Craft a Scene

2012-03-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

Our Current Challenge is Here.

Winter Challenge - Final Week

2012-02-26T08:00:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone! It is the third week of our challenge to create a winter scene. I bet you are all wondering what the prize is this month. Well, Sheree was kind enough to stop by Crafty Capers in Nanaimo and pick up a couple of stamps from Stampscapes. Sheree selected
140E and 150E - two great stamps.

For added inspiration this week, Kittie and Lisa have projects to share with you. When you hop over to their blogs you will find instructions on how they made these wonderful creations.

Kittie

Lisa

There is still time to enter our Winter Scene challenge. Please link up by 6:00 PM Pacific on Friday, March 2nd. Please link directly to your blog post (not your generic blog address). Your project must be new (no backlinking) and it must be of a winter scene. Don't forget, you may enter up to three times!

Next Sunday we will announce the next challenge and a really great sponsor!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

NancyD

Email Entries

2012-02-25T16:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I have two wonderful entries here from Jan Pagnanelli. She doesn't have a blog at this time so she sent me her card images via email.

This is a great time for me to mention that you do not have to have a blog to play in our challenges and sending me the cards via email is perfectly fine. You may also load your pictures to a gallery like Split Coast Stampers and then link from your gallery.

There is one more week to go in our Winter challenge and I will be back tomorrow with our final Winter inspiration.

Have a great day!
NancyD

Winter Challenge - Week #3

2012-02-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It is the third week of our challenge to create a winter scene. I bet you are all wondering what the prize is this month. Well, the blog is still new and I have been working on obtaining sponsors. I should have something to tell you later in the week.

For added inspiration this week, Anja and Shaz have projects to share with you. When you hop over to their blogs you will find instructions on how they made these wonderful creations.

Anja - Stamping Anja

Shaz - Silver Wolf Cards

We will be back next Sunday with more inspiration from Kittie and Lisa.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

NancyD

More Inspiration for Challenge #2

2012-02-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! It is the second week of our challenge to create a winter scene. This week Sandy and Olga have more inspiration for you. When you hop over to their blogs you will find instructions on how they made these wonderful cards.

Sandy - Creative Moments with Sandy

Olga - Craftie O Damae

We will be back next Sunday with more inspiration.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

NancyD

Challenge #2 - Winter Scenes

2012-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Last month we had 88 wonderful entries to our anything goes challenge and we introduced our first design team. This month our design team brings you amazing inspiration to kick off challenge #2 - Winter Scenes.

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to create a winter scene with scenic stamps. If you are not sure what we mean by scenic stamps you can check out our new tab "Scenic Stamps" where we have listed several companies with links to their stores. These are not the only companies to use, but it is a good representation of what we are looking for.

Now for the design team inspiration. When you click the link to the design teams web sites you will find instructions on how to create their wonderful projects.

Lisa - Lisa's Paper Fun

Anja - Stamping Anja

Kittie - Kittie Kraft

Sheree - Vancouver Island Craft Junkie

Olga - Craftie o Damae

Sandy - Creative Moments With Sandy

Shaz - Silver Wolf Cards

These projects are simple amazing! Send our wonderful design team a little love and show your appreciation for the wonderful projects they have for us this month.

Ok, now it is your turn! The challenge starts today and goes until 6:00 PM Pacific on Friday, March 2nd. Please link directly to your project post (not your generic blog address). Your project must be new (no backlinking) and it must be of a winter scene. Don't forget, you may enter up to three times!

We will be back next Sunday with more inspiration.

Have a wonderful Sunday!
NancyD

January Winner and Top Three

2012-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

The very first Craft a Scene challenge brought in 88 entries! Not bad for the first challenge. Based on the comments and emails I would say there is a definite need for this blog and challenges. Thank you everyone for your encouraging emails and kind advice.

I had no idea how hard it is to pick just three for the top three winners. I started out with 18 on my first pass and had to whittle it down from there. In the end, my daughter helped pick the final group. Thankfully, next month the design team will help with this important choice. So without further ado, here they are.......

The random winner is #55 - Sue Drees. Sue please email me your address and I will send you the loot! Here is your winning badge!

