Oaks & Mist 224F is stamped at an angle in the lower left hand corner using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink.

Mask the Oaks & Mist 224F. Rock Duo Small 131A is stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink slightly above the lower right hand corner of the Oaks & Mist 224F. Mask Rock Duo Small 131A. Rivers often have swift moving water, especially before a waterfall, so we will define the flow of the river by stamping the river area with the Water Pattern Small 231C. Ink up the Water Pattern Small 231C with Ranger Sea Brights Sail Boat Blue, stamp off twice on scrap paper and then stamp on your cardstock without reinker the stamp.

Now to complete the horizontal flow of the river. Ink up the Water Pattern Small 231C with Ranger Sea Brights Sail Boat Blue ink, stamp off twice on scrap paper and fill up the horizontal river water area, reinker and stamping as indicated above as often as needed.

To create the sense of a waterfall, the Water Pattern 231C has to be stamped at an angel (top left side higher than bottom right) to the horizontal flow of the river. Ink up Water Pattern 231C with Ranger Sea Brights Sail Boat Blue ink, stamp off 3 times on scrap paper, and stamp at an angle as described above. You will now see how the angle of Water Pattern 231C is used to create the flow and ebb of the river. You may want to practice this a few times before starting the scene on cardstock.

Complete the rest of the waterfall, remembering to stamp the Water Pattern Small 231C at an angle each time. Country House 247B is stamped in the upper left corner with Ranger Archival Jet Black. Mask Country House 247B. Tall Grass 253D is stamped over the ground area above the river with Ranger Stamp It Green.

To "fill in" the ground cover above the river, first stamp 245B Tall Grass Small with Ranger Adirondack Lettuce over the entire ground area. Sedge Filler 251C is inked up with Ranger Adirondack Pesto, stamped off once on scrap paper and then stamped on the cardstock over the ground area above the river. Repeat with Sedge Filler 251C as needed. Make sure inks are dry, then stipple Adirondack Lettuce over ground area again to smooth it out.

To further define the far bank of the river, Pebbles 256A is stamped along the shore line using Ranger Adirondack Mushroom. Now stamp over the pebbles by inking up Pebbles 256A with Ranger Archival Jet Black, stamping off once on scrap paper, then stamping on the cardstock. This will fully define your upper bank.

Starting on the right side of the upper bank, Tree Cluster Small 266D is stamped along the edge of the cardstock using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. Re-ink Tree Cluster Small 266D and stamp twice more along the upper bank.

Remove mask from Country House 247B. Stamp Tree Cluster Small 266D one finally time, slightly overlapping on the front of the Country House 247B. Maple Trio 240B is stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink above and own the left side of the Country House 247B.

Stipple Adirondack Mushroom along upper back of river where the pebbles are at. Stipple Ranger Sea Shells Ocean Aqua over the entire river area. Stipple Ranger Stamp It Periwinkle over entire river area. Stipple Ranger Sea Brights Sail Boat Blue over only horizontal portion of river area (not the "waterfall" area). Let the "waterfall area remain a bit lighter than the rest of river.

Remove remaining masks. Using a Ranger Cut 'n Dry nib, brush Ranger Adirondack Mushroom over the roof of the Country House 247B. Using a Ranger Cut 'n Dry nib, brush Ranger Adirondack Terra Cotta, Ranger Stamp-It Brown and Ranger Archival Coffee over Country house 247B. The ground area of the Oaks & Mist 224F is stippled with Ranger Stamp- It Brown. Ranger Sea Brights Awning Green is lightly stippled over the same area. Stipple Ranger Adirondack Bottle over the evergreen type trees by the Country House 247G. Ranger Archival Tangerine, Ranger Archival Crimson and Ranger Stamp-It Yellow are stippled over the other trees that are not evergreens. The small trees to the back and right side of the cabin and at the bottom on the Oaks & Mist 224F are lightly stippled with Ranger Sea Brights Awning Green. In order to "smooth" the edges of the rocks in the water, a Ranger Cut 'n Dry Nib is used with Ranger Sea Brights Sail Boat Blue and brushes around the rocks to indicate water moving around them.

This piece looks nice "as is", you could stop here and have a very pretty beautiful card. However, I do feel there are a few things that can be done to make it even better. It's time to think about shadows and the position of the light source (ie the sun).

Because there are a lot of trees along the upper bank of the river, it should be darker, more full of shadow. Ranger Stamp-It Brown and Ranger Adirondack Mushroom are stippled along the upper back, under the cabin and trees. This makes the ground area there darker, as you would think it should be with so many trees. Using a Cut 'n Dry Nib, Ranger Sea Shells Sail Boat Blue is brushed over the water's edge on the upper bank of the river, this creates a bit of shadowing from the trees. I felt the cabin was too light, since it was obviously within the shadow of most of the trees. Using a Cut 'n Dry Nib, Ranger Archival Coffee is brushed over the wood of the cabin and then Ranger Archival Jet Black is brushed over the areas that would be more in the shadows. The roof area is darkened by using a Cut 'n Dry Nib to brush Ranger Adirondack Mushroom over the roof and Ranger Archival Jet Black is brushed over the shadow areas of the roof. To create some shadows in the water from the trees and cabin along the upper bank, Ranger Sea Shells Sail Boat Blue is brushed along the bank and out into the water using a Cut 'n Dry Nib. To create more shadowing on the rocks in the river and the Oaks & Mist 224F, using a Cut 'n Dry Nib Ranger Archival Coffee and Ranger Archival Jet Black are brushed on the images as needed. To add a bit of visual interest, Salmon 174A is stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black over the water in the area of the falls.

"River Cabin" by Tyra Smith 2002

Images: Stampscapes®: 224F Oaks & Mist, 253D Tall Grass, 266D Tree Cluster Small, 231C Water Pattern Small, 251C Sedge Filler, 247B Country House, 245B Tall Grass Small, 240B Maple Trio, 131A Rock Duo Small, 256A Pebbles, 174A Salmon

Materials: King James Cast Cote 10 Point Glossy White cardstock, Post-it Notes, Exacto Knife, Stipple Brushes, Ranger Cut 'n Dry Nibs

Colour:
Ranger Archival Inks: Jet Black, Tangerine, Crimson, Coffee
Ranger Sea Brights Inks: Sail Boat Blue, Awning Green
Ranger Stamp-It Inks: Green, Brown, Yellow, Periwinkle
Ranger Adirondack Inks: Lettuce, Mushroom, Bottle, Pesto, Terra Cotta
Ranger Sea Shells Inks: Ocean Aqua