Northwest Stamper

Tag: sponging

  • Beautiful Tie-Dyed Tree with Sheltering Tree and the Leaflet Thinlits

    Don’t you just love when you find two things in your craft room that don’t officially go together, but they just work together perfectly??  I was so blown away when I was given a card by fellow demonstrator Jen Martin that overlaid the Leaflet framelits with the Sheltering Tree trunk.  So I made my own version and used it as customer thank you cards.  Isn’t it such a cool combination?

    I never would have guessed that the two shapes were such a close match, and with a little coloring, they are super pretty together!

    Jennifer’s Project Tips:

    • Start by creating a stencil with your favorite framelit!  In this case, I used the maple leaf thinlit from the Leaflet framelits and cut out a hole in a piece of computer/copy paper.  You want your paper to be thin… so not a piece of cardstock so that you can get right up to the edge of the shape cleanly on all sides.  You can throw away the cut out shape, you really just want the hole!
    • Pick your favorite color combination – You are going to place the stencil over your cardstock and then use sponge daubers to color in the leaf.  So grab your favorite 3-4 colors and matching sponge daubers to do this.  I used So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Blackberry Bliss.
    • When sponging, start with your lightest color!  Mainly this is to prevent your sponge dauber from picking up the darker colors, plus it gives you a bit more control about how dark things get.   Here I sponged the ENTIRE leaf with the So Saffron, then I started adding bits of the other colors hear and there to get the tie-dye look.
    • Layer your stamped image on top of your sponged image – by doing the sponged image first, you can see where your stamped image needs to go, or if you want to adjust your stamped image to cover up a less than perfect spot on your sponging.  Thankfully, Sheltering Tree is a photopolymer stamp (meaning it is totally clear) so I can see exactly where to line up my stamp.  But if you are using a rubber stamp, you may want to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get things perfectly lined up.
    • Add a little color to your sentiment – I wanted to ground my image, so I took a strip of cardstock for my sentiment and stamped it in the same brown so that it would be easy to read… but then I sponged a little of the Old Olive along the bottom to make it feel like grass and just “ground” my tree/leaf.  A little color can go a long way for really pulling a card together!

    So, give this technique a try with any of your favorite framelits and stamps.  You may be surprised at how cool the combinations turn out!

    In the Seattle Area?  Join me for my In with the New! Spring Catalog Kick off Party!

    I have a bunch of super fun events coming up over the next few months, with more to be added soon.  First up is a fun and free kick-off party for all the newest and coolest products from the Occasions Catalog.  With free make & takes, over 60 new ideas on display, treats, and prizes – you should totally join me! 

    January 23rd at 1:30 pm, Bellevue, WA

    Email me for more details at jennifer@nwstamper.com or check out it out on my Bellevue/Redmond Card Makers Meetup group!

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  • Christmas Card Joy with Peaceful Pines

    I really did have grand plans this year to get all of my Christmas cards out early.  After years of being terrible about NOT sending out cards at all, last year I sent out around 70 holiday cards and it felt great to be putting a little cheer out through the mail.  So, I was all gung ho that I was going to be all organized this year and get them in the mail at the beginning of December.

    But then suddenly, I turned around and here it is December 16th and they have yet to hit the post office!  Anyone with me?  How many times do we have grand plans but one reason or another keeps us from making it happen?  Well, I’m here to say, it is never too late!  In this case, there is still time to make and send Christmas cards (or send the cards you have!)  Today’s share is a simple card idea that you can pull together quickly for those people who need some holiday cheer from you.

    I actually made this card as a swap for the November OnStage Local regional event.  I decided the day that we were leaving that I wanted to make swaps after all and so I pulled these together.  They are clean and simple, and easy to pull together!

