My post today is not very exciting, but I have received so many questions as to what kind of sponges I use in my tutorials that I thought it warranted a posting.

I use to be caught up in using Stampin’ Up sponges, but after much frustration and money, I threw them all away, YIKES!  Stampin’ Up sponges are wonderful, but trying to keep track of one more thing in my life, and sponges at that, was just not worth it to me.

My solution was the Dollar Tree, Dollar Store.  Here is a link to see if you have one near you:  http://www.dollartree.com/index.cfm

Anyway, as you see in the picture, I spend $1 on 14 sponges that are 4.5″ by 3″.  They are called Scrub Buddies.  The sponges in the bag are both blue and red.

Because they are so economical, I cut a small chunk off of one and use it and throw it away upon project completion.  I’m sure any soft foam sponge will work in the same manner.

Well, there it is, I’m keeping it real, sharing my sponge secret with you, lol.

Please share with us your sponge finds and storage solutions by posting a comment here.  You may have just the solution someone else is looking for and sharing is good. 

Until tomorrow. . . . . . . .

I think my mind is still at the beach in California, lol.  Why don’t you join me and follow along on this tropical tutorial?

Supplies:

Stamped drink by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then Going Gray.  Note:  My craft pads are no longer craft.  I have been re-inking them with dye inks.  If they were still craft ink I would not have to use the Versamark.

Heat embossed image with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Colored flesh of lemon with Barely Banana Marker and outside of lemon with Summer Sun.

Used a More Mustard marker for the underside of lemon on table.

Colored straw with Orchid Opulence marker.

Colored drink with Apricot Appeal marker and then went over the lower 2/3rds of it with a Blush Blossom Marker.

Colored the bottom 1/4 of the drink with a Pretty in Pink marker.

Used a White Gel pen on the bubbles in the glass.

Went over the drink, straw and lemons with a Versamark marker and heat embossed using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  I did not emboss over the top of the glass where it should be naturally see through.

Brayered Cool Caribbean ink over top 1/2 of card stock.

Put post it note masks on the card stock to create the horizon line.

Brayered on Tempting Turquoise ink, not covering the Cool Caribbean ink completely.

Sponged on Brilliant Blue at the top of the water.  Being heavy with the ink at the (top) post it note mask.  This gives you a good strong horizon line.

Removed post it notes and brayered on River Rock ink for the sand.

Cut a large circle from a piece of card stock and used it as a mask for the table shape.  I just held it in place.

Brayered on Frayed Burlap ink to create the table.

Swiped Walnut Stain ink under the glass and the lemon with a sponge to create a shadow.

Used a white gel pen to put in a foamy water line.

Sponge River Rock ink at the bottom of the sand.

Stamped leaves with Always Artichoke ink.

Partly colored in the leaves with an Old Olive marker, leaving some of the leaf uncolored to create a highlight.

Assembled the card and here it is completed. 

Thanks for following along on my tropical adventure.

May your day be filled with Ocean views, even if only in you head.

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

I was just itching to do some emboss resist this morning and this piece definitely is embossed.  Follow along if you want to see how it was created.

Supplies:

Stamped leaves on Whisper White card stock by first loading stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Espresso ink.   I then heat embossed it with clear Embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  I’m asked a lot why I just don’t use Versamark alone with colored embossing powders?  Well I would rather not have to buy a bunch of different colors of embossing powder and this method allows me to emboss in any color of ink I have.

I also keep my clear embossing powder stored in a sandwich size plastic container instead of trying to use an embossing tray and then put it back in the tiny canister it came in.  My aim is not very good, lol.

Stamped Wanted motif by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then Basic Black ink.  Heat embossing image with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped Baroque Motif by loading stamp first with Versamark and then Soft Sky ink.  Stamped image over embossed leaves and heat embossed with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  when doing multiply layers of embossed images, work from the foreground to the background.

Heavily Brayer Bordering Blue ink over entire piece of card stock.