The top three winners are.........

# 8 Caroline - Stampings and Inklings

# 82 - Jacqueline - Deezines art

#4 - Colleen - Creative Paper Room

Here is your badge ladies - display it proudly!

After completing this challenge I realized that there is too big of a gap between the challenge closing and the next challenge. Well, next month I plan to fix that by making the challenge close date the Friday before the next challenge.

February is still a wintry month for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere so our challenge for February is to create a winter scene. Your project must be finished and it can be a card, box, tag, altered art or some other type of project as long as it has a scene.

The challenge will be announced next Sunday with all our wonderful design team inspiration. Mr Linky will be available at 8:00 AM Sunday, February 5th.

See you all next Sunday

NancyD

Scenic Stamps

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

My post today is to tell you a little bit about stamping companies that make scenic stamps. When I was first introduced to scenic stamping there were only a few stamps from A Stamp In The Hand (designed by Kevin). Then my mom and I found Art Impressions. We fell in love with their sectional seascape pieces and their "front n back" stamps. Kevin started his Stampscapes company in the early 90's and really made the scenic stamping art what it is today.

Since then, many more companies have designed a line of scenic stamps for us to enjoy. The design team has suggested a number of companies that I placed on a new tab at the top of the blog called "Scenic Stamps". In there you will find a link to their stamping store, their logo and a little bit about what they offer. I will continue to add companies as I find them. If you know of any, please email me and I will happily add them to the list for all of us to enjoy.

I couldn't help checking out all those companies that were new to me and of course I had to buy some new stamps. Here is a card that I made this week using my new stamps from Beeswax and Sutter Stamps.

Hop over to Crafting Passions to find our how I made this card and what stamps I used.

There is still time to enter our challenge this month. You may link up your card or project by 6:00 PM Friday, Pacific Time. The winner and top 3 will be announced with our post on Sunday, Jan 29th.

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to check out all the great stamp companies in the new tab - Scenic Stamps.

NancyD

Lovely Light Sky Tutorial

2012-01-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This is our second post today. We announced the new design team below, and it is Sunday so we wanted to bring you another inspirational card with a short tutorial on creating a light colored sky.

Our wonderful Sheree created this amazing card and she describes how to achieve this wonderfully light sky. Check out the full tutorial on her blog here.

There is still time to create your special scene and post it in our challenge. You may create any project you wish (as long as it is finished, no ATCs), it must have a scene and you may enter up to 3 times all before Friday, January 27th. The random winner and the DT top three picks will be announced on Sunday February 1st with our next challenge.

Happy Stamping!

NancyD

Meet our Wonderful Design Team!

2012-01-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I have every had to select a design team and I have to tell you that it is stressful. Everyone of the applicants are fantastic designers and have wonderful blogs. With so much talent to choose from it is difficult to pick only 6 DT members.

Please help me welcome our wonderful new design team.

Kittie

I have been married to my husband Bob for 14 years. He is the most wonderful and supportive husband, my biggest fan and my most honest critic. He knows stamping is a very important creative outlet that helps reduce stress from my job in medical management. I have worked for Florida Hospital and Florida Hospital Medical Group in Orlando, Florida for 34 years.

I was first introduced to stamping in August of 2004 and was instantly intrigued. My mother was a florist and taught me floral design and I think that creative process has been very helpful to me with card design. I attribute my creative growth in paper crafting to Splitcoaststampers, the wonderful community of sharing and talented people there and the daily challenges. I have gained so much from trying new techniques; making myself think outside the box of my comfort zone and doing things with paper that I never dreamed were possible for me.

I have a small line of stamps found at Rubbernecker Stamps called Kittie Kits “Cause a Scene” and currently serve on the Rubbernecker design team. I have served in the past as a designer for the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen, Stampavie, Hanna Stamps, My Favorite Things and as a guest designer for Whipper Snapper. You can visit Kittie's blog at: www.kittiekraft.typepad.com

Sharon

My name is Sharon, usually known as Shaz, I am 56 years old, and live in the West Midlands, in England.