    Tips for making this card:

    • Keep it simple and cost effective by choosing ONE color plus white – I picked Always Artichoke because I had an almost full pack on my desk and thought the muted color would be good for this design.  Use that color for your card base and for your smallest layer.  Then just use Whisper White cardstock as your matting layer to create a nice border around your stamped images.
    • Use heat embossing for an easy-to-create WOW – I kept in the deep green theme by stamping a tree and my sentiment in Mossy Meadow ink, but added layers and dimension by stamping one tree in Versamark ink and then covering it in White embossing powder.  Heat set for a snowy tree that really catches your eye.
    • Make your embossed images more interesting with sponging – I sponged over my white embossed tree with Always Artichoke ink to give the tree some depth.  This is a great technique to use on any project you are heat embossing though.  Just match the ink color with the color of the underlying cardstock for a rich addition to your image.  You can also make your central cardstock have more dimension with the same trick only by sponging the edges of the cardstock with the same color ink.
    • Try out different size banners! – I had left over Always Artichoke cardstock strips after cutting for the smaller piece on this card.  So I decided to use them by cutting them in half and stamping my sentiment (the Joy from the Your Presents stamp set).  I normally do longer and skinnier banners, but this smaller size was just right for this card.
    • Make banners more easily with the Banner Triple Punch – The best part about adding banners is that I don’t have to try hard to make the ends look even and nice thanks to the Banner Triple Punch (I still want to call it the triple banner punch!)  Even if your piece is small, you can slide it in to this punch and with a press, you have perfect banner ends!  Easy Peasy!

    So, if you still have Christmas cards to make, you still have time!

    And if you need to order some extra supplies, you still have time for that too!  If you are on the west coast, orders typically come in about 2-3 days.  If you are on the east coast… well, orders will arrive before Christmas if you order by tomorrow, so you can still make “thinking of you at Christmas” cards. Smile  Have questions or need help?  I’m here for you!  Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com

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  • Sponged Vellum Flowers Make Great Cards!

    I finally got some time this weekend to play for a while in my craft room and it felt great!  I was finishing up samples and projects for today’s Creating with Vellum class and once again ended up with way more samples and ideas than I had time to create to share, let alone everyone have time to do in the class.  But, I guess that just means some extra videos (and maybe creating with vellum round 2) is in order!

    But this is the first card I created to show at the class and it got such a popular response on my Facebook page when I shared it yesterday that I decided to make it one of the class projects for today.

    Sponged Vellum Flowers card

    Vellum is a great medium for sponging and getting a beautifully soft look for whatever your project is.  In this case, I used the same base piece of vellum and punched out with the Pansy punch three times and then sponged with Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, and Strawberry Slush.  Add a pearl on the middle of each flower to hide the glue dots that I used to adhere the flowers to my card, and they are secure without glue everywhere.  Pretty, right?

    I can’t wait to see how everyone likes it today since it is even nicer in person! 

    And if you are in the Seattle area, I am running this class today at 2pm (at my home) and at 7pm (at Panera in Redmond) and due to some last minute cancellations, I still have some spots – so if you are interested in coming, let me know ASAP and I’ll get you all the details!  Email me at jennifer@nwstamper.com. 

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  • Elegant Embossed Vellum Card

    Its been a busy week and I’m suddenly realizing how much I still need to catch up on!  I’ve been reorganizing my craft room to make space for all the new catalog goodies that just came in…of course in the process I’ve discovered items that I forgot I had and really need to use more!  One of those items is Vellum! 

    I have had a pack sitting on my shelf for a while and had completely forgotten about it, so a few weeks ago, I ran a Terrific Techniques class all about Vellum.  This card was one of my favorites from the class:

    You start out by running a piece of vellum through your Big Shot with an embossing folder (in this case I used the Flower Garden embossing folder).  Then on the back side of your vellum, I grabbed my Sponge Daubers and sponged my colors as if to color in the embossed image.

    The cool thing is that by sponging the back side of your vellum, it gives a pretty, soft glow to the front of your image.  And when you think you have made it too dark on the back, it turns out to be just perfect on the front!

    Adhere your vellum to the front of your card by glueing it to the front of a white cardbase and add a strip of patterned paper to the edge for an accent.

    I finished it off by punching out a sentiment from the fabulous Petite Pairs stamp set and sponging it with the same Wisteria Wonder sponge dauber I used for coloring in the back of the flowers.  And if you don’t have this stamp set yet, don’t forget it is available for 25% off until June 30th!

     

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    Check out all the greeting stamp sets that are available in the June 25% off sale!

