A few Stampscapes Scenes.

 I have made about a dozen of these scenes, but will blog them in small batches,as it will be a photo heavy post!



Stampscapes Rubber stamps are exactly what they sound like- stamps that create scenes- landscapes/seascapes/skyscapes. This link goes to the makers US website- Kevin Nakagawa- and this next link goes to the UK supplier.
Visit Kevins website for loads of picture inspiration, and he has a massive list of You Tube videos on all aspects of scenic stamping.





The stamps blend together seamlessly, so masking isn't required, and they can be arranged and combined in an almost endless variety of scenes.

   For all my scenes, they were first stamped out in Black Dye ink, and the colour added later, using the Colorbox stylus tools and dye based inks. Adirondacks, Distress, Marvy and Memento were all used to colour them. You could also use sponges or daubers, even brushes to add your colour, I bought the Stylus tool & tips as that's what I'd watched Kevin using.









Starting with the first picture, the top left card was stamped out using the following stamps:
 144F, Cabin with Fence,
149F, Waterside Bluff, Right,
196F Pine Tree and
244E, Tree Cluster.

The cabin was stamped first, then directly below it the Waterside Bluff, R. This also comes in an opposite image, Waterside Bluff Left.
Following that, the Tall Pine on the left was added, then the 'Bushes' were stamped, using just the top portion of the Tree Cluster.
Although I said there was no need for masking, by using a torn piece of paper towel as a 'mask', then stamping the Tree Cluster with just an upper portion of the image above the top edge of the paper towel, treetops can become bushes, or tall trees made shorter, and appear to be growing out of the grass.
 The colour is added in layers, starting with the lightest value of colour, then moving up to a mid tone, then finally your darkest tone. 3 colour values are often all that is needed.The water only used 2 blue shades, the sky, 3. Moving on to browns for the cabin and rocky edge of the Bluff line.

 Followed up with green tones for the grass, the added in some meadow flowers using gel pens. You could of course use coloured inks to stamp out your scene.



The second scene, top right, picture 1, shows how you can combine different images.




 The stamps used here are:
359G, Snowy Creek, stamped out first. Although it's called Snowy Creek, it can just as easily become a creek surrounded by grass, simply by how it's coloured.
 
Next comes 144F, Cabin with Fence again. It becomes a totally different scene to the first one, just by changing out one stamp.

 

Next addition is 251C, Sedge Filler, which is stamped out on both banks, to turn it into a grassy meadow, rather than a snowy scene. There are a number of grass 'filler' stamps in the range, and really help to bring a scene to life.

Next the addition of some trees, again using 244E, Tree Cluster, and added in exactly the same way as for the first scene.






















 Now the colour addition starts, and it is good to have some light- the white of the page- left in the sky, for a light source, and reflecting this on the ground/water in your scene.




Again, 3 values of blue were used in the sky and water. Then onto green for the grassy areas.

  A very pale green to start with, followed by a yellow green.

Then a slightly darker green was brought in,

 and then a quite dark one, all the time leaving some areas in the lighter shades, so that your scene has some depth.

 Finally some meadow flowers added again with gel pens, then a final bit of stamping, right at the front,068D, Reeds Large.

OK, final scene in this post. The longer scene uses a stamp called 049G, Lakeside Cove lge.

The image actually looks like this:
but I made it look the way it does by using a slightly longer piece of card,and not centring the image, but stamping them side by side. The 'Northern Lights' were created by streaking in some light green and purple/pink in the sky, then building up some blue layers on top. That was also reflected in the water. Brown added to the rocks, and stars created with white gel pen.

All the images were done on glossy cardstock, but matte coated works just as well. When the scenes were dry, they were sprayed with Artist Fixative, which helps to bring back the colour, as it does fade a little on drying.

All these scenes are now posted on my Stampscapes Gallery page, and all the stamps used in each image are listed next to the photo.

WOYWW #299

Well, 1 week away from the big 300- will next weeks edition be an epic production? Cue lots of bare chested Greek men in leather skirts, swinging swords left, right and centre and yelling 'This is SPARTAAAA!!!!!!' Or not, as the case may be.
 Anyway, apologies at the start for a photo heavy post, mainly of a very enjoyable weekend. As you'll remember, we were going down to Plymouth, and also visiting Shoshi while we were down there. Our friend, Rob, who's birthday we went down for, also managed to pass his driving test on the Friday, so I had a card to make for that too! Men! Both cards are in the previous posts.

Rob is the guy sitting in front of Doug, we were at an Asian all you can eat buffet, so there are a few people missing from the table, refilling plates, lol. Rob was under the impression it was just him and his girlfriend going for the meal, so when he walked in and saw us all there his face was priceless.
Earlier in the day, we had arrived in Torquay, to go and see Shoshi.











We had a short trip around the shops first, and Doug spotted a really interesting shop, full of fabulously gothy stuff. They also had handbags, but I was very good and left without any more. Which showed remarkable restraint on my part, I might add.

However, I did have to have this clock for my wall.



And these coasters, which I will seal before they get used.

 Shoshi and her Hubby were lovely people, it was a pleasure to have met them. We had a smashing couple of hours before we had to head off to Plymouth. I got to see Shoshi's ArtHaven, and discovered as well as  being sisters in bowel cancer, we are obviously separated at birth Really Useful Box twins!

Sharing cakes and coffee.

The great part of meeting WOYWWers in the flesh is that there's no initial awkwardness, no difficult silences. Its meeting people who have become real friends over the months and years they've been taking part in this wonderful blog hop, and for that, like everyone else, we love you Julia. You've given us all an amazing group of friends that just keeps getting bigger.

