Extreme masking!!!

Hello there!  The start of another month (and, yes, its April already), means its time for a new theme over on the Claritystamp challenge blog.  Click here to pop over and see some wonderful projects to inspire you from the rest of my talented teamies.  This month, we're doing something a bit different, and asking you to showcase your grasp of a fundamental stamping technique:  masking.  So please make sure your project involves masking, to avoid being disqualified and missing out on the chance to win a £50 Clarity voucher.

 

So let's get started.  There's lots of masking in this one.

 

I've planned to make a gatefold card using the NDC acorn stamp.  Cut a piece of 7" x 7" stencil card to make 2 pieces, each 3.5" x 7".  Then I started by stamping the first part of my sentiment into place with black archival using the woodpress set.  This was then masked off  (good news;  the masks are included with this set). 

 

 

 Then I stamped the acorn into place using potting soil archival.

 

 

When you remove the masks, you can clearly see how the acorns are sitting behind the letter boxes.

 

 

Repeat the same steps for the other side of the gatefold:  boxes and letters first, and cover with masks.

 

 

 On this side, I stamped the oak tree from and an old classroom set:  trees and their mantles.

 

 

Remove the masks again. 

 

 

I completed my sentiment on the main piece (7" x 7" stencil card) and masked  off again.

 

 

Before starting on this panel, I had to stamp the acorn on to a couple of post its and cut out the masks.  This was a bit fiddly because the stamp is quite intricate, but it'll be worth it.  So, working from the centre outwards, start stamping the acorn sprig, covering up and moving the masks as necessaryas you go along. 

 

Just keep going... 

 

At this stage, I added a frame with low tack tape, and yes...  still kept going!

 

 

Once the masking tape is removed, you can see how I let some acorns and leaves overlap into the frame.

 

 

Its time now to add some colour.  I decided to go with three of last year's new distress colours:  twisted citron, carved pumpkin and wilted violet. 

 

I inked up and stamped the mantle with twisted citron.  Then I scribbled onto the stamp with carved pumpkin and wilted violet distress markers and lightly spritzed with water.  This gives a fab variegated effect without going muddy.

 

 

That's it for the stamping now. 

 

I just need my spectrum noir pencils, choosing colours to match the inkpads I've chosen.

 

 

Having coloured in the acorn sprig on the front panel, I coloured in the background on this main piece.  This really makes the acorn sprigs pop. 

 

 

And here's the finished card.  I hope you like it. 

 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing loads of fabulous entries again this month, even if it does make it very difficult to pick a top 5. 

 

And don't forget to tune into Barbara Gray on Hochanda on Sunday and Monday.  She has some absolutely fabulous stamps to show you.  You are going to love 'em!  Till next time.  Xxx   

Ssssssssh.... don't tell my mum!

Hello again.  Well this year is really flying by;  I can't believe its 1st March already.  You know what that means:  its time for a new theme over at the Claritystamp challenge blog.  This month, its all about the girls.

 

I decided to use the card I've made for my mum for Mother's Day;  its only a few days away, so I don't think she'll see this before then.  So if you are reading this mum, stop now! 

 

I stamped the hen into place using black archival, and once dry, covered it with a mask. 

 

 

Then I put the daffodil frame stencil in place as shown.

 

 

I cut out a copy mask to cover the outer part of the frame to make sure I didn't get any ink in these sections at this stage.

 

I then blended in picked raspberry distress ink at the bottom of the oval,  mermaid lagoon at the top, and mustard seed in the middle using the Clarity stencil brushes.  Then I sprinkled on a little water and blotted with kitchen roll to lift the ink.

 

 

Next, I covered up the central oval with the innie part of the stencil and covered the join with masking tape.

 

 

I brushed and blended the same colours through the flowers and the frame, I made the colour a bit more intense here.  Then I added my sentiment using black archival and the wordpress kit. 

 

 

I stamped this little chick onto shrink plastic with black archival and coloured with distress markers.  It never ceases to amaze me how much the image shrinks without losing any detail.

 

 

You can see here that I've used spectrum noir pencils in the same colours for the hen,   I've also started to add some shading to the border with grey pencils.

 

 

I trimmed the artwork back and edged it with a ruler and a black sharpie pen. 

 

All that was left to do now was to decide on the position of the little chicks...

 

 

or...

 

 

or???

 

 

I finally decided on this. 

 

 

I hope you like my fun and funky Mothers Day card.  I'm pretty sure it will make my mum smile. 

 

Now its over to you...  I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll make.  Don't forget, the winner is chosen at random, so it doesn't matter if you're a beginner or a seasoned stamper;  everyone's in with an equal chance to win that £50 Clarity voucher.  So go on, give it a go.  Till next time.  Xxx

 

Its a mystery...

Hello, its me again!  Yes, this blogging is getting to be a bit of a habit! 

I am sharing this card with you as I made it, when in all honesty, at the time I didn't really have much of an idea where it was going!

Better choose some colours first:  I love the finish you get with these Paperartsy Fresco Finish paints.  Try to use a mix of opaque and translucent ones, going for a light, medium and dark.  You can see here that I used South Pacific, Caribbean Sea and Limelight.

I put a blob of each on my craft mat, rolled through with my brayer (treat yourself to a second one if you want to use inks and paints, and keep 1 pristine for ink).  Then I just rolled the brayer over the card, working around the edges, and turning the card, and picking up more paint from the craft mat as necessary.  You want the colours to mix and blend, but not to muddy, so take care not to overwork it.

 

 I used the same paint colours to add a bit more texture and interest using the journaling set of stamps.  These are fabulous for backgrounds.

 

 A bit of squinting until I could see the lake and the hills.

Sponge in the lake gently with a copy paper mask and cornflower blue archival ink, and add the grasses in the foreground with library green.  

Cover up the lake and add more grasses at the other side, then sponge some hills in the background with a copy paper mask torn using the Clarity blending mat  and fern green archival ink.  I used one of the grasses to create the trees on the hill in the distance.  

Then I sponged round the large moon mask, again using cornflower blue archival ink.

Just gilding wax and glamour dust glitter round the edges to finish before matting on black card and layering up onto the card blank.

I enjoyed making this card so much that I did something very similar in my journal.  This was great fun, and I did more shading here with charcoal and spectrum noir pencils during my lunch breaks at work.  I love quiet crafty time when I can shut out all the day to day stresses if only for a short time to recharge my batteries.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you like it and maybe feel inspired to create your own abstract imagined landscape, that place to which you can escape and retreat whenever you feel the need. 

 

I still have more samples to blog so I hope you'll be back soon.  Till next time.  Xxx 

Remember Paris...

Hello again.  I love Paris and have special memories of the time me and Martin spent there for our honeymoon.  We walked everywhere...  saw  lots of the sights.  Beautiful, beautiful city...  really want to go back sometime.  

 

I had a couple of rejects along the way before I finally achieved this effect.

First, I managed to get a stripey sky.  Bin:  1, Barbara: 0

Then I tried embossing some butterflies in the sky while the mask was in place.  Bin:  2, Barbara:  0  (And even worse, nearly ruined my mask in the process:  note to self, heat gun anywhere near a mask and it starts to shrivel and distort).

Tried with acrylic paint rather than ink.  Oh dear.  Bin:  3, Barbara:  0

At this point, I put my efforts on hold, and  did another couple of samples before coming back to this a few days later.

Put the skyline mask in place and used chipped sapphire distress ink for the sky, and a tiny bit of black soot around the rooftops.

Removed the mask, oh yes, better this time.

Stamped 'Remember' from the word chains in place with black archival.

Then I stamped the poppies in place and covered the actual flowers with a mask cut from a post-it.

 

 

Put the stencil (this a new design club one, but the trellis would work too) in place, and brush through with a red distress ink.  I used candied apple, but you could use barn door.  Aim to get more depth of colour in the bottom right hand corner and fade out and upwards.  I also blended in a little bit of bundled sage and black soot distress ink right in the corner.

All that was left to do now was to remove the masks, colour the poppies with spectrum noir pencils and go round the edges with a black sharpie pen. 

 

 

 Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you like it.  I'll be blogging another of my samples very soon.  Till next time.  Xxx