Stampscapes - Inspiration

Good Morning Chicks!

After seeing the fantastic response to the new Stampscapes challenge blog I went home and played with stamps after work.  I'll be working on scenes for the new blog "Craft A Scene"  Check it out!  The first challenge starts on January 1st!  We now have 24 followers after only two days of being up and running!

I wanted something CAS, along with a calming effect after a whirlwind Christmas Season we've had.  I tried quite a few different scenes and I'm now happy with this one!  I live two blocks from the ocean and have always found watching water has made me lose all thoughts of the hectic atmosphere around me.  I looked through my Stampscape sentiments and saw this one and immediately went to work!

The water stamp is a small section of a huge Seaside Cove.  I think it gives the impression of being way out on the water.  Four stamps were used and here's the recipe!

Stampscapes:
Sentiments Sheet #1
139H  Seaside Cove
302A  Gulls
018E  Cloud Cumulous

Ink:  Big N Juicy - Soothing Sunset
Archival Black
Diamond Stickles to highlight water
Paint pen to highlight gulls

Thanks for looking!
Hugs,
Sheree

Outlawz CAS Entry

The CAS Challenge this week at The Outlawz is to make a Thank You card in fall colours.  After making one that was totally the wrong them but the right colours for the challenge I came up with this!

The papers are from Recollections, the stamp from Hero Arts and sentiment from Stampin' Up!  I used a Big n Juicy ink pad and embossed with clear powder.  After distressing the edges I added some Distress Frayed Burlap to show them up a little bit.

 

 

This is the first card I made that was all wrong for the challenge.  The photo doesn't show it well at all!!  The sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo and embossed in gold.  The edges were distressed and added gold tinsel embossing powder to the edges which looks really kewl but you can't even tell.  The gold paper is a shimmer paper from Recollections.  A foam heart sticker was doused in Distress Walnut Stain and then embossed with the same gold as the sentiment.

 

Thanks for looking and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

 

Hugs,

Sheree

 

Stampscapes - Last Catch Of The Day

Good Evening Chickees!

This Stampscapes card started out as a tutorial.  I took pictures every step of the way.  When I went to post everything... the photos only showed up in the download as an icon!  So.. I'll be trying another one and hopefully it won't screw up as well haha!

This birthday card is for my hubby's ex-wife's father who is the funniest person on the planet!  Also, I will be entering it in The Outlawz Monday Greeting Card Challenge and the theme is for men/boys.

I sized this card to fit in a standard envelope that I use in the office.  Thought I'd do something different that the standard 5X7 or 4X5.  Turned out pretty kewl!

The recipe is as follows:

Stamps:

Stampscapes

050E  Lakeside Reflections

048E  Lakeside Cove

267E  Pines and Rocks

040B  Geese in Flight

166A  Row Boat

Sentiment

Stampin' Up!

Paper:  Recollections, BoBunny Forever Fall Foliage

Inks: 

Archival Black

Distress:  Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Persimmons

Big n Juicy Foliage

Versa Mark

Clear Embossing Powder

Gold Embossing Powder

White Paint Pen

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Sheree

Stampscapes - Raspberry Sunset

 

Good Evening Chickees!

I was wracking my brain trying to think of a card to submit to the Outlawz Color Challenge that also has a twist!  We had to use the colors shown below and also add plaid or houndstooth paper.  Yikes!  I had neither in colors that would coordinate with the challenge colors so made my own with a plaid stamp. 

Things came together when I pulled out my Stampscape stamps!  The sunset is mainly Raspberry and the white is used to frame the scene.  The scene was stamped in black.  I also used some other colors to  bring it to life. 

 

First off, I brayered the background starting with Pink Sherbet and then darkened everything with Raspberry and then Wild Plum.  The stamped images were then added using Memento Tuxedo Black.  This time around I didn't stamp a test scene on scrap paper first and you can tell.  The rocks at the bottom of the stamps don't line up as well as they should so it doesn't look as natural.  Oops... better luck next time!

 

To add some depth and hints of color I used a stylus.  First off I went  back to the Wild Plum and framed the edges of the brayered scene, blending in the darker edges. Memento Black was used along the outer edges to give the illusion of an evening scene.  I blended in some Lemonade to the lower edges of the sky along with parts of the water.  Frayed Burlap was used on the rocks and then topped off with Weathered Wood on the water.

 

Here's a close up view of the trees and sky showing where I put the white highlights!  It doesn't show tooooo well so grab your magnifying glass and do some squinting exercises! 

