Creating Layers with Masking

 

Make a Scene with Masking

Creating a scene with elements in the forefront and the background is easy with diecuts, but what if you only have the stamps? You can still layer the elements using masking techniques. It takes some time, planning, and focus, but you can do it! 

Stamp out a Plan 

First make a plan. Stamp your elements on scrap paper, overlapping the images. This basic plan allowed me to look at what elements needed to be in the front and the back, noticing where images overlapped. I noted the cat and the yarn needed to be in the very front or top layer. I didn't want anything to overlap these images, so these images will need to be stamped first...but not yet!

Making the Masks

Before stamping on the panel, stamp each image separately on printer paper (or any thin paper) and cut each one out. When you cut an image out, be sure to cut right INSIDE the line. This is not how we would typically cut. Usually, we cut on the outside of the stamped line so we can see the border. This allows the images to nestle right up against each other without a gap when stamps overlap. 

NOTE: Thin paper is a must! I used printer paper.  When you stamp over a masked area, thicker paper could keep the stamp from connecting to the paper near the edge of the mask. 

Begin Stamping

Using my plan as a guide, I saw the cat and yarn did not have any images overlapping them. They are in the forefront, so they need to be stamped first! I stamped them both on my card panel and covered them with the matching mask. You can use any removable adhesive to stick the masks down. I used a dot runner from Altenew. 

Next I stamped the chair right over the cat and yarn with their masks in place. The mask protects the parts of the cat the chair would overlap. You can see the leg of the chair would stamp on the cat's fact if we didn't add the mask. After stamping the chair, I adhered the chair mask in place. The lamp is behind the chair, so the chair mask will protect the corner and bottom leg of the chair when the lamp is stamped. Continue with the lamp and it's mask. The last element to stamp is the rug because it is behind everything else. I also added a small table to sit the mug on, using the Potted Shelves stamp and Mocha ink. 

        

Add a Background

 

Before peeling all of the masks off to reveal your layered scene, it's time to add a background. All of your images are covered with masks, so you can stencil or ink blend right over them. I wanted a stenciled wall, baseboard, and floor.  I covered the baseboard area with masking strips. These already have adhesive and can be purchased in various widths. Then I stenciled the wall area in Mountain Mist ink using the Sweater Knits stencil. 

Next I peeled off the masking strip and isolated just one wider strip to ink in brown for a baseboard. One strip covers the bottom of the green stenciled area, middle is a space for baseboard ink, then another masking strip. TIP: I wanted to be sure my baseboard area was even, so I actually put 3 strips down, then peeled up the middle strip and inked this area with brown. Below you can see the brown baseboard with the strips removed. 

To ink the bottom or floor of the room, I covered the brown baseboard with a masking strip before inking with Sand Dunes ink. The masks for the other images are all still in place! 

Peel & Reveal! 

Now it's time for the magical reveal. Simply peel off each mask and reveal the images underneath! 

 

Negative Masking

I decided to add some stripes to my rug, so I needed to mask off the surrounding area before stamping with the Pinstripes background stamp.  This is done with a reverse or negative mask. First, I put the cat, chair and lamp masks back on (ugh! Why didn't I think of this before I peeled them off?!) I stamped the rug on printer paper (leaving plenty of space around it) and cut out the rug, leaving a rug shaped hole (negative space). This mask then covers everything except the rug! Stamp right over the large mask and peel it off. The result looks a little scary, but it's all good. You'll see when you peel off the masks for the chair, cat, and lamp. 

Fixing the Little Errors

After coloring the images with alcohol markers, I needed to fix a few areas. My pinstripes were outside the edges of the rug. I decided to stamp and color a mouse to cover it up! An enamel heart covered another area near the cat's head where the stripes went out of bounds. 

     

I added a sentiment in brown and trimmed the panel down to allow for a brown layer behind to act as a border. This brown border tied in with the sentiment and seemed to ground the scene. 

One last NOTE about masking. I chose to used printer paper for most of my masks because that's what I had on hand. You can use masking paper, which already has an adhesive backing, like the Masking Magic strips. You can also use Sticky Notes for small masks or masking liquid for intricate masks that would be hard to cut out. Freezer paper can be used for a negative mask with watercolors. The class Masking Unleashed at Altenew Academy shows how to use all of these types of masks. 

Supplies:

Altenew Armchair stamp set

Altenew Potted Shelves stamp set

Altenew Pinstripes Background stamp

Altenew Sweater Knits stencil

Honeybee Blah Bunny stamp set

Lawn Fawn Meow You Doin? stamp set

Altenew Inks: Mountain Mist, Sand Dunes, Starlight, Emerald, Mocha

Altenew Alcohol Markers: Glacier Caves set, Green Fields set

Spectrum Noir TriBlend marker- Earth Brown Blend

Gina K Masking Magic Strips