Winter Woods ~ A Stampin' Up! Card

Today's card features a bit of sponging...one of my favorite techniques.

Lakeside ~ A Fun Stampers Journey Card

Well it's time I share another card with you, but I have to admit I hate typing up blog posts.  Does anyone else feel that way about writing?  It's just not my thing, but I want to share a few cards with you in the next week or so that I created for the first round when I was trying out for the creative team. :)

Winter Holiday ~ A Fun Stampers Journey Card

Today's card is a part of Try Stampin' on Tuesday's technique challenge.  I said I would showcase sponging because it's one of my favorite techniques to do do.  I created a video for you to watch if you'd like to give it a try.

Winter Holiday ~ A Fun Stampers Journey Card

Merry Christmas!  
I want to share the Christmas cards I created for my brother to give to his sons for this year.  

I stamped the trees making sure the bottoms of them were masked and stamped the word Christmas.  Then I placed on a round sticky note to mask where I wanted the moon to be.  Next I sponged...a LOT!  I started by masking the trees using Pool Play ink and sponging under them to create some hills.  Next I sponged all around the moon starting with Pool Play.  Then I added Catalina Splash making sure I didn't sponge as far in as I did with Pool Play.  I finished off with Denim Days once again not going as far in so you can see the three different colors on the card.  The last thing I stamped was the deer using Black Licorice ink.  After that I quickly assembled the card together with a couple of layers.

 

Whip Cream

Lemon Grass

Kiwi Slice

Pool Play

Catalina Splash

Denim Days

Black Licorice

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I'd love to have you join me on my journey!
Go to www.funstampersjourney.com/sarahoogendoorn or
Click on "Join My Team" at the top of this post.

Have you ever wanted to create something, 
but don't always have the time to come up with the idea?
That's where the Bloom Box comes in!  Check it out!  
www.funstampersjourney.com/sarahoogendoorn

If you like what you see and want to order just click on the 

"Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. 

 If you have questions feel free to contact me. 
Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . 

Supplies used on this card:

sticky notes for masking

Fresh Forest ~ A Fun Stampers Journey Card

Today I want to share a masculine card with you that has a bit of sponging on it.

Stay Wild - The Peace of Christmas ~ A Fun Stampers Journey Card

I have another card for this week's sketch challenge over at Try Stampin' or Not on Tuesday.  Now this was a fun sketch to work with, but I went a little crazy again and turned that sketch upside down!  

Here's the sketch we had to work with and all I could see was a big ol' moon popping out from behind the mountain even though I was looking at it upside down! lol

Make sure you stop over at Try Stampin' on Tuesday Here and check out all the other cards made by the design team.  So fun to see what everyone else created with the sketch.  If you get a chance make sure you play along.  We'd love to see what you create!

To create this scene I started by stamping a background stamp called Vintage Notes onto Buttercream card stock using the Journey Gold ink pad (I wanted the moon to have something inside of it, so I had to start with what is the farthest in the background and move my way forward...if that makes any sense!).  Then a ripped a piece of scrap paper so I had a mountain shape ripped out.  I sponged the whole mountain with Pretty Amethyst, then added Deep Lilac and sponged from the top of the mountain down, but didn't do about the bottom 1/4 of it.  Last I sponged using the color Pretty Pansy and once again started at the top and sponged down about half way.  Next I cut out a circle for the moon and used the inside of the scrap that I had ripped out of the mountain to cover the mountain up and and the moon so I could sponge over the rest of the card without ruining the mountain that I had already sponged and to make the moon stand out.  I once again started with Pretty Amethyst and sponged over the whole card (except the mountain and moon because they are covered), then added Deep Lilac, but stuck closer to the edges. The last color once again was Pretty Pansy and I just barely touched on the left and right edges, but did the top and corners down a little farther.  I added "peace" over the moon using Deep Lilac and stamped the trees using one of my favorite stamps "Stay Wild".  I stamped that with Deep Lilac as well.  I added three pearls to finish off the card.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your Journey Coach! If you are thinking about joining 
Fun Stampers Journey and would like to be a Journey Coach click 
"Join My Team". 
I'd love to have you join me on my journey!  

If you like what you see and want to order just click on the 
"Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. 

 If you have questions feel free to contact me. 
Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . 

