rough masking...

Hello my fabulous friends!

Today I wanted to challenge myself... Not just by participating in a challenge, but stretching myself beyond my normal comfortable rut...  Not that there is anything wrong with a nice rut, but sometimes you need to step out of it and try new things.

Stamps: Essentials By Ellen Fancy Thanks, Bokeh Dots, Courage

Ink: Altenew Sand Dunes, Frayed Leaf, Deep Iris, Lavender Fields; Clearly Kelly Urban set 

I very seldom do a true single layer card... as in, the stamping is done right on the front of the card base... I think it's because if I stamp on a separate panel, I don't have to be quite as afraid of messing up the whole card... But I wanted to challenge myself a little. 

I actually had a lot of fun with it!

I started out by stamping the sentiment. No, I didn't need to use a MISTI for this, but I wanted a nice crisp impression, and the MISTI ensures that if the first try is slightly splotch it can be fixed, no problem. 

Next I added three sketchy circles.. I LOVE these circles! They are so fun! 

The three-some arranged in a triangle is a common design principle that reliably looks pleasing to the eye. Odd numbers and visual triangles just tend to look good. 

 It's one of those things you learn in art class...

Next I added some clusters of flowers. These flowers are layers from the new Courage set. 

This set was designed to support Breast Cancer Research. This means a lot to me. I've known several women who have fought breast cancer. Both my Grandmothers died from cancer. My dad had cancer years ago (he's been in the clear for a good 10 plus years!). And currently my mom is fighting colon cancer. Cancer is such a horrible disease that affects SO many people in many different ways. Research gets us closer to a cure.. And a cure to one kind of cancer gets us just that much closer to a cure to other kinds of cancer. Together we can win a war that no one, on their own, could hope to beat. 

(sorry for the soapbox... back to stamping...)

Normally I am a meticulous masker... In other words, when I build scenes I start with the image in the fore front, then carefully mask it to add things in behind.... I wanted to stretch myself, so I didn't mask the flowers at all... They are layered right on top of the circles, and you can see the circles through the flowers... 

At first it really bothered me... (I'm a BIT of a perfectionist....) But when I let myself just relax with it, I ended up liking the look and the freedom of not having to mask.

I did do a LITTLE rough masking... I've been watching some videos of people building backgrounds using this technique... Where you mask your image (in this case my flower), but only very roughly. Instead of stamping the flower on another paper and fussy cutting it so it covers the image perfectly, I just tore a piece of post-it note into the approximate curve of the flower and went with it. 

It isn't perfect, but I really wanted to see if I could do the technique and like it. I love the results in other people's projects, but I wasn't sure I could pull it off... (did I mention I'm a bit of a perfectionist? LOL!)

Ok... Here's a close up of some of the stamping. 

I really liked the sketchy, imperfect look of not doing detailed masking.. And it has the benefit of being far less stressful and time consuming! Apparently masking is one of the reasons cards take me so long to make... This one was super fast and easy!

 This project was inspired by Ellen Hutson's PinSights challenge for May.. 

Aren't those colors just GORGEOUS???

There's plenty of time left to join in this challenge... 

Enjoy!

~Kassi