paper to the top (GOOD SIDE). The push your needle back through to the other side again. Keep repeating this over and over again.
The trick is to try to keep your stitches the same length on BOTH sides of the cardstock... which is where a stitch template comes in REALLY, REALLY handy.
It's called a running stitch because when you do this in fabric (thought not really cardstock as its too firm) you can run several of the same stitches onto the needle at once before pulling it completely through. This speeds up the sewing process.

BACK STITCH:
Similar to the running stitch though you end up creating a row of stitching without any gaps on the front (GOOD) side.
Start the same as a running stitch - come up from underneath the paper. Then instead of sewing forward your first stitch is in a backwards direction. Go back down to the other side of the paper behind where you started (in terms of your line of sewing.)
When you come back up from underneath you come back up one hole forward of where you first came up.
So in the picture below... come up at A. Go back down at B. Then come up again at C to complete one stitch. At this point you then start again stitch backwards into the hole back down the line of sewing which in this diagram would be the hole marked A. You keep repeating this over and over again.

The front and back of actual sewing look like the images below. Compare them  to those for running stitch to see the difference. The running stitch looks the same on both the front and back. The back stitch looks completely different front to back. And yes I usually finish off my sewing with sellotape as knot is too bulky under the cardstock.

More stitching next week... I hope you come back... I really, really do!!!

Missing Blogs

I have a really good excuse honest...


Thursday night I sorted and packed to go to crop on Friday night. I haven't been for so long so it took a wee bit to get organised... I'm out of practice.
Tried to print some photos to find my printer still won't print 4x6 pages - it just won't pick up the paper - anyone got any suggestions on what to try??


Friday night - I went to crop straight from work and wasn't home until after midnight. I did make some progress on an Off-The-Page project you will see later this week and some layouts including an un-finished one which has been sitting around for a couple of years. Still a bit to go on it but at least I made progress.


Saturday was just spent scrapping as well as some family time. I also spent some time cleaning my studio - which it was in major need of doing. Still a lot to be done but at least I made progress and did well and truly more than my daily allowance of 15 minutes de-cluttering... though as I haven't done any for a few weeks I'm probably still behind in my rations.


Sunday - sleep in though not that long considering the late night (early this morning) when I went to bed. I managed to finished 2 layouts which you will see over the next two weeks. I also did some de-cluttering in my bedroom and sorted out the washing from yesterday so maybe I am back ahead again now... JUST!!! Major achievement was finishing my OTP project which is great as it is hubbie's Valentine's present, well one of them. Don't tell him, but I'm sending him flowers as well... TO WORK!!! I will post a pic of the flowers tomorrow after we get back from dinner.

Off-The-Page - Journal

I need a journal for some personal development stuff I am doing. I was told to go out and buy something really nice, but I couldn't just leave it like that so I bought a journal in the size I wanted (that luckily managed to have the same sized binding as my Bind-It-All) then covered it.
I really love the personalised look when you cover a journal for yourself or as a gift. 
I used the same technique from my "My Year in Books" album cover.
I had to use one & a bit pages to have enough carried onto the front of the cover to get the coverage I wanted but to be honest you can't see it and as I'm the only one who will be looking at my journal, then what everyone else doesn't know won't hurt them.
The front & back covers are the same except for the decorating on the front cover. And I love that I finally gave myself permission to use the really really REALLY expensive bling I have been saving for that perfect page. It was nice to use something NICE on me instead of everyone else.


FRONT:

BACK:

BOTH:

I love my new journal!!!

Card Day - Valentine's Day

Sorry this is a date late but it wasn't dried properly and I was too tired to stay up late waiting for the glue to dry. 


For my darling hubbie... who hopefully won't see this until he gets it on Monday.

