I {heart} you and little masking tutorial

Earlier this week, I received a fun package of stamps that I had ordered from Simon Says Stamps filled with a bunch of Lawn Fawn stamps.  Their images are so cute and they are so fun to play with! This was the first card I created with my new stamps.  Aren't those little critters so cute?!

I stamped my kraft card base with the little heart background stamp from Teeny Tiny Backdrops and some red ink.  I stamped my images on Copic X-Press It cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  I did some masking (little tutorial on masking below) to create the image with my two little foxes (fox, mushrooms, and tree from Critters in the Forest, hearts from My Silly Valentine, and grass from Critters in the 'Burbs). 

I used these copic markers to color my image:
foxes: E08, E09, E18
mushrooms: E31, E33, R29, R46, R89
hearts: R29
grass:YG67
tree: YG63, YG67, G99
sky: BG000, BG0000
colorless blender

After coloring my image with copic markers, I stamped my polaroid image from Say Cheese on white cardstock and cut it out.  Then, I stamped my sentiment (also from Say Cheese) on the bottom and colored the little heart.  I adhered my image behind my polaroid and wrapped some baker's twine from my etsy shop around the bottom and tied a button with a bow.  I stitched a little piece of patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket to some red cardstock and adhered it to my card base.  Last, I added my image with some foam adhesive.

Masking Tutorial

Many of you may already know how to mask images, but I thought I would share a little tutorial for those of you that might not have done much masking yet with stamped images.  The Lawn Fawn images are perfect for masking!  The lines in the images are easy to cut for masking (and paper piecing).

I use these supplies when masking: Eclipse Masking tape (available in 6" and 1" rolls), Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, detail scissors, stamps, and acrylic block.  I used the Lawn Fawn Critters in the Forest stamp set for this tutorial.  (You can also use sticky notes for your masks, but I prefer the Eclipse Masking Tape.)

Stamp all your images on the Eclipse Masking tape and cut out with detail scissors.  For my scene, I used the two little mushrooms and stamped the fox twice so I could use the image twice in my scene.

Stamp your first image (the image that will be at the front of the scene that you will see in its entirety).  Then, apply the mask (littlest mushroom) and stamp the second image that will be slightly behind the first.  The mask prevents you from stamping over the first image so you will still be able to see it.

Mask the second stamped image and stamp your third image.  Continue doing this until all your images are stamped.

After I stamped my two mushrooms and two foxes, I stamped the tree behind them.  I didn't have to mask my tree because it was at the back of my scene and I wouldn't be stamping anything behind it.  I added a little grass stamping to each side of the image. It looks like a mess with all the images stamped over each other, but as you peel the masks off . . .

you can see all the images look like they're supposed to with parts of them masked off.  (I also added a few little hearts above my little foxes.)  I decided it looked a little strange like the first fox was standing on the second fox's tail, but you can't see that part of the image in the polaroid frame anyway.

One more little tip: I store my masks with my stamp sets.  They are reusable so I won't have to cut them out next time.  I just put these masks on the backside of my stamp set before slipping my stamp set back in the package. (I used the little owl, log, and clouds on another card that I'll share next week.)

I hope this tutorial might have helped you if you haven't done any masking before.  Feel free to ask questions if something wasn't clear.  We are heading out this afternoon to go visit my dad and step-mom.  Have a great weekend!

Niki