All Eyes On...Masking

"All Eyes On..." is a new monthly feature where we will concentrate on a technique or current trend, create some cards, and share our own personal tips or tricks. Now I don't have anything that credits me as an "expert", so this is just me sharing with you my explorations in creativity. And I promise to even share the disasters with you, as there are plenty of techniques out there that scare me. LOL

This month we are focusing on masking. And I want to apologize up front for the simplicity of this project, the week turned out to be much busier than I anticipated. My oldest had the District Derby races for Cub Scouts this weekend. I'm proud to say my little man came in Second and won Best In Show! That's 4 trophies for that car this year. We head off to Council next weekend to race against all of North Florida. Wish us luck! But you didn't come here for that...so on to the cards!

Simple? Yes, but still so cute! Don't you think? I think one of the biggest advantages masking offers is the ability to create gorgeous CAS one layer cards that are mail friendly. You can't beat that if you ask me. Trust me, it's cheaper on your wallet, and I've had a card arrive torn in half before! Not exactly ideal. ;o)

Personally, I prefer to use Post It Notes for my masking. They are pre-gummed and super thin. If you need a bigger masking area, they sell the larger Post Its as well. You can punch shapes, trim, or hand cut. For this little 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" card, I just trimmed a Post It down to 2.5" x 2.5" inches and centered it on my card front.

Now, I have heard a lot of people say they have issues with getting a clear impression when masking with clear stamps. And so they will lay their cardstock over a magazine or mouse pad, something with a little cushion to simulate the cushion layer of a rubber stamp. I personally, have not had this issue. I always stamp with my cardstock directly on top of my dining room table. But, I wanted to try it, just to see the result. So for the pink card I put a bubble mailer between the table and cardstock. I was actually quite surprised by the result.

As you can see in the picture, this actually made the masking lines LESS crisp for me. But, it's not a loss, because I actually like the soft feel this has when paired with the woodgrain background from Woodgrain Silhouettes. Now that I have my masked area, I just stamped my focal image. I used the large butterfly from Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions and finished it with a little bling and rounded corners.

And here is a close up of the aqua card. You can see that the masked lines are much more crisp here. Again, I stamped this with nothing between the cardstock and table. These little darlings so remind me of Pottery Barn Baby.

Joining me today is Kerriane Gwin and Maile Belles, be sure to stop by their blogs to find out more about their gorgeous card as well. Kerrianne does a little trick that opens up even more possibilities with the butterfly images in Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions.

And Maile works her magic using all three sizes of butterflies along with the woodgrain background.

Have you tried masking lately? If you have or if we've inspired you, leave me a comment and a link to your project. I'd love to see what you're up to. Have something you'd like to see us tackle? I've started a list and would love to add yours to it. You can also connect with us on Facebook, catch up, ask questions or leave suggestions, maybe even see your card featured if you've uploaded it to our Flickr Gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you find some time to craft!

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Project Supplies

Stamps
Woodgrain Silhouettes and WoodGrain Silhouettes Additions by Wplus9
Ink
Fresh Snow by Papertrey Ink; Black by Colorbox Ink
Cardstock
Aqua Mist by Papertrey Ink; Cameo Coral by Stampin' Up!
Other
Fiskars corner rounder, Sakura white gel pen, rhinestones (other)