I am happily married (for the second time) to my Beloved Husband, Doug, and although we have only been married for two years, we have been a couple for 18 years. Just took us a while to get round to getting married! I am a heavy metal fan, and a bit of a Goth at heart- you'd never guess from the photo, would you? The photo is a wedding picture, by the way.

I also enjoy reading and gardening, I just need more hours in the days. Oh, and I work as a centreless grinding setter, manufacturing fasteners for the aerospace industry. This means we manufacture the bolts that hold airplanes together!

I have done all sorts of crafts over the years, cross stitch, embroidery, glass painting- card making came along about 12 years ago, and then I discovered rubber stamps, and I was hooked. Like most of us, I never considered myself particularly creative, and I really could not draw a straight line let alone anything more complicated, but stamps mean we can create the most amazing pieces of artwork with very little effort- what’s not to like? When I first came across the Stampscapes line of stamps, I was completely blown away by them, and never expected to be able to create anything like the work I saw on Kevin’s site, but after some trial & error (a lot of those), I began to get pieces I thought were not too bad. Then Beloved Husband kept telling me I should do a blog- so eventually I did, almost two years ago now- and I was so amazed that other people really liked what I did. About 12 months ago, Kevin linked my blog on his gallery page, and recently he also linked my Stampscapes tutorial page on his lessons page- I can't describe how I felt being considered good enough for that accolade! And now I have been lucky enough to be chosen to be a part of this DT- alongside Sandy Hulsart, whose work on Kevins Stampscapes site so inspired me when I started! That’s just so cool! I am looking forward to 'meeting' lots of new friends through this, and ’exploring’ scenic stamping together. You can visit Sharon's blog at: http://silverwolfcards-shaz.blogspot.com

Sandy

How exciting to be chosen for this new scenic adventure on Craft a Scene. I began as a scenic stamper the summer of 2005 when I happened upon a simple Stampcapes card in a magazine. My scenes are very true to Nature, inspired by the beauty I see all around me. I teach scenic classes locally as well as online at My Creative Classroom. I also teach Copic, Parchment and Digital Stamping classes. I just love to craft and am happy to share my passion with you all. You can visit Sandy's blog at: http://creativemomentswithsandy.blogspot.com

Lisa

Hi I'm Lisa and I am from Ontario, Canada. I am a mother of 2 and I started scrapbooking when my first child was born 10 years ago. My crafting then evolved to card making 3 years ago and I started my blog to show case them.

I am fairly new at using the Stampscapes images but I do love them, I also enjoy making scenes with digital images too. I am so happy to be part of this fun new team. You can visit Lisa's blog at: http://lisaspaperfun.blogspot.com/

Anja

My name is Anja and I am thrilled to be part of the design team for Craft a Scene!!

I am married to my wonderful and supporting farmer, together we have 4 energetic boys who keep me on the go and cooking.

We immigrated to Ontario in 1999 from Holland and we are now proud to be Canadian. I started scrapbooking in 1999 and still do but card making and stamping has completely taken over!!

I even dream about it! I really like that you can do so many different things in stamping and the sky is the limit. I am looking forward to learn lots of new things and share my passion with all of you! You can visit Anja's blog at: http://stampinganja.blogspot.com/

Olga

I am a Christian, Wife, Mother and Nana. I live in God's country called southwestern Virginia with it's beautiful lakes, rivers and mountains. I still work outside the home full time with Intellectual Disability Adults and have for over 30 years. They are very special people who have so much to give. I have been crafting with one thing or another all my adult life and started stamping / scrapbooking in 2000. I absolutely love it!!!! You can visit Olga's blog at: http://craftieodamae.blogspot.com

Sheree

I'm Sheree, the Vancouver Island Craft Junkie! I live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I've been doing crafts for years and they include, quilting, sewing, tole painting, flower arranging, crochet, stamping and the list goes on! My 'rubber room' is crammed with fantastic 'stuff' so that I can work on whatever I like at that moment in time.

