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

Make it with Markers

Stencils & Markers 

Stencils are usually used to ink blend through, but you can also use them with markers. I reached for one of my most useful stencils, Playful Leaves, to make a fall scene. Here's how you can do it too:

Playful Leaves Background

1. Trace through the stencil using a medium orange shade of alcohol marker. Here I used Autumn Blaze from the Altenew Warm & Cozy set. Then remove the stencil and trace over the lines again. I chose to only trace two branches instead of the whole stencil. This left the corners open for some white space. 

                      

2. Next, color in the base a lighter shade. I used Sunkissed. 

3. Now use the medium shade, Orange Cream, to make a line right inside the outer edge. 

4. Here I decided my outer edge was not as dark as I wanted, so I traced it again with the darkest shade, Firebrick. TIP: Let go of perfectionism. I could have started over when I didn't like the color I chose to trace the leaves with, but instead I just traced over it in the darker shade. Throwing away your project and starting over causes frustration and takes the fun and relaxation out of creating. See if you can fix it first. 

5. The final touch is a fine line of Autumn Blaze between the darkest, Firebrick, and the Orange Cream shadow. 

I chose not to blend the colors together, but leave it for more of a graphic look. 

Vellum Leaf Accents

Cut leaves out of vellum using the Garden Friend dies. Now it's time to color with alcohol markers. 

                        

First, color in the base with a the lightest shade, Sunkissed. Then trace the outer edges with Orange Cream.

After tracing the veins with the darkest shade, Autumn Blaze, use the bullet tip of the marker to stipple the edges with the lightest color. Just make dots right on the edge where you traced in Orange Cream. This creates an interesting look and contrasts with the lines of the background. 

I used the same techniques to color the other leaves, but used browns on one and darker reds on the the other. 

Finishing Touches

Add some fine spatter

To add some really fine spatter, you need an alcohol marker, rubbing alcohol spray, and a toothbrush. 

Scribble some color on a silicone mat, spritz it with alcohol and rub your toothbrush in it. Then use your finger to fan the bristles and direct the fine spatter where you want it. I mainly directed mine on the corners. 

    

                                                              Color your enamel dots 

I didn't have the brown shade of enamel dots I needed, so I made my own. I just colored some white dots with a brown marker. Tip: Leave the dots on the backing so they stay put when you are coloring. 

I stamped the sentiment "Grateful for you" from the Garden Friend stamp set with black ink. After adhering the vellum leaves with liquid glue, I felt the edges of the panel needed something more. Instead of mounting the panel on a brown background, I used my brown marker to line the edges. I made some spots a little thicker, rather than having a uniform edge, for more of a natural look. This reminded me of doing decoupage with my mom in the 70's and burning the edges of the paper! 

           

To learn more ways to use your markers, check out the class Magic Marker Techniques at Altenew Academy. 

Supplies: 

Altenew Playful Leaves Stencil

Altenew Garden Friend stamp and die set (mini-delight)

Altenew Warm & Cozy marker set, Red Cosmos marker set

Altenew Colorful Wonder Enamel Dots

Triblend Marker- Earth Brown Blend

Master's Touch- Deep Yellow

Vellum

Rubbing Alcohol spray

Old toothbrush

 

Embossing 4 Ways

As much as I love summer, I always welcome fall with the cooler temps and gorgeous colors! The Altenew Mini Delight for September is so cute. Look at that little squirrel!! He's adorable and comes together easily with layering stamps. The leaves and acorns are part of the die set that accompanies this "Garden Friend" set. 

For this card, I focused on some embossing techniques I learned in the Altenew Academy class, "Impressive Heat Embossing". Here's the steps to making this colorful and shiny card.  

Resist Effect 

    

Heat emboss the main sentiment "fall" with clear embossing powder on white cardstock. Then ink blend right over the embossed sentiment. The image appears clearly as it resists the ink applied to the cardstock. 

Embossing with Stencils

To add more of a fall feel,  add some clear embossing over the ink blending. I used the Sweater Knits stencils just in two corners. Embossing in clear powder adds the pattern with a shine that won't overpower the main focus. 

Embossing Diecuts

Add a little shine to some diecuts with embossing. I embossed the tops of the acorns. This was a little tricky because they are so small. I tacked them down lightly on paper with a tape runner dots and applied the embossing powder. Then removed them with tweezers and placed them on a spot on my paper that was not covered with sticky embossing ink before applying the clear powder. 

For the leaves, I used a light green and light brown cardstock so I could achieve the effect of leaves turning colors. The base color made the ink blending quicker. After ink blending the leaves, I added some gold embossing on the edges. I left the powder a little "messy" for a more natural look. 

