Masking unleashed

Next up is a class on masking. Svitlana Shayevich is the instructor for the class, Masking Unleashed, and she gives a comprehensive overview of different types of materials and techniques for masking. Starting with basic, plain computer paper and ending with masking liquid, she walks through how to use a variety of materials, and which materials may work best for different effects. She offers tips after each lessons, and those are great to refer back to even after you’ve completed the class! I enjoyed this class, and walked away with several new tips and tricks to add to my repertoire.

For this project, I used my Altenew Poinsettia stamp set. I only used the outline layer for the poinsettia for this card. I stamped the focus image, then masked it off and stamped the next image and repeated the process a third time. (I apologize, the lighting is not the best for the process photos.)

Once I had all three images stamped, I left all three masks in place, laid the stencil over the card front and inked the background. When I was happy with the amount of color I had down, I flipped the stencil, and inked the background again. This gave the background a softer feel, blurring the edges of the herringbone pattern.

Next, I carefully removed the mask from the two outer flowers. Using a negative mask, I inked first the two outer flowers, then the center flower in gradient shades of pinks (pink frost, then pink frost with some coral berry, then coral berry).

I stamped the sentiment “celebrate the joys of Christmas”, added a few gems around the sentiment, and several smaller gems in the center of each flower to finish it off. I trimmed the card front down slightly, and mounted it on a white card base. I didn’t like it, so…… I pulled it apart and added a black frame around it, and adhered it back to the white card base. MUCH better!!!!

All inks and stamps are by Altenew. Embellishments are from Studio Katia and Honey Bee Stamps. The stencil is from my stash, I think Theresa Collins. Paper is Neenah solar white and Gina K Designs Black Onyx. As always, thank you for reading! And I hope this inspires you to go out and make something!