Splitcoaststampers FAVORITES of the Best of 2010

I am very honored to have one of my Stampscapes creations, Cabin by the Lake, named as one of The Best of 2010 FAVORITES on Splitcoaststampers!  You have to be a member of Splitcoaststampers to see the year-end FAVORITES thread that it's listed on HERE, but I thought I'd show you the tag that was nominated if you're not a member.



I can't thank ChaosMom enough for nominating my tag for this honor especially since there are so many thousands of creations to choose from.  I am a member of many stamping sites, but SCS is usually the first site I go to when I want to learn how to do something new or to recharge my stamping batteries.  I could spend days perusing this site and still not tire of all of the eye candy here.  

Maybe this is a sign for me to do more scenic stamping this year. :o)  I know that I couldn't have been more surprised when I heard the news from Judi.  Whatever it is, I couldn't be more humbled with this honor!  Thanks!

 

~~~Lee~~~

OWH Independence Day Blog Tour!

Welcome to another stop on this wonderful Independence Day blog tour sponsored by Operation Write Home!  If you arrived here from anywhere other than the OWH Stars and Stamps Blog, you'll really want to go to their blog after you're done reading my post to see what all the other bloggers have created to feast your eyes on this weekend.  There are all kinds of events planned throughout the weekend as well as lots of blog candy and other fun!

Many of you are already acquainted with Operation Write Home, but if not, you should be!  This organization collects hand-made cards from all over to send to our soldiers that are serving overseas, so the soldiers have something nice to send home to their family and friends.  We always need card makers who can donate a few cards or even fill up a USPS Priority Flat Rate box.  This is an excellent way to get those beautiful cards that you've made out of those stuffy boxes!!!! ;O)  If you are interesting in sending cards, or maybe you want to find out more info about the organization because you would like to make a tax deductible contribution to help with shipping and other costs, then click on Operation Write Home. 

I'll be posting more cards throughout the weekend, but the first one I've made follows the guidelines to make a red, white and blue birthday card.  I decided to something different and make my own design paper for once.  This happened by accident when I stamped a couple star images from an Art Impressions stamp and decided to continue stamping and see what I got.

The stars were all stamped on the cardstock that I won as blog candy from the last OWH Blog Hop.  I wanted to stay with the theme, so I decided to stamp it in blue ink instead of black.  The background color was added with four different colors of blue colored pencils that were blended with a blending stump dipped in baby oil since I don't have any Gamsol (OMS).  

The trees from Stampscapes were also stamped on the white card stock with the Memories dye ink.  Originally, I was going to stamp the eagle from Mostly Animals onto the cardstock, but I had seen another blogger recently that had stamped directly onto mulberry paper and I liked the effect.  The background was also colored with the colored pencils, and then the highlights were added with a white gel pen.  The stars on the corners aren't brads.  They are small die cuts that I applied Ranger's Glossy Accents to and let them dry so they would look like brads.

Some people have asked me how I got the edges to look frayed when I work with mulberry paper.  It's a real easy technique.  You just take any small paint brush that has been dipped in plain water and make an outline with the wet brush around the stamped image (or the stencil or shape).  Let the water absorb into the paper for about 20 seconds or so and then hold the paper on both sides of water line and gently pull it apart like you would stretch a rubber band.  Make sure you don't tug on the big chunks of fiber that hang out like the piece on the right side of the pictures.  Take some sharp scissors and cut the big pieces at an angle so you're just leaving a tip hang out of the side.  After you have all of the pieces apart, just gently pull the edges out by pulling the fibers between your thumb and pointer finger to make it look hairy.  If the paper has already dried, you can rewet the mulberry paper and try it again.

Next, I wanted to add a slider to the ribbon, but I didn't have any that fit the scene I had stamped.  So I just flipped one of the American Crafts Elements over and added a rub-on that was also from American Crafts.  The scene was double matted and applied on top of the single matted design paper with some Creative Memories tape and was then glued onto a card base.  I used Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive to the ribbon so it would stay secure.  Since the cards are first shipped from us to a shipper, and then unpacked and checked and then repacked for the soldiers, it's very important to make sure any embellishments are secure.  Also, it's very important that you don't use glitter on the cards for the soldier's safety.

I usually stamp a little something in the inside, or you can keep it blank for the soldiers to write to their family or friends.  The Happy Birthday sentiment is made by PSX and was also stamped with the Memories dye ink.  The edges were inked with a dauber like the front of the card and then both of the pieces were matted on more blue card stock from Hobby Lobby.  Star stickers were added to the corners to give a pop of red in the inside.

