Pine Forest in the Misty Morning

I made a quick and easy card today.  I love sponging and have been experimenting with sponging different combinations of colors together.  Today I used mostly blues, with a little yellow and green thrown in for good luck!  Hope you like.
 

"Pine Forest in the Misty Morning"

 

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree (SU!); Stampscapes (gulls)

Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Whisper White (SU!)

Ink:  Barely Banana (retired), Garden Green, Baja Breeze, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  1 1/4" circle punch, post-it note for masking, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges, sticky strips

 

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I light sponged Barely Banana ink over the area where I wanted the sun to be and then added the mask on top.  I sponged Baja Breeze ink around the sun.  I sponged Tempting Turquoise ink around the sun, further out and not covering all the Baja Breeze.  I kept sponging more colors further and further from the sun making sure to leave some of the previous color showing (Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy).  I removed the mask and lightly sponged Baja Breeze ink around the edges of the sun to soften the look.  I stamped the pine trees in Garden Green, mostly first generation stamping, but a few second and one third to make it appear as if some of the trees where in the distance.  I added the gulls stamped in Night of Navy.

I sponged the background paper in the same way as the main image, minus the sun.  I wanted it to look like the same sky, so I added a little Garden Green to mimic the yellow and blue combined inks in the main image.  I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the stamping from the main image and add to the background paper.  It's a little tricky, but I thought I did pretty well for my first attempt at this (but there's always room for improvement!).

I mounted all the pieces as shown in the picture above.
 

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I realized a while ago that my stash of cards had been stacking up.  I wanted to do something worthwhile with them so about two months ago I donated two dozen cards to a charity through my old workplace (I have been retired for 2 1/2 years now).  In the building where I used to work, is a small store for employees to purchase snacks, small gifts, and cards with the profits from the store used to help fund a community project.  100% of the sale of my cards will go to the community project.  
 
Also, a friend of mine has ties to a senior's home in Burnaby and has arranged for my donated cards (three dozen) to be available for the residents.  I think the residents will appreciate being able to give hand-made cards to friends and family!  I really happy about it!!
 
I'm still looking for more places to donate my cards as I still have a large stash.  I really like the idea of them going to individuals as opposed to being sold.  I have to work on finding another place that would be interested in receiving my cards.