Masking - Funky Fresh Friday Fun!

I know it's Tuesday but I wanted to announce that I am starting a weekly series of tips, tricks, techniques, projects and anything that might fit into the Funky Fresh Friday theme!  To give you a taste of what you might expect to see on Funky Fresh Fridays, I'm going to show you the Masking Technique.  I was working on my Nuts About Sketches DT layout and none of my papers were doing it for me.  I walked away for a bit and then it hit me, what I needed to do.  I wanted to emulate the horses from my daughter's shirt and tights but I didn't want to use matchy matchy paper, which I'm sure I never would have found anyway.  I went to the Internet and found the Gymboree line of clothes she was wearing and was able to find an image of the horse.  I'm sure I could have just copied it from her shirt, too. 

Step 1. I made it the size I wanted and then cut out several copies.

Click the image to enlarge.

Step 2. I adhered them to the paper with just enough adhesive so it would stick down but not rip my paper when I pulled it off.  This is important.  Otherwise, the paper will curl up when it gets moist and it may smear. This is not as critical if you are using chipboard or something that isn't likely to curl. Another tip is to make sure you have any areas you want masked off all masked off before you spray; otherwise you WILL get mist in that area.  You'll notice below I cut out enough horses to line across the top of one page. Don't try to cover an area with something other than the mask design because it WILL show (I know first hand). For instance, if you cover that area with a sheet of paper, you  will see a line when you attempt to spray in that area.

Click the image to enlarge.

Step 3. I like to use a Mister with a CTMH re-inker / water mix or Glimmer Mist but you could also use ink, paint, glue/glitter, all sorts of things. The re-inker combo is cool (and fun) because you can mix it to whatever shade of color you desire and you can even add some gimmer powder to it to give it added shine.  I hold it approximately 4 - 5 inches above the area and spray until I feel it's covered. I do not attempt to even the color out. Thinner paper tends to wrinkle a little so I try to keep it from getting too wet. Sorry, no picture.

Step 4. Let dry and remove the masked image. Use a adhesive remover if necessary. Voila! Here is the final result.

Click the image to enlarge.

Here is the Nuts About Sketches sketch and the layout. If you look close you will notice that I used the masked images in the layout. They were already misted so it just made sense to incorporate them in the layout. I also included a larger horse as part of the title.

Click the image to enlarge.

Not only did I achieve the look I wanted of the pink horse on brown background but I added a really cool texture to the paper with all the residual spray. 

Let me know if you have any additional masking tips and if you try this at home, I want to see how it turns out for you.

Check back Friday for more Funky Fresh ideas!