Sending Hugs

A person I know recently suffered a loss, so I decided to make her a sympathy card, just to let her know I'm thinking of her. On Day 5 of Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Dies" class, Dawn Woleslagle had a lesson on "Masking Stamped Images." Using a coordinating stamp & die set, you cut masks with the dies. After placing them on a piece of cardstock, you color the background, remove the masks, and then stamp the matching images in the masked areas. I used WPlus9's "Spring Blooms" stamps & die set for my card.

I began by die cutting several masks from Simon Says Stamp's masking paper, then arranged them on a piece of white cardstock that I'd cut to 4x5.25". After I had them positioned like I wanted, I removed the release papers and stuck the masks down. I made sure to burnish the edges of the masks, so they wouldn't peel up when I did the background. Dawn had used a Copic airbrush system on her cards, but since I have neither the airbrush system nor any Copic markers, I decided to use Distress inks instead. So I got Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Peacock Feathers and created an ombre background with those.

After removing the masks, I stamped the images in their respective positions, using Memento dye inks in Lilac Posies, Lulu Lavender, Dandelion, Tangelo, Rich Cocoa, Bamboo Leaves, & New Sprout. There was one stamp, though, that I just couldn't seem to get oriented correctly in its space. I finally discovered--after much frustration--that I'd die cut the mask upside down, so the masked section was reversed, which meant the stamp wouldn't work! I debated whether I could save the card, or if I would have to start all over, which was not my most desirable choice. I finally decided to die cut a scalloped circle, using a We R Memory Keepers Nesting Scallops die, from that area, and put part of my greeting in the cut-out.

For the greeting, I die cut the "sending" using this die from Simon Says Stamp. I'd found the "hugs" stamp, by Stampabilities, in my stash, and felt that would be perfect for the cut-out area. The die cut word kind of got lost on the bright background, though, so I ended up cutting a piece of vellum to 3.75x5", and hand-stitching that with embroidery floss to the background as an overlay. That muted the background enough to let the "sending" show up well. Finally, I adhered the card front to a white A2 card base, and stamped the "hugs" in Hero Arts' Cup o' Joe mid-tone shadow ink. And that finished this card.