Jun 07 2008
Ocean Ruins - Tutorial
I got these great images from My Paper Moon. Here is the link to their online store: http://www.mypapermoon.com/
There is a great inspiration challenge at Split Coast Stampers today that I used when creating this scene. The colors in the inspiration pieces are so beautiful together. Here is a link to the challenge if you would like to play along: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353758
Saturday mornings I have a little more time to play around so this piece was done with layers of emboss resist.
Ready to follow along? Let’s get started. 
Supplies:
| Stamps: My Paper Moon Stamps, palm, rock, bird, pillar |
| Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Bashful Blue & Old Olive |
| Ink: Stampin’ Up Old Olive & Chocolate Chip, Adirondack Watermelon, Aqua & Stonewashed, Palette Noir Black |
| Accessories: Brayer, Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Post it Notes, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Versamark pad & Marker, Prismacolor Markers, Ribbon, Brads |
Stamped Bird Foliage stamp using Palette Noir Black on Whisper White card stock.
Colored foliage with Prismacolored markers - Light Olive Green & Lime Green.
Stamp Grassy Rock stamp twice by first loading stamp with Versamark and then Old Olive ink before stamping each time.
Heat embossed grassy rock images using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.
Colored rocks and the bird with a Prismacolor Cool Grey 10% marker.
Colored the shadow on the bottom of the rocks with a Prismacolor cool Grey 80% marker. Then went over the rocks again with the Prismacolor cool Grey 10% marker to soften the hard edge of the darker grey.
Colored the birds beak and legs with the Prismacolor Cool Grey 80% marker. Colored over birds body with a Prismacolor Blush Pink Marker.
Colored over the rocks, bird and leafy foliage with a Versamark marker and then heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.
Since my foreground images are heat embossed I’m able to now go in and stamp over them to get depth in the scene.
Using a Stamp a ma jig for placement, stamped pillar using by first loading stamp with Versamark and then Old Olive ink before stamping. Heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.
Repeated the pillar stamping and embossing 3 more times for the other pillars.
Colored the pillars with a Prismacolor Light Cerulean Blue marker.
Colored over the pillars with a Versamark marker and heat embossed images using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.
Since the Pillars are heat embossed I can over stamp them with the palm tree. So using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for place, I stamp the palm tree by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then Old Olive ink and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder and a heat gun. Note: It is not necessary to wipe the ink from the pillars when you stamp the tree, because the ink just melts away when you heat emboss the tree. Really! Try it!
Colored the stem of the tree with a Prismacolor Cool Grey 80% marker on the left side to create a shadow.
Colored the trunk of the tree with a Versamark marker and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.
Now all of my images are heat embossed so I can put in my sky and water.
Used post it notes to mask the sky area.
Brayered on Aqua ink for the water.
Sponged Stonewashed ink right at the edge of the post it note to create a darker horizon line.
Took off the post it notes and put clean ones on to mask the water area. Note I use clean post it notes so the blue will not smear into my sky area.
Brayered on Watermelon ink at the top of the card stock.
Removed mask and wiped the ink from the embossed images using a soft rag.
Sponged Chocolate Chip ink at the bottom of the card stock.
Heavily sponged Watermelon ink at the top of the card stock to make the sky more dramatic.
Assembled card and here it is finished measuring 5″ x 6.5″.
Why don’t you give this tutorial a try? I think you will be amazed at how easy it is to emboss over embossed images and get depth in your stamped scenes.
Hope your day is filled with balmy ocean breezes and beautiful scenery!
Until my next post. . . . . . .
Michelle
Michelle, this is STUNNING. (Not that we expect anything less!!) Thank you for bringing such pleasure to so many people, and making beautiful art accessible. What looks like a complex composition comes together beautifully when you simplify all the steps. Thank you so much for sharing, and inspiring!
Michelle, I am always facinated with your work. I love your masking technique with the clear embossing powder. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow. Excellent tutorial and card!