    So grab your vellum and embossing folders and experiment with what fun designs you can create. Smile

  • A Sponged Easter Egg Card

    Happy Easter weekend everyone!  I hope you have sunshine and wonderful events planned with family and friends this holiday weekend.  Today we are getting ready to go out for egg hunts and coloring some eggs at home with family.  But before we head out, I wanted to share the first eggs I colored this year…. for a card. 🙂

     

     

    I had this idea to use sponging to create eggs for my card and so I grabbed my handy dandy Extra-Large Oval Punch.  Then I punched out an oval on scrap paper and pulled a pile of ink pads and sponges and got to work masking my Easter Eggs.  Of course, I made the eggs on a piece of scrap white paper and then had to design the card around the colored eggs. 🙂  But I added some paper for grass and then threw on some Early Espresso baker’s twine and the adorable Twitterpated buttons.

     

     

    So, consider this my Easter card to you. 🙂  Have a great weekend!

     

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    Sponged Easter Egg Card Recipe:

    Stamps:  Delightful Dozen
    Ink:  Chocolate Chip classic, Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride
    Paper: Daffodil Delight CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Whisper White CS
    Accessories: Twitterpated buttons, glue dots, Early Espresso baker’s twine, yellow sponge

  • Seeing Stars Graduation Card

    I know it is a little early to be thinking about school graduations.  Though now that I think about it, I graduated college during the month of March, so I guess it might not be too early for some.  Anyways, I was asked to design a graduation card for a stamp camp last week and was posed the additional challenge that guests at the camp would be making cards for kids attending one of two schools.  So, that meant an unknown number of people would want a card in Navy and Orange while some other unknown amount of people would want Navy and Yellow!

    Well, never one to back down from a challenge, I put my thinking cap on and designed a card that was based around the common Navy theme and then allowed the creator to switch out ink colors and punch outs in the appropriate accent color.  And it turned out even better than I expected. Smile

    The star pattern on the Whisper White paper was hand stamped using the Seeing Stars stamp set; and so it was different on every card – which I loved.  We used Presto Patterns designer paper for the sponged paper on the bottom half of the card (and if you haven’t seen Presto Patterns yet, it is this super cool paper that is white with white glossy embossing, which means that you can spray/sponge/brayer whatever color you want on top and create your own custom paper!)

    Then folks punched out their sentiment and coordinating shapes to finish it off.  Every card was totally different but that was perfect!  This way, even if two friends were given this card, they would still have their own personal and unique card.  And it was fun to make to boot!

    I hope you enjoyed this early graduation idea and can see even more fun ways to tweak this design for Birthdays, Holidays, and more!

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    Happy Graduation Card Recipe:
    Stamps:     Teeny Tiny Wishes, Seeing Stars
    Ink: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight
    Paper: Crumb Cake CS, Whisper White CS, Night of Navy CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Presto Patterns designer series paper
    Accessories: Night of Navy 1/4” Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Oval Punch, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Sometimes the Card Wins

    If you have been to any of my classes or events, you’ve probably heard me say “its not a mess up, its just an opportunity for embellishment!”  And I really do believe that when you do something and say “oops!” you can usually tweak your card design or add an embellishment and you will still end up with an awesome card.  However, this week I had the card that finally beat me. 🙂

    I was designing a card for my meet & greet with my local meetup group and had an idea to use sponging and the Sale-a-Bration stamp set Bliss.  I did some masking of the center of the card, and when I looked at it, I decided I needed to draw an outline of the masked area to help it stand out.  Unfortunately, I drew my rectangle lopsided, so I thought, I’ll just rotate my white layer and it will be artsy.  But that looked wierd, so I thought I needed to do more to make the center stand out and look good, so I did clear embossing over the flourish.  It was nice, but not enough.  So I added ribbon and then I added piercing along the bottom of the center area.  In the end I just gave up and decided to call it a loss.  Oh, and di I mention that this was supposed to be a card showing how you could do something simple with little to no layers? 🙂

    But, I thought the base idea was good, so I tried again, pulling out some of my favorite elements of the first card and really like how the second card turned out. 

    This is the card we will be making on Saturday and it uses sponging with sponges and with sponge daubers, paper piercing with the mat pack, and then coloring ribbon (its the Organza ribbon that is originally white!) with markers.  I can’t wait!

