Up, Up, and Away!

I received my Close To My Heart order the other day, which included products from the new “Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide”. My “star” item (the item that I got for FREE with a $100 order) was a stamp set called “Lifting Spirits”:

I love the stamps, but off the top of my head, I couldn’t think of what to do with them. So I asked my 9-year-old daughter if she could sketch me a card that uses the images in the set. This is what she came up with:

Now that you’ve seen the inspiration behind the card, let’s see how I went about creating it. What I’d like to show you with this card is the technique of masking. This stamp set has some really cute cloud images in it, which I wanted to make sure I used. But rather than space them out on the front of my card, I wanted to create a layered effect, where one or more clouds appeared to be in front of or behind others. You can do this by masking.

Here’s how: Start by stamping the clouds you want to be IN FRONT. Stamp that image again on a thin piece of scrap paper (I use Post It notes). Cut the scrap-paper image out. (Note: depending on where you are stamping your remaining clouds, you may want to cut out multiple “scrap” images, as I did below.) Put a small amount of removable adhesive onto the back of your trimmed-out image(s) and stick them directly on top of your original stamped image(s). Once you’ve done that, you can stamp the next cloud or clouds right on top of the “masked” ones:

Remove the masks, and here is what you’ll have:

I wanted to go one step further and put another cloud behind all of these, so I re-used my first two masks and created a third for the new cloud. Then I stamped again:

Here’s the final cloud cluster:

I love the dimension this technique creates! So, remember the original sketch? Here is the finished card:

I think it came out great! The color on the balloon was done by simply stamping the balloon image in black on the card, then stamping it again on two different patterned papers. Cut the pieces that you'd like from the patterned paper, and adhere to the original stamped image on the card. I used the "Chantilly" paper pack for mine. I also stamped and cut out several of the tiny cloud images and adhered them, along with the banner, with 3D foam tape. I love it. A great, big thanks to my daughter for the wonderful sketch!

If you'd like to pick up this great stamp set, or any of the fabulous NEW PRODUCTS from the "Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide", please contact me at aafaa@charter.net - or SHOP ONLINE at funforyou.ctmh.com. Let your imagination soar!