Sponging a Scene Tutorial!

Remember this card from earlier in the week? Well you are in for a treat today! It's my Trendsetter week over at the TSG blog so it was my turn to put together a trend or tutorial for you, so I chose a tutorial...a video tutorial *insert oooh's and ahhhhh's here* :D

Well folks, it's been a few years since I made any sort of video tutorial and I was a little nervous but here goes and try and not laugh me out of the building, 'Kay? ;)

So, what did you think? Think that you can create something like this yourselves? I can assure you that it is very easy and it goes quick once you get started! After the tutorial was shot, I did add a little bit of shading under my crab and some highlights with my white chalk pencil to create the waves! Easy Peasy and it's perfect for all of those images that you colour up ahead of time...just leave a little extra white space around your image and you are good to go for creating the scene of your dreams!

List of supplies for the tutorial:

Stamps: There She Goes - Beach Bums
Paper: 90lb Coldpress Canon Water Colour Paper

Ink:  Baja Breeze (SU), Bermuda Bay (SU), Pacific Point (SU), Not Quite Navy (SU), Creamy Caramel (SU), Ranger Distress Antique Linen

Accessories: Cloud Template, 2-Way Glue Pen, Scrap Paper, Sponge Daubers, Masking Tape

Mini Wine Glass Tutorial and Blog Candy Winner!

Ok ladies, you all asked to know how I made these wine glasses look so real, so I'm gonna show you! First things, first....here is your list of supplies:

• Scissors
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Black Ink
• Water Brush
• Heat Tool
• Tweezers (optional)
• Versa Marker
• Pop Dots
• Black Marker
• Tombow Markers (912, 847, 757, 879, 312, N79)
• Stamp of any glass/drink image
• Water Colour Paper

Please note that before we get started I have listed the colouring tools that I used but this technique can be done with Copics, or Prismas and OMS as well ;) In the interest of not taking a gazillion pictures, I have started this tutorial using already coloured images :) Please also note that you can click on any of the pictures to see them enlarged.




1. Ink up your stamp with black in and stamp the image on your paper. Immediately pour clear embossing powder over top, shake off the excess powder and then heat set. You will need 2 stamped images of your drink.




2. Colour both of your images in with whichever medium you prefer. I have used Tombow Markers and a water brush to water colour my image. You will notice that I only coloured the areas that I will be using as the rest will be cut off.




3. Cut out your images as close to the embossing powder as you can get. The embossing powder should act like a speed bump for your scissors to help prevent you from accidentally lopping off any pieces of the image.



4. You should have one full image cut out and a partial image cut from the second wine glass.




5. Take a black marker and trace around the very edges of your cut out images to hide all of the white edges. This just makes the image look a little more clean and will help to cover up any boo boos.




6. Take your versa marker and colour over top of any red. This is to protect your colours from accidentally bleeding together when you add your crystal lacquer. I always do this as water coloured images can bleed easily when you add liquid to the top of it. Add a thick layer of crystal lacquer on top of both pieces of your images. It will appear cloudy when you apply it but will dry to a clear glossy sheen. Please allow for plenty of drying time!




7. Now it's time to add your pop dots to make your image 3 dimensional. This will help make the glass more realistic and will add dimension to your card.

I hope that you enjoyed this little tutorial and if you did, please feel free to leave me a comment! Who knows...it' might entice me to make another one soon :)

And now t it's time to announce the Blog Candy winner from Tuesday's Skipping Stones Design Blog Hop!

Cindy O'Donnell said...

Beautiful card - what a fun hop with all these great cards!

January 5, 2010 8:12 AM

Congratulations Cindy!!! You are now the proud owner of these sets by Skipping Stones Design:

• Gettin' Old
• Coffee Volume 1
• Funny about "Men"

Please email me your address and I will get these out to you as soon as I hear back from you! Thank you all for playing along with me and leaving me such wonderful comments!

What a Hoot - Faux Rustic Woodgrain Tutorial

I recently had the opportunity to create a tutorial for Splitcoaststampers on how to make this Faux Rustic Woodgrain Frame :) Now that it's done and is posted on the website, I can share the my little creation with everyone!




This card is a sweet little 4 1/4 inch square and it using a Clear Dollar Stamps set that was designed by Laurie Wilson called What a Hoot. This little fella made the perfect image to be showcased inside of the frame :) He has been watercoloured with re-inkers and been paper toled to make him dimensional. Before I adhered my homemade frame to the image I sponged the background on using various shades of greens and blues.





You can see some of the details in the frame and the inked embossed lines from the Distressed Stripes Cuttlebug embossing folder. I also inked along the edges of the coordinating designer papers, one of which was embossed the the swiss dots folder, then distressed them with my little distressing tool.

