The MASK did it!

The sponsor for this weeks Card Positioning Systems blog is Gina K stamps. What I love about having sponsors at CPS is that I get to play with something I might not have noticed on my own, in this case some really cute stamps.

I really like the outline/sketch look of this set of stamps. And, since we don't have snow where I live, it is fun to play with a winter look on my card.

Notice my fancy, punched corners? I just can't get enough of the wonderful fancy punches that are available today. It was fun to accent the corners by rubbing them with a purple stamp pad and adding some self adhesive pearls. Do you see that little bit of sparkle on the scarves? I used some Tulips 3-D Glitter Fashion paint. I love this paint because it adds sparkle without covering up the color that is underneath.

NOW, you might be asking, how did I keep the images white and color the background around it? That looks comes about with masking. Not Halloween masks or Mardi Gras masks but paper masks. These kind of masks are meant to "hide or cover" an area that you want to protect. The following images are a real simple and quick "how to" on what I did.

Step #1: stamp the image on white cardstock. I usually use Cryogen Curious Iridescent white available at CutCardStock.com. (leave a comment on their blog for a chance to win a gift certificate) I love how well my Copics work with this paper and I love the subtle sparkle that the paper has. I did emboss my black ink with a clear embossing powder.

Step #2: Stamp the image again on a thin piece of paper. I just use paper from my printer. You want thin paper for a mask because thicker cardstock can create a halo around your image. This image doesn't have to be perfect, I just used the ink that was already on my stamp. Cut this out. I didn't cut it out perfectly because that wasn't necessary for what I was going to do next.

This photo shows you both of my images now. One on my good paper, the other one cut out of the thinner paper.

Step #3: Place the mask over the original image. I just laid it on my paper, you could use a temporary tape to help hold it in place. Now, spray the color over both pieces.

Remove the mask, you can see that the background is sprayed with the color and my image area is still white and ready to add color too. I had some white areas around my image and I just colored that with the Copic markers.

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And I just had to show you a couple photos that I took yesterday on a little trip to a Garden that we have in our area. I love this garden because it is interesting all year round. Yesterday the roses were just amazing.

I used my new 50mm 1.4 lens for my photos. One of the qualities of this lens is it creates amazing "bokeh" or a diffused look to the background. This just might be my most favorite reason to use this lens. You never know what you will get but I love it everytime. I took these photos just after 4 p.m. as the sun was going down. This lens also lets in more light so I love the look. I also have a polarized filter on this lens which is helpful in some instances.

Here is my second favorite rose photo from my visit.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SKETCH 148 – SNOWMAN card
Materials:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Rubber stamps courtesy of Gina K – Got snow? Set
Versamark black stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Copic markers
Memories Mist spray
Self Adhesive pearls – Queen & Co.
Fluid chalk stamp pad - Clearsnap

Martha Stewart corner punch