Welcome!

Welcome to the Designs by Ryn blog! The monthly Customer Creation Challenge can be found above in the navigation menu as well as links to my Shop, Facebook Page and Pinterest. Along the right you will find my Design Team. I hope you enjoy your visit and leave with some inspiration.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Journeyer

Hello everyone,
Here's a card that I ended up giving to my father. In it I used Koi Set and Water Droplets from my collection. The background colour is Dylusions Ink Sprays and the stencil behind the Koi is from istencil.
Koi was coloured with Tombow markers and highlighted with Stickles and a white gel pen. I love making ribs in the fins with white. Underneath him and in other areas of the card I used glass seed beads to create texture. The thought to "glue" them to the page with Glossy Accents randomly popped into my head as I was making this card. Love how it turned out!
To make the Water Droplets "pop" I lifted some of the colour out of them (wetting and then soaking up the water and colour with a paper towel) and then highlighted the bottoms and top reflection with a white gel pen. Oh, and while I'm taking about Water Droplets. I'll have more in stock by April 1st. Thanks to everyone for being patient.
Well that's it from me today. Thanks for visiting :)
Ryn

Monday, March 24, 2014

Customer Gallery #11

Hello everyone,
I see other people take to social networking without any troubles but for me it has been a step by step process. Every move towards more exposure has been a little scary. Posting some of my cards in this space over the last few days has been one of those steps. I've been inspired for years by the art of my Design Team (blog list on the right hand side) and by other blogs that I have seen but still timid about putting my own art out there. I just want to thank the people who have left such encouraging comments here and on Facebook. I really appreciate you taking the time :)
Okay, so on to your art. This post is about you after all. As always, I loved seeing all of these creations as they appeared on my Facebook wall or in my inbox. Thanks to everyone for being brave and for sharing their art. A winner for March will be randomly drawn and announced on April 1st. Oh dear... That's April Fool's Day isn't it? I assure you, it won't be a prank ;)
Hélène Côte Bleue, the winner of last month's Customer Creation Draw made this with her prize, Flying Hummingbird 2.
Hélène's blog post HERE.
A mixed media canvas by Wilma. Her blog post HERE.
This and the next are by Evil Edna. In this card she's used Seahorse Set. Her blog for this card HERE
Evil Edna's second card using Flying Hummingbird 2. Her blog post HERE.
A card by Shaz using Water Droplets subtly in the honey comb. Her blog post HERE
These last two are by Frédérique. The first uses Water Droplets 2 and the second uses Trickling Water Set and the largest drop from Raindrop Set. Her blog post HERE.
That's all from me for now. Hope you enjoyed this gallery and have found some new and inspiring bloggers to visit :)
Ryn

Friday, March 21, 2014

Hidden

Hello everyone,
Continuing the underwater theme of my last post I've made another card with similar techniques. In this one I discovered that Seahorse Set and Spiral Shell go together really well. When designing them I didn't intentionally match their linework. A nice surprise! The seahorse looks like it's trying to camouflage...
I'm learning that the initial stamp design is just the beginning. The designs can be taken from there in any direction. To work with that flexibility I am also learning to leave space within the design for other people's input. It has to be finished enough that it looks good without embellishment but it also needs space for other people to interpret the design into their own style and vision. It's a great design challenge. Almost like a collaboration on a final piece that I may never see. I guess that's why I like to see what people make so much :) Ok... On to my card...
The background was made with Dylusions Ink Sprays and then a stencil from iStencil. I rubbed Distress inks - Chipped Sapphire - through it and then highlighted some of the shapes with Stickles. It was my first time using the colour Black Diamond and it turned out to have a really nice subtle shimmer to it.
I stamped Spiral Shell is Versa Fine black ink. When dry, I painted inside of the image with water and then used a paper towel to lift off some of the background colour. The insides of the designs were highlighted with white gel pen to help pop them out from the background.
The seahorse (one of the pieces from Seahorse Set) was coloured with Tombow markers. I blended the colours with water and when dry I used the small tip to add little green dots along the middle segments and mouth. Final touches were done with a white gel pen.
I then cut it out, went around the edges with black marker and then placed it with adhesive foam.
It still seemed to need something so I made some "bubbles" with glossy accents coming out of the seahorse's mouth.
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you all a great weekend :)
Ryn

Friday, March 14, 2014

Stencils and 'Icing'

Hello everyone,
After Shirley gave me a little class on all of the different ways that stencils can be used I've been experimenting away like a mad scientist. That's how it feels anyways surrounded by modelling paste, inks and blending tools. I love all of the different possibilities they present for making layered backgrounds. In fact, I loved them so much that I am now in the process of getting my own line of designs started.
In this card I used Shirley's collection of stencils. I believe they were from The Crafter's Workshop but I'm not 100% sure. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Using the diamond shaped stencil Shirley showed me how to apply modelling paste. She told me to use the palette knife like I were 'icing a cake'. I said ok and then had to admit, "Shirley, to be honest I've never iced a cake before". We both started laughing. I managed in the end ;) On the left side of the card I used a blending tool to rub Distress inks through another stencil.
To stamp Cardinalfish from my collection I used Versafine ink - Onyx Black. I find that this ink really captures the details in my stamps well. Plus, it isn't water based so I can play with water over top of the image afterwards.
The bottom fish is stamped directly onto the Dylusion Ink Spray background. I used a paintbrush to add water within the image, waited a couple of seconds and then sponged it off with a paper towel. This removed some of the ink from the fish. I then highlighted with a white gel pen.
The raised Cardinalfish was coloured with Tombows and then blended with a wet paintbrush. I also highlighted this one with a white gel pen to finish it off. The dots in the fins were fun to colour.
Writing this, I'm thinking about how long it has been since I posted one of my own cards in this space. It's been so long that my style seems to have changed completely. I began designing stamps before I knew how to use them. Strange isn't it?!
The more I experiment, the more I feel like I am finding my groove. I have my wonderful Design Team to thank for inspiring me in the direction of mixed media. I've grown a lot from reading their detailed explanations of how to achieve certain effects on their blogs. Feeling thankful.
That's all from me for now. Hope you like my little experiment with stencils and 'icing' ;)
Bye for now,
Ryn

Monday, March 10, 2014

Customer Gallery #10

Hello everyone,
Exciting that we're at the 10th Customer Gallery post! And that's not including the posts I did before I started counting. I'm also so happy that the Designs by Ryn page on Facebook is just over 900 likes now! Thank you everyone for the support :D
Here are your latest creations...
Cornelia Wenokor's blog post HERE
Stamp used: Water Droplets
Debbie Howie
Stamps used: Three Leaves Set and Water Droplets
Jenny Pilz's blog post HERE
Stamp used: Rising Bubbles
Silverwolf Cards by Shaz. Her blog post HERE
Stamp used: Water Droplets
Nikki Woodward's blog post HERE
Stamp used: Celtic Dove Set
Carla van der Mei-Stolk's Flickr HERE
Stamp used: Origami Turtle
Theresa and Alessandro Pace. Her blog post HERE
Stamps used: Kelp, Buttefly Fish, Octopus, School of Fish Set, Koi Set and Rising Bubbles
I hope you enjoyed this gallery. All of these entries will be added to the March Customer Creation Draw for a free stamp. You are more than welcome to join in. All you have to do is send in a project that uses a Designs by Ryn stamp somewhere on it. Don't forget to include your blog post so I can link to you. A winner is drawn randomly on the 1st of each month.
Also, if you are interested in Water Droplets, I will have more ready by the end of this month. If you would like an email notification please write to me at designsbyryn@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by :)
Ryn