DT Tips: Detail Sponging...
April 21, 2017
Good morning! I'm up for a Papertrey Ink DT Tips post this week. I always think this is a good time to dig a little deeper into a technique I might have touched on during a recent release, and that's what I'm doing today. Yesterday I shared a card in this post that I made using the new Quoted: Start Again set. I colored the image using my ink pads and some small make-up sponges. I always love creating sponged ink backgrounds, and I thought this was a fun spin on that and wanted to play around with it a little more.
It's a simple technique that doesn't require any special coloring tools. You'll just need your ink pads, inexpensive eye shadow applicators, and your choice of outline stamps, or it also works great on detailed diecuts as well.
For my first card I pulled out the Year of Flowers Collection stamp set, which is filled with outline flower images that are perfect for this technique. I diecut some of the larkspur and daffodils and heat embossed them with white powder. Then I just used the small sponge applicators to sponge ink onto the flowers. It's best to start out with the lightest color, then layer some deeper colors over the top to add shading.
I placed all of my flowers into the pot from the Bloom & Grow kit. I layered the pot over a stitched oval, cut with the Noted: Scalloped A2 die. The background was made with more sponging, the bottom portion was sponged over the lace stencil from the Lovely Lace kit.
My next card uses another great outline set that's perfect for this technique: Boho Rounds. I "colored" the embossed images using the small sponges with purple and aqua inks. I also used my larger regular blending sponge to add a little color to the background behind the medallions.
The sentiment was cut using the Boho Rounds Sentiment dies and I used the small sponge applicators to add color to that as well.
My third and final card for today uses this technique with the new Mix & Mat: Scallops lacy die. Like I mentioned above, this technique works great on detailed dies as well. It works best to have a sponge for each different color family. The sponges I used were black, because it's what I had on hand, but if you're going out to pick some up specifically for this technique, I'd recommend getting some with white sponge tips as it will be easier to delineate between colors.
When I was finished sponging my lacy diecut with all sorts of colors, I backed it with a solid diecut and adhered it to a Pale Peony card base. The sentiment is from the Bloom & Grow kit and was stamped onto an oval, cut using the Noted: Scalloped A2 die collection. I love the colorful lace!
Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you get a chance to play around with this easy technique for yourself! Have a great weekend!