Supplies used on this card are all from Fun Stampers Journey


Stamp Sets:
Stay Wild & Vintage Notes
Card Stock:
Deep Lilac & Buttercream
Ink Pads:
Journey Gold, Pretty Amethyst, Deep Lilac & Pretty Pansy
Supplies:

Pearls & Sponges

Love You ~ A Fun Stampers Journey Card

Today's card is special because I made it for my hubby for our 26th Anniversary!  This year I decided to create a sponged scene.

How did I create this scene?  I started by ripping a piece of scrap paper so I had some mountain shapes.  As you can tell I used the top piece of scrap paper shown below to put over the top of my card stock while I sponged the mountains.  I started with my lightest color and finished with my darkest.  What do I mean by that?  I started with Cool Pool and sponged the mountains all the way down to the bottom of my piece of card stock.  Every time I added ink to my sponge I would start at the top of my mountains and work my way down.  That way the mountain tops are getting most of the ink and turning darker than the rest of the card stock.  However I decided I wanted the bottom of the card stock darker too with the middle area a little lighter.  I don't know why because I don't know a thing about shadowing (or whatever it's called! lol).  I just wanted that look so that's what I did.  I kept adding darker colors, working my way from the top of the mountain to the middle and the bottom of the card stock up to the middle (but didn't get the bottom of the card stock as dark as the top of the mountains).  After Cool Pool I added Beach Breeze, then Blue Lagoon and finished it with Catalina Splash.  Each time I added a color in I made sure I didn't go down as far as the color before it.   

I kind of did the same thing for the sky.  I use the bottom piece of scrap paper from above to cover the mountains and punched out a 1-1/4" circle for the moon.  Once those were in place I sponged the whole sky with Cool Pool.  Once I had an even layer of Cool Pool I went over it again with Cool Pool, but didn't go as close to the moon or the tops of the mountains.  Next I sponged Beach Breeze starting at each corner and worked my way in, but once again stayed away from the moon and mountain tops.  Then onto Blue Lagoon starting in the corners and working my way in making sure I didn't go in quite as far.  I finally finished it off with Catalina Splash.  I pretty much just sponged that color in the corner and that's about it.  Totally clear right? lol  One of these days I plan to start making videos.  Hopefully you'll like that. :)

If you could see the card in person you would notice how one color flows into the other and the color is more intense!  I just have to say I love how these blues look together though...wow! :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your Journey Coach! If you are thinking about joining 
Fun Stampers Journey and would like to be a Journey Coach click 
"Join My Team". 
I'd love to have you join me on my journey!  

If you like what you see and want to order just click on the 
"Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. 

 If you have questions feel free to contact me. 
Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . 

Supplies used on this card


Stamp Sets:
Stay Wild p. 69 (AT-0207) $7.95
Wonderful Day (sentiment) p. 62 (SS-0126) $18.95
Card Stock:
Black Licorice p. 289 (CS-0003) $6.95
Blue Lagoon p. 289 (CS-0004) $6.95
Buttercream p. 288 (CS-0006) $6.95
Ink Pads:
Black Licorice p. 289 (IP-0041) $7.95
Cool Pool p. 288 (IP-0074) $7.95
Beach Breeze p. 289 (IP-0044) $7.95
Blue Lagoon p. 289 (IP-0002) $7.95
Catalina Splash p.288 (IP-0073) $7.95
Supplies:

Circle Punch 1.25" p. 267 (TO-0014) $7.95
Fusion Ink Sponges p. 274 (JM-0014) $4.95

Stampin' Up! Wetlands Birthday

Today I have a card to share with you that uses one of my favorite masculine stamp sets...Wetlands.  There's so much you can use it for including the sentiments.  When I scrolled through all my Wetlands' posts to see what I made with this set I realized a lot of cards used just one of the sentiments from the set.  Today it has a sentiment, the wheat and the goose. :)  I made this card for my brother-in-law's birthday which was a couple of weeks ago, although I had made the oval part a while ago.  I didn't even know I had it until I went through one of my bags (that's always sitting on my desk!).  I knew it had to be made into a card. :)

It's been so long since I had made it that I had to think about what colors I used on it and how it started it out! lol  I think I started by sponging the water using Bermuda Bay (I masked the sky area with a sticky note first).  Next I added some of the grass using the wheat stamp and Pear Pizzazz, but not a lot yet.  I added the goose and colored him with a Basic Black Marker, and the grass with a Pear Pizzazz marker.  Once that was stamped I added more grass at the bottom by turning the wheat stamp upside down so I was only getting blades of grass.  Then I sponged the area with Pear Pizzazz to soften it up.  I used a blender pen to add some color to the goose.  I blocked off the goose, then sponged the sky using VERY light touches of Bermuda Bay and Rose Red (basically used a sponge and huffed on it  to get it damp instead of adding more ink to it).  To finish it off I used a white gel pen to add ripples and waves in the water.

