Showing posts with label Layered Landscape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Layered Landscape. Show all posts

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Layered Landscape Cards


I pulled out my Layered Landscape set the other day. This is a fun set to just play and experiment with.  You can get such great effects with it, and (as you'll see in a second) there's not really a wrong way to use it.

For both of these cards I wanted to create many layers, and wanted the bottoms of the stamped images to kind of fade out - I didn't want a distinct line.  To get that effect, I used a paintbrush to just add a wash of color to the bottom of a panel of watercolor cardstock.  The landscape image was then inked with Distress Ink, spritzed with water, and stamped.

This wasn't perfect, you could still see a bit of a line, but I added more water with the paintbrush to soften it further, and since I was stamping additional layers over top, it worked pretty well.

I repeated this with several colors, and for the last two layers, used Distress Oxide ink, partly because I wanted to use those colors, and partly to see how those world react.  Distress Oxides definitely have more solid coverage, but they also have a more distinct line.


I set the panel aside to dry, and when I came back and looked at it, realized that I kind of liked the panel upside down better.  I had left some white space at the top of the landscape, so I went in with my watercolors filling that space in to create a dark mountain in the foreground. 

The sentiment, also from the Layered Landscape set, was embossed on the panel and then it was popped up over the card base.

Here's a look at the card upside down, so you can see the progression of how it was stamped.  See, there really isn't a right way to use this set!


I wanted to do a little more experimenting with the Distress Oxides, so for this next card I used the same basic technique, but used Distress Oxides instead.


As mentioned previously, because these have much better coverage, the line from the bottom of the image when stamped is more distinct.  While I again wet the panel before I stamped each layer, for the oxides, I really had to work the bottom of the stamp to blend out the bottom.  I also in a couple cases used my brush to move the pigment around a bit on the stamped image themselves to help with the blending.



I added a fair bit of splatter using Heidi Swapp Gold Lame and Black Velvet and Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.

The sentiment was then stamped in Versafine and clear embossed, and the panel popped up over the card base.

This really is a fun set to play with, and good news, it just came back in stock and Neat & Tangled.  

Would love to know which is your favorite!

*Affiliate Links Below to Ellen Hutson and in text to Neat & Tangled

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Altenew City Scene Stencil


Hey everyone!  Creative time has been a bit scarce for me lately - the school year and fall sports are keeping my free hours less free!  I did have a bit of time to create this weekend, and pulled out the City Scene Stencil from Altenew.  I just love this stencil and wish I had thought of it first!

I placed the stencil down over some dark gray cardstock and spritzed it with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.

The stencil was removed, and then I flipped it to use the other skyline, and placed it back on the panel, but shifted down a bit.


I sprayed again, but I didn't get the contrast I wanted, so I used a paper towel and brushed with downward strokes to kind of spread the excess stain that was left on the stencil to get a sharper edge/distinction.

To add even more of a contrast, I used a Versamark pen to trace that portion of the skyline (after I dried the stain with a heat gun), and embossed with Liquid Platinum embossing powder.


I went back and forth on sentiments, but ended up using this one from my Layered Landscapes set for Neat & Tangled.

I trimmed off 1/8th of an inch from the edge and popped the panel up.

It's a really CAS card, but has a wonderful shine to it.

Hope your week is going well!

*Affiliate Links Below to Ellen Hutson and in text to Altenew and Neat & Tangled


Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Neat & Tangled May Release and Giveaways - Day 3


Hey everyone!  It's Day 3 of Neat & Tangled May release reveals and I get to show off my latest set today, Layered Landscape.  Take a look:


There are a ton of possibilities with this set and lots of great techniques that you can use.  I ended up creating three different cards using three very different techniques.  

The card above is what I've been wanting to do since I designed the set.  The mountains where inked with dye ink, the stamp was spritzed with water, and then stamped onto watercolor paper.  This was done with each of the four different mountain shades in four different shades of blue (I used Altenew's Cool Summer Nights set).  

Once that was done, I repeated the process only this time I flipped the stamps over and repeated the process using the back side of the stamps to get the reflection.  

Note for this card (and all the others), because of the side and solidity of the stamps, I used a stamping platform.  In this case I found the Tim Holtz platform the easiest since it's a bit larger and and so were the stamps.


After the panel was dry, I used a slightly wet brush to paint over the reflection portion at the bottom to soften it and give it a more water-like look.

The sentiment was then stamped with Versafine and the entire panel was popped up over the card base.


For this next card I used just one of the mountain pieces - the more horizontal one.  I again used a series of four Altenew inks, this time the Rock Collection set.  Starting with the lightest ink at the top of the card, I partially inked the mountain image and stamped it on my panel.

By partial inking I mean when inking the image I was focused on the top of the stamp pressing the pad at more of an angle so the entire stamp didn't necessarily get inked.  You can repeat this step as necessary to get the amount of coverage you want, I wasn't going for perfect inking here - I think the partial inking adds depth and texture.


I then went back and using the next darker shade of ink essentially did rock and roll inking on the edge of the mountain to add a bit more definition to the edge.

This process was repeated as I worked my way down the panel.  I used both the front and back of the stamp and moved it from right to left in order to vary how the mountains looked.  I did three layers for each of the shades of gray except for the darkest which was stamped as a totally solid layer at the bottom of the panel.

The sentiment is also from the layered Landscape Set.


For the final card I went extremely clean and simple and I love the look.  It reminds me of an advertisement/poster.  

I again used Altenew inks, these greens are from the Green Fields set and simple stamped over to pof one another in layers. 

After stamping each layer, I used a heat gun to dry it before stamping the next layer.  This cuts down on bleeding between the layers and makes the lines much more crisp.


The sentiment is from my Topography set which I think works perfectly with the mountains.

So what do you think?  Which version/technique did you like best?

I'll be giving away one of these sets to a lucky someone.  To be entered, be a blog follower and leave a comment.  For extra entries head over to my Instagram page (@mprantner) and follow the directions there.

You'll also want to head over to the Neat & Tangled blog to check out what the rest of the ladies created and to enter to win a set there as well.

See you back here tomorrow for more goodness!

*Affiliate links below to Ellen Hutson and in text to Altenew and Neat & Tangled stores