Stampscapes Tutorial - Morning/Evening Skies

This tutorial is posted on my blog and will be posted on the Create A Scene blog commencing Sunday, January 15th!

Here is a quick tutorial on how I achieve skies in my Stampscapes scenes.  I have had many requests by my blogging friends to do a tutorial for them to learn from.

For these I work on glossy cardstock.  I have found that blending is easier on glossy rather than regular cardstock unless you are using Distress Inks.  The stamp pads used are shown in each photo and at the end of this post I will list the recipe!  When working on glossy card stock I find that Ranger Adirondack dye inks along with Memento dye inks work the best for blending. 

Everyone sees their surroundings in a different light.  This is how I see my skies where I live, (When it's not raining!).  This is one way of colouring the sky.   Just as there are thousands of different scenes shown on the internet, there are thousands of ways to colour your sky.  Always remember that there really is no wrong way of doing things.  We are all artists at heart! 

Step 1:  I lightly tap in yellow along the mountain tops, or along the horizon of the scene.  Don't worry about getting too much yellow in there.  At first it may seem too bright but these dye inks will fade!  When using your stylus, make sure you aren't heavy handed.  Instead of blended colours it will look like coloured footballs all over your scene.

 Step 2:  We are going to tap in the blue for the sky this time.  For this I always start out using Adirondack Aqua or Memento Summer Sky.  Load your stylus with ink and tap in colour starting at the upper edge of the sky and work towards the yellow.  This step will take a few minutes.  These colours are light but appear darker with every layer to add.  For me, this is the boring part!!  It's worth taking your time though.

Step 3:  Now is when we start adding the colour!  I tend to use pink and very lightly tap in colour.  Once again, dye inks will fade so don't despair if you feel you've overdone it!  This is also the point where I will add more colour to show sunsets or a sunrise.  As you add darker colours like a fiery fushia or orange, keep in mind that these colours are darker so you'll have to watch how much you add.  Load your stylus and tap on dry, scrap paper to remove most of the ink.  Layers of colour will intensify your sky but too much in a darker hue, too soon, can ruin your beautifully stamped scene!   I am still playing around with incredibly colourful sunrises.  Whenever there's a clear morning I look to the horizon when out with the dogs.  Yes, when there's a beautiful sky to take in... I put everything else on ignore!  haha!

The photo above shows how dark the colours are when I've finished my sky.

This next photo shows just how much the sky lightens when sitting overnight!  If you find it's too light, now is the time to add more colour.  Also, I always put a touch of colour from the sky onto the face of the mountain.  I added a bit more in this shot so you would be able to see it but normally add just a touch.

I also put my Stampscape scenes together by building them around a sentiment I want to use. Sometimes just one or two stamps will do the trick so don't ever feel pressured to create a scene that always has one of everything in it!



Sky Number Two!

Okay.. this doesn't look like much but I wanted to show you how to stamp the clouds as it took me a while to figure this tip out.

The sky above looks like it would be hard to do but in reality... it's easy peasy!! 

Here's what the rubber Stampscapes stamp looks like.

This is what the image of 018E Cloud Cumulus looks like in black and white.  I imported this image from the Stampscapes web-site.

To achieve the sky that I stamped in the photo, load the stamp with Distress Ink Walnut.  Now don't stamp right away!  Use a dry paper towel and gently dab along the edges of the stamp so the image will feather out.  I also lightly dab the dark area in the middle of the stamp because I wanted this piece to look like an aged photo.  Also, if you don't dab the edges of the stamp you will get a rectangle of clouds that will be hard to match up. 

If you are creating a sky on a larger piece all you have to do is keep stamping, but change up the stamp by turning it upside down here and there as well.  Always remember to feather the inked edges with a dry paper towel so everything will blend together nicely.

There you have it!  Simple skies the way I do them!  I'm hoping to find out how to colour the Northern Lights one of these days.  They are gorgeous!

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Stamping!

Hugs,
Sheree

Inks used in this tutorial for the sky...
Ranger, Adirondack Dye Inks:  Aqua, Lemonade, Pink Sherbet
Memento Dye Inks:  Summer Sky
Distress Ink Pad:  Walnut

Inks used to finish colouring the mountains on the finished piece for the tutorial:
Distress Inks:  Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Iced Spruce
Memento Dye Inks:  London Fog

Stamps used on finished piece used for the tutorial:
Stampscapes 188F - Rocky Peaks
Stampscapes 302A - Gulls

ColourBox Stylus
Ranger Distress Applicator

PS ...  Don't forget to keep checking our challenge blog Create A Scene for more tutorials done by incredible artists from our design team.  Become a follower and enter the challenges while you're at it!
PPS ... I just noticed that I forgot to trim off the bottom of the scene because I wasn't going to stamp tree tops in front of the mountains... OoooopS!!