 

 

Here's the recipe!

Stamps:
Background - Impression Obsession - Gingham
Stampscapes - 267E  Pines and Rocks
                       207E  Pine Island
                       175A  Paddlers
                       302A  Gulls
Inks:
Memento - Tuxedo Black
Adirondack Dye Ink - Pink Sherbet, Raspberry, Wild Plum, Lemonade
Distress Inks - Weathered Wood, Frayed Burlap
White Paint Pen
Brayer and Stylus

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,
Sheree

Learn To Brayer... Check These Out!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I've been doing some surfing and keeping in touch in Blogland today as the weather here is rotten which tends to make walk in business slower.

I have three blogs for you all to check out!  These have gorgeous examples of brayering and tut's!

Cards Calligraphy - Shaz in Oz  -  Shaz's cards are just beautiful and a must see!  Check out her calligraphy as well as her brayered cards.   She's also a participant in WOYWW.  I'm not brave enough to show photos of my rubber room yet! 

Eileen's Crafty Zone - Stunning cards and Eileen has three step tutorials on brayering.  The example photos make everything so clear that you can't mess it up!  Eileen has a new card posted every day and it will take all afternoon to surf her blog of goodies. 

Lavinia Stamps Blog - Not only can you purchase gorgeous stamps here, there's a gallery of brayered pieces as well.  I'm checking into whether I can purchase stamps and have her ship to Canada.  There's stamps that would go along with Stampscapes stamps and that includes scenery stamps, animals... and the list goes on! I'm lovin' it!!!

So there you go girls!  I know you'll be impressed !

Hugs,
Sheree 

Three Different Looks From The Same Stamps

Hi Everyone!
I made these scenes up the other night and finally had them matted Friday night.  I used the same stamps on all three and some of the stamps are in the same spots.  There are different moons in two and one had a major accident so I trimmed it down to fit on a 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 card! 
Each scene was very dark when it was finished.  The white penned highlights really showed up beautifully.  Then... over two days they faded (Adirondack Dye Inks will do that).  I kind of like how they turned out after all!
Here are the finished projects!

This is the first scene.  The reflection of the moon was quite vivid at first so I was very happy with that in the end as it wasn't so overpowering.  The moon was taped off so that it would fit on the horizon.

 

 

 

This is the same scene but I had an accident on the right side so trimmed it down to fit on a smaller card.  It was like the first photo in the beginning which would fit into a business size envelope.  I didn't put a moon in this scene so the sky wasn't as dark in the beginning.  That is why it is lighter than the other one above.

 

 

 

I really like this one and it looks so much better in real life!  Before it faded, the sky was dark and I had done the reflections of the windows perfectly in the water.  Now, you can hardly tell!  The card is 5X7 and was a different size to use up the leftover glossy paper.

 

Stamps used:

Stampscapes

Lakeside Cabin

Pines and Rocks

Rocks and Bushes

Paddlers

Row Boat

 

Inks:  Adirondack Aqua, Stream, Lemonade, Stonewashed

         Memento Sunshine Yellow, Morning Sky, London Fog

 

Thanks for looking and... Have a wonderful weekend!!

 

Hugs,

Sheree

Stampscapes - Autumn Sunset

Good Afternoon!

What a fun day today.  I skipped from work (I'm the boss) and stayed home to do more painting on the house before the rain and wind sets in tonight.  So... while I cook dinner I thought I'd post this card that I made two days ago for one of my clients.

Jerry came up to Campbell River last Friday to attend a funeral and near the end of the funeral his sister had to rush him to the hospital because he couldn't move his left arm.  Turns out he had a stroke due to bleeding on the brain.  To make a long story short, I thought we were going to lose him but... my Korean Veteran started coming around!  He is still paralized on his left side but we are hoping that when the pressure on the brain slowly goes away he will regain use of his left appendages.  I'm thinking positive!

I put this card together because Jerry was a commercial fisherman after the war and he would go fishing today but his body is slowing down which makes it hard to launch a boat.  He just LOVES fishing!

There are two sentiments on the inside of the card.  One is 'Get Well Soon' from Stampin' Up! and the other is one from Stampscapes.  I embossed all images with clear embossing powder, doing each one as it was stamped.  The background was brayered with a 'Big and Juicy' pad and then Raspberry at the top to intensify the colour a wee bit more.  Only one print was used for background paper.  I was inspired by the colours in the maple leaves which  don't really show well.

Here is the recipe!

Stamps - Stampscapes & Stampin' Up!

