Card Making Ideas and Instructions | Sponging and Background Stamping

Sponging and Background Stamping

This tutorial is kind of a 'two-fer'. You get to see two different techniques - sponging and background stamping - in one lovely little card. I had a question recently about how I had done a certain 'darkening' on the edges of some of the cardstock. And since this is one of my favorite little tricks I decided it was definitely time for me to show you how to do it. Because you will see me do it in my card-making... a lot.

While I was making the card, I decided I wanted to add a little bit of background stamping to it, so I threw that one in as well just for fun.

And there's a little bit of masking going on here as well, so let's just consider this one big potpourri of great techniques!

Sponging Tools

Tools Needed for this project:

Ink Pad
Simple Card Base & Envelope
Layering Cardstock
White cardstock
Background stamp
Image stamp
Sentiment stamp
Scissors
Markers
Adhesive
Ribbon
Small sponge
Scrap paper

Step 1: We're going to start by stamping and coloring the image. Take your ink pad and ink up the image stamp. This cute little hedgehog is from a Stampin' Up! set, called Animal Valentines, that I've had literally forever.

Sponging - stamp image

Step 2: Stamp the image onto the white cardstock, then immediately ink him up again and stamp on the piece of red cardstock.

Sponging - stamp sentiment

Step 3: Ink up your sentiment and stamp it in the center of the heart. This sentiment is also Stampin' Up! but I forget which set.

I don't tend to keep my sentiment stamps with their original sets since I use them all over the place and with all sorts of other stamps. I'm kind of a renegade that way, and I would probably horrify most hard-core stampers if they saw how I treat some of my stamps with such reckless abandon.

Sponging - cut out the heart

Step 4: Cut the heart out of the red cardstock and glue it onto the image.

Sponging - hedgie

Note - In retrospect I would have colored in the little hedgehog first before gluing down the heart. But you get to learn from my mis-haps and goofs.

Sponging - color hedgehog in

Step 5: (or step 4 if you heeded my words up above) Color in your hedgehog.

At least, I think he's a hedgehog. He could be a hedgehog; could be a porcupine... only he knows for sure.

Sponging - tools

Step 6: Tear the edges off of the stamped image. There's really no science to tearing paper - you just go for it!

Grab your sponge and ink pad. This is a quarter of a crafting sponge that I cut up. As you can see it gets plenty of use.

I also grabbed a red ink pad that wasn't part of the first picture. Sometimes things don't make it to the table in time for the group shot at the beginning...

sponging - sponge it

Step 7: Here's where the sponging comes in. Tap the sponge onto the ink pad a few times to get the color on it.

Taking your cardstock in one hand and the sponge in the other hand, swipe the sponge over the edges of the cardstock from front to back in quick motions. Kind of like you're using a knife to sharpen a pencil... assuming it's the olden days before pencil-sharpeners were invented.

Oh, and that hand on the left side is totally not my hand - it's my four-year old daughter's hand (thus the large difference in size between the two). I couldn't properly show this and snap a picture at the same time so I had to call in the reinforcements.

Just being honest...

Sponging - sponge around the edges

Step 8: Keep flicking the edges of the cardstock until you make it all the way around.

Sponging - all done

You don't have to tear cardstock for this technique - it works just as well on clean-cut cardstock. I just like the 'aged' look it has when the paper has torn, rough edges.

sponging - background

Now for some background fun. For this we need a big stamp image (yet another Stampin' Up! stamp), the light brown cardstock and brown ink, and the piece of scrap paper.

sponging - ink the background stamp

Step 9: Flip the background stamp over and ink it up.

sponging - add cardstock

Step 10: Now carefully place the cardstock on top of the inked-up background stamp.

sponging - add scrap paper

Step 11: And now you're going to set that piece of scrap paper over the entire thing and then press down on it, rubbing gently to make sure all parts of the cardstock get inked up. The scrap paper keeps your hands from the same inky fate the cardstock is about to see.

sponing - inked cardstock

Ta-da!

Okay, ignore the small part in the middle that didn't get as nicely inked as the rest - I'm getting ready to cover that up with my layers.

sponging - more tools

Now we're going to assemble it all. Grab your image, layers, ribbon, scissors and glue...

sponging - add ribbon

Step 12: Add some glue to the back of the cardstock and run the ribbon around the bottom, attaching the ribbon on the backside. Cut off the extra ribbon.

sponging - tie a knot