Spring Flowers Challenge - Final Week and DT Call

Good morning everyone!  This is the final week of the Spring Flowers challenge.  


Our sponsor this month is Zoe over at Make it Crafty.  Check out all the wonderful creations both digi and rubber in her shop.  When you stop by, please mention that you were sent over from Craft a Scene.

I have one Spring Flowers creation to share with you this week.  I made this one using two Make it Crafty images and put them together using Gimp (freeware). You can check out the details of how I made this card on my blog at Crafting Passions.

It is also time for our next Design Team call.  Several of our ladies are stepping down and we need to fill their spots with new faces.If you love making scenes, have a blog and have a few stamps from Stampscapes, Sutter, Beeswax or some of the other companies listed on our Scenic Stamps tab then you may be interested in this 4 month design team position.  "What's involved," you ask?

• Make two creations a month.  They must be scenes following the monthly theme.
• Comment on entries based on your assigned number.
• Promote Craft a Scene by showing our badge on your blog.
• Have fun chatting with our wonderful team!

If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of then please email me, before May 31, with a link to your blog. Please include a short bio (tell me about yourself) and why you would like to be on our team.

Okay, now it is your turn!  Enter the challenge here! Lets see your wonderful finished Spring Flower scene projects (no ATC's or unfinished cards).  You may enter up to three times and you may enter your project into as many challenges as you wish. Just email me your lovely creation, if you do not have a blog.

Happy Sunday!
NancyD

Spring Flowers - email entries

I have some amazing email entries to share with you today.  These three came from Barb who is a member of the StampscapesII group but does not have a blog. I had the privilege of meeting Barb at the Savanna stamping retreat a few weeks ago and learned a lot from her then.


I confess that I have been staring at these wonderful cards for quite a while.  Barb has a special skill when it comes to perspective in scenic stamping.

Well, don't be intimidated by these great creations.  I hope they get your juices flowing and help you create your next entry into our Spring Flowers Scene challenge.

As you know, you may enter up to three times and combine with any other challenges you choose.  You must link directly to your project on your blog or from Split Coast Stampers.  If you do not have a blog then you can do what Barb did and email me your finished project.

Don't forget about our Design Team call.  A couple of our ladies are stepping down and we want to keep the fun going with a new team.  All you have to do is email me at the address in the upper right corner of this blog with your blog address and please include a little about yourself.

Thanks for stopping by.

NancyD

Spring Flowers - Week #3 and DT Call!

Good morning everyone!  This is the third week of the Spring Flowers challenge and it is time for our next Design Team call.  Several of our ladies are stepping down and we need to fill their spots with new faces. 


If you love making scenes, have an active blog and have a few stamps from Stampscapes, Sutter, Beeswax or some of the other companies listed on our Scenic Stamps tab then you may be interested in this 4 month design team position.  "What's involved," you ask?

• Make two creations a month.  They must be scenes following the monthly theme.
• Comment on entries based on your assigned number.
• Promote Craft a Scene by showing our badge on your blog.
• Have fun chatting with our wonderful team!

If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of then please email me, before May 31, with a link to your blog. Please include a short bio (tell me about yourself) and why you would like to be on our team.


And now, I have more Spring Flowers eye candy for you from the design team.

Shaz made these really great tags

Anja made this Spring Flowers scene without any stamps

Nancy Made this simple scene colored with PanPastels

Our sponsor this month is Zoe over at Make it Crafty.  Check out all the wonderful creations both digi and rubber in her shop.  When you stop by, please mention that you were sent over from Craft a Scene.


Okay, now it is your turn!  Enter the challenge here! Lets see your wonderful finished projects (no ATC's or unfinished cards).  You may enter up to three times and you may enter your project into as many challenges as you wish. Just email me your lovely creation, if you do not have a blog.


Happy Sunday!
NancyD

Spring Flowers - Week #2

My post today is coming to you from Seal Bay camp ground.  My husband and I decided to take the trailer out for a spin so that we could enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend on Vancouver Island.  On the way here we saw lots of wonderful spring flowers basking in the sun light.  


