Green Fantasy Sponges?

The car wash sponges are perfect for body painting!!

An electric knife works well for cutting them up too.

Liz Small told me to get the cheap dollar store/Canadian Tire sponges and cut them into egg shapes. They're very soft and/dense and are great for getting paint into the eye socket and blending. They're a pain to cut as the bits seem to be magnetized and stick onto everything, but I really like them to work with. I get a big bag of the sponges and then cut each brick into three eggs as I'm watching TV.

smitty225 wrote:I took another look at the sponges on Jodi's web site. They don't look much like the ones I like....which are a kind of blue/green color with rounded edges. The pic's of the sponges on Jodi's site are small kinda dense plasticky looking things. I'm starting to wonder if they are the same ones I like so much. I don't even remember where I got them....shame.

I got the ones from Jodi and they are not "plasticky" lol...they feel very dense but soft.....and so far I really like them but only have practiced on my arm and my practice head...LOL

Shannon Fennell wrote:An electric knife works well for cutting them up too.

Electric knife, like what you use with turkeys that acts like a recprocating saw? Do you still squish the sponge to get a decent edge?

I'm a clutz and am in fear of losing a finger

I did find car wash sponges at the dollar store that weren't as thick.

The sponges Jodi sells are the Fantasy Worldwide ones - green. They are larger than most FP sponges - about 3 inches across and an inch thick - really nice and VERY much the same size and texture of my tack sponges - just SOFTER.

I think the ones Mike is talking about are the "generic" face painting sponges that are sold (and repackaged) by many retailers - they are about 1.5 inches thick and about 2 inches across and very dense and soft. They are a very light mint green colour when new - this disappears the first time you wash them!! Then they are whitish with some staining depending how you wash them!

Both of these are very nice to use - but the FWW ones are denser and don't let the paint bleed through like the mint green ones. If you like to keep your hands clean that is something to think about!

Yep....the sponge's I'm looking for are as Shannon describes (and apparently they are the ones Jodi sells), however the sponge picture Jodi has on her website looks like the generic ones that Shannon also describes.

Since apparently I own a few of the FWW sponges, I must have thrown caution to the wind and anti'ed up for the $6.50 in shipping that Jodi charges....and I'll probably do it again. The sponges are great.

These are the generic high density sponges - very light mint green. Very soft and dense... many retailers sell them and put their own "brand" name on them...




These are the FWW Sponges that Jodi sells - this photo is the one on her website...

I LOVE these sponges, but OMG that shipping kills it!

Hmm... shipping sponges should be the easiest thing in the world.

Load into ziploc bag, sit on bag to squeeze out ALL air, seal. Stick in oversized letter envelope, mail.

I'm with Metina on this one...the shipping kills it. Maybe she's having them drop shipped from the UK?!?

I too love the FWW sponges along with my open cell sponges from Woife but too I am falling in love with Kryolan's oval sponges. when Joe sold these one year at convention they went fast - I know I tried to talk my roomie Pam Trent out the last one.......she loves 'em. The are thinner but a nice closed pore like FWW, and a great shape for getting int the eye area and having more control over blending placement.


hummmm why is the shipping killing folks - last I knew Jodi had a boatload.
And she does ship them in envelopes.

I'm bringing some to Michelle's Jam in Columbia on the 17th. Come to the jam in Columbia and I will have them for you (anyone else too). We can do a sponge comparison of different sponges and their feel.

Jenny

Just Jenny wrote:I'm bringing some to Michelle's Jam in Columbia on the 17th. Come to the jam in Columbia and I will have them for you (anyone else too). We can do a sponge comparison of different sponges and their feel.

Jenny

That's a great idea.

Sweet Loretta wrote:I too love the FWW sponges along with my open cell sponges from Woife but too I am falling in love with Kryolan's oval sponges. when Joe sold these one year at convention they went fast - I know I tried to talk my roomie Pam Trent out the last one.......she loves 'em. The are thinner but a nice closed pore like FWW, and a great shape for getting int the eye area and having more control over blending placement.


hummmm why is the shipping killing folks - last I knew Jodi had a boatload.
And she does ship them in envelopes.

I think they're referring to the $6.00 shipping price tag on such a light item. That type of thing burns my butt as well. My husband had to order a special part for the dishwasher and the shipping was $8. When the package arrived we weight it...3oz! The rate they charged for shipping led us to believe the part was substantial, as in weighing over a pound. As it turned out, the shipping charge was padded with other charges. It's a big problem on Ebay as well. I don't like being ripped for extra shipping when I know that that money isn't going to be legitimately used for shipping.