302A - Gulls

266D - Tree cluster

195G - Pines and Rocks

048E - Lakeside Cove

166A - Rowboat

Archival black ink, Big and Juicy, Adirondack Raspberry Dye Ink

Paper - Glossy, Bazzil, Staples 110 lb. white, Indian Summer - Aspen - Basic Grey

Rubber brayer
White pen for highlights
Marth Stewart photo corner punch

Thanks for looking and may you have the most wonderful week!

Hugs,
Sheree

Challenges:
Cards for Men - Anything but square
Oldie But A Goodie - One For The Boys

Stampscapes - Moon Rising

 

Good Evening Chickees!

 

We have a long weekend here so our shop is closed Sunday and Monday... Woo Hoo!

 

I've been playing with the brayer again and remembered a picture I took in December of 1999.  I was on Quadra Island, which is a short ferry ride from Campbell River, with my boys visiting a dear friend of mine.  She had a home on the east side of the island, right on the ocean!  It was very cold that year and something like minus 10 degrees so everything was frozen.  It's not common place to have stretches of cold weather here!  While we were cleaning up after dinner I looked out the wall of windows and saw the moon rising, just as this Stampscape shows.  It was absolutely an incredible moon that night!

I took a few photos of the night sky and brought them back to the farm to play with.  My girlfriend used the shots in the realtor's ad for her place as well.  The negatives went missing somehow and my step-brother decided to steal the photos and take them back to Alaska with him and he wouldn't return them.  Arggghhh!

The lighting wasn't the greatest for photographing yellow tonight so we'll have to pretend that it looks fantastic!  haha!  The blues are actually a lot darker and the sentiment as well.  Here is a closer look at the scene ....

 

 

I started brayering with Aqua and gradually added many layers of Stonewashed until I had the desired effect.  The trees are done with only two stamps!  After the scene was done I decided that the moon needed a little bit of yellow sponged in to give it some depth.

Once everything was finished I sprayed the acrylic varnish on and then added the white highlights from moonlight!

 

The recipe for this project is:

Stamps:

Stampscape -

196F - Pine Tree

222F - Twisting Pine

302A - Gulls (Over the sentiment)

Sentiment -

Stampendous - Dream Forever (Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you only have today) I picked this up at Crafty Capers in Nanaimo last Thursday!

 

Paper:

Staples 110 lb. white, Recollections Black, Stampin' Up! Yellow, Glossy White

 

Ink:

Adirondack Dye Inks - Aqua, Stonewashed

Memento Black

 

Martha Stewart photo corner punch

White paint pen

 

There you have it!  Thanks for looking!

Hugs,

Sheree

 

 

 

 

Stampscapes - Something Different!

Good Morning!

I played around with different types of ink last night and this is the end result. I kind of like it! The first layer is Adirondack Dye Ink - Aqua. Using the brayer I applied quite a few coats and really worked the colour into the glossy paper. After that the hills were made with ripped paper and using the brayer to apply ink. Super easy!!
The next step is to stamp the images. Everything looked too monotone when I was finished so brought out my Distress Ink Pad - Frayed Burlap and tapped it into the valleys and onto the rocks. My hills just didn't seem to stand out so went over the top edges with Adirondack Stonewashed to deepen the colour a bit and it also gave a bit more definition to the ridges.
Last of all I applied white accents here and there to make the leaves, brush and birds stand out. The whole thing was sprayed with a glossy laquer finish and then mounted.

There you have it! This project is so easy and a fun one to try!

Stamps used:
Stampscape - 302A Gulls
277F Leafy branch
Rocks & Brush

Inks:
Adirondack - Aqua, Stonewashed, Denim
Ranger - Archival - Jet Black
Disstress - Frayed Burlap
MS Punch - Photo corner
JellyRoll Star pens

Thanks for looking!

P.S. The postal strike is over and Myrna will receive her Stampscape stamps soon... Woo Hoo!!!

Stampscapes Tutorial - Brayered Scene

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I'd post this as I finally have a few free minutes at the shop!  I was playing around with the brayer last week and actually remembered to take a few photos along the way.  Hope this gives you some insight to what I'm doing on this end.... it's easy peasy!