I love this card…
I’m blown away by this one! Wish I could be blown away to this amazing place you have created. This one is so stunning that I’m at a loss for words. Thank you for sharing this GORGEOUS card with us. Love the colors and this beautiful scene of nature! Your talent knows no end
If I said it once, I said it a thousand times- I think you could write books! Your tutorials make your gorgeous card creations look so easy- and your eye for color is amazing! I bet the stamp companies get lots of calls after you post a tutorial with one of their sets…..I would look at a set with pillars and think…hmmm what would I do with that? I look at your card and-WOW! I am loving this gorgeous card! Thanks again for sharing your amazing talent!
“Red sky at night, sailors’ delight…red sky at morning, sailors take warning.” LOL, WOW! I love the colors you chose! That old adage just leaped into my mind when I opened your page.
There’s just so much FUN watching these come to life step by step. I like to scroll quickly down the page to watch the whole thing change in fast motion, then go back and savor one step at a time. These are so great, Michelle! Thanks as always for sharing so generously.
Hugs,
Betsy
You do incredible work! I am so glad I found you!
Ditto to all said before.
I passed on your site to a group on a message board. Your fan club will be growing.
Simply stunning!!! Gorgeous scene, gorgeous colors and I love your ribbon treatment!!! tfs
Outstanding as usual. I’m loving that vibrant sky color.
You’ve totally blown me away again.
I just sit here at my computer with my mouth hanging open when I see your creations … stunning … absolutely stunning inspired creation.
WOW! WOW! WOW! enough said…..
This is my favorite card so far!!!! For the life of me I can’t understand how you come up with these amazing pieces of art, you have an incredible gift and I’m so glad you share it with everyone Thank you
As always a wonderful job Michelle. I am always fascinated by the colors you choose and how the whole image turns out. I can’t help but think that if I grabbed watermelon for my sky that, well, it would look like I had just used watermelon for my sky. But no matter what, your images always look fantastic! I think this is the most scenic image I have seen you complete. And yes, I must say it again, you are amazing!
I love how you got it to look like an archeological site! Just awesome, as usual!
More and more beautiful images each time. What I would like to know is how do you store the red rubber stamps that you put on the clear blocks?
OMG Michelle, you are getting my creative juices flowing
I am putting your EB resist background brayering to the top of my new technique list ! Your beautiful scenes and BG’s are always so stunning. TFS and Thanks for the awesome tutorial 
Enjoyed watching your scene come to life, awesome coloring of the pillars, Love it!
Amazingly beautiful as usual. My first thought when I saw this card was “OK, so how did she get the palm tree behind the pillar?” Your so clever. Thank you for your time in showing us how.
You never cease to amaze me! BEAUTIFUL! It makes me wish I was there.
. . . . . . . *stunned silence*. . . . . . . . .
This is truly stunning Michelle! THANK YOU for sharing with us!
Another fabulous scene. Great colors.
Michelle, amazing is an understatement when it comes to your work! You out do yourself with each card you make! I absolutely love each and everyone of your cards and look forward to seeing your next beautiful creation! Thanks for sharing!
Robin asked “What I would like to know is how do you store the red rubber stamps that you put on the clear blocks?”
Robin, When I get my red rubber stamps they don’t have any stickyness or cushion on the backs. They are just red rubber. I closely trim the stamp down, then I put Aleene’s tack it over & over on the backs of the stamps with a small paint brush. The Aleene’s tack it over & over is a glue like substances that will dry clear and makes the back of the stamp stick so it will stick to the acrylic block, but your able to peel it off and reuse it over and over. To store them, I use a sheet of acetate and stick my stamps to it, place it in a large ziplock baggie along with a reference sheet of copy paper that has the stamps stamped on it. I put a copy of that same reference sheet in a binder that I can just flip through to find an image. Hope all this makes sense. Sounds like a tool time topic I should probably cover in the future.
my jaw is hanging open after viewing this incredible card!! You have such an incredible talent and I am always just stunned with your creations! This is just a stunning piece of art - WTG!!
Michelle, You have outdone yourself on this one. So much depth and interest. I look forward to your posts. Thanks for the kind words on my “sheep”. Could you tell you were the inspiration?! Please do keep creating!
What a beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for the response on storing the stamps.
WOW! This is absolutely stunning! I’d love to be sitting on a balcony overlooking this exact view!
How on earth did I miss this one?! This is GORGEOUS! The rocks even look real!
Michelle, you astound me with your talents. I’m such an admirer!