Technique Class - Faux Stitching

In my former life... before I discovered scrapbooking... I was a cross stitcher & sewer. I've sewn my own clothes for as long as I can remember, mainly because I couldn't get anything to fit me, but also because when I did find clothes in my size, they were too expensive to even contemplate buying.
This could be why hand sewing and indeed any sewing is a prominent feature of much of my scrapbooking.
When I talk about sewing I mean - hand sewing, machine sewing and faux stitching - all under the same umbrella. All are relatively easy to do once you know how. The only special equipment you need is a sewing machine if you want to do machine sewing, but as these can be a bit on the expensive side I wouldn't recommend one, unless you are really going to get some use out of it. Of course if you can pick one up second-hand, really really cheap on trade me, then go for it.
As you don't need much by way of tools, sewing is a cheap and easy way to add dimension and interest to your scrapbook pages, cards and of-the-page projects.
The different techniques will be discussed over the next few weeks, but today we start with probably the cheapest and easiest way to add stitching to your projects which is "Faux Stitching" (or fake stitching).


Ingredients:

• Project
• Pen
• Stitching template, awl & mat or hole maker such as the Cutter Bee Bugs (optional extras)

Methodology:

The easiest method is just to draw short straight lines with a pen.

The real trick is to keep your lines the same length and evenly spaced. And don't worry it you line looks a little crooked, as hand sewing and even some machine sewing ends up crooked.

Some people like to draw little dots at the end of each line, to look like the stitching holes made by the needle.

Personally I don't think the extra work is worth it, but I would suggest you at least try it to see which method you prefer.

If you wanted to try something that looked a bit more complicated but still without using any extra tools, then you can always try a faux cross stitch.

All you need to do is draw "X's" around your picture or title. Again the key to making it look realistic is to try to ensure that your lines look as alike as possible and your spacing is even.

And finally if you want to look of stitching but without having to get out the needle and thread, you can always pierce the paper and then draw lines between the pairs of holes.

To make his look I used the single row paper piercer tool from Cutter Bee. I've had it a few years now, so I'm not sure where you can get them or something similar but try your local scrapbook or craft shop or even a hardware store for a leather punch. A sewing store would also have a "Pattern Tracer" which would do a similar job.

This particular paper piercer also comes in a double hole version. More on those next week when we look at hand stitching using actual needles and thread. (So now you have a week to mentally prepare yourself for the shock of actual sewing!!!)

Best & Worst - Photo Manipulation Software

At the moment, more so than ever, more of us are having to be financially vigilant and incredibly budget conscious about how we spend our money. The current global recession is forcing us to think twice about how we spend our hard earned money and more often than not it is our hobbies and recreational activities that are the first to bear the brunt of our cost cutting endeavours.
So when I find an incredible bargain then I am apt to share it, and if that incredible bargain is FREE and delivers more than expected then I will happily sing it's praises.
Sometime last year (or maybe even the year before) I was looking for some software to use for tidying up my photos. By that I don't mean how they are organised or stored on my laptop, but how I can manipulate the original image file to get the final picture I want to print and scrap.
I had previously used the software that came with my printer (but that shall remain nameless as I don't want any law suits). I really liked this software and occasionally still use it now, but somewhere along the way, one of their product upgrades changed the way it worked considerably and now it just doesn't have the functionality I liked about it and nor is it now as user friendly. Hence my search for a replacement.
At the time I wasn't working so my price range was very limited. I could afford somewhere between nothing and FREE and there wasn't much allowable movement from there. So I "googled" every combination of "photo", "FREE" and "download" I could think of.
After a few tries and misses I finally found the freeware download I have used ever since, and have recommended to all my friends both scrappers and non-scrappers alike.


"Insert Drum Roll here..."


The software is called Photoscape and you can find out a whole lot more about it as well as download your own copy HERE. It's now on version 3.5 though.

This isn't a paid commercial for it, they don't know I am writing about it, so I'm not getting anything in return and I doubt the creators will ever see my praise, I just think it is a fantastic piece of software that everyone should / could use.


So why do I think it's so great??