First off I used Memento Summer Sky as my base layer.  I didn't want it to fade so brayered many layers of this one colour.  Also... for my scenes I don't brayer like everyone else.  Whenever you take a class or watch a video the instructor says to go lightly in one direction so you don't get lines.  This is true for the most part and I do this for some cards with lighter coloured inks!   For me it's... au contraire grasshopper!  I've found that loading my Speedball brayer with lots of ink works great... start brayering at the top or side to start and move the brayer down as you go.  I use quite a bit of pressure and the ink goes down the paper with it.  If you find there's too much ink in a spot then run your brayer over scrap white paper and then go back to your project and repeat until the excess is gone.  I've also found that if you do this and also work the ink into the paper that the lines go away.  If they don't, then load your brayer again with the same colour and really work it in again.  Move quickly and go back and forth from the project to scrap paper until the desired effect is reached.  The reason for how I brayer is probably due to the amount of ink I apply.  It seems that the paper absorbs the ink or, maybe there is enough on top of the glossy paper that pressure from working the ink into the paper makes it blend... Who knows.  Everyone has their own way of doing things so if you are more comfortable using light pressure and less ink.. go for it!  

The next layer is done using a two inch strip of ink on your brayer of Stonwashed Adirondack Dye Ink.  This time only start from the top first, working the ink down the page and when that's done head down to the bottom and work the ink up!  Again, go back and forth to your scrap paper to rid your brayer of excess ink.

The third layer is Adirondack Dye Ink Denim.  I love the look of these colours together and you can feel the drama being created (at least I can!)  Only ink 1/2" of the brayer with this colour as it is deep and you don't want to cover up the other two!  Play with it until you get the right look you want.  On some pieces I have gotten a different effect that resembles the Northern Lights so dont ever think your project should turn out perfectly blended! 

Now the fun begins!!  Using Archival Ink, Jet Black, stamp your images where you'd like.  I wanted the lighter area in the middle to be on the water as if moonlight was shining down from somewhere....so stamped the Lakeside Cove stamp above it.  The next stamp, Pines and Rocks was lined up and stamped beside the cove with half of it stamped off the page.  The bottom of the paper looked empty and I wanted to try my new stamps so... used Sedge Bank Left at the bottom and stamped most of it off the page.  This jut out looked too darned empty so used the Bush stamp to add some taller weeds.  Once I added the weeds the bank was a better size to use with my Wading Fisherman.

The last step on this scene was to add a little something to jazz it up a bit.  For the white dots I used my white pen, carefully trying not to make white globs.  You have to touch the paper ever so lightly!!  The scene needed a bit more so used Distress Ink Frayed Burlap to lightly colour the rocks along the water in the cove.

There you have it!  I'm sure you'll come up with something exciting for your scene.  Don't forget to practice stamping on spare paper first so you get the depth of field right!  The 'Jolly Green Giant' doesn't fish as far as I know!  haha!

Stampscapes Stamps Used:

048E  Lakeside Cove

195G  Pines and Rocks

186B  Wading Fisherman

234F  Sedge Bank Right

191A Bush

Good luck and have fun!

Hugs,

Sheree

Stampscapes - Father's Day #1

 

It's Friday!!  WooHoo!!!!

 

I was working in Nanaimo yesterday so guess what I did??!!  Shhhh...I went to

Crafty Capers!  I grabbed the only farm stamp she had so look for that one in the future.  I also grabbed some more of the good glossy paper for working with my brayer.
The idea for this card popped into my head on the drive home.  I had picked up the sentiment stamp the other day and thought this layout would bring everything together!   Inside says  ...Happy Father's Day.  This time I used yellows and oranges but am also going to post some of the same done with other colours just to see how they turn out. 

The recipe is as follows:

Stamps used:

Stampscapes -
023A     Duck Trio
267E     Pines & Rocks
046E     Lakeside Cove

My Sentiments Exactly
Hampton Art

Inks Used:
Adirondack Dye Ink Pads - Terra Cotta, Butterscotch, Caramel
Distress Inks - Spiced Marmalade
Memento - Cantalope
Ranger Archival - Jet Black

Colorbox Stylus
Speedball Brayer
Really kewl sticky paper for the moon

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Hugs,
Sheree

Stampscapes - Brayered Mist

Good morning Everyone!

First off I would like to send caring thoughts to my friends in the tornado ravaged area of the United States, to friends in Manitoba, Canada who are affected by terrible flooding, and to friends in the Slave Lake area where more than half the town burnt down.  My heart goes out to each and every one of you affected by these terrible 'acts of god.'

Last night I was playing with the brayer again as DH was watching the Stanley Cup semi-finals...yay..we won and now it's off to the Stanley Cup finals!