To finish off the card I tied on some ribbon and added my little oval sentiment using a jump ring and some linen thread and dressed up the corners of the card with some matching green dew drops. Now that you have seen my little card and clicked on the link to the tutorial, I want to see what you create! Go ahead and give it a try! It's so easy that you won't even believe it :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - What a Hoot
Paper: Gina K, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Watercolour, My Mind's Eye DP
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Craft Whisper White, Versafine Onyx Black, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Distressed Stripes and Swiss Dots Embossing Folders, Square Nestabilities, Dew Drops, Mini Brads, Mat Pack, Peircing Tool, Small Oval Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter, Re-Inkers, Distressing Tool, Sponges, Dimensionals, Ribbon, Linen Thread

Paper Tole Tutorial

Remember this fun card? I thought that I would pop it into this post because this adorable Clear Dollar Stamps Lion is the image that I chose for this tutorial... I actually took the pictures for this tutorial when I was making the card above *grin*

The supplies that you will need are:

Scissors
Dimensionals
Versa Mark
Embossing Powder
Heat Tool
Watercolour paper or any heavy cardstock
any Colouring Medium that you would like

The basis of this tutorial is paper tole steps itself, rather than how to colour the image. Tap, tap, tap...now class, let's begin *wink*



1. Here you will see my base layer (everything will be added to the top of this lion). I have stamped the image in Versa Mark, added embossing powder and heat set it on 140lb cold press watercolour paper. The purpose of this is to create barriers for my watercolouring (so that the colours don't run together) and to create kind of a speed bump for my scissors (so I don't cut off any extra pieces by accident). I always do this when I am going to later my images...it also adds a lovely glossy shine :D

I have watercoloured this image with re-inkers and let it dry. This lion has more layers than most of my paper tole (sorry about that!) I chose him to do the tutorial on because I actually remembered to pull out my camera when I was making him, but you can make this lion less dimensional by cutting back on some of the layers and he will look just as adorable.



2. I usually number all of my layers so that I know which parts of the lion not to colour because it will be cut off later. You will see here that I coloured everything except the tail. And yes, I do colour outside of the lines when I am just cutting out the images, but try not to at all on the base layer.



3. Layer 3 will consist of the main, head and feet. I always visualize what would be the closest part of the images to me if it were already 3 dimensional (in this case its the nose so that would be the highest part of my image.)


4. Here I have only coloured the paws, main and head.


5. Next up I have decided to bring out some of the facial features...


6. And the last step to colour is the nose. Are you confused yet? I am! lol



I put this photo in here so that you can see the evolution of my colouring stages.



I popped this image in to show you what they look like all cut out and ready to go. It's kind of nice having this view because you don't have any extra paper and colouring outside of the lines to distract you. *wink*



1. Here we go with the layers :) Add step #2 to your base image (whole body of lion minus the tail). I used dimensionals (mounting tape) to created the depth.


2. Add step #3 (front legs and head)


3. Add your paws and and lion's head with the main.


4. Add your lion head minus the main


And the last step is adding your muzzle and nose :D - Remember that I did warn you that this was a lot of steps involved *wink*


Here is a complete paper tole lion and the photo was taken straight on. Even on a straight on shot, this guy really stands out. Sorry about the crummy lighting for this tutorial! I couldn't get my lamps adjusted right to bring out the true colours of the images - even editing them didn't help!

There you go! Please let me know if this tutorial helped you in any way :) I love to hear feedback especially since this is only my second tutorial. If I was babbling too much and confusing you then please feel free to email me your questions :) Thanks for popping in!

Mini Blossom Tutorial

OK ladies, be gentle with me! This is my first tutorial and I know that I missed a few things in the photos but I will try to explain this the best I can! You're gonna laugh when you see how easy these actually are and that they take under 2 minutes a piece from start to finish! You can see some of the finished blossoms in action while visiting this post.



These are some of the things that you need to make this little mini blossom.

- Boho Blossom Punch (Stampin' Up!)
- Aqua Painter or Paint Brush
- Re-Inker to match your Card Stock or a Classic Ink Pad
- 1 Brad
- Paper Piercing Tool and Mat Pack or 1/16" Hole Punch
- Card Stock or Designer Paper
- Sponge
- Scissors



These are the steps that you will follow :) You can click on any of the pictures to see giant sized close-ups!

1. Punch out the two smallest flower shapes on the punch (the larger of the two in green for your leaves and then you will need 2 off the smallest flower for your blossom.

2. Take your sponge and coordinating inks to sponge around the outside of your shapes to add some dimension and it cleans up the raw edges if you decide to use designer papers. Take your Aqua Painter and ink and just paint the center of the blossom to darken it (paint both blossoms)

3. Take your scissors and gently cut between each of the scallops...be careful not to cut too far or your petals will fall off (I cut not quite to the center of the shape) - You only need to do this for the top layer of the blossom.

4. Start to stack your shapes. The green will be at the bottom, then the uncut blossom layer and top it off with the blossom that you cut ever so carefully *wink*

5. Punch a hole and insert your brad to hold everything together. Take your finger nail and pry up the edges of the top layer of blossom and Voila! You are done and everyone will think you are a genius! Especially because you took extra time to create these time consuming finicky little flowers *snort*

Clear as mud? If you need some more help trying to figure out my instructions, feel free to email me!



These little cuties are particularly great if you don't own any primas or don't like to use them. They also are a handy adornment for adding to die cut flourishes, pairing them up with Martha Stewart Punches (photo above) and expertly placing them to cover up creative boo boos *wink*

Before I end this post I would like to take a minute to wish my best friend a very Happy 30 something-ish Birthday (yes, I know how old she is and no, I'm not telling you - lol)! Happy Birthday Angela (jellybean74)!! Love you babe and have a fabulous day!



Shhhhh! Don't tell her that I posted this! We will soon find out if she really reads my ramblings or not - Muhahahahah! When she does see this she will probably kill me so I may or may not be around for future postings! *snort*