You can see that I stamped a bit on the inside too.  I did the wheat on each side, then turned the stamp upside down again to add blades of grass in the  middle and used a sponge to blend it all together.

Bermuda Bay

Pear Pizzazz

Rose Red

Basic Black

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your demonstrator! If you like what you see and want to order anything just click on any of the products that I've listed at the bottom of my blog or click on the "Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. Any of them will take you directly to my website! If you have questions feel free to contact me. Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . If you're thinking of becoming a demonstrator click "Join My Team". I'd love to have you join me!

Supplies used on this card:

Sticky  notes

Sponged Scenery

How about some sponging today?  Today's cards are all about that.  I demo'd this card at our Red Hot Stampers meeting last night.  I actually had the ladies sponge right along with me and then we each made up our own card. These are what each of us created.  They did a great job didn't they! :)

If you'd like to give it a try I've added a picture tutorial at the end of this post. :)

Those of you who have followed my blog for awhile might think I've already made this card....you'd be kinda right! ;)  Click HERE to find out what card I'm talking about.  I was going to make this one again and demo it, but thought instead that I'd use the same colors and idea, but change it up a little.  Plus I broke my woodgrain embossing folder in half from using it so much and for some crazy reason I thought the framelits I used were retired. :(  Guess I need to keep up on that!  Either way I'm glad I tried something a little different and that I got to do a little sponging again...ok, a LOT of sponging again.  Since I had a sample card, two sponged sample pieces and I sponged one there with everyone else I ended up with four cards myself.

Here's the color combo I used on my card.  How fun is this!  My Stampin' Blog added the ability to show color combos.  I'll have to check it out a little more, but I quickly added this into my blog in no time! :)

Hello Honey

Lost Lagoon

Mossy Meadow

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your demonstrator! If you like what you see and want to order anything just click on any of the products that I've listed at the bottom of my blog or click on the "Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. Any of them will take you directly to my website! If you have questions feel free to contact me. Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . If you're thinking of becoming a demonstrator click "Join My Team". I'd love to have you join me!

Supplies used on this card:

Step by Step Picture Tutorial

I started by cutting a piece of  Whisper White card stock using the second largest die from Lots of Labels.  You can use any shape you want really.  I originally made something similar to this with a different die (there's a link to that card earlier in this post).  I added a sticky note to cover about the bottom third of the shape.  Make sure it's straight when you put it on or your horizon won't look quite right!

Starting with a sponge (I use sponges like the one shown) and Lost Lagoon ink, dab ink onto the top of your piece of card stock to create the sky.  Make sure you dab off your card stock first just in case the ink on your sponge is pretty dark.  Also make sure you do not jab your nails into the sponge when you're doing this.  It will make blobs in your sponging and you don't want that!  I dabbed straight up and down onto the card stock to get this look, starting at the top and moving my way down.  I repeat it always starting at the top and moving downward until I'm happy with how dark it is.   

In this picture I've added more Lost Lagoon.  I pulled it down farther by sponging lower each time I add more ink.

Next start sponging with Hello Honey.  I worked my way up with this color, meaning I started sponging by the sticky note and moved up as I sponged.  

Using a piece of thin scrap paper punch a 3/4" circle and place it where you would like the sun to be.  If you look closely you can see that I have a little area at the bottom that is over the sticky note.  I want it to look like the sun is partially below the horizon.

Using Hello Honey again dab a bunch of ink into the circle.

Yes, it will look really dark against the yellow you sponged.

To blend the sun in just repeat what you did when you first sponged on the Hello Honey.  It makes it a little darker and blends it together well. 

If you want (and I did), add a little more Lost Lagoon to "blend" the colors in a little better.  I say "blend" because you don't really want to mix these two colors or you'll end up with a green sky! lol  I did it to pull the colors a little closer together.  Pull off the sticky note and this is what you'll see...

Time to put the sticky note back on.  You want to cover up what you just sponged.  I placed it over the yellow with just a smidgen of the yellow showing.  You don't want a gap between the water and they sky.  Not sure if you can see it or not, but there's a very small darker strip of yellow.  Now you need to sponge Lost Lagoon again for the water.  I rubbed it back and forth this time instead of dabbing it.

Keep adding more ink and rubbing it back and forth until it's as dark as you want it.

