Hi crafters!
I have another card for you, using many of the cute critters from a few stamp sets.
I got to looking, and they are so cute, and wanted to use them all! So, first off, I love seeing cards using masking. I do not like cutting masks!!! But, I have a Scan N Cut, and use it all the time to cut my stamped images. But, it always tore up my masking paper.
There had to be a way! I finally got to a solution, for me, that works! I take two sheets, could take more, and stamped my images on them. I then stuck those to a heavy base cardstock. I put that on my Scan N Cut mat and ran it through the process of cutting. YAY!!! It worked like a charm! It cut them perfectly, and you get two of each. but it didn't cut through the base paper. I kept them on there and put that into my stamp pocket for future uses. I know, this is long...but I wanted to pass on what I learned and it's a set up for this card. Here's the sets I used.
So, If you've never done any masking, you want to arrange your stamps front to back, how you want it to look. In other words, the image you want to be in front of something else, you need to stamp first. Then you apply your mask over top of that stamped image to protect it, and then stamp the next. And so on. In order to get my pile of critters to look like they're standing on each others heads or peeking from behind, I needed a mask for about every image!
As you look at this image, starting from the top, you can see they are standing on each others heads. And the little bear is the most forward. So I stamped him first. Put on the mask, aligned the beaver so he was just a tiny bit over the mask, and stamped. Apply the mask on the beaver, and align the penguin and the seal, and stamp them. next align the bottom bear and stamp just a bit over the mask of the beaver. Put the mask on the bear, align the duck as you want it, and stamp. To finish it up, I grabbed the little grass stamp, and stamped a few BEFORE taking off any masks.
To make the sign post, I used one of the icicle stamps, lol. I stamped the balloons and used a ruler to draw in the strings down to the ducks wing.
So you see, it's a process! But so fun when you pull off your masks and see what you get! I LOVE IT, and will, for sure, do this again! It took me a couple times of doing this entire process to end up with a nice balance and the images placed where it looked good to me.
If you check YouTube, there are many videos on masking stamped images. Maybe in the future, I can try doing a video of this.
To color in the critters, I got out my Prismacolor colored pencils and colored them all in. I love the look of this on craft colored cardstock. This is Neenah Desert Storm. I used my Gamsol, odorless mineral spirits, and blending stumps to blend the pencil out. I wanted a bit of "texture" to my animals, so I pulled out a couple alcohol markers and added tiny dots to the animals. Colors that didn't overpower but added a bit of visual interest. Added google eyes and a few dots of white gel pen. I also brushed on some glitter brush pen over the balloons and his tie.
I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out the panel. Other than popping up the little Happy Birthday, this could be a one layer card. Well, I added fun foam under the stamped panel, too. When I stamped the sentiment, it didn't stand out from the background and and I wasn't happy with it. Yet, I wanted to keep it all on craft paper. So, I brushed a tiny bit of brown ink on the edges and used a tiny bit of foam tape to lift it up a bit and show off even more.
Well now, that's a long post! Sorry about that, but I wanted to explain how I did this. Again, if you search, you can find many videos on how to mask stamped images.
If you read to this point, thanks! I know it is long. Hopefully, I explained it to be understood, lol. Really, the only way to fully get it, is to try for your self. Work on some scrap paper first. Once you actually try it, you'll see what I mean about stamping what you want in front first, then mask it off. You can do it!!! Try it, you'll like it!
There you go. Head over to InkOn3 and check out these supplies and many more!
Happy Crafting!