    And don’t forget, this is the last few weeks to earn this stamp set – Bliss – free with any $50 order.

    Stop by the online store and grab some of your favorites and enjoy your Sale-a-Bration freebies!

    Bliss Card Recipe:
    Stamps:     Bliss (Sale-a-Bration)
    Ink: So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Bravo Burgundy
    Paper: Whisper White CS
    Accessories: Whisper White Organza ribbon, Bravo Burgundy Marker, Paper Piercing tool, Mat Pack, Stampin’ Dimensionals

  • Sponging up a No Layer Card

    Each week, the Late Night Stampers group has some kind of challenge.  This week was particularly intriguing to me as the challenge was to create a single/no layer card.  When I first read this, I thought, “won’t these cards be boring?”  Well, boy was I wrong!  Folks came up with all kinds of cool ways to make a card look interesting without needing lots of layers of paper and embellishments.  So, I took up the challenge and decided to create one myself, no paper layers, no embellishment layers, just paper and ink.

    Here is what I came up with:

    Using scoring lines and sponging, this card turned out much better than I expected.  I scored the outer frame at about 1” in from the top and the bottom of the card and about 1/2” in from the sides of the card.  Then I scored the inner frame about 1/4” in from the outer frame.  I then masked at the inner frame lines and sponged with Pink Pirouette ink and stamped my flowers using Blushing Bride and Rich Razzleberry.  Next I masked the inner part of the score lines so I could sponge the outer areas with Pink Pirouette and finished it off by sponging the edges of the card in Rich Razzleberry.

    Tip:  Did you know that it is easy to score at precise measurements that don’t go to the edge of your paper using a paper cutter and a bone folder?  For a frame like I created above, grab a paper cutter that uses a grooved track for cutting like this one and position your paper to the dimension you want to score.  So, if you were scoring the sides of the frame above, you would put your paper at 3 3/4” so that you are scoring 1/2” in from the side of your 4 1/4” card front.  Then use the bone folder instead of the cutting blade and use the ruler on the cutting track to help you score the length you want – so in this case, from 4 1/2” to 1”.  Keep doing that for each side of your frame, and voila!  You are done!

    Need a bone folder or a grooved paper cutter?  You can order them here!

    No Layer Card Recipe:
    Stamps:      Petal Pizazz, Just Believe
    Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
    Paper:  Whisper White CS
    Accessories:  Paper cutter, bone folder, sponges

  • My last index card – Sweet Stems

    My last index card I needed to make for Splitcoast Stampers was for the stamp set Sweet Stems.  I was hesitent to buy this set because I had bought and regreted Pocket Silhouettes, another small flower set.  However, after looking at the stamp set and all the coordinating items (besides the stamp set you have matching paper – Tea Party – which has some cute designs, and an embosslit which will emboss one of the flower images), I’ve decided this set is more my style and a bit more fun.  I guess the natural looking sets are just not for me. 

    Anyway, as part of my new catalog order, I also ordered the small oval punch which I’ve been wanting for a while.  So, it all came together as a chance for me to try out this design I’ve been eyeing for a while.  Sure, I could have added a bunch of layers, but it was nice to make something really simple and straightforward.  I made sure to place the vases just below the bottom of the stamped image so what you see with the flowers is exactly what you get.  Oh yeah, and if you haven’t tried sponging yet, you totally should.  Its super easy, adds neat texture, and is fun to do!

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    And one other tip.  I have both blender pens and an aqua pen.  I most often use the technique of lifting color from the lid of an ink pad and coloring in a stamped image, and I never quite new which to use when.  So, I used this card as an opportunity to play with both of them. 

    What I realized is that the aqua pen is good for adding colors lightly and for a true watercoloring effect.  Blender pens are great for slightly richer colors (pink pirouette will actually show up using a blender pen) and are the right tool for the job when coloring in small spaces.  The aqua pen, being based on water, has a tendancy to bleed which is fine if you are coloring in a slightly larger space, but is not nearly so great for small dots and the like.  (I’m sure using real watercolor paper helps this though).  And I believe you can turn blender pens into markers by using a reinker to dye the end of the pen, though I haven’t tried this yet. 

    So, my tip – use blender pens for precision work, you will be much happier with the result.