Masking To Create a Scene

One of my favorite backgrounds to create is sand and sea. With the help of masking and airbrushing, you can create any number of different scenes!

Today I'm using X-Press It Mask It Sheets from Imagination International, Inc. These large sheets are designed for masking areas that require layers of color and since they are 10" x 15", they can cover a large area with their unique low tack feature, which allows the film to be applied on various surfaces.

Need to mask something larger? There are Mask It Rolls that come in widths up to 25 inches!

They are low tack, flexible, easy to cut, have a translucent backing which makes them perfect for use with a light box (maybe tracing a printed image?), and can be die cut! And they have a matte finish, which can be stamped on (which you will see below).

Here's how I used it:

We just booked a cruise for this summer, so I was extremely excited to use this awesome Pink Ink Dream Cruise ship! I stamped it with permanent ink (Memento Tuxedo Black) onto the translucent side of the Mask It film (the backing of the film is "water"marked with a white logo) repeatedly, so I would have a water wave mask wide enough to cover the front of a 5.50" wide card. Be sure to let the ink dry for a little bit, and then also blot it with a scrap piece of paper to pick up any ink that didn't dry. The ink may not end up being totally "permanent" but will stay in place long enough for you to cut your mask:

After cutting out the masks, I placed one full-length wave mask over the ship (stamped onto a Neenah 110 Lb. Solar White card base) so the sky would be masked (Mask 1 below). Another mask was placed over the sentiment flag (Mask 3), and another full-length wave mask was placed under the sentiment. Then I airbrushed the area in between with Copic BG53, keeping the lower edge lighter:

Next, I added a little deeper shading under the ship with Copic BG45:

Next, I wanted to create a ripple of water, like it would be rolling in (down) toward the shore, so I moved the lower mask down just a smidge and airbrushed below the mask again with Copic BG53:

To create the shoreline/beach, I moved the lower mask down again and airbrushed the lower edge with Copic E42:

To give the sand some texture and lighten it up a bit, I left the mask in place, put some 0-Colorless Blender Ink onto an old washcloth and pressed the washcloth onto the sand:

Finally, I die cut the Mask It Sheet with small cloud dies (the Mask It film die cuts beautifully!) and placed the cloud masks in the sky -- strategically below and around the black ink I accidentally got onto the top of the card (argh -- this WAS going to be a one-layer card)!! Masks were also placed over the ship (Mask 2) and covering the waterline and below (Mask 3). Then I airbrushed the sky with Copic B00. (The B000 shown in the photo below ended up being a little too light and I went back with B00 to darken it a bit):

After the masks are removed, this is what you are left with ... a lovely scene for our dream cruise ship!

Notice the area under the flags of the ship is still white in the photo above. I felt it was easier to not cut the mask out of that area (but you could) and just filled it in with lightest BG0000 marker by hand coloring.

To finish the image, I colored the ship and sentiment with these Copic Sketch Markers:

The tiny flags were colored with Atyou Spica Glitter Pens in Red and Sky Blue. The smoke stacks were given a metallic look with Silver Glitter Pen, the state rooms given a glow with Lemon Glitter Pen, and I highlighted the white parts of the ship and water waves with Clear Glitter Pen. Hopefully you can see the pretty sparkle by clicking on the photo below to make it larger:

To finish the card, I trimmed off the top of the card base where I had gotten ink on it. This left me with an approximate 3-9/16" tall image. I cut an additional piece of cardstock 3-13/16" and covered the lower edge with Gold 6mm Deco Glitter Tape and the upper edge with the Silver narrow Deco Glitter Tape. Then I colored the silver glitter tape with Copic BG02, to give it a light blue hue to match the rest of my card:

The colored image was adhered to the taped piece of cardstock, giving the image narrow pops of pretty glitter! The finished image was then adhered to a standard A2 (4.25" x 5.50") white card base.

Thanks so much for visiting me today -- I hope you will give this fun masking technique a try! Due to several questions asked about my craft room tour below, I will have some updated photos for you on that post tomorrow, so please check back!

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