Masking technique – Notes of Spring

Masking technique – Notes of Spring. It’s the last Sunday in March. That means our clocks go forward by an hour – we gain an hour of daylight, but lose an hour of sleep!

Anyway, “Notes of Spring” is the current Product of the month so before the close of March, I thought I’d create a medley of cards using a simple but effective masking technique which is as old as the hills and which I use often.

Notes of Spring

Here are the cards – I hope you like them.

Additional materials used

1. Stylish Shapes and Nested Essentials Dies – staples which have been around for a while.
2. Ornamental Christmas Cling stamp set (currently on the Last Chance List while stocks last)
3. Mixed Up Patterns 12″ x 12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm) DSP
4. Nature Walk 12″ x 12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm) DSP
5. Stampin’ Blends : Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Pecan Pie, Shaded Spruce, Daffodil Delight
6. Inks: Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Tuxedo Black Memento Ink
7. Stampin’ Up! Masking paper
8. Card stock : Basic White, Balmy Blue, Crumb Cake

Product of the month

If you love exclusive products, you’re going to love Product of the Month, a promotion centred around a special product release every month. The Product of the Month items are specially designed to be some of the best items Stampin’ Up! has to offer that aren’t available in any of our catalogues or our Online Exclusives. Every month we’ll release a new item that is only available for purchase once per account. These items will be limited quantity and are likely to sell out quickly—once they’re sold out, they’re gone for good!

What’s the catch? Spend a qualifying single order of £70 excluding shipping and you can purchase the current Product of the month for the princely sum of £5.00. That’s it! What a bargain!

Masking technique

The masking technique for the cards I’m making today is simply stamping the images on to Stampin’ Up!’s masking paper then fussy cutting them inside the line. The reason for this is that when the image of the mask is smaller, it will prevent “gapping” meaning the contour around the images won’t have a gap where the paper meets the stamped image on the unmasked area.

Once you stamp the same image on your project, peel off the backing on the masking paper on your fussy cut image and carefully adhere it to the stamped image. Then you can stamp your background whether it’s flora or fauna over the top and when you peel off the mask, the flora or fauna images will appear from behind.

Cutting guide

All the card bases are the same standard size. In UK and Europe cut at 5 ¾” x 8 ¼” (14.5 cm x 21 cm) and folded in half.

Fawn or Deer card

1. Adhere the Crumb Cake layer cut at 5 ½” x 3 ⅞” (14 cm x 10 cm) to the front of your card base.
2. Cut Nature Walk DSP at 5 ¼” x 3 ⅝” (13.5 cm x 9.5 cm) and adhere on top of Crumb Cake layer.
3. Stamp fawn in Crumb Cake ink on Basic White card stock. Attach fussy cut mask inside fawn then stamp the Christmas tree in Mossy Meadow as pictured. Remove mask carefully.
4. Die cut with 2nd largest hexagonal die from Nested Essential dies
5. Apply dimensionals on the back and adhere to centre of the card front.
6. Stamp “A little note of THANKS” on a scrap of Crumb Cake and die cut with the Stitched label dies from Stylish Shapes die set and adhere with dimensionals just below the stamped fawn.

Mallard Duck card

1. Adhere Mixed Up Patterns DSP cut at 5 ½” x 3 ⅞” (14 cm x 10 cm) to Balmy Blue card base.
2. Use a straight piece of masking paper for the horizontal line of water. Stamp duck image on top with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.
3. Adhere fussy cut duck mask inside stamped image and stamp reeds over top then remove mask.
4. Colour duck image with Stampin’ Blends as pictured – duck bill in Daffodil Delight, head and part of neck in Shaded Spruce, leave a white gap and colour the breast in Pecan Pie, the body and wings with Crumb Cake and stamp the clouds in Balmy Blue.
5. Die cut with largest Stylish Shapes circle die. Cut off a sliver on the right side ensuring the water line is parallel to the straight edge of bottom of card.
6. Apply dimensionals on the back, align with right edge of DSP and adhere.
7. Stamp label and die cut with Stylish Shapes label die. Reposition die and cut off right flag end so that it is straight. Align and adhere directly on DSP.

Bunny card

1. Cut Mixed Up Patterns DSP at 4 ⅛” x 5 ¾” (10.5 cm x 14.5 cm). Adhere to Basic White Thick card base.
2. Nature’s Walk DSP cut at 3″ x 4 ½” (8 cm x 12 cm). Cut the bottom end in the middle at 1 ½” (4 cm) about ¾” up (2 cm). From bottom left corner cut diagonally up to the ¾” (2 cm) and repeat from right bottom edge toward the centre to create a flag end. Adhere directly to DSP on card front aligning top with top edge and equidistant on both sides.
3. Stamp the bunny in Crumb Cake. Adhere fussy cut bunny mask inside stamped image, then stamp the wheat sheafs in Mossy Meadow.
4. Remove mask. Add some additional scribbles of grass with Mossy Meadow Stampin’ Blend bullet tip and use a Stampin’ Blend marker in Pretty in Pink to colour the inside of the bunny’s ear.
5. Stamp clouds in Balmy Blue.
6. Die cut with largest Nested Essential die. Apply dimensionals on the back and adhere to centre of DSP flag end banner.
7. Stamp greeting directly on to striped Daffodil DSP to finish.

Voila – 3 easy cards using all the cute critters in the Notes of Spring Product of the month stamp set for March.

Supply list

Listed below is the supply list. Just click on the picture to take you directly to the item in my online store.

Product List