Layered Embossing

The little squirrel comes with 4 layers to stamp. I used the exact shades of brown suggested on the packaging. I wanted the darker stripes on the little guy to stand out, so after I stamped the image in Mocha ink, I then stamped in embossing ink and applied clear powder. I did the same with the last layer in Espresso ink. 

Assembling the card, I decided to pop up the "hello" and the little squirrel. I wanted him tucked behind a leaf but still really visible. I also curled up the leaf tips for some added dimension. I can't wait to make more of this little guy. He just makes me smile!

Tips

☝Clear embossing powder is so versatile. You can use it on colored cardstock to make an image darker as well as more shiny. You can emboss inked images instead of investing in various colors of embossing powder. 

☝ Tape down those dies or embrace mistakes! I only had very little of the green and brown paper. I took a shortcut and didn't tape my leaf die down. The result was a leaf with the sides cut off! Instead of throwing it away, I positioned it on an edge. 

☝To learn more about these and other embossing techniques, check out the class "Impressive Heat Embossing" at Altenew Academy. 

Supplies:

• Altnew Mega Brush Alphabet stamp set
• Altenew Mini Delight Garden Friend
• Altenew Sweater Knits stencil
• Altenew Little Starfish "hello"
• Altnew Crystal Clear embossing powder
• Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Eucalyptus, Buttercream, Warm Sunshine, Amber Blaze, Terracotta, Ruby Red, Coffee Break ink set
• Brutus Monroe Gilded gold embossing powder

Color Inspiration!

       

Color Inspiration is Everywhere

Need some color combo inspiration? Look around and see what catches your eye. This book cover is striking with the dark greens and blues along with the pop of purple. This inspired me to create a few darker toned cards than I would usually lean towards. 

Card 1: Watercolor Jungle Leaves

To get started, I used the Jungle Leaves 3D embossing folder on watercolor paper. Then I used the 36 pan set of watercolors to paint the raised leaf images. Like the book cover, I combined mainly and Emerald green color along with some Desert Night blue and Lavender Fields (mixed with a little Comic Berry). This also roughly follows the rule of 70%, 20%, 10%. These colors also work together well because they are analogous or beside each other on the color wheel. 

For the black background, I used a black alcohol marker. It was easy to use the nib tip to trace the outline of the embossed leaf and color with the brush. 

For the sentiment, I started with "friend" cut from lavender cardstock. I simply brushed on shades of Starlight blue and ultraviolet ink, gradually fading to show the cardstock at the top. Mounting the sentiment on a black shadow piece, allows it to stand out more. I also popped it up using foam tape. 

To finish it off, I added a small "hello", die cut flowers in similar tones (from my stash of leftovers), and some iridescent sequins. 

Tips:

☝It helps to have swatches of your watercolors or print out the swatch chart from the Altnew website. This really came in handy and eliminated experimenting to find the right tone of green to start painting. 

☝Save all of your extra bits and pieces. I keep mine in a tray (scrapbook.com Stack n Sort trays) and they've come in handy so often. I found the perfect little flowers I had previously cut for a card project months ago.  The little "hello" sentiment was already stamped on white paper so I just inked it. This saved time in creating my card and saved paper! 

☝Don't shy away from color combos you wouldn't normally use. For me, the black background was a stretch, but I really like it!

☝Want to learn more about the 70/20/10 rule, the color wheel, or other ways to use color? Look for the class Color Your Day from Altenew Academy. 

Supplies:

💚Altenew Jungle Leaves 3D embossing folder

💜Altenew Timless Sentiments dies

💙 Altenew  Little Mushroom House stamp set "hello"

💚 Altenew Watercolor 36 pan set

💜Altenew Fresh Dye Inks: Emerald, Ultraviolet, Starlight

💙 Altenew Alcohol Marker black

💚Altenew Watercolor Paper Cold Pressed 140 lb. 

💜 Lawn  Fawn Stitched Teacup flowers dies

💙Gina K Disco Ball sequins

                                           Card 2: Black Out Jungle Leaves

 This card was also inspired by the book cover. I used the black out technique and it was so quick!

I started with the same jungle leaves embossing folder on white cardstock. This time, I flipped the paper over and inked the side where the leaves are indented or debossed using Emerald, Starlight & Tide Blue ink colors. You don't have to be very careful around the edges because the black ink will cover it. 

Next, I swiped on the black ink with a black dye ink pad. I used dye ink so it would dry quicker. Look how the leaves and veins pop! 

As with the first card, I cut the sentiment out of lavender cardstock and ombre shaded it with Starlight and Ultraviolet inks. Iridescent sequins finished it off. I plan to mail this card, so I kept the sentiment flat.