Scenic Stamp must haves???

[JadeBuddah]

Kevin,

I am new to stamping & am interested in scenic stamping, but as you said in another post it is intimidating to know where to start.

If you were starting from scratch as a new scenic stamper, what do you think are 'must have' stamps, tools, books, or videos etc.?

[XrayAmy]

ooohhhh....great question!

[k_nak]

There's a lot of companies that have great scenic stamps out there including the owner of this site --Amy of Beeswax. Coronado Island, Sutter Stamps, etc. We probably all have our notions of the basics within our own lines. From a concept point of view, I see things like this: A good generic sky stamp such as a universal cloud is something that you can use in any sky over any terrain. A good foreground image is something that you can place in a scene to frame it off and give it depth. Then, a good water and grass texture to fill in space for either water or land scenes will round out the basics. You'll want these images to blend very easy and be widely applicable to as many different types of scenes as possible. From there, it's a matter of what the theme of your scene do you want to start with --a Lake/water scene, a land based scene, a pine or deciduous tree scene?

Now, again, if you ask any scenic stamping based company I'm sure they'll have their own perfectly applicable answer to your question and could differ even greatly from my own. Our own solution at Stampscapes was to put together components and offer them in mounted or unmounted set form. In them, you'll usually find some sky element, a foreground element, a main scene/theme, and a filler stamp element. Now I usually don't answer specifics because things always come down to personal preference but if pressed I always recommend our Lakeside Cove. Lg. set. It has a basic cloud, foreground element, Lakeside Cove scene, water pattern filler stamp, and larger trees. The stamps can be used in conjunction with one another, separately, and the Cove scene can be stamped in it's entirety or can be stamped sans reflections (which suggest that it's a water scene) and used as a "Trees in a Meadow" scene.

http://stampscapes.com/sets_stamps01.html

You can see some examples of what I'm referring to at this link above.

As far as tools, books, or videos: There are lessons on our site and probably other scenic stamping websites out there. Sandy Hulsart did an excellent online video that you can view on her Blog or our website in the "Gallery" or "Lessons" section under her name. If you're curious about the technique of dye based inks on glossy paper that I tend to use, Ken Pesho has a great DVD that covers all the basics in scene building, color choice/application, etc. He sells his DVD that can be seen in his gallery in the "Gallery" section of the Stampscapes site. The Copic markers are a great way to go with any genre of stamping but looks great with scenic stamping. The price point of these markers can be prohibitive in some ways and I haven't pulled the trigger on getting any myself --yet. But, Sandy let me try out her pens and airbrush system and it worked great.

There's Yahoo groups out there that are scenic stamping based. Scenic Stampers is a Yahoo based group with some ultra talented and long time scenic stampers that are always sharing everything they know with whoever might be interested and there are two Stampscapes based Yahoo groups in Stampscapes and Stampscapes II groups. These later two groups are peer based and not run my me/Stampscapes. But, again, very talented group, very friendly and ultra-sharing people. Sutter stamps has a Yahoo group, and some others.

Amy, if you read this, feel free to add in to any/all of the above.

I've been in the industry a long time but I'd have to admit that sometimes I'm the last one to know about things going on in the industry about developments, new materials and techniques, etc. Sometimes, I've thought about getting some of my fellow scenic stamping manufacturers, scenic stamping enthusiasts, and anyone that might feel inclined to learn about the genre together --either virtually and/or actually-- to really promote the genre of scenic stamping. Also to develop methods to unveil, or make more accessible, just how much fun and easy it is. I thought a yearly retreat somewhere would be fun. Maybe even somewhere scenic where we can amass and stamp together and develop new methods and push the genre and expose it more. The Association of Scenic Stampers name came to mind but the initials of the group/name just doesn't sound right to me for some reason. ~K

[XrayAmy]

One of my favorite things at a show is when someone comes up to my booth as asks me to help them buy their first scene stamps. I love being personal shopper. I always recommend getting the basic scene builders such as a rock stamp, grass, clouds, maybe birds, water and so on. With those you can add on but those basics are ones you will always use over and over. Of course I have my favorites or "go to" stamps that I tend to use a lot because they are so versatile. That's something though that is very unique to the individual stamper. Once you acquire a few stamps you'll discover what works best for you. You can never go wrong buying those basic scene builder stamps though.

[XrayAmy]

Originally Posted by k_nak

The Association of Scenic Stampers name came to mind but the initials of the group/name just doesn't sound right to me for some reason. ~K

And to think I almost let that one get right by me!

[piecesandpom]

Trees, lots of different kinds of trees. They can become shrubs, etc., in the foreground if they are bushy. I am collecting tree and branch and bushey stamps.

The Association of Scenic Stampers name came to mind but the initials of the group/name just doesn't sound right to me for some reason

Sometimes in scenic stamping I think you need to give yourself permission to look at and use your images differently occasionally. I used a partial of Beeswax's Bushy Hill stamp on a piece to create monkey grass along a pathway. I have seen Kevin do this at conventions and thought, "well why not"....

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by k_nak

The Association of Scenic Stampers name came to mind but the initials of the group/name just doesn't sound right to me for some reason. ~K

LOL...good one. Good answers too.

[k_nak]

Originally Posted by stampin stacy

Sometimes in scenic stamping I think you need to give yourself permission to look at and use your images differently occasionally. I used a partial of Beeswax's Bushy Hill stamp on a piece to create monkey grass along a pathway. I have seen Kevin do this at conventions and thought, "well why not"....

Perfect example making full use of the medium. From a designing and usage point of view: I think if a design looks great in it's entirety, that's good. If it can be used in partials, that's better. If it can be used seamlessly in multiples (either as a whole or its parts), that's even better. And, then if it, or parts of it, can be used to represent something different than it's intention (reinterpretation), that would be the icing on the cake. The fact that rubber stamps are printing mechanisms really can give a lot of power to the individual using them. For creating landscapes/scenes, it's really a perfect vehicle because of the above. You can use the stamps and portions of them in different ways.

For those that might be reading this: If you're not a scenic stamper what I mean by the above (and in Stacy's comment) is that by doing selective impressions off a given image, you can extend its usage. Scenic stamps are really good for this purpose. For example, if you have a stamp of a cabin surrounded by trees you can stamp out the image in it's entirety. But, after that, you could just use a tree off that same image and practically stamp out an entire forest by stamping out multiple impressions of it. ~K

[JadeBuddah]

Thanks for the answer! I noticed you are in America's Finest City like me. Do you ever teach classes here?

Thanks again.