Nature's Beauty - The Deer and Bunny with a Sponged Background plus a bonus recipe for shimmer mist

 Sponging has become one of my favourite techniques especially since I discovered the long handled sponge brushes.

Sponging is the technique I used to create the background for this deer and the bunny rabbit from the Nature's Beauty stamp set.  Isn't that just a wonderful way to present these gorgeous creatures?

For the night sky I used the following colours on Shimmer Whisper White card stock -  sponging in circular motions from the lightest colour to the darkest taking care to leave the center with very little colour- Pool Party, Balmy Breeze, Coastal Cabana, Highland Heather, Pacific Point, and Night of Navy. 

Then, using Night of Navy ink, I stamped the image of the grass about 2" from the bottom. 

To create the snowy bottom, I cut two pieces of  Dazzling Diamond glimmer paper in a wavy pattern, sponged the edge with Night of Navy ink, and adhered these pieces to the bottom of the card front. 

The deer and bunny were stamped on a separate piece of whisper White card stock, coloured with Stampin' Blends, and then - yes - fussy cut. Before adhering them to the card front, I sponged the edges with Basic Gray ink.

The finished card front was matted with Night of Navy card stock and added to a Pool Party card base.

The sentiment is from "Itty Bitty Christmas"

I wanted to add some more glitter, some I made my own glimmer spray using Champagne glimmer paint and Alcohol (recipe below post). Oh my that does look shimmery!!!!!

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Nature's Beauty, Itty Bitty Christmas                                                            Inks:  Black Memento, Pool Party, Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana, Highland Heather, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Stampin' Blends (Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate), Fine tipped black pen. Basic Gray                                                       Papers:  Shimmer Whisper White, Whisper White, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Dazzling Diamond Glimmer paper                                                                              Accessories:  Long handles sponges (non SU), Glitter spray (homemade)

Make your own Shimmer Mist:

Supplies:  Shimmer Paint - Champagne or Frost White, Alcohol, spritzer

Method:  Add a few drops of either the Champagne or Frost White shimmer paint into a 2 oz spritzer (spray bottle) containing rubbing alcohol (I use 95% but 65% is okay as well).  I like alcohol because it dries faster than water. The more paint you add, the shimmery the spray will be.  Shake and spray holding the spritzer about 12" from your work if you want a fine mist, or closer if you want mist with water marks.

Label your spritzer.

Northern Lights using Coloured Card stock and only one colour ink.

 This technique was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest.  The artist created the impression of Northern lights by sponging Night of Navy on Pear Pizzazz card stock, stamping trees on the bottom with Night of Navy as well as Mossy Meadow ink.  I do not know who created this card, and if anyone knows please let me know so I can give credit.

I cased the idea but added elements of my own. I not only did this technique on Pear Pizzazz card stock, but also on Mango Melody and Cherry Cobbler card stock as well.

Night of Navy ink was sponged around the edges of  Pear Pizzazz card stock, leaving an area in the middle uninked.

The trees at the bottom were from Merry Moose and were stamped in Mossy Meadow in both first and second generation stamping, as well as Night of navy.

The finished piece was matted with Pear Pizzazz and a 3/8" crinkled whisper white ribbon coloured with Pear Pizzazz marker was added near the bottom.  Some gold elements from the Laser cut DSP was added under the left side and the die cut work "happy" (Well Said) was adhered over the ribbon.  The remainder sentiment was stamped on a scrap piece of Pear Pizzazz and added below the die cut word. The finished card front was the adhered to a Night of Navy card front.

The stars in the sky were made using  a white gel pen.

Gilded gems were added randomly to the card front.

Card #2

After this card was done I used the same technique, only now on Mango Melody card stock.

This time I used the tree stamp from Mountain Air to stamp the forest.  The Cardinal was left over from another project.

The card front was matted with Mango Melody and then added to a Basic Black card base.

Card #3

Finally, Night of Navy was sponged on a Cherry Cobbler base.  Die cut trees from Mountain Air straddled the sentiment on the bottom.

A Bright Christmas Star a tutorial

Ever wonder what to do with the Mercury Glass Acetate Paper in the Holiday catalogue?

For this card, I die cut a fairly large star using a Stitched Star die using this Mercury Glass window sheet-like paper, and adhered it over a sponged background.

The card is partially cased from a card made by Sarah Fleming 

Stamps :  So Many Stars, Making Christmas Bright

Inks:

• Sky:  Sponged with Shaded Spruce and Daffodil Delight on Whisper White card stock
• Small Stars & edges: stamped  and edges sponged with Shaded Spruce ink,
• Sentiment :  Real Red
• Embossing:  Versa Mark  

Papers:

• Real Red       5 1/2 by 4 1/4"  Card base
• Shaded Spruce  4 by 5 1/4" first layer
• Whisper White 3 3/4 by 5" Art piece
• Whisper White 2" circle for sentiment
• Whisper White to die cut star swirl and smaller stars

Accessories:  Stitched Star dies, dimensionals, glitter white embossing powder, 2" circle punch.

