Thursday, June 25, 2020

Let's Talk Masking!


My post today is part of a blog hop with some of my fabulous Creative "Card-iology" teammates.  Its our first one ever, and I'm so excited to be a part of it!  After checking out my blog, you can hop on over to the other blogs for more creative inspiration!

In the middle of preparing my blog post for this hop, I was reminded that my parents will be celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary next week.  And that changed what I was planning to post here.  But I still wanted to share a little of how I've been using the masking technique in my card, and masks really are a hot topic these days!  

I've found it somewhat difficult to carry on conversations and really connect with people wearing a mask, but in reality we often figuratively wear masks.  As I worked on my anniversary card for my parents, I thought how important it is for any lasting relationship to be intentional about caring for each other and connecting in meaningful ways.  And that requires shedding our figurative masks and being honest, kind and forgiving with each other.  That can be very hard to do, but the dimension and depth to those kinds of relationships are so worth the risk.


So what is the masking technique?  Well, as best as I can explain it as it relates to stamping, it is covering up a stamped image so that you can stamp another image over top of it.  The second image then appears to be coming out from behind the previously stamped image creating a beautiful new image with more dimension to it. 

I used the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set for my anniversary card because I just love the detail in it, and the masking technique allows my leaves to peak out from behind the sunflower.

I used Whisper White Thick Cardstock for my card base and folded it in half.  I embossed a piece of  Whisper White cardstock with the Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder and adhered the layer to my card base using the new Stampin' Seal adhesive.

My sentiment was stamped onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock where I had already printed "65 years together."  I used the Just Jade marker from the 2020-2022 Stampin' Write Marker Assortment to ink up just the "Congratulations ON REACHING" portion of the sentiment and stamped it above the "65 years together."  I used the Label Me Fancy punch to punch out the sentiment and punched another piece of Just Jade cardstock using the same punch.  The Just Jade piece was then cut in half and adhered to the back of my sentiment in such a way that the Just Jade pieces framed the Whisper White sentiment on either side.  I used the long hole punch on the Label Me Fancy punch to make a hole to slide a piece of Just Jade ribbon through and tie a bow.  Stampin' Dimensionals were then added to the back of the sentiment, which was then set aside to be adhered later.



I then stamped the sunflower image in the new InColor Bumblebee ink onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock using the Stamparatus as I knew I wanted to restamp my image several times to get a nice dark impression.  I love using Classic Stampin' Spots to ink up my stamps when I use the Stamparatus as I find that I have more control over where the ink ends up and don't get ink on the edge of my stamps as much.  Since there is not currently a Bumblebee Classic Stampin' Spot available, I inked up an Uninked Stampin' Spot with the Bumblebee ink refill to then stamp my image.



The next step was creating the mask to cover up my sunflower image so that I could stamp the leaves in Just Jade ink.  I stamped the sunflower on a 4x6 sticky note, making sure to stamp on the end backed by the sticky stuff (very technical description, right?).  Then I cut the sticky note right along the edge of the stamped image.

I placed my cut out sticky note image just inside the outline of the image already stamped on Whisper White.  It was important to place it just inside the outline so that my stamped leaf images would line up right next to the sunflower.  If I had lined up the edges of my mask with those of the already stamped image, there would have been a space left between the flower and the leaf.


Once I stamped my leaves where I wanted them, I cut out the whole image and put Stampin' Dimensionals on the back and adhered it and my prepared sentiment to the embossed layer on my card base to finish my card front.


I hope you've enjoyed visiting my blog today, and I am so grateful you stopped by!  I love reading and replying to responses on my posts, so feel free to leave a comment!  And don't forget to follow the links below to check out my fellow bloggers' posts!



Supplies used in my card today:
Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set (152517 - also available in bundle with dies 154065)
Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder (149643)
Whisper White Thick Cardstock (140272)
Whisper White Cardstock (100730)
Just Jade Cardstock (153079 or 153074 for InColor Assortment)
2020-2022 InColor Stampin' Write Marker Assortment (153125)
Just Jade ink pad (153115)
Uninked Stampin' Spots (141822)
Bumblebee ink refill (153122)
Just Jade 1/4" Ribbon (153621)
Stamparatus (146276)
Stampin' Seal (152813)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

19 comments:

  1. Beautiful card and your mask analogy is very perceptive! Thank you for the great tutorial on masking and tips for using the Stamparatus.

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  2. I love your mask analogy! Your card is stunning! Happy 65 years to your parents!!

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  3. Thank you for visiting my blog and your kind comments Jayme!

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  4. Beautiful card! Love your post, your pictures and how you showed the Stamparatus as well as the masking technique.

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  5. That great card and tutorial on masking. Happy 65 years! to your parents . that is such a blessing. U don't see that much any more. I really enjoyed reading your blog

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  6. Lovely card...your words are so inspiring esp at a time like this! Happy 65th to your parents!

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words and the anniversary wishes for my parents! I know they will appreciate it!

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  7. Lovely card and a great explanation of masking!

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  8. Very beautiful!!! I love the embossed background with the sunflower!

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  9. Great card Kim. I love the embossed background with the sunflower! x

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