The one good this is that Jodi has a flat $6 shipping fee, so if there were a bunch of people placing an order at a time, the shipping would be less "lethal".

She is most likely shipping via Priority mail. The lowest price for priority mail is $5 and then you have to cover the PayPal fees with the other dollar. I only ship Priority mail (as I like my products to arrive to my customers in a timely fashion and it has a tracking number), unless my customers specify that they would like me to ship a different way (snail mail, etc).
I can guarantee she is not making money with a flat $6 shipping cost.
You have to keep in mind, when ordering things online, there are going to be shipping costs. So why not order more things from one place so the shipping cost is not a real issue? I have had people order ONE $5-$7 item from my shop which then adds a $6 shipping (minimum shipping for Priority). I just shake my head and think them crazy for it, but process the order and ship it as usual. Now if this person contacted me and requested cheaper shipping, then I could do that and send it out parcel post or first class mail.....there would not be a tracking number though, and it would take longer to get there, but that is fine if they wanted to go that route.
Many shops are willing to work with their customers that way....you just simply have to ASK.......much the same as with combined shipping on eBay items, it is something you may only need to request.

Well, in the case if Proface there is no option for alternate shipping for ordering just sponges...I've already asked. While I could make it worth my while by purchasing other items, I'm not one to buy a bunch of stuff I don't need just to get the best value out of the shipping costs. I'm sure that eventually there will be other suppliers and I'll just make do until then.

Lady Jayde wrote:Well, in the case if Proface there is no option for alternate shipping for ordering just sponges...I've already asked. While I could make it worth my while by purchasing other items, I'm not one to buy a bunch of stuff I don't need just to get the best value out of the shipping costs. I'm sure that eventually there will be other suppliers and I'll just make do until then.

Do you get american facepainter? ask jodi to add sponges into the that shipment, you should be able to add a few with the magazine, maybe not a package of 10, but maybe 5

Ask

Jenny

Thanks Jenny,
I cant see the benefit in buying a magazine I don't want/need in order to get only half the sponges when the sponges were what I wanted in the first place. If she carried Illusion Mag. I'd certainly consider it.

Well, I guess you'll just have to go without! I'm always needing some paint or glitter or brushes and I get the magazine because I love it, so I'm ordering from her a few times a year. That makes it easy. And sometimes when I get together with my friends north of me, we make a group order and then split it up at the next jam (in Frederick). In fact, at the jam we had in Columbia recently, I was able to pass on a sponges to everyone there to try out, and Mike Smith bought a bunch at the same time.

Maybe you'll get some at one of the conventions you attend.

Jenny

American Face Painter is a great zine.. I totally recommend it!

Yep FWW are my fave sponges - I made a pair of wings for them and got paid partly in sponges so I'm set for life I think

I chop all mine into half, half moons.
Oh and Mothercare did a huge round soft baby bath sponge with bevelled egded that I cut into 3 sort of wedges. They don't last so well though and are pricey - but BIG, good for bodies/ big bases.

I don't like the wolfe, unless for effect, too porous and too soft.
Snaz, too soft but their new petal sponges are better just too expensive.

For the teams who work for me at the Rugby 7s (sort of like the superbowl finals) I buy huge brick spongess from the chinese wet market - comes in pastel blue, yellow, pink, etc and use big sharp scissors to but it into useful shapes.

Cat

I wonder if a guillotine paper cutter is sharp enough to cut the big sponges?

I find that the trick is to compress the sponge really well before you cut, or you get really wonkey edges (this is from trying to make eyelashes from dark foam disks... wierd, I know, it's a puppet thing). I just bought a circle cookie cutter to attempt to smoosh a carwash sponge down as I cut... we'll see how I manage that one! I think I'm going to try using an exacto, but who knows... worth a try for decent super cheap sponges.

K, cuz I'm so new at this, I'm trying to follow the shape thing and it's kinda confusing. What is the best shape for a sponge and why? I think it's just to keep fingers clean? Yes, no? Pictures might help. Going to LaFete YAY! I'm sure I'll get a better grasp, but in the mean time....
Thanks, ya'll!

I have never heard of FWW paint... Is that a liquid paint? What does it compare to? Worth trying/buying?