Introducing a new regular contributor to my blog & a Sponging tutorial

As most of you are probably aware, life has been so busy of late with the new baby/renovations/move that my stamping and blogging have really fallen by the wayside.  Whereas I used to be able to stamp and share projects and tutorials with you 5-6 days a week -  over the last couple of months, I’ve been struggling to find the time to stamp and post even a couple times a week.  The worst part is that I don’t see anything changing in the near future (at least until after Christmas) as we still have more to go – on November 8th, we’ll be moving my 87 year old grandparents in with us, and I figure it’s going to take some time to get them settled and comfortable with this huge life transition.  As a result, I’ve decided that in order to be able to continue maintaining and developing my blog into a valuable rubber stamping and paper-crafting resource for both Stampin’ Up! demonstrators and non-demonstrators alike, I needed to bring on some help. 

I’m really excited to be able to introduce you all to my sister Sophia Landry -  Sophia is mom to two kids aged 9 and 2 1/2 years old , and is currently expecting her third child.  Her husband is in the Canadian Armed Forces and is currently deployed overseas to Afganistan.  She has been a rubber stamp artist for about 17 years now, and  has been on my team as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator in Petawawa, ON for just over 2 years.  She is extremely talented, and her work & creativity never cease to amaze me.   Sophia and I are partnering in some new stamping-related ventures together (*hint, hint*) and will also become a regular contributor to my blog. 

For her first post, Sophia has put together an awesome tutorial on sponging.  Now some of you may be wondering "what’s there to know about sponging?" ……lots!  There’s sponging, and then there’s SPONGING.  Done incorrectly, it can ruin a project.  Done correctly, the results can be breathtaking. 

So lets, hear from Sophia:

Sponging is such a wonderful and useful technique to learn.  It gives you the ability to add dramatic backgrounds to sceneries as well as to silhouette stamps.  The first thing that I make sure of, is that I hold the sponge in a soft pinch.  One of the things that I want to avoid is having too much finger pressure.  The more sponge that I have between my fingers and the paper, the less likely it is that I will end up with unsightly finger marks.  Next when inking up my sponge, I use a soft tapping motion.  Only if I want an intense color do I rub.  Remember that you can always add more color, but you can’t take away. 

Step 1: To create my clouds, I first sketched them onto paper and then cut them out.  If you really like the shape of your clouds, then consider transferring them to an acetate (transparency) so that you can have a permanent template that will last indefinitely.

 In the picture below, you can see how I grasp my sponge. 

Step 2:  I positioned my template so that it was slightly off the piece of CS onto which I was sponging. I held my template firmly with my left hand while sponging with my right hand.  I usually sponge in tight circles. What this does, is allow any ink build up to mark my template rather than my work.  The closer your circles stay to the template, the smoother your clouds will be.  It also leaves nice white areas to highlight the clouds.

Step 3: After I do my first layer of clouds, I start to work my way down the paper, shifting my template so that the clouds look more natural.  Remember  that its ok to overlap, just try not to crowd too much.

 The end result is beautiful, stunning  clouds you can now use as a backdrop.