Putting card together:

1. Fold  Real Red base at 4 1/4" and burnish fold
2. Adhere 3 by 5 1/4" Shaded Spruce layer to card base  - set aside
3. On Whisper White layer, emboss stars with glitter white embossing powder.
4. Then sponge Daffodil Delight in upper right corner of the art piece and Shaded Spruce ink on the rest. Blend the two colours together a little bit. With a clean dry paper towel, wipe off the ink over the embossed stars.
5. Die cut the star swirl and small stars using Whisper White and adhere to art piece
6. Die card medium star with Mercury Glass Acetate paper and add to art piece using mini dimensionals.
7. Stamp sentiment on a separate piece of Whisper White and punch with a 2" circle punch.  Stamp some small stars over the sentiment with Real Red ink. Add punched circle to art piece with dimensionals partially covering die cut star and swirl
8. Add completed art piece to card front.
9. Finish inside.

Playful Penquin Silhouette - a Holiday catalogue CASE

I partially cased this card from the Holiday catalogue which has now debuted.  One of the new stamp sets in this catalogue is called "Playful Penguins".  This stamp set is so cute and has some wonderful sentiments included.

The card base is Thick Whisper White layered with Night of Navy and then Whisper White, which is the mat for the art pie

The background is made sponging with 4 different shades of blue:  Seaside spray, Pool Party, Pacific Point and Night of Navy. A sponge brayer could be used as well.  A post it note is punched with a 2 1/4" circle and placed on the art piece to preserve the colour and shape of the moon .

Beginning around the post it covered moon, Seaside Spray was applied , followed by Pool Party, Pacific Point and Night of Navy.  Each colour slightly over lapped the other. 

Stars, from Moose stamp, were embossed with White Embossing Powder.

The Penguin was stamped on a separate piece of Whisper White, coloured lightly with a light Smoky Slate Stampin' Blend and highlighed with a dark, and then fussy cut.  The scarf and hat were stamped separately with Black Memento, but I think would be better stamped with Merry Merlot.  They were coloured with a Real Red Stampin' Blend, fussy cut and adhered to the Penguin. Puff Paint was added to the fur of the hat and the puff ball at the end of the hat.

The Penguin was added in front of the moon using dimensionals. Some glitter embossing paste, sprinkled with Stampin Glitter, was added below the Penguin's feet.

The sentiment was white embossed above the moon.

The art piece was slightly smaller than the mat, so after it was adhered to the card front, a piece of white glimmer paper was added along that side.  A 1/4" white ribbon was added along the seam and a bow made with that ribbon was added at the top.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Playful Penguin
Inks:  Black Memento, Seaside Spray, Pool Party, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, Versa Mark, Stampin' Blends (Real Red)
Papers:  Night of Navy, Whisper White, Glimmer paper
Accessories:  2 1/4" circle punch, Glimmer embossing paste, Stampin' Glitter, Puff  Paint, 1/4" white grosgrain ribbon, white embossing powder, dimensionals.

Thanks Card - a CASE

This card was made at our team meeting on Monday night .  This is one of the cards made at the Demonstrator Training event in Cambridge July 2016, which unfortunately I missed.  But my downline went and she provided me with the invaluable handouts.

Gail demonstrated how to make the background technique for this card, and then we all made the card.  What a  great technique - and so easy!!

The sponging is done from light to dark colours - starting with Peekaboo Peach in the center to Early Espresso around the outside border.

The colours in the background include:  Peekaboo Peach, followed by Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, blending each colour and slightly overlapping each.  After all the colours are applied and the Early Espresso added, Peekaboo Peach was lightly sponged over the entire panel.

Now, here's where the background gets interesting.

First, an Oak Leaf  stamp (Vintage Leaves), lis ightly spritzed with water,  and stamped onto the background, letting it sit longer than when stamping which allows the moisture to penetrate the cardstock.  This process is repeated with the Maple Leaf, and then both areas are dried using the Heating Tool.  This really allows the images to "pop".  If you look closely at the card you can see these ghost like images in the upper corners of the background.

The sentiment "Thanks", from Hello You thinlets, is die cut in Crumb Cake and Early Espresso, and the two layers adhered together slightly off setting each other.

A Maple Leaf is embossed with Copper Embossing powder on vellum and die cut using the Leaflets Framelits.  Before adding it to the card front, some copper metallic thread is wrapped into loops and adhered to dimensionals on the back of the die cut leaf and then the leaf is added to the card front.

The sentiment from "Endless Thanks" is stamped with Early Espresso on Kraft cardstock, trimmed into a banner and adhered to the card f ront.

Here's  the close up.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Vintage Leaves, Endless Thanks
Inks: Peekaboo Peach, Crushed Curry , Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Versa Mark
Papers: Kraft Cardstock, Early Espresso cardstock, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Vellum
Accessories: Copper Metallic Thread, Leaflet thinlets, Hello You Thinlets, Copper embossing powder, dimensionals

Spooky, spooky- Card 1

I made 2 Halloween cards this morning, both of which used the sponging technique to create the background for a spooky Halloween night.
On this first card - below, which I am going to use in class, I stamped on the background, using the "Halloween Scares" stamp set.