• It works on both PC's & Macs
• It's very user friendly - you don't need a manual or three week training course to operate it... just follow your nose
• You don't need to import all your photos in the software library, you just browse for them wherever you usually store your photos
• There are heaps of pre-determined photo sizes as well as custom-sizing. This is great for cropping photos to print at photos booths. You can pick from a long list of standard sizes which you know will fit standard photo paper - makes life easier & cheaper
• There is an option to edit photos individually or in bulk - though I have only ever used individual editing
• Photo collaging templates included with a variety of styles and sizes all with a click and drop in your choice of photos to populate the template - so easy to use
• Large selection of built in photo frames and speech bubbles, even though I only have a couple that I use all the time
• Most if not all editing options have pre-sets as well as scaled variations to enable you to select/de-select/set levels to achieve exactly the look you want. The pre-sets are great for the beginner and the scaled variations provide plenty of space to play for the more experienced user
• Heaps of built in filters to adjust the look of your photo including aging to look like vintage photos, various film stock, age-distressed old photos
• Handy editing tools for red-eye reduction & cloning (yes I know they are fairly standard tools now)
• Easy set up for standard photo paper sizes including allowing you to specify how many photos of a particular size to print out on the page - i.e. you set how many per row and column and the software automatically determines the size of the photo

There are heaps of other great features I haven't mentioned, but I am sure you will see them all once you start using the software yourself. I just know you will love it as much as I do.

Handmade - Hat Pins

In fashion it is a well known adage that if you wait long enough, everything will come back into fashion again which no doubt explains millions of over-stuffed wardrobes around the world.
Scrapbooking borrows a great deal from the world of fashion in terms of colour combinations, trends, even tools and products, so it really is no surprise to see items from yesteryear making their way onto our scrapbook pages, cards and other craft creations.
One of these is of course "Hat Pins". A fashion icon from a bygone era when it was commonplace for women to wear hats with a hat pin of course to stop your hat from being blown away. These adornments are now making a resurgence in our crafting as personalised jewelery and embellishments. You can buy them pre-made from most craft stores or online craft shops - I will have a selection selected on my website soon - www.scrapfx.co.nz - or you can make them yourself with just a few jewelry making items and some quick drying glue.
There are two options for making hat pins:

• Using a pin such as a corsage pin available from most haberdashery shops, including Spotlight or a hat pin if you can find them.
• Using a jewelery head pin with either a flat head, loop head of ball head

Head pins - flat head, gold looped head, silver looped head & ball head (top to bottom)

Using a Corsage or Hat Pin:

As the pin already has in effect a bead (aka pin head) attached, you don't need to add a stopper bead (to stop all the other beads falling off) so you can get straight into threading your chosen beads and spacers onto the body of the pin. I recommend covering no more than 1/3 - 1/2 of the pin body with beads otherwise you may have difficulty with getting your pin to stay "pinned in" to your project.

Finish your beading selection with a small seed bead then dab around the bottom of this with a clear drying adhesive. I like Glossy Accents or Dimensional Magic for this job - usually as they are the handiest glues for the job on my crafting table.

Ensure you adhere the glue around the entire pin body to stop the seed bead from coming loose and allowing ALL your other beads to slide off as well.

Allow the glue to dry with the pin resting upside down so that the beads don't slide down the pin body during the drying process.

Once the glue is dry, the decorated hat pin can be pinned into any crafting project - scrapbook pages, cards or OTP project.

The two pins on the left were created on hat pins, while the other three were on flat head jewelery head pins.

These were all corsage pins. They all show adding a charm with a jump ring slipped over the pin body and held in place by the other beads. The red pins are from my "Twilight" Series.

Using a Jewelery Head Pin:

Many of the heads (tops) of head pins are quite small, so any larger beads may slide right off the pin unless you add a stopper bead to prevent this from happening. I like using a seed bead for this roll. You don't need to add glue to hold it in place like the bottom bead though.

Add a small seed bead to your pin before adding all your other beads and spacers as described above. Again finish with a seed bead and then secure all your beads in place with a small dab of glue around the body of the pin.