Pull off your sticky strip and see what you've done so far! :)

Now it's time to use Mossy Meadow to finish off your scene.  Ink up your sponge and once again dabbing the color onto your scene.  I didn't put it on super dark, just dark enough so I can see where I want to stamp my grassy area.  

I stamped the wheat from the set Wetlands a few times.  To add the grass you can use any grass stamp that you have, but I just turned the wheat stamp around and used the bottom of the stamp to add in my grass everywhere.  That way I only have one stamp to clean. :)

The last thing I do is add in more green with my sponge.  This time I rubbed the sponge in small circles.  I did it a few times to cover up each of the individual pieces of grass that can be seen in the picture above.  This just softens the look of it...and then you're done! :)  I hope  you enjoyed doing some sponging.  It will definitely get your fingers dirty, but it's worth it in the end.

More Into the Meadow

The other day I posted a CAS card using the new set In the Meadow and I told you I'd be posting another card I made with that set.  This one is full of color...

At first I thought about brayering the sky and grass, but decided that I wanted to sponge it since I could control the color a lot more.

To get this look I started by stamping the trees with VersaMark and Old Olive.  Then I embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I did the same thing with the grass, then the flowers and finally the mountains (I colored the mountains in with gray, then colored over them with a VersaMarker before I embossed them with clear).  I punched out a circle and placed it where I wanted the sun to be, then sponged away at the sky using Soft Sky and Pool Party.  I used Pear Pizzazz and Old Olive for the grass.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your demonstrator! If you like what you see and want to order anything just click on any of the products that I've listed at the bottom of my blog or click on the "Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. Any of them will take you directly to my website! If you have questions feel free to contact me. Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . If you're thinking of becoming a demonstrator click "Join My Team". I'd love to have you join me!

Supplies used on this card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

JOY

I never thought I'd use the ink color Sahara Sand for a Christmas card, but his week over at 'Tis the Season Christmas card challenge we have an inspiration challenge.  Of course I don't have a barn, fence or ice skates stamp so I was inspired more by the hazy, snowy look and came up with my card idea based on that.  I guess I used the color from the the barn and skates for my snow instead of the hazy, snowy color...does that even make sense? lol  I like how it turned out though since it's so different than the normal Christmas card. :)

Head over to 'Tis the Season HERE to see what this picture inspired the rest of the team to create.  Show us how you're inspired too.  We'd love to see what you create!

Have you had a chance to pull out this new set Happy Scenes from Stampin' Up's! Holiday Catalog.  This is the first time for me!  It's good for most seasons and a couple of holidays. :)  It also goes with the Hearth & Home framelit.  Plus it's a set for fall, Halloween, Christmas, winter and spring...you can't beat that! :)  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your demonstrator! If you like what you see and want to order anything just click on any of the products that I've listed at the bottom of my blog or click on the "Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. Any of them will take you directly to my website! If you have questions feel free to contact me. Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . If you're thinking of becoming a demonstrator click "Join My Team". I'd love to have you join me!

Supplies used on this card:

"joy" retired from Snowflake Card Thinlits Die

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Calla Lily Birthday

I made a quick card last week for my stamping friend's birthday, but waited to post it until tonight since I didn't want her to see it on my blog or any of my galleries before she got it. ;)  Hugs and Happy Birthday, Friend!  You know who you are. :) 

I used the new Stampin' Up! set Remarkable You for her card.  I stamped the calla lilies with VersaMark, embossed them in white and cut them out.  I sponged the color on them using So Saffron, Pink Pirouette and Wild Wasabi.  I used watercolor paper for the background and did a watercolor wash using So Saffron and Pink Pirouette also.  When it was dry I ran it through my Big Shot using the Stylish Stripes embossing folder.  I sponged around the edges of the "Happy Birthday" and the edges of the card stock with the flowers on it once again using So Saffron and Pink Pirouette.  I popped up the lilies and Happy Birthday with dimensionals and finished the card off with a few Pearls.

I can't forget to add that this card was inspired by Sketch and Stamp #111 HERE and this is the sketch I worked with.  Have I ever mentioned I love sketch challenges? ;)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

I would love to be your demonstrator! If you like what you see and want to order anything just click on any of the products that I've listed at the bottom of my blog or click on the "Shop Now" tab at the top of my blog. Any of them will take you directly to my website! If you have questions feel free to contact me. Just click "Contact Me" at the top of my blog . If you're thinking of becoming a demonstrator click "Join My Team". I'd love to have you join me!

Supplies used on this card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog