Masking is one of my favorite stamping techniques for cardmaking. It’s a simple way to create a dimensional look and feel, without having to layer and collage fussy cut images. For this technique you don’t need any special supplies; a stamp set, stamping ink, a few sticky notes, and your scissors will be enough!
Skill: Beginner Time: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Directions
Step 1
Stamp the hot air balloon and clouds on sticky note pages. If the sticky part is only on a portion of the page, make sure to place your stamping close to the paper’s sticky border. Cut out the images.
Step 2
Stamp the images you want to appear in front on your cardstock and place the fussy cut mask on top, then stamp the second layer. Use Memento in Tuxedo Black for stamping hot air balloons, and Memento in Summer Sky for the clouds. Leave the masks in place.
Step 3
Color the background using two shades of Memento, Summer Sky and Danube Blue, and a jumbo dauber. Sponge on a hint of white acrylic paint on the inked surface. Remove masks.
Step 4
Color the front mages with alcohol markers. Stamp sentiment text and the flying birds with black StazOn.
Step 5
Die-cut a tree-line from dark blue cardstock. Glue it on the bottom of the card. Trim card to size, mat on a piece of dark blue cardstock. Attach to white card base using double-sided tape.
This month we have the pleasure of working with Joy Clair stamps. I was smitten with the Butterfly Kisses stamp set. There are so many ideas that come to my mind with this set but I settled to create a sense of depth with a layer of vellum. The sentiment “let your dreams fly” conjured the imagery of butterfly flying into the blue yonder, some very visible and some in the distance. I hope you feel inspired to make this layered and visual butterfly card.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1.5 hours
Directions
Step 1
Spray the watercolor paper with water. Then brush on the All-Purpose Ink in Tropical Lagoon. Dry the paper. This will become the sky background.
Step 2
Stencil the sun using circle shape stencil and Memento Luxe inkpad in Dandelion.
Step 3
Stamp the butterflies and sentiment onto the Dura-lar film with VersaFine Clair in Nocturne. Stamp the butterflies in the middle. The butterflies underneath will be centered around the butterflies and sentiment on the film. Dura-lar is a mylar film, it has the strength of acetate and the look and feel of vellum paper. It’s matte, translucent and when used over an image, it makes it look encaustic. You can use any kind of acrylic paints, graphite, and permanent inks. You can also remove the contents from the film with rubbing alcohol.
Step 4
Add Imagine’s Embossing Powder in Black and heat set.
Step 5
Stamp the butterflies onto the watercolor paper. Place the stamped film over the watercolor paper to determine desired placement.
Step 6
Spray Aleene’s Tacky Spray onto the watercolor paper part of the card. Do this quickly and do not move the Dura-lar film once it is laid down.
Step 7
Place the stamped Dura-lar film over the watercolor paper and burnish with your fingers, ensuring that the film has completely adhered to the paper. Do not use tools to burnish, it will scratch the film.
Step 8
Take the StazOn inker in Teal Blue and a Fantastix and color the butterfly wings. Assemble the card by adhering onto a black cardstock paper.
Today, I am creating a gorgeous card using an ink dripping technique with All-Purpose Ink. By simply dripping color onto watercolor paper with an eye dropper, you can create a gorgeous bold marble appearance. The colors are vibrant and maintain a separateness that gives a mixed media background. When this technique is paired with a gorgeous JoyClair Stamp background the outcome is divine.
Shades of blue make me extremely happy! When I designed this card, I wanted to combine all the amazing inks available from Imagine and as I hoped something magical then happened. See how I create this beautifully blended background using shades of VersaMagic inks and then top it off with stamped sentiments in VersaFine Clair – a truly winning combination.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1 hour
Directions
Step 1
Start by stenciling a pattern onto a piece of smooth white cardstock using texture paste and leave to dry.
Step 2
Once the paste is dry, start blending 3 colors of VersaMagic in Ocean Depth, Aegean Blue, Oasis Green over the design.
Step 3
Always start with your darkest color first and then add the lighter colors.
Step 4
Once you are happy with the look, add a final layer of shading over the entire piece with a light shade to blend the colors together.
Step 6
Use small stamp from your stash and stamp the words inside the pattern using VersaFine Clair Twilight.
