Sunday, July 11, 2010

Painting with Super Sponges 0942

Did you know that you can use super sponges (which come in handy 2 per pack 0942) as painting brushes? Audrey Underwood was kind enough to give me this handy tip recently when we needed to cover large areas quickly. Not only do they make your paint go much further they also allow your piece to dry faster. On further inspection of the sponges I noticed that the paint stays wet inside the sponge for a lot longer than a paint brush. This means if you keep the sponge in the “down” position, meaning that the paint does not make too much contact with the air you can carry on for a little while before you need to wash it out. So if you want to paint a few items in the same colour but not straight away you can keep your sponge in the down position and get back to it maybe ½ later and it’s still okay. Of course this will really depend on the type of paint you are using, so I am going to recommend testing first. When I add paint to the sponge I just put a small amount on my scrap paper and dab the sponge into to it.
I also found that if you have embossed a card or piece of chipboard, using a sponge dipped in paint and lightly “stamp off” the excess, it makes a beautiful applicator just like inking with a dye based ink. Start off applying your paint to your embossed area, softly and lightly in round or circular motion applying more pressure as you go. You may see the paint applying like a dry brush depending on how much paint is on the sponge you get an incredible coverage and texture. I like to use Jo Sonya artists’ acrylic paint, however I am sure any paint will do. Why don’t you give it a go you will be surprised how fast and how little paint you require for that next project especially on some of those delicate chip shapes like flourishes. I am sure if you try it you will like it!
Excellent option for brushes and applying paint and ink!

5 comments:

Teresa Abajo said...

What a fabulous suggestion!

Gretz said...

Thanks for the tip. You examples look AMAZING!

LaBonita said...

Great tip and inspiring photos. TFS

Samantha Marshall said...

Fantastic!! I love your beautiful card.

BrigitteG said...

thanks for the tip Julie !
that looks stunning !!

Brigitte G.
http://brigittescrap.canalblog.com