Card 1

A 1 3/4" punched circle was used to mask the moon while the rest of the card front was sponged.  Colours for the background include:  Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie.  The sponging was done in a random manner although I did drag some of the yellow from the moon into the rest of the sky.

After the mask was removed, the moon was sponged with Crushed Curry with a bit of  Pumpkin Pie.

                                                   

The stamping was done using Black Memento ink.  The sentiment is from "Spooky Fun"

To finish the card, I used a black ribbon (retired)  and wrapped it around the left side.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Halloween Scares, Spooky Fun

Inks: Black Memento, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie

Papers: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Accessories: 1 3/4" circle punch, Wink of Stella, 3/8" basic black ribbon (retired), dimensionals.

Tomorrow card #2

Artistically Asian Birthday - Paper Players #301

For the sketch challenge with The Paper Players I decided to try a new technique- doing sponging using a template die cut using the Circles Framelits.

 

•  The focal image was stamped onto a background created with sponges and a circle template.
• Three basic colours were used:  Sahara Sand and the bottom, Pear Pizzazz in the middle, and Soft Sky at the top.  Markers are used to ink up the stamp - Wild Wasabi and Soft Suede.

• The circle edges are sponged with Soft Suede
• It is attached to the card front using dimensionals.
• The card front is a Whisper White layer embossed with the Sparkles embossing folder, with a strip of Pear Pizzazz DSP adhered to in.
• The sentiment is from "And Many More".  It is punched using the Ticket Builder Punch (Retired).

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Artistically Asian, And Many More
Inks: Sahara Sand, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky, Markers (Wild Wisabi, Soft Suede)
Papers: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz DSP
Accessories:  Sparkles embossing folder, Circle Framelits, Ticket builder punch, dimensionals, rhinestones.

Dinoroar Birthday - Challenge 185 LNS

The challenge this week - challenge 185- is to use an animal on a card or project.  I don't have too many animal cards, so I chose to use a dinosaur.

The images were first stamped with Black Stazon and then coloured with coloured pencils and mineral spirits.  They were then cut out and Crystal Effects applied to certain parts of each of the dinosaurs.
After the background was sponged to give the impression of prehistoric scenery each dinosaur was attached using dimensionals.

Stamp: Dinoroar
Inks: Black Stazon, Watercolor pencils, Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso
Papers: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Twitterpated designer series paper, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Argyle folder, 1 3/4 by 7/8" oval punch, Modern Word Label Punch, Crystal Effects, Mineral spirits (non SU), dimensionals.

Platinum Trees

I'm in the mood for blue and silver tonight.  As a result I created this card using a stamping method I haven't used for a while.  The image was painted with Platinum all purpose paint and stamped on Whisper White cardstock which had been sponged with Not Quite Navy ink (with a moon masked out).  I know, I could have brayered the sky, but I was in a sponging mood as well.  Actually, I quite like the way the sky turned out, depicting movement and emotion.  It actually looks windy!  Can't you just see the trees bending in the wind?  Sorry, my imagination got the better of me.
Here's a list of materials:
Stamp: Lovely as a Tree, Christmas Wishes
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Platinum all purpose ink
Accessories: Silver Tinsel

Gently Falling

I'm doing well this week (sarcasm).  I missed the deadline for posting this card for Pal Paper Arts.  That's two times I've done that this week.
It's probably because I am not feeling well.  I developed an infection in the foot that I had the surgery on. Talk about pain!!!!! I couldn't bear to wear the air boot, nor walk, lie down or sleep.  Thank goodness for my family doctor and his receptionist.  Normally it takes 2 weeks to get an appointment, but when i explained my situation, she got me in the next day.
By that time my foot was a dusky color, swollen, and his examination demonstrated decreased pulses and areas of localized swelling and hot red areas.
Because he was worried I might have developed a blood clot in my calf, he immediately sent me over to the Vascular lab to have my arteries and veins checked.  NO CLOTS
I am now on a hefty dose of antibiotics that I have to take 3 times a day.  This was started last night and believe it or not, my foot is somewhat better today.


Now, for today's card.  It's a fall card, suitable for Thanksgiving.

Stamps: Gently Falling, Day of Gratitude
Inks: Basic Black, (More Mustard, Pool Party, Soft Suede - ink and markers)
Papers: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake designer paper.
Accessories: Square Lattice embossing folder, Word Label Punch, Modern Word Label Punch, Rhinestones, Stampin dimensionals, 1 3/8" square punch

The background for the leaf was made by randomly sponging More Mustard, Pool Party, and soft Suede on one 5 by 5" piece of Vanilla Card stock and blending the colours together.
Four 1 3/4" squares were punched out from this piece, and each square layered with a 1 1/2"  square of soft suede card stock.

The leaves were stamped using the 2 step stamping method. Using markers the 3 colours were randoming applied to each leaf (the more solid one) then stamped onto a piece of Very Vanilla card stock.  Then the outline stamp was inked with Basic black ink and using the stamp-a-ma-jig, stamped over the coloured leaf.  Each leaf was then cut out, and with dimensionals was adhered to the coloured background and positioned so that it looked like each leaf was falling.

This close up of the leaves shows the background a bit better.