Sponge, using a circular motion, Espresso ink around edges of card stock and over leaf image area to create a shadow.

On a larger piece of Whisper White card stock, using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, I stamped the background corner images by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then Espresso ink.  Heat embossed images with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Heavily brayered Bordering Blue ink over entire background piece.

Stamped small flower around edge of card stock with Bordering Blue ink.

Sponged Espresso ink around edge of card stock.

Stamped linen stamp on my main image panel by loading my Linen background stamp with Bordering blue ink.  To do this I put my stamp rubber side up on the table.  Rub my ink pad on the rubber, place my card stock face down on the rubber and put a piece of scrap paper over it and rub it with my hand to get the image.

Here we have another card assembled and completed!

Give it a try!

Well I hope your day is filled with blue skies.

Until tomorrow. . . . . . .

Feels very good to be back in my craft-room stamping again.  These stamp images are from http://www.mypapermoon.com

Ready for a tutorial?  If so, let’s get started.

Supplies:

On Whisper White card stock brayered Hazelnut ink on both ends, leaving a white space.

On both ends again, brayered on Salmon ink, not covering the Hazelnut completely.

Punched a 1 3/8″ circle in a post it note and used the negative image as a mask.

Sponged Terra Cotta ink in a circular motion over circle in post it note.

Sponged Rust ink in a circular motion over bottom and top of circle in post it note.

Tore a cliff shape from a piece of Going Gray card stock.

Sponged Going Gray ink along the front edge of the cliff shape and Oregano ink along the top edge.

Ignore the color at the bottom of the card stock.

Stamped bird in tree stamp with Stazon black ink.

Stamped Tree stamp with Stazon Black ink at top of card stock.

Adhered cliff shape to main card stock.

Stamped tree stamp along bottom of card stock with Stazon Black ink.

Sponged Going Gray ink at bottom of card stock using a bouncing motion.

Sponged  Stazon Black ink at bottom of card-stock not covering all of the Going Gray ink.

Decided I wanted the scene to be a lot darker at the top of the card stock so I brayered on Rust ink along the top.

Used a white gel pen to color in the bird.

Sponged Going Gray in at the backside of the cliff.

Used a Prismacolor Silver Paint Pen to go around the edge of the card stock.  Note:  just hold the pen so it is half on the card stock and half on your scrap paper and you will get a straight line without a ruler.

Used the white gel pen again to make highlights in the trees and to add a few specks on the ground area to simulate weeds and grasses.

Here is the assembled card.

Thanks for following along with me and I hope you will give it a try.

May your evening be filled with a sunset!

Until tomorrow. . . . .

Hi Everyone, I’m back from vacation refreshed and ready to create.  My vacation was one of learning.  I attended the Art & Soul By the Sea Retreat at Asilomar State Park, Monterey, CA.  Where I took a two-day class on making Nature journals from a fabulous teacher, LK Ludwig.  LK has a book out on the subject, which I ordered first thing upon returning home.  Anyway, here is a shot of my nature journal I created.

I learned so many new techniques that I hope to incorporate in my card making.  One for instance is applying Patina to Metal Mesh, like you see on my journal cover.  Yep, that’s right, stamping on metal mesh!

I also took a one day class called Simpatico from the wonderful, Angela Cartwright who is also a published author.  I’ve got her book ordered too, lol.  Simpatico is taking Black and white photos and applying color to them.  Here is a horrible scan of one of mine that I did in her class, but you can get an idea of the technique.

Although we were in the classroom during the day, we were able to enjoy the scenery at Asilomar early morning and during the evenings.  Here is an early morning shot.

My vacation was not entirely spent in the classroom.  Here is picture I took along the coast as we were on our way to spend the day shopping in Carmel.

Ok, enough with my vacation photos.  I can hear you snoring, Zzzzzzz.

I hope this post finds all of you happy and healthy. 

I plan to post a tutorial later today.  Stay tuned because I’m back and ready to do some stamping!