Well, this is the second week of our new challenge and I am already seeing wonderful creations.  I must remind everyone to check out the rules.  Craft a Scene is a challenge blog based on making a scene with a variety of images.  We want to see something in the background and foreground and of course, lots of spring flowers.


Now on to our wonderful design team creations for you to enjoy.

Olga - Craftie O Damae

Nancy - Crafting Passions

Sandy - Creative Moment with Sandy

Our sponsor this month is Zoe over at Make it Crafty.  Check out all the wonderful creations both digi and rubber in her shop.  When you stop by, please mention that you were sent over from Craft a Scene.


Okay, now it is your turn!  Lets see your wonderful finished projects (no ATC's or unfinished cards).  You may enter up to three times and you may enter your project into as many challenges as you wish. Just email me your lovely creation if you do not have a blog.


Happy Sunday and have a wonderful Mother's Day!
NancyD

May Challenge - Spring Flowers

Happy Sunday to you all!!   NancyD here with our challenge for the month of May.  You know April showers bring May flowers and since it is finally May the challenge is 'Spring Flowers'.  

You may use any company's products as long as you complete a card, tag or other type of finished project and it must include  background and foreground elements to the scene. We will not accept projects with just a character and a flower - it must be a scene!

You may enter up to three times and you may enter as many challenges as you wish.

Our sponsor this month is the lovely Zoe from Make it Crafty.  I became interested in Zoe's digi images when I was looking for indoor scenes.  She has such a nice variety of indoor and outdoor images.  I especially like her characters, their mushroom houses and the Christmas scenes.  


Be sure to check out her new web site for all the very cute images and other products that she has for sale.  When you order this month, be sure to mention that you heard about Make it Crafty from Craft a Scene.

Now on to our design team inspiration......

Sandy used Make it Crafty images for her scene.  

Olga made a beautiful scrapbook page.

Anja made a lovely Spring scene with Stampscapes and FlowerSoft.

Shaz made a wonderful Spring window scene.

Please stop by the blogs of our wonderful design team and let them know how much you appreciate their work.

You may enter our challenge even if you do not have a blog.  You can link your finished project from Split Coast Stampers, Flickr or any other web based photo upload source.  You may also email me a jpg picture of your project and I will post it for you.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Next Sunday I will be back with more inspiration.

NancyD

 

Winners for April Silhouette Challenge

Well, what a week I have had at the Savanna stamping retreat.  I got to meet some of the ladies from the Stampscapes II Yahoo Group and Kevin Nagagawa from Stampscapes.  Everyone made wonderful scenes using a variety of techniques.  I am sure you will be seeing some of those creations this month in the Craft a Scene challenge as well as the Stampscapes II Yahoo group.


A big thank you to our sponsor for the month of April, Caroline from Carolines Creative Stamps!!


Our random winner of the 15 gift certificate is.....#55 Janet Van Rossen from Redmoss Ramblings


Please email me, Janet and I will connect you with Caroline so that you can order your stamps.


Once again we had a difficult choice to make.  All the entries were really great silhouette scenes.  You all should be proud of your creations. However, the top THREE winners are.........

#2 Deanna

#30 Dianna

#48 Sue

Here is your badge ladies - display it proudly!

Thanks again to Caroline for sponsoring our April silhouette challenge. Stop by on Sunday to find out the theme for May and who our next wonderful sponsor will be. 

See you all tomorrow!

NancyD

I Can Make Clouds

Today is the last day of the retreat and we all have to go home to our normal lives.  Sigh!  This retreat has been such a fantastic experience and I have learned so much that I hope to share with you all over time.  In this post I do want to share with you more pictures of the retreat and more tips.

Melanie and Marge are getting advice on a project.

My most favorite technique that I learned this week was from Lynette on how to make the most amazing clouds on a scene.  In this picture, you can see the finished clouds.  The upper two rows are tapped in place with the edge of a felt pad and for the lower row I streaked the clouds and then tapped on top.  How did I accomplish this you ask?

Pat A.

We used Dr PH Martin Bleed Proof Opaque White Paint.  I think you can use any water based acrylic opaque white paint from art stores.  We applied the paint using cotton balls, que tips and Ranger felt pads. First lay down a coating of color and then tap in very small amounts of the paint with your chosen applicator.  Keep tapping or streaking until you have the desired effect.

Another technique that is new to me is the use of a hot iron and colored wax. The colors you use and the method of holding the iron in certain directions and applying pressure in just the right way will result in the most amazing looking scenes.  I learned this one from Barb.

This scene was made by stamping the dolphins on glossy paper and then working magic with the wax and iron.

Bev T.

Finally, I have a scene from Bev T (who taught me how to use the brayer this week) to enter into the Silhouette challenge.  Normally we only accept finished projects that have been made into a card or other type of project, but Bev is here with me at the retreat and won't be able to finish the card until she gets home and then it will be too late.  So she has promised to finish it this weekend.

The background was created with alcohol inks

Tanya from Peddlers Den

That's all for today.  I'll be back tomorrow with our Silhouette challenge winner and top 3 pics.

Happy Stamping!

New Tips From The Stamping Retreat

I am back this evening with some tips that I learned at the Stamping Retreat here in Savanna.  This picture shows a few of the scenes we have created in just two days.

I am sure that each one of these beautiful creations will appear on blogs and Stampscapes II Yahoo Group very soon.

Barb

Barb suggests trying out your scene on colored paper.  The purpose of trying it out on scratch paper is to get the perspective and layout right before you waste your good paper.  The reason for using colored paper is to be able to tell it apart from the real scene paper.


Karen suggests using Cryogen white cardstock.  It has little sparkles and is a very nice weight of paper.  Copics blend well and the stamped image is crisp.  

Marge, Mirjam, Trena

Trish told us about a great tip for helping the cling stamps keep their cling.  Take a dollar store clear plastic table cloth (just $1) and cut a piece to fit your clear acrylic block.  When you stick it to the block it will stay put.  Then whenever you put your cling stamp on the block it will stay even if the cling has diminished over time.

Lynette showing us her amazing scrapbook pages full of Stampscapes images.

We are having a great time sharing ideas and techniques. Each evening we have been eating in different places around town.  Tonight we had a wonderful dinner at a cute little Bed and Breakfast - Granny O'Neil's.  If you are ever in this part of the world you might want to visit them for a wonderful friendly stay and great food.  Bill says "come as a stranger and leave as family." 

Kevin arrived and has been talking with everyone as he walks around the room looking at what we are creating.  Then he sat and worked on a scene while we all watched.




I'll be back tomorrow with more tips and pictures.  Thanks for checking in to see what I am up to.


NancyD

News and Sharing

Karen
Wallace

Hello to all my scenic stamping friends!  Nancy here to tell you about the fun I am having this week in Savanna, Illinois.  I was invited by Karen Wallace from Stampscapes II Yahoo group to attend her annual scenic stamping get together in her home town of Savanna.  


There are about 20 of us meeting in the Methodist church building stamping our hearts out.  Everyone is sharing techniques and tips that I will be sharing with you over the course of the week. So far I have made four scenes and learned how to use a brayer!!

Trish is a fellow
Canadian stamper

Karen has loads and loads of stamps from Stampscapes, Sutter, Beeswax, Art Impressions, etc, that she is sharing with us all.  There will be door prizes from Sutter and others.  We even have a stamping store rep from Peddlers Den with a few supplies to purchase.


Besides being able to meet all the wonderful ladies whose work I have so admired over the last year or more, I will also be able to meet - in person - Kevin Nakagawa, Mr. Stampscapes himself!!!  This is just too much for me to handle!!

Mirjam came all the way from the Netherlands!

So this post has just been a teaser 'cause I wanted to tell you what was happening and introduce the pictures of some of the ladies at this stamping gig.  


Tomorrow I will be back to show you some of the work and share a few tips.


NancyD