I’m super excited to share with you a beautiful yet easy card to create thanks to the new Sponge Brayers! This was a card I used in our Fun n’ Crafty team card swap recently to trade ideas using the newer Annual Catalog products. Today a few of us are sharing our swap cards in a team Blog Hop for you!
On our team we have a range of folks from super experienced stampers to folks who are pretty new but really excited to create and stamp. So, when we do a card swap with the team, we get a good range of styles and designs – but fantastically, they all turn out great! I haven’t yet seen what the other 3 ladies in this blog hop are going to share with you… but I know they are really talented crafters so I can’t wait to check them out with you!
Quick Reminder!
Just a note to remind you that TODAY is the last day to get in on the Free Ink Pad promotion for joining our Fun n’ Crafty Stampers group by purchasing the Starter Kit. It is a crazy good deal and we are pretty fun too. 🙂 Plus, you can swap and hop with us too if you want next time!
ps – If you are visiting from one of the other blog hop participants – know you can get this same deal from them as well and they would love to have you join with them. 🙂
On to the Good Stuff! The Sponge Brayer Swap Card!
So, I will admit it. I tried the Sponge Brayers when they first came out and I wasn’t sure I liked them. I was used to the rubber roller and how much ink you transferred when you used that tool. So, I set my sponge brayers aside and went on to coloring techniques. Well, a year later, I pulled them out to create a background and WOW they were awesome!
I was inspired by a card from UK demonstrator Sam Hammond Donald and put my own twist on it and loved the result….Isn’t the final card fun?!
I started by taking a 3″x4″ piece of Whisper White cardstock and then grabbing the 2 sponge brayers that come in a package. I inked one up with Lemon Lime Twist ink and started lightly rolling from the top of my cardstock until about 2/3rd of the way down the paper.
Then I inked up the other brayer with Granny Apple Green (my new favorite green color – brand new as of June 2018!) and lightly rolled from the bottom of the cardstock up about 2/3rds of the way.
Once you have the dark color worked up, I went over the middle (and lightly the top) with the Lemon Lime Twist brayer, just to finish blending the colors.
Stamp your solid image – like this tree over your newly made background first to make your base.
I love this sentiment from the Rooted in Nature stamp set (the tree is from the same set) and just simply cut it up so I could haphazardly glue it down below my tree. I just makes it a little more fun and eclectic when the sentiment is coming off and over the main cardstock and mats.
And see those black rhinestones? All you have to do is grab your basic clear rhinestones and a black sharpie and color away! They stay slightly shiny but better fit in with the colors for this card.
Finally, what I think really pulled it together was the Wood Textures designer paper for the background – would you agree? (and YES! it is one of the papers included in the Buy 3 get 1 free promotion that ends today)
I tried just adding a strip or mat layer… basically something that was a bit more “economical” with my patterened paper; but none of them looked quite right. I realized I needed to go big or not at all, so I cut up to a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece and adhered it to the front of a Whisper White card base. It is the perfect amount of natural and texture to go with the tree image and the greens of the rest of the card.
This card was a lot of fun to make and I hope it inspired you to try out the Sponge Brayers and the Wood Textures designer paper. They are both total winners!
- Nicole Flournoy — Inky Fingers Stamping
- Jennifer Blomquist — NW Stamper <— YOU ARE HERE
- Christine Szecares — Artful Musings
- Tobe Buffenbarger — The Craft Sea
*** Please leave a comment at the end of this post and on the blog hop stops, and let us know what you think!***
DON’T MISS THIS!!!
10th Anniversary Gifts! Day 2 Giveaway
To celebrate my 10 years with Stampin’ Up, I’m going to be doing 10 days of giveaways! Its like a week and a half party.
Each day I’ll have a one-day only gift with purchase, PLUS a free giveaway of the day just by leaving a comment on the blog. You will have until 8/8/2018 to leave your comments – winners for all 10 days will be announced on 8/9/2018.
DAY 2 – Free gift with a $40+ order – Gorgeous Grape Mini Striped Ribbon
you must use host code 3XPZF4KW for orders under $150
Shop here
DAY 2 GIVEAWAY – WIN A FREE SET OF THE BEST ROUTE ENAMEL SHAPES!
Leave a comment on this blog post sharing what is your favorite way to color on a project and which method do you avoid or are not confident enough to try to be entered to win! Winner drawn randomly on 8/9/2018.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Don’t forget to enter to win the Day 1 giveaway, and then come back tomorrow to check out the Day 3 celebration giveaway!
The first card I ever posted on a blog! Using supplies from my new starter kit in 2008!
Me, my son, Shelli Gardner, and my mom at the 2010 Stampin’ Up convention!
A few of our Fun n’ Crafty Stampers demonstrator team at the Stampin’ Up office in 2017
The pajama party crew at the Spring 2018 Northwest Crafty Escape Weekend