This past year it's been all about stamping! Card making has taken over my life for the past year. Since starting Tole Painting and doing Stampscapes scenes I now look at the world in a different light, taking in the colours of nature, depth of field, etc. Now I'm on the design team and can hardly wait to share my ideas and also learn from everyone else. This is perfect for everyone who doesn't live near to a store that offers classes! You can visit Sheree's blog at: http://vancouverislandcraftjunkie.blogspot.com

Nancy

Hi, I am Nancy or NancyD for challenges that I enter. I love card making and have been doing it starting back in the 80's (with my mom) when there weren't many companies making stamps. I remember seeing some of Kevin's designs in the early 90's but wasn't interested in making scenes at that time.

My husband of 35 years and I have raised four wonderful children and we now of five grandchildren with one more on the way (due end of May). Along the way, I sewed, made cloth dolls, cross-stitched, made quilts, knitted and crocheted up a storm. Now I mostly knit and make cards.

I found Split Coast Stampers about 1 1/2 years ago and started entering challenges. Then I discovered the world of blogging and decided I needed to join this special group of crafters. The whole process has improved my card making ability and transformed me from a CASE artist to a designer with lots more to learn. I am currently designing for Digital Delights, and finishing my terms with Critter Sketch and Paper Cutz .

I became re-acquainted with Stampscapes when I won a sheet of rubber (Stampscapes # 8) from my blogging friend Sheree (who also lives about 30 minutes away). I started making scenes and fell in love with stamping all over again. Last Fall we were talking about how there aren't any challenges blogs for scenes so we decided to start our own! You can visit my blog at: http://craftingpassions.blogspot.com

Well, that is the first challenge design team for Craft a Scene. Please stop by to visit the DT and congratulate them on their new responsibility.

The next post will include our talented Sheree with a new card to inspire you. There is still time to make a card for the "Anything Goes" challenge.

NancyD

Air-Brushing and Stampscapes

2012-01-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

Hello to our 50 wonderful followers!

It is so gratifying for Sheree and I to see such great interest in our humble endeavor. When we chatted a few months ago over email about starting a scene challenge blog we had no idea that it would be so well received.

Thank you to all of you who are interested in working with your scenic stamps. We have had several comments from people who said that they wanted to work with these great images but didn't know what to do or how to do it, or that their stash had been sitting in a drawer unused for too long. Well, I hope that you will all help us make this challenge blog useful and fun!

Today I am sharing a card I struggled over for several days. When I took a Copic coloring class last year I was introduced to air-brushing. I thought it would be fun to try with Stampscapes images on glossy paper. I think the results are great, but I still have a lot to learn.

First, I cut my glossy card stock into 4 sheets. I comes 8 1/2 x 11 so I cut at 5 1/2 long ways and then 4 1/4 to give me 4 pieces to work with. I find this is a good starting size for the size of cards I make.

I stamped 049G Lakeside Cove Large with Momento Black ink. I only wanted the central portion of 188F Rocky Peaks so I placed small pieces of tissue over the trees on both sides of the cove. I stamped the mountain with Momento London Fog because I wanted it to be light and misty.

Next I set up my air-brushing device from Copic. Previously, I had used the little can with adapter, but when I went to replace it, the scrapbook store only had the bigger can kit. It is probably for the best considering how many test samples I made.

The instructions for setup were pretty simple. I found the toughest part to be getting the Copic nib in the right place for optimum spray.

I started out with BG18 for the water area. I sprayed more coats near the boulders because I thought there would be shadows there and I left the middle section lighter. I tried other BG colors but found this one to have the most pleasing effect.

Next I sprayed the grasses and a little of the trees with YG25. I chose that color for its brightness and mossy color. In the Northwest we have a lot of moss! Of course, that was too yellow for the full effect of the trees so I added a bit of G17.

I sprayed the mountain with C5 and followed that up with a bit of E35 and E37 for the misty lower section. I think I added E37 to some of the boulders too.

The sky was my favorite part colored with B24. By varying the spray - closer to the paper and farther away - I was able to get the slight effect of light clouds in the blue sky.

Lastly, I stamped 071E Rocks and Reeds and 225D Flock in Water to the foreground with Momento Black.

Card Recipe:

Images: Stampscapes Lakeside Cove Large, Rocky Peaks, Rocks and Reeds, Flock in Water

Paper: Glossy White and Black, Stampin Up Old Olive

Markers/Inks: Momenot Black and London Fog, Copics - E35, E37, C5, BG18, YG25, G17

Embellishments: Spellbinders Label 18, Elizabeth Craft Designs stickers

Our challenge this month is anything goes with a scene. There is still time to get your entry ready and posted. You may enter up to 3 times!