Step 5
Stamp the “That’s All!” sentiment in VersaFine Twilight onto a piece of white scrap cardstock.
Step 7
Stamp “Thanks” on top of “That’s All” using VersaFine Warm Breeze and trim to size.
Step 8
Color two or three wooden hearts using your VersaMagic ink and leave to dry. Adhere sentiment panel and hearts to your card to finish it off.
I wanted to share a very easy and quick way to add color to flower or rose images using All-Purpose Ink. The application of the ink with the Fantastix is fast and smooth like butter. I could also build layers of ink to get the desired shadows in the flower. A tiny amount of ink goes a long way and the coverage is excellent.
The world of mixed media has exploded over the last several years. I have to admit, I have caught the bug and there’s no turning back. Have you seen an altered 3-D object or canvas with many textural elements and just wondered how the artist created it? I am always trying to pick things apart and figure out how they are made. I love the challenge of reproducing a cool effect or technique and even more, I love when unexpected results lead to something better than I couldn’t have imagined.
There are many different tools and supplies to use in this area of artistic expression. It can get overwhelming especially if you are just starting out. I’m going to break it down for you and give you a list of supplies to get started and maybe a few tried and true techniques to help your imagination take off!
Let’s break down some basic elements of Mixed Media!
Surfaces
First, you need a substrate, which is the surface on which you are going to create. It can be paper, wood, fabric, metal or canvas. Here I have a paper tag and a canvas board. There are no limits on what type of substrate you can work on—the only limit is your imagination.
Gesso
If you have a cool idea for a mixed media project, it is helpful to gesso your substrate. Gesso generally comes in clear, white or black and is used to prime the surface. It is not acrylic paint. Gesso prepares your surface so that when you spray, paint, or stamp on it later, all pigments will behave the same way every time. When you are working on different surfaces like paper, fabric, glass, chipboard, metal, resin, the best way to ensure your pigments are going to behave the way you expect is to cover everything with a layer of gesso first. It presents a neutral ground and you will have much better results.
Coat your surface with a nice layer of gesso to prepare it for texture and pigment. Don’t forget to let it dry before moving on.
Texture Paste
Texture is a wonderful aspect of creating mixed media art. Texture allows the viewer’s eye to wander to all the fine details of the project. To create texture, you will need a type of texture paste and a palette knife. To make structured texture elements, you’ll also need a stencil or two. For each of these 3 items, there is a considerable amount of variation of product to chose from. Let’s start with texture paste. I’ll break them up into two broader categories. There is a gel, which comes in different finishes (glossy, semi-gloss, matte) and thicknesses. Imagine makes a great gel paste called Creative Medium. It comes in different metallic colors, iridescent colors, and clear. Gels that have a gloss finish tend to resist pigments when dried on a surface. This can be useful when the shiny resist effect is desired. Then there is modeling paste. These tend to be good as a strong adhesive for heavier objects. It is opaque and less flexible than gel. To spread these pastes, you need some palette knives. They come in different shapes and they are usually either plastic or metal. Both types of palette knives work well and it mainly comes down to a preference of the artist and the type of stencil you are working with.
Scoop some of the texture paste, in this case Creative Medium, out of it’s container with a palette knife. Spread it over the stencil on to your surface ike you are icing a cake. You don’t need to cover your entire surface or use the entire stencil, just spread it where you want it. Lift off the stencil and let dry before moving forward.
Pigments
Finally, you get to add color! You have prepped your substrate and now it is ready to receive the colors and inks to create a theme and mood. Whether it is paint or ink, the pigments and colorants come in all types of mediums such as water-based, solvent-based or oil-based. Tsukineko and Imagine offer a variety of inks that work wonderfully with mixed media art. Imagine has Fireworks and Walnut ink sprays, irRESISTible colored texture sprays, and Pico embellishers. Tsukineko’s All-Purpose Ink is a rich dense pigment ink that can be used as a wonderful colorant. Depending on what you are creating and what effect you are trying to achieve there are many colorants to get your desired effect.
Now that your surface is prepped and textured, you get to add color—my favorite part. Have fun!
Check out more of Kassy’s awesome mixed media projects on YouTube!
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