You can see a small seed bead at both the top and bottom of the pin on the left. The "stopper" bead prevents the other beads from falling off the end of the pin if they have a larger hole through the middle of the bead.


Variations:
Try colouring the pin head for a coordinated look. I recommend either a Copic Marker or a Slick Writer. The slick writers give the pin head almost a marbled look.

Add charms or tags - refer to the picture of the "Twilight" pins earlier in the blog.
If you are using a looped head pin you can simply attach a charm by securing it with a jump ring to the end of the head pin.
If you are using a corsage pin or non-loop head pin, attach the charm to a jump ring as before, then thread the jump ring over the body of the pin. Be sure to secure it in place with a bead on either side that is not small enough for the jump ring to slip over.
These pins a really simple to make - the hardest thing is deciding what colour and style of beads to use. You don't need any special tools either, another great bonus.

Layout - 2011 Resolutions

Ok I scheduled this to go through Thursday night. Guess that will teach me for not double checking it went... like I did on Wednesday. Sorry its late.


Last year I created a two page layout to document my New Year's Resolutions so I decided to do it again this year as well.
2011 Resolutions:

For the records, yes that is real blood on the page. Not sure if it is acid free but it's staying... who said this scrapbooking hobby isn't dangerous. First I suffered a broken tail bone and sprained wrist, now there is bloodshed. What will be next???
Yes I hand stitched around every segment. Much of that was done while crawling up Hobson Street from the Downtown car park to the motorway on-ramp heading South every day after work. When about 6 blocks takes 45 minutes, the wise person takes something to do in the car. Wonder what other scrapping I can do while driving???

Photo Techniques - Sand Paper Distressing

There is just so much we can do to our photos these days, from removing or adding colour, background objects, red eyes & even unwanted people to adding digital distressing and frames. Still sometimes nothing compares to that grit under the fingernail feeling (not to mention the therapy it offers) of taking to a photo to distress it with good old fashioned sandpaper or the like.
Most of us have happily sanded away at our cardstock and patterned paper with gay abandon for many years. We don't even blink as we reach for the industrial strength high grade sandpaper from the home hardware depot... but I for one still remember a tense moment of hesitation before turning the aforementioned sandpaper to one of my precious photos.
Even though I knew it was a copy and I could reprint it with the mere click of a button, it somehow seemed sacrilegious to destroy my precious photos like that. Still my need for creative release and fulfillment won out eventually and I held my breath during the few few tentative sweeps of that caustic tool... then it was all on for young and old.
I look back now and fondly remember my apprehension, though now a glimmer still appears each time I furtively look at an other photo deciding what its fate will be.
Still nothing can compare to the thrill of the attack as you launch at your photos to deliberately scar your precious memories all in the name of creativity.


Instructions:

1. Select your photo to distress. Be sure it is a copy or a digital print you can reprint at any time. NEVER try this on your one-of-a-kind irreplaceable originals. I guarantee you will regret it.
2. Select your tool of destruction - sand paper, sanding tool, sanding disk, sanding block, pot scrubber, emery board etc
3. Gently rub around the edges of your photos to distress the photo by removing the colour from the front of your photo image.
4. Repeat until you achieve your desired look. You may need to rub the sand paper harder, or more flatter against the front surface of your photo to get the level of distressing you like. Remember to build up in layers. You can always distress some more... you CAN'T undo the distressing.

Variations:

• Try different grades of sandpaper for different looks
• Try different materials... sandpaper distressing looks different to distressing with an emery board
• Try different levels of intensity of your sanding - harder sanding will give you more of a whitish frame around your photo compared to softer sanding which leaves a lot more of the former background colour showing, just more blurred

I have two examples here, both distressed using a sanding disc. The wedding photo (my first marriage) was printed on professional photo paper while the baby (my nephew) was printed at home on my photo printer. And for the records, no I was not trying to get rid of my former husband in this photo... honest!!!