Sending You Sunshine

I have a fun "get well" sentiment from Taylored Expressions that I knew would be just perfect for a friend but I just wasn't sure what to do with it. It's a big sentiment but I wanted to keep it soft and sweet. I decided to add some embossed daisies in the background and then lightly sponge some soft colors.

It's been awhile since I've done this so I took a few pictures along the way.  First, I stamped the sentiment. Then I dusted it with powder. I didn't want any of the embossing powder in the next step to stick to the letters. (It's not a huge problem if you don't use powder since the embossing powder is clear - but you do get little bits of shine in random places - trust me!)

The flowers come from a multi-step daisy set. I stamped and clear embossed the stems first. This helped me see the stems while I was lining up the daisies. Although I don't show it in this picture, I used the middle daisy of the layering set (the smaller daisy).  The bottom daisy is the base so doesn't have any detail, and the top daisy is just a few shadows - so the middle daisy gave just the right amount of detail for this technique.

I know there are a variety of tools out there, but I like cotton balls for sponging because it's easy to fade the color and I don't get the accidental hard lines that I sometimes get from the edges of daubers or cosmetic sponges.  I can also vary the size of the cotton ball. In this case, I pinched it to make it a little smaller. I started in the center of each flower moving in a circular motion.

I had a few false starts with the colors. The first colors I tried were too light and you couldn't make out the flowers. The second colors were too dark so the sentiment got lost. Of course, I went to the work of stamping the sentiment and embossing the flowers - then made the mistake with the colors - twice - you'd think I would have learned to test sponge on a scrap piece first!!  But I do like the final results. I ended up using Simon Says Stamp Apricot, Lemon Chiffon and Green Apple.

One other thing that I learned with my many mistakes on this card. I actually cut the panel slightly bigger, then sponged, then used the stitched rectangle die. I found that if I had the stitching there first, and then sponged, it got much darker along the stitched edge, and I preferred that it faded out.
I don't know why I don't do this more often. I really like the variety of colors merging into each other. And for me it's easier than watercoloring!!
SUPPLY LIST

Graphic Greetings Get Well	Simply Stamped - Daisies	Stitched Rectangle Stacklets	Premium Cardstock - Sugar Cube
Premium Cardstock - Earl Grey	VersaMark - Watermark Stamp Pad	Zing! Embossing Powder - Clear

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