Tag In A Bag--Masking

For this particular project, I have chosen to use a tag in a bag from the Sara's Surfaces line by Hot Off The Press (which you can buy at Paper Wishes) .



However, it is the stamping technique that I wish to highlight here. So you can use this process on regular greeting cards, altering projects and scrapbook pages. The result is a project that looks much more complicated than it really is.

My supplies for this project include:



--Sara's Surfaces Tag In A Bag
--Colorbox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment Ink (Rain Forest, Rich Rustics)
--an acrylic or rubber stamp of your choice
--plastic sheets or transparency sheets
--ribbon

The technique highlighted in this project is called masking. You can think of masking as the reverse of stenciling. Heidi Swapp has introduced a line of mini and large masks that work very well. However, the only thing that really limits your options for masking is your own imagination.

You can create you own masks by using a sheet of plastic and tracing/drawing your desired design on it with a marker. Then cut around your mask. All that's needed to make your mask stick to your project surface is a little repositionable adhesive. My Xyron 510 comes in handy for this step. I've found you can also use clear transparency sheets as well. As for the images, you can draw something from your mind or trace an image from coloring book or clip art image.

For easier visuals, I have used a piece of black plastic cut out in simple leaf and branch shapes. They were run through the Xyron to put adhesive on the reverse side. Once you have prepared your masking elements we are ready to position them on your work surface. Make sure the edges of your mask are securely adhered to your project surface.



Once you have the masking elements in place, it is simply a matter of choosing the color of ink that you wish to use on the negative space of your surface. I chose to use the Colorbox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment stack in Rain Forest and chose Fresh Green as my color. Then you simply dab your inkpad all across your surface, avoiding stamping in an obvious pattern. You will want to leave some areas lighter and darker for visual interest.



Continue dabbing with your inkpad until your entire masked surface has been well covered will ink.



At this point, you will want to remove your mask material. I find you achieve better results if you remove them prior to the ink drying. You can either discard your masks or clean them and save them for another application.



After your masks are removed, you do want to let the ink completely dry before proceding to your final embellishments. I chose a sentiment stamp from Studio G and used the black ink pad from my Colorbox Cat's Eye Queue Rich Rustics stack. Be creative in your positioning of your sentiment.



Once my sentiment stamp is dry, I decided to use a piece of color coordinating ribbon to loop through the tag hole. This will allow it to be used as a card pull and allow for easier access once the tag card is in its paper bag.



After thinking about it a bit more, I decided I needed to add a little "something" to the bag envelope. I found another spool of ribbon (I love paisleys!) and cut a piece to go around the width of the bag. I used another piece to further embellish my card.



Now, my project is completed and ready for giving.



Have fun exploring with the masking technique and let your imagination run wild!

Keep Crafting!