Well, that was long enough for this post!  Come on back later and see what else I have created for the OWH Independence Day Blog Tour.  You'll also want to know the details about my blog candy!  You'll have to leave a comment to win, and if you would like to become a follower, your name will be entered twice in the random drawing.  I'm working on putting together a bunch of embellishments, papers and ribbons that will work great for your OWH cards!  I'll pick a winner from the hat on Tuesday, July 6th, so make sure to come back & see if you won!  Happy Blog Touring!!!  Click on OWH Stars and Stamps Blog to go back to the tour guide!   Remember not to drink and drive on this holiday weekend!

~~  Lee  ~~

Friendly Amish Boys Peoplescapes Swap

I decided to join in on another swap in the Stampscapes II Yahoo Group swap last month.  The theme this time was Peoplescapes, which is to use people in a prominent position in your creation.  I almost didn't enter because I couldn't think of any stamp I had that would fit the criteria.  I decided to go shopping at a local stamp store and found this awesome Amish boys stamp (I was also raised along many Amish families).  Unfortunately, it was in a package of clearance unmounted images that the owner couldn't remember who made it.  Sooooo, if you happen to know who made it, please let me know so I can give them proper credit AND see if they have more images I like!  teehee!  Maybe I can find an image with the boys plugging their noses when they realize how close the skunk is to them! lol

All of the images are by Stampscapes except for the barn which is made by Alley Cat and the skunk which was part of four skunk images made by PSX.  I colored the scene with reinkers and Adirondack, Sea Brights & Memories ink pads with the help of make-up sponges, and for some of the details I used Adirondack pens.  Since many of the images needed a little bit extra, I used a Zig Millenium black pen to add the finishing touches like extending the road.  I also used some white and colored gel pens for highlighting.

This was my first Peoplescapes, and I'm glad I joined in on this swap.  This group has challenged me to do things that I normally wouldn't do which is a good reason to join a group or a challenge.  I used to get stuck in the same rut all of the time in my card making, but when I get stuck now, all I have to do is do a little blog hopping.  There is so much inspiration out there, and if you can't find something to inspire you then you obviously haven't looked very much!

~~  Lee  ~~

Fishing Cabin Birthday Card

One of my friends asked if I would make a birthday card for her dad.  The only thing she requested was that it relate to fishing in some way, and she was very pleased with how this card turned out.  Since I just recently bought some images from Stampscapes that I hadn't inked up yet, I wanted to see what I could create with these new images.

The images were stamped on Kromekote Glossy paper with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink except for the far mountains.  Memories Stone Gray was used for the mountains to create distance.  After the scene was completed, it was sprayed with a glossy clear coat.  I'm going to try to list all of the stamps at the end of my posts when I post my scenic creations from now on instead of being so long-winded in the details. I know many people have said during the OWH blog hop that they hadn't inked up their Stampscapes stamps for a while, so hopefully this scene will also help to inspire you to do some of your own.

~~ Lee ~~

Stamps:  Stampscapes - Cabin w/Fence, Soft Hill, Sedge Filler, Reeds, Water Grass, Oak Branch, Rocky Peaks, Cloud w/Sun, Fisherman, Cumulus Cloud and Jumping Bass.

Coronado Island Stamps - Birds

Art Impressions:  Rocks

Hero Arts Birthday Sentiment

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black for the Images, Memories, Ranger and Adirondack Inks for color

Card Stock:  The Paper Company

Design Paper:  Miss Elizabeth's

Border Punch:  Fiskars

Adhesive:  Ad Tech

Swirl Rub-on: Kimberly Poloson

Highlights:  American Crafts White Gel Pen

Twine, Fish Hook and Yarn from my stash

Stampscapes II Yahoo Group Swap

I had the honor to receive this beautiful scene from from my swap partner, Sandy Knecht, in the Yahoo group, Stampscapes II.  There are lots of beginners as well as top notch instructors in this group.  We learn so much in this group & now I can put together a scene fairly quickly.  I have never seen glitter used with the scenery stamping like this, so now I know what's going on my next scene!  The layout is gorgeous as well as the corner punch (I did send her a message asking who makes it).  The people in this group are so  wonderful!  Below is a close-up of the water where Sandy used glitter to stimulate the shimmering water.  I can't post my swap until Sandy receives it, but I'll post it as soon as possible.

If you are into scenery stamping, you must check out the Stampscapes website.  Not only does Kevin have thousands of examples of outstanding scenes on the site, but there are links to blogs & websites that also include tutorials and more.  There are numerous tutorials on the website along with lots of information on light theory (in plain language!) & basics on how to use these interchangeable nature elements.  These stamps can be used with so many other scenic stamps from companies like Beeswax, Coronado, Sutter, Cowtown, Art Impressions and more.  I've been using a lot of digital images lately, and I've seen many digi images used with these stamps to make some awesome scenes.  I have so much more to learn yet, but thanks to so many other awesome stampers, I'm learning all kinds of shortcuts, types of products to use, use of perspective & more.  I can't thank all of you enough!

