Masking with stamps by Alice

Hello every one! It's Alice here. I have been using the masking technique to create unique backgrounds for my stamped images and I thought that I'll show you how I do it.

Here is what you will need:

• Stamped image. (I used Rapunzel for my sample)
• Mask paper. ( I used Inkadinkado's Stamping Mask Paper)
• Background stamp. (I used a text background that I have in my stash. WOJ will release a wonderful text background stamp in October that will be perfect for this, so keep your eyes peeled!)
• Die. (I used the largest die in the Labels Twenty-Three Spellbinders die set)
• Die-cut machine. (Mine is a Cuttlebug. Not shown)
• A pair of scissors.
• Inks and ink blending tools. (I love using distress inks for this)

I started with die cutting my stamped image. I almost always secure the die with tapes. You can do this before coloring your image if you are afraid that you may not like the outcome.

I cut and emboss my image most of the time since the embossing really gives the image a finished look even if you don't ink or stamp the background. Remember to NOT remove the paper from the die if you want to have a frame around the image. The tapes really help me to secure my paper after cutting.

Create the mask for the image. If you don't have mask paper made for this purpose, you can use regular/thin printer paper. You can apply removable adhesive after you trimmed it out. I store the mask after using it with my stamp so that I can use it over and over again.

Mask the image.

Start stamping the background. My background is stamped with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I always make sure to press harder where the paper and die meets so that I get a better coverage all around the image and the die cut shape.

I then proceed to ink the piece with Antique Linen distress ink and then inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink. It gives wonderful depth if you use two shades of inks.

This is how it looks after inking.

Here is the image all stamped and inked and out of the die. It looks pretty nice and fancy, no? =) I usually add shadows with my Copic markers to make the image stand out a little more after inking.

Here is the finished card.

I used the sketch from Challenge #113 at Whiff of Joy Challenge Blog for the design of my card. The sentiment piece is cut using the Nested Flowers III die and the sentiment is from the Snow White image and sentiment set.

This definitely is not a new technique and many people has done it, but I really like the unique look it gives to the images. Hope you will give it a try! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

hugs,
alice