Ramblin' Stamper: Wetlands

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Wetlands

Hey friends!

Today I'm featuring a stamp set that I haven't used nearly enough - Wetlands. I wanted to create a card for a friend who was hospitalized this week, and he's an avid sportsman. Wetlands fit the bill perfectly! I've used this before with the cute little sandpiper image, but never played around with the other images too much - until now.

Wow! I feel like an artist! I know what you're thinking - this is way too complicated - but it's NOT! If you enjoy sponging, you'll like making this. Follow along:

The card base is Smoky Slate, 4-1/4" x 11". Score in the center at 5-1/2". The fold is on the left side so the card opens like a book. Using the Hardwood background stamp, ink it up with Smoky Slate and stamp the card front. You'll need to stamp twice - the stamp isn't quite wide enough to cover the entire card front going this direction.

The next layer is Basic Black cardstock, 5" x 3-3/4". The sentiment is stamped in Versamark ink on a 3/4" strip of Basic Black, sprinkled with White Stampin' Emboss Powder and set using the Heat Tool. Flag one end using the Triple Banner Punch and trim the other end to the right length to fit your card. Yours may be a little longer or shorter than mine; it depends on where your geese are stamped on the card front.

Before you start to create your beautiful scene, stamp and fussy cut 2 images of the goose on Post-It notes to use as a mask. Using the Up & Away Thinlits, die-cut 2 or 3 cloud images on Post-It notes also.

Now you're ready to start the fun part. On a 4-7/8" x 3-5/8" piece of Shimmery White cardstock, stamp the goose on the left using Basic Black Archival ink. This ink will give you a nice, dark solid black every time. Now cover the first goose using one of the masks you made earlier. Stamp the second goose, overlapping the first one a bit. Leave these masks in place while you do the rest of the sponging!

Place the cloud masks in the sky wherever you like - I placed mine covering the heads of my geese. Starting at the bottom, sponge on a layer of Old Olive using a sponge dauber. Above that, sponge the next layer using Soft Suede, gently blending into the "grass" layer.

Above the "sand" layer, sponge some Dapper Denim to give the illusion of water in the distance. For this layer, I basically drug my sponge dauber back and forth across the cardstock. When you are happy with the "water" layer, without reinking the dauber, cover the rest of the card using a swirling motion to create the sky.

Still keeping the masks in place, add the tall grass images using Old Olive ink. I stamped the image four times starting at the left side of the page and covering the geese. The shorter grasses on the right side of the page that you see peeking out from behind the greeting are the same stamp, but I only inked the bottom portion of the stamp for these.

Now it't time to remove the masks and see the magic! When I took off the cloud masks I thought the clouds were too white, so I gently sponged a little of the dapper denim over them to soften them a bit. I like this much better. I used a Sahara Sand Stampin' Write marker to color the beaks and backs of the geese. I trimmed just a smidge off each side of the card front so the edges would be nice & clean.

That's all there is to it! Give this a try and bring out your inner artist! If you don't own the Wetlands stamp set, don't delay ordering it, as this is another great stamp set that is retiring on May 31 (or when supplies are exhausted)!

Artistically,
Pat

Product List

Wetlands Clear Stamp Set

[126697]