Don't forget we have a DT Call going until January 10th. Just add your comment of interest with your blog address and we will take it from there.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you too with try creating a scene with the air-brushing technique.

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:

ICopic - use blues
Make it Monday - Anything goes

Happy Stamping!
NancyD

Challenge #1 - Anything Goes

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

The very first Craft a Scene challenge is Anything Goes!

That means that you can make any type of project as long as it has a scene. Please create something new (no back linking) and link it directly to Mr. Linky below. You may link from your blog post or another online source such as Split Coast Stampers. And the best news is that you may enter up to three times each challenge.

Until the design team starts, Sheree and I have made cards to help inspire you to enter the challenge. We are both still learning so bear with us.

Sheree created this amazing West Coast scene. Don't you just love the highlights that she adds!

Nancy created this country scene. Want to take a walk?

Don't forget about our design team call. We are accepting expressions of interest until January 10th. See this post for details.

I bet you are interested to know what the prize is for this first challenge. Well, we just started and we don't have all our sponsors in place yet, so I put together a few items that everyone can use.

This little package includes 10 sheets of glossy papers (8 white and 2 black), hemp, new Color Box Blender Foams, and Tree Cluster sm 266D.

The prize winner will be chosen by a random number generator and then Sheree and I will select the top three. All the winners get a badge to add to their blogs.

Okay, so now it is your turn. You have until Friday, January 27th to create a new scenic project and link it below. Don't forget to become a follower so that you can keep up-to-date with all our latest news.

We can't wait to see what you create!!

Happy Stamping!
NancyD and Sheree

First Post - a Card and a DT Call

2011-12-26T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is the first post of my new challenge blog focused on scene projects using images from a variety of sources such as Stampscapes. I especially like Stampscapes and am learning how to use them. I have seen many posts from designers who comment that they have these stamps and don't necessarily know what to do with them. Through this blog we can all learn together and have a place to showcase our work and win great prizes.

The challenges will start Sunday, January 1, 2012. This is where the DT Call comes in.....

I am looking for all levels of experience with both creating scene projects and blogging. Previous DT experience is not required, however, a blog is required. You will be asked to post 2 projects per month; one for the 1st Sunday when we introduce the challenge and one for another week during the month. Both projects will follow the challenge theme. You may create any type of paper-based project (card, box, tag, altered art, etc) as long as it is a finished project (no ATCs).

I'll act as the Sr. DT Coordinator, but I will need mates who are willing to help find sponsors, suggest challenge ideas, create sketches, post tutorials (either written or video), and learn along the way. I would like this blog to be a source for ideas and techniques as well as the monthly challenges. We will all comment on assigned entries as well.

The first term will be for 4 months from January 15th to May, 2012. That's only 8 projects!

If you are interested in joining this new DT Team please leave a comment below, before January 10th with your name and blog address. I will contact you through the email address on your blog.

Here is my first project, I followed the Mojo Monday sketch for my inspiration.

Card Recipe:

Images: Stampscapes Meadow Lg 057G, Fence 289D, Old Fence 293C, Horse 171A, and Art Impressions grass A-1371

Paper: Stampin Up So Saffron, My Minds Eye Sunshine Collection, Black Glossy, White Glossy

Inks: Images stamped with Momento Black, Adirondack Cloudy Blue and Denim on the sky with a little Sunshine Yellow, Meadow and Lettuce for the greenery, Butterscotch and Ginger for the grasses

Embellishments: Stampin Up Pearls colored with Copic Y17, Wild Orchard flowers and Really Reasonable Ribbon, Martha Stewart Sprig Punch, Spellbinders Label One

I will enter this card into the following challenges:

Make it Monday - Always anything goes
Mojo Monday - sketch

So to all you scene makers out there, enter the DT Call by adding a comment with your name and blog address before January 10th. I will contact you through your blog email address.

Thanks for considering this new challenge. I'll be back on the 1st with the challenge for Janauary.

NancyD