This is the scene I came up with and thought I'd try to add some foggy mist like I've seen in some scenes on the Stampscapes website.  It's not perfect but, not too bad for a first attempt either.  The misty effect was acheived by using a Colorbox stylus and Brilliance white ink.  At first I tried steaking it but wasn't getting much colour so then tried tapping it on using the main flat side and then the edges to define the top of the mist to a small degree.  Here is a closeup of the mist and highlights:

So... here's the recipe for this one!

Stamps used:

150E     Pine Row

146F     Crooked Path

302A    Gulls

Nature Sheet #1 - Two Firs

Sentiment:   Stampin' Up!

Paper:   Glossy white, Recollections solids

Ink:       Big and Juicy - Hydrangea, Archival black, Brilliance white

Punch:   Circle

Jellyroll Star pen - Platinum

Fiskars scissors

Pop dots

Bling

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Sheree

 



Stampscape - Brayer

Good Evening Friends!

I started this card last night but wasn't sure how to frame the scene so left it until today.  This layout should fit into the sketch challenge at The Outlawz!

Once again I've used my Speedball brayer and another Ranger Big and Juicy ink pad that I bought a while ago.  When I first tried this pad I was new to brayering and using deep colours so after my horrendous first try I put it away for a while.  This time I think I hit the nail on the head!

When brayering this scene I used three colours on the top half and then turned the paper around and used the same three on the lower half.  Everything was just toooo balanced so I cut off some of the top when I finished the scene.

To get the cabin at the right spot I used my clear block that has white lines on it as guides.  I lined up the water line to the white line and then was able to stamp right in the middle where the blues meet.  Just prior to stamping I wondered how embossing the images would turn out and voila!  Not too shabby!  So after stamping in black I used a very fine embossing powder in clear.  The trees and finally the geese were stamped and embossed as well.  Here's a closer look for you..

Lastly I used my Jellyroll Star pen in platinum to highlight the cabin windows, water and trees where the moonlight would hit.  This made them stand out a little bit more. 

Once everything was done I sprayed the scene with Krylon Acrylic crystal clear spray to keep the colours from fading.

Stamps used:

023A       Duck trio in flight  (I have to order a new one because my puppy chewed

               mine!)

147F       Lakeside cabin

196F       Pine tree

222F       Twisting pine

Paper:      Glossy white, Coresentials, Stampin' Up!

Ink:         Archival black, Ranger Big and Juicy Hydrangea

Ribbon:   Sheer black - WalMart

Punch:      Martha Stewart photo corner

Pen:         Jellyroll Star - Platinum

Pop dots

Challenges:

Gingersnap Creations - Scene Stamping

Note:  This card is approximately 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 inches

Thanks for looking!

Hugs,

Sheree

Stampscapes - Playing with 'New Stuff!'

I'm back home from another work day in Nanaimo.  Seeing as I've been such a good girl lately I thought that a few 'little' special treats were in order!  These are the secret special treats that are smuggled in when nobody's looking because.. I've probably gone over my nonexistant budget as it is!  These purchases will be blamed on Victoria at Crafty Capers!  All she has to do is post on her blog what's new in the store and I turn into someone on par with a heroine junkie!!  Ever have those days when you swear you're 'just going to look??!!'  I have them all the time.

So... Today I picked up another BIG and Juicy stamp pad in 'Soothing Sunset.'  It's gorgeeeeeous!  When I arrived home I put everyone's appetite on hold and ran into my little room and started brayering.  WooHoo!  Loved it!  Once I had that done I picked out a stamp that was wide enough for my paper and voila!  There you have it!  Simple and I think it looks pretty kewl.  There are no embellishments other than Stickles on this card.  The colours are so bright and strong that the patterned paper I had hoped to use made it look like the I-5 during a nuclear evacuation.  The top stamped image is popped up.  Here's a closeup so you can see where I put the Stickles...  They show up much better in person.  Actually the colours are all quite bright and really don't show as well as I had hoped due to my terrible photographic skills on automatic!

Stamps:    Stampscapes - 023A     Duck Trio in Flight

                                       295C     Lilly Grass

                                                    Country Stream - Nature Sheet #1

                                                    Sentiment - Scenic Sentiments Sheet #1

Ink:          Ranger Big and Juicy, Archival Black

Paper:      Recollections Soda Pop, Stampin' Up! yellow, Recollections Black

Stickles:   Lemonade

Pop Dots

            

Thanks for looking!  I'll try and get some more done up this weekend if the rain shows up like they are forecasting.  Second thought.. I should get back to work on the Arc!

Hugs,

Sheree