Pride 2020 blog hop: Sponged rainbow cards

Crafting is for everyone, so I am delighted to take part in this Pride 2020 blog hop. This international hop by Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators is designed to show support for crafters (and non-crafters) in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as showing off some beautiful, colourful projects.

We crafters love colour, so what better opportunity to stamp a rainbow? From one sponged piece of cardstock, I made two very different projects. It all began with a piece of Whisper White cardstock which I sponged in rainbow colours. I used, from top, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point and Gorgeous Grape.

Even though I only really needed the outer edges for this frame, which I die-cut using the Stitched Rectangles Framelits, I tried to keep the sponging nice and even across the whole panel, as I knew I could use the centre for another project.

My next step was to use the Stamparatus to stamp this rainbow greeting from Happiest of Birthdays. I love this set because I really needed a BIG greeting and this one is simple and straight to the point. 

Using sponge daubers, I built up the image line by line, stamping in between each colour to see where I needed to ink next. The Stamparatus means you can hit the mark every single time (although read on for a fine example of this not being true, LOL). 

After a couple of attempts, I settled on stamping on this In Good Taste Designer Series Paper to give the background a little texture... or at least the appearance of texture. I had some excess at the red end, so use this to punch a little heart using the Dog Builder punch. It’s all mounted onto a piece of Whisper White embossed using the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder.

To use the centre piece, I knew I wanted to do something a little different, so splashed the sponged piece with some water to create this lovely effect. I use this technique a lot as it can represent lots of different things, such as snow or stars on a dark blue background. In this context, I think they look a little like seedheads blowing in the wind.

Now to the stamping and, armed with my trusty Stamparatus, what could possibly go wrong? The cardstock could slip when you’re not looking, that’s what! This is how I ended up with this double grass effect. Not what I intended but I don’t hate it, so I left it on the card. It’s stamped with the new Field of Flowers stamp set, which I just love for creating silhouettes on arty backgrounds. I do love playing around with fun background techniques!

Again, it’s mounted on the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder (an old favourite but new to my craft room so it’s getting a lot of love) with just a hint of a black border.

I hope you like my Pride 2020 projects – please enjoy your trip around the world as you look at the other projects here: