One of our most popular blog posts on this blog has been this one, so today I thought I would pull it back out of the archives for another viewing. Quite timely actually, as we have lots of new Masking Paper rolls arriving in a shipment on Monday.

I have a confession to make… I cannot for the life of me colour in around my images with Copics. I guess it takes practice, but I don’t want to practice! Once I have spent an evening colouring in an image there is no way that I want to practice colouring in the background! I have ruined a few images trying new things, luckily most of them have been able to be saved by simply cutting them out. Who in their right mind would cut out Alicia the Strawberry Pirate unless they ruined the background, right? Now if only I could find Alicia I would turn her in to a card, but that’s another story.

Today I am going to show you how I do my backgrounds – no Copic colouring involved in these beauties! Well except for the initial colouring, of course.

Colour in your image first. You don’t want any cross contamination happening with the ink that you will use later, as that can damage your markers.
I’ve used Kraftin’ Kimmie’s Babette.

Now cut her out. I’ve used a Spellbinder’s Die Labels 8. I’ve cut it out, then ran it through the Cuttlebug again with the rubber mat to emboss the sides. Leave the image in the Die for the next step.

I have made a mask for Babette by stamping on the masking paper and then carefully cutting around the whole image. A tip is to cut out any internal pieces with a craft knife first. See in the crook of her arm where she is holding the fan and the little piece by her neck and shoulder – cut them first before attacking the rest with scissors.

Pop the mask over your coloured image.

Next I have used Distress Ink Old Paper and sponged all over the image.

I have then inked up a Prima Text stamp with Distress Ink Walnut Stain and stamped over the top.

Now remove the metal Die and ensure that you clean the ink off before using it on your next project.

Now comes the fun part. I always love this part! Gently peel off the mask to reveal the magic.

Woohoo! She’s looking good!

Now, don’t let all that hard work of cutting the mask out go to waste. Keep them for next time. I have mine stuck on a piece of acetate.

Then it’s time to turn Babette into a card. I grab bits and pieces that I think may work. I’ve used some Crate Restoration and Pink Paislee Sweetness. I’ve used the playing cards from the reverse of one of the Crate papers as I think Babette would be at home in a casino in Las Vegas.

I didn’t end up using all of those embellishments, but I did add another strip of paper from Pink Paislee Sweetness and some machine stitching.