3's Are Wild!

I am offering a share of 3 of my favorite tools from Stampin Up - Stamping Sponges, Blender Pens and Sponge Daubers. These are all sold in packages in multiples of 3 - so here's the offer -
for one share ($9.50) you receive:
1 sponge (which can be cut into wedges for sponging on ink accents)
1 blender pen
4 sponge daubers
These can all be found on page 203 in the big catalog.

Let me show you how these are used and what a difference they can make on a card.

Here is a layout using
Card Stock - Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink - Basic Gray
Stamp Set - Herb Expressions
Embossing Folder - Designer Frames

Now, let's see what a few tools can do -
First, the blender pen. These are double pointed so you have two tips on each pen. Squeeze the lid of the ink pad down really hard then open the pad. You will have some ink smeared on the inside of the lid. Use that as your palette.
Take the tip of the blender pen and pick up some ink - just a little bit at a time.

Color in the image. When using blender pens, you should use a waterproof ink for the image. Basic Black and Basic Gray both will work for this. When you have finished with one color, just rub the tip gently on some scrap paper until no more color comes off.

On to sponge daubers - very handy! And you get 4 of them in the share. You will notice mine is labeled for the Basic Gray ink (I have enough of them that I don't have to clean them between inks!)

Rub the sponge end on the ink pad to absorb some ink.

Rub the ink as desired on the card stock. I embossed this frame with my Big Shot and I am using the dauber to add ink to the raised areas. I got a little on the background but it just gives it that 'aged' look. It really brings out the embossing. I also rubbed a little of the Basic Gray ink around on the background using the dauber.

You can clean the daubers by first rubbing on some scrap paper to remove as much ink as possible. Then use some running water to rinse it out. Let it dry well between colors (good thing you are getting 4 so you won't have to wait for one to dry before continuing).

One of my favorite things to do with the sponge is to add some shimmer paint. I cut my sponges up into 8 wedges and they are perfect for sponging ink. I have one for each ink color and have it labeled with a piece of card stock stapled to the point. It works very well. The sponge I am using here is one of my extra ones so it is not labeled.

After thoroughly shaking the shimmer paint, press the sponge firmly against the mouth of the bottle. Tip the bottle to get a little bit of the shimmer paint on the sponge.

Dab and rub the shimmer paint over the image. This gives the paper a marblized or 'mother of pearl' look. You can add as little or as much as you like.

Now - I have put together the layout after enhancing with the blender pen, sponge dauber and sponge. The photo does notdo justice to the shimmer paint or the basic gray accents but I think you can see the difference.

Here is the finished card.

This is a closeup of the ink enhancements. Below are some photos of cards that were enhanced using one of the three tools in the share.

On this card, I used the sponge dauber to add color after stamping the flowers and butterflies using black Staz-on ink. If you are using Staz-on or craft ink you have to let it dry a long time to avoid smearing.

A blender pen was used to color in the image on this card.

I used a sponge to add a dusting of ink around the edges of the Whisper White with the sentiment.

This is another example of sponging around the edges. This is one of the easiest was to dress up a card.

I used a sponge dauber to add some color to this image. I used several colors and the dauber allowed me to control the ink a little bit more than a sponge would have. I still colored outside the lines but I like how it looks.

Here I sponged some Basic Black ink around the edges of some heart punches. This gives them more definition. You can use a sponge or a dauber to do this.

So - have I convinced you that you need these tools? If you would like to participate in the share, let me know by posting a comment here or email me at cavmary63@yahoo.com.

Thanks for stopping by!