Stampscapes tag swap

I know I have been MIA lately, but family does come first! Hopefully, things will be back to abnormal soon, so keep checking back for more!

I was in a tag swap in my Yahoo Stampscapes group, so I thought I would share with you some of my creations. My swap partner is Darsie Bruno who is a truly gifted artist, so I hope she won't mind this newbies tags! This is the first time I've used glossy papers with my Stampscapes images. I truly have so much to learn, but I really love the ease of using makeup sponges as brushes with my stamp pads.

The tags may look hard to do, but they really come together quickly! Kevin has done such an excellent job of designing his Stampscapes line. They really blend together well & are very forgiving (good thing for me!). If you make a "mistake," you can usually cover it with another stamp. You can really add dimesion to the scenes by adding more images at the front of the scenes like the tree branches I used.

The images are stamped on glossy card stock. For this swap, I cut out 4 pieces of one sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" Kromekote glossy paper that I got this paper from a local copy shop, after coming up empty at all of the big name office supply stores.

On the first tag, the main image is stamped 2 times. I used the right side of the stamp on the left side of the paper & then the left side of the stamp on the right side of the paper. You can just put some torn paper towels over the image that was already stamped, so you don't end up with a lot of overlapping. Next, I stamped the cumulous clouds several times in the sky. The fun part was the coloring. Start w/the lighter colors & work up to the darker ones. There isn't a main light source on this tag, so the shading & highlights weren't as pronounced. I wish I had left more white spaces on all of the tags, but I guess you have to start somewhere! After I was done coloring, I added the bass, bird & branch images to the scene. There is some color on the bass, but the other images were left as is. Always spray these pieces with some sealer when you are done. It was finished off with a sticker sentiment & layered over the DP & card stock.

The next tag was stamped with portions of the stamps again. First, the cabin image was stamped. After covering w/torn sheets of paper towels, I stamped the right side of the cove image to the left of the cabin. While the cabin was still covered, the left side of the cove image was stamped in the forefront of the right side. I messed up on this image some, so I covered it up w/aome extra tree images. The clouds were added & colored like the rest of the images & then the branch, fisherman & duck were stamped last. It was finished off w/glossy sealer & matted & a ribbon was added to the top. I found another sentiment sticker to add that seemed to fit this image perfectly, but Kevin at Stampscapes has some great sentiment stamps that he just added to his line of stamps recently that would work just as well.

The third tag followed the same process as the others. The right side of the cove & the left side of the boulders & trees were stamped first. The clouds were added & everything was colored. The branch & the pine trees were added to the scene for dimension, & I blotted black ink around the edges. After spraying w/sealer, a sticker sentiment was added. Some more matting & a Kimberly Poloson rub-on was added at the top.

The last image would have to be one of my favorites especially since it uses one of my numerous covered bridge stamps! This image is by Wildlife Enterprises. I started w/the covered bridge image, & then added some rocks by Art Impressions to the right of the bridge. I covered the bridge & added the mountains. I stamped the main mountains about 3/4 of the way from the left edge, & then I masked this image & stamped the mountains again to the right side. I think I had to stamp a bit more of the mountains to the right of the bridge to fill-in the scene better. The clouds were added & everything was colored. The branch was added to the right side, & an unknown maker bare tree was added to the bottom along with the tops of the pine trees. This scene was triple matted & another rub-on was added to the top along with a stray silk leaf.

Ta-Dah! This was the last tag in my first Stampscapes group swap. I hope I will be involved in many more if the group allows. I just love seeing all of the great images that have already been added to our photo album over at the Yahoo group Stampscapes II. I have to add one more image of a card I made to thank Darsie for being my swap partner, & it was also her birthday last week. This card used one of Kevin's earlier images that he created when he worked for A Stamp in the Hand. I decided to try my hand at highlighting with a white gel pen. Kevin using this technique all of the time, & it just adds so much more to the scene. I have a way to go before I master this technique, but I really love what it does to the scene. I added a Coloroasis sticker to the card, & a ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

Happy Stamping!

Lee

Recipes:

All images by Stampscapes rubber stamps unless listed

Ink: Main images - Black Memories dye ink

Adirondack, Seashells, Sea Brights, Stamp it & Memories dye ink

DP: 1st tag - Frances Meyer Blue School Skirt
2nd tag - Karen Foster Design Natural Burlap
3rd tag - the Paper Studio Green Country Cackle
Cardstock: Paperabilities

Ribbon: Unknown except as listed

Embellishments: Unknown except as listed