After yesterday’s rather stressful morning, today has been a lot more peaceful. I sat down to create a project and immediately found a sentiment that sparked an idea. Then it all came together exactly as I’d hoped.

PEACEFUL SCENE

“These are the moments we’ll look back on with joy” comes from the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for the front of a photo album. I have a stock of these mini pocket albums that take 4″ x 6″ photos and love creating one-of-a-kind covers for them.

I began by creating the sponged scene, but first I had a little preparation to do.

Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the man and child image from the A Good Man Stamp Set onto a layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then I stamped the same image onto a Full-Adhesive Post-It® Note. Using Paper Snips I cut out the Post-It Note and then placed it over the image on the Very Vanilla Layer. This would mask and protect that part of the project while I created the scene around it.

With the mask in place I began by covering the bottom section of the layer with scrap paper. Then using some Stampin’ Sponge I sponged Seaside Spray ink over the remaining top section. After that I sponged some Misty Moonlight ink along the top and sides to provide some added interest.

Next I needed to create the sea so I covered the sponged sky with scrap paper. Then I tore some more paper to give me a rough slanted edge that I placed across the bottom left corner. Once that was in place I sponged the rest of the bottom section with Balmy Blue ink. To add the waves I used a favourite image from the High Tide Stamp Set. With the masks still in place I simply stamped it multiple times using Balmy Blue ink.

Finally I turned to the ‘ground’ on which my figures were standing. I kept the sky covered and covered over the newly created water, then I sponged the ground with Sahara Sand ink. Over the top of that I sponged Pear Pizzazz ink and the scene was set.

PEACEFUL MOMENTS

With the sponging complete I could remove the scrap paper pieces and the Post-It Note mask from the figures. This revealed the original stamping all ready to be coloured.

To create a contrast with the soft inky background I love colouring with Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. I started with the man’s jeans in Balmy Blue, then I coloured his top with Cherry Cobbler. The child’s clothes were coloured using Mango Melody and Crumb Cake. For the skin I used Ivory and then used Bronze for the man’s hair and shoes. Finally I coloured the child’s hair in Crumb Cake and that part of the project was done.

As I had started the project with the sentiment from Peaceful Moments already chosen all I had to so was stamp it. So I did, in the right-hand corner of my scene using Misty Moonlight ink. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention and it was seriously crooked. But it wasn’t a complete disaster , I simply stamped it again onto a separate piece of Very Vanilla Card. Then I cut it out using the #3 oval die from the Stitched Shapes Dies (counting up from the smallest).

All I had left to do was assemble the cover piece.

First using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the sentiment onto the sponged scene. This covered up my previous stamping mistake. Then I glued the layer to a piece of Balmy Blue Card, before mounting it onto some Night of Navy Card.

Next I removed the old boring cover from the pocket photo album and slid the newly created piece into the pocket. Finally I added a plain Night of Navy layer to the back of the album and my project was complete.

It’s been a long time since I last created a sponged scene and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it. I must remember to video the process for my YouTube channel next time though.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Peaceful Moments Stamp Set in a bundle with the Poppy Moments Dies (not used today). This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included a link to that bundle in case you want to explore this further.