Masking

Here's another way your Stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner is useful.  I often find I only want to use part of a stamp.  Maybe one flower out of a whole bunch, or in this example, one word from a sentiment.  Sure, I could just use my computer and print out the word I want for my card, but that won't add it to the same element as the image we stamped in the previous post. 

For this example, I want my finished image to say "Valentine, you make me smile", so we need to figure out how to add the word 'valentine' to what we already have when we don't have quite the right stamp. 

The way to do that is to use the masking technique.  Here is picture of what you will need.  Elipse tape, is nothing more than a roll of paper where the entire back has post-it note glue on it.  So, you guessed it, post-it notes work great for making masks.  The stamp I am going to hy-jack the word 'valentine' from is pictured below.  I stamped it onto the pink scrap just so you could see it on paper.

Cut off a piece of Eclipse tape and stamp your image onto the paper side.  Use a dye or chalk ink so it drys fast. 

Next, get out your craft knife and trim away the part of the image you want to show on your finished piece.  In this case I am removing 'valentine' from the stamped mask.

Set the mask asside and place the pastic sheet from the stamp positioner on your work surface.  Line up the jig with the corner like we did in the last post.  Stamp your sentiment onto the plastic sheet making sure you have it nice and snug into that corner.

Place the mask on your project so the missing word will show where you want it.  You'll note that the Elipse paper is see-through.  Post-it notes; not as much.

Layer the plastic sheet over the mask, matching up the letters, so it reads perfectly.

Add the jig, snug to the corner of the plastic sheet.  Hold the jig in place with one hand and pull the plastic sheet away.   You should now have the jig in place and the mask in place so...

...ink your stamp and snug it up to the jig in the corner.  Lower the stamp onto your project and stamp. 

Ok - that's it - go back to the top to see the finished image.  You may see a little smudge above my finished image - I was toying with the word 'happy' while putting this class together and dropped the dirty stamp.  Gah!