 When we got to our Travelodge for the night, we discovered the restaurant was literally a 5 minute walk away- out the hotel, across one road, walk 20 paces, cross another road, walk 10 paces and we were there. Which was probably a good thing, as I may have consumed my own body weight in Long Island Iced Tea. Not my fault, it was cheaper to buy it by the jug! But Beloved Hubby did help me drink them.


We were going to visit somewhere on the way home on Sunday, but it started raining as we left Plymouth, and poured down the whole way back to the Midlands.


On Monday this package arrived. I'd ordered some re- inkers for my Marvy inkpads, and a few new pads too, from Kevin Nakagawa, of Stampscapes. I've rarely been able to find the pads over here, and never the re-inkers. As it was $23 shipping, I emailed Kevin and asked if he had a rough idea how many pads/reinkers I could get in the box for the shipping cost. Later the same day I got an email back, he'd sat down with the box, pads and reinkers, and worked out exactly how many would fit in, and various combinations! How's that for customer service? I'd been email chatting to him a few weeks ago, about the Adirondack line being discontinued, and mentioned that I was watching all the You Tube lessons he's done, as I was spending a lot of time having a lie down, being tired after radiotherapy for bowel cancer. At the time he answered, wishing me well, and telling me he had a friend going through the same treatment for the same cancer right now. When he emailed me the info on the shipping, his email opened with a question about how I was doing now, how my treatment was going, and hoping that I was starting to feel better. Aren't crafters the most wonderful people?

 
So, in the box, a few inkpads, reinkers and a 10 pack of stylus tips. I could have got more in, but was worried about getting stung for import duty over here, so kept it sensible.

 He also included a whole bunch of the printed postcards he has done from the finished article in the video lessons.

And on the back, they have  a short description of how the scene was stamped and coloured.
 Ok, I'm done.I'll set you free now to go join in the WOYWW link-up at Julia's place, The Stamping Ground.

Red Inks

Well, this is a novelty- two posts in the same week! I showed a new inkpad on my blog, the Ranger line that will be replacing the Adirondacks. I bought the Red Cherry, to see how it compared to the Red Pepper Adirondack, although I have managed to get re-inkers for pretty much all of them now, and as I've had them a few years yet without re-inking, I'm probably not going to run out in this lifetime.

So this is the old and the new, and there are re-inkers for the new ones too, and Susan over at Countryview Crafts has both on her site, she's also the wonderful stockist who has managed to order all the Adirondack re-inkers for me, so if you want the most fantastic customer service, as well as free postage, you know where to go! Anyway, back to the subject. I was curious to see how Red this one was going to be, and a few of you commented on the post you'd be interested to see what I thought of it.The packaging looks like a nice strong red, but then again so does the Red Pepper. But as that's not always a good guide to reality, I ink up my own narrow labels to put on the ends.

I sorted out some red inkpads, and a handful of cosmetic sponges, so I could use a fresh one for each colour, not getting any colour contamination.




I went and found a few other reds after, a  Brilliance pearlescent, as well as a couple of others I have in Dewdrop size.




So here is what they all look like, sponged out.

Now how these look will differ from monitor to monitor, I know, but I think the basic shades/tones should show up ok. The three Adirondacks at the start are the ones I see as being in the red range, although the Watermelon probably veers more towards Carmine. Next up is the new Classic Cherry, and I was surprised that it is much redder than the Red Pepper, which almost looks orangey by comparison.The Versafine Crimson Red looks more like Distress Aged Mahogany than anything else, and that (The DI), also looks like it need inking! Festive Berries seems to me to be the truer red of the Distress inks, Barn Door and Fired Brick have definite orange tones to them. The Docrafts Palette inkpad, which is a pearlescent ink, to me looks more of a Carmine, than red. The Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy is quite dark, I'd have expected a Poppy colour to be brighter. The two Marvy inkpads next up both seem like good reds, the trouble is that Marvy have discontinued the Inkpads, and I can't find anyone in the UK with re-inkers either! Which is a shame,as I'd like to get some for those two shades. Memento's Rhubarb Stalk looks very similar to the Pearlescent Poppy/Versafine Crimson Red. The Ink It Up pad on the left end, I've had for ages, I don't even know if they are still about. That's a pigment inkpad, and not a bad red, to be fair. The bottom two Dew Drop pads I bought recently. The Versamagic is a chalk ink, and I think veers off towards orange again. The Memento Lady Bug is a nice strong red, and to be honest is probably my favourite for a good clear red. So I may well be upgrading that colour to a full sized pad- easier for brayering from.
 Right, onto actual use:

I just tested the Classic Cherry for print quality against a couple of the other dye inks, and the print is perfectly good. The smudges were ink off the side of my fingers!
Its funny, I'd always thought the Red Pepper was a good red, but up against the new one, and the Memento Ladybug, not so much. All this testing was just done on a bog-standard piece of white cardstock, nothing fancy, so results might vary a little when its used on say, Neenah cardstock, or glossy coated. And if anyone ever asks why we need so many inkpads, you can quote this test of 17 red pads, and no two are exactly the same! Similar, but not identical.Actually, that's quite scary. I had no idea I had that many reds. And  I do know that I have a bigger selection of blue pads and green. I'm not even going to count those!
 So, the biggest surprise for me was the Red Pepper inkpad- clearly not as Red as I'd always thought. One thing I want to mention, I was sat down doing this, so when I picked the inkpad up to take the lid off, I did notice a very slight solventy smell to the new Ranger one. Nowhere near as strong as Staz-on, which always reminds me of almond marzipan, and if you take the lid off while the pads down on the desk, I didn't notice it at all. But it definitely smells different to most dye pads. On a side note, does anyone else find this same problem with Red lipsticks? They nearly always veer towards orange, or start to turn orangey when you've had them on for a while?