Well, Hello!

I don't quite know how it happened but, despite posting on my blog bi-weekly for the past ten years, it's been a good month since I last posted! Today I'm back and here to share the cards from January's Just For Fun classes.

One of my ladies said she'd really enjoyed the class we did where we began with a simple card and then stepped it up on each of the following 3 cards. To change this slightly, and also because they're often overlooked in the catalogue, we used the technique of stepping using decorative masks/stencils as opposed to stamps.

Images © Stampin' Up!


We took ourselves right back to a beginner crafter stage and created a simple card in magenta madness, using a blender brush to ink through the butterfly mask onto white card. Mounted simply with a small sentiment (Life is Beautiful stamp set) and 3 gems. We flicked a little Wink of Stella over the front to give a little sparkle, although this can't be seen easily on the photo.


Next we imagined ourselves as the returning new card maker, taking the same steps to create our card but this time we step it up by matting at an angle to create more interest, adding a further 3 gems and changing their orientation.


For our third card we again added two small changes to step it up. After having blended ink through the butterfly mask we laid another mask over the top and blended ink again, wich seems to totally change the butterfly images and give them depth. We added two gold punched sprigs.


Finally, we stepped it up again, making 4 changes. We added a little gold thread behind our sentiment, on either side of the sentiment we daubed Versamark through another mask before heat embossing in gold. A further mask was used as an embossing folder on the magenta madness mat (did you know you could do that?) and more gems were added, scattered randomly.


Below are two more photos, the first shows a close up of the thread and heat embossing, the second shows the embossed magenta madness mat.



The next picture shows how using the two masks together on cards 3 and 4 makes for a more interesting butterly image. There is a mask which has the traditional butterfly markings on it and, I guess, most people would use that - it's what I've seen online so far. But I think that using a pattern with the butterfly outline gives a more interesting end visual.


Here I'm sharing a picture of all 4 cards together. You can see how the small changes on each really step the card up from a beginner level to something the more avid crafter would create.


I think these masks are a bargain at £9.25 for a pack of 6 and I love that they're now a more practical size for my cards, being 11.4 x 15.2cm.
Today we used stampin' ink blended through, embossed and heat embossed with them, but don't forget that you can also use them with embossing paste (plain white or colour the paste with reinker), spritzers or heat and stick along with gold leafing too! So very versatile!!! Maybe I'll get to upload a short video next week to share the embossing with crafters out there who haven't tried it!

If you'd like to purchase these or any of the other supplies then click on the images below and you'll be taken straight to my online shop.

Did you enjoy today's post? My ladies said that they enjoyed making the cards. Have you ever tried embossing with a mask, or used two together? It's good fun!
Give it a go.

In the meantime, have a good week.
Happy crafting!

Lesley

Product List
Sprig Punch
[148012]
£17.00

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