2017 #2 Specimen Box {by Alison Bomber}

2017 Topic 2: Masks

It's always lovely when someone pulls the Hot Picks stamps out of their hat, and Alison has cooked up a treat with this masking masterpiece. As you now realise, masks are generally used to 'cover' up and protect, and in this example she is using the mask to create white space that 'pops' and creates a striking focal point.

Hello all, Alison from Words and Pictures here with a Specimen Box for you.  I went around the houses on this one to come back to where I'd originally started from!  My initial idea was for a sort of three dimensional vintage botanical journal, using my favourite effect that you get from masking - the pop of an image out of the background - and so that's what I have for you (after quite a lot of detours on the way).

I'm never much of a one for fussy-cutting so, although I love the effect of ink around an image, I don't mask images very often because I find cutting the mask a bore, especially with the kinds of detailed vintage stamps I like playing with.

I adore these collaged images with the wonderful ornate script from Hot Picks 1301, 1302 and 1305, but do I want to cut masks for them all?  Fussy-cutting the butterfly, maybe, but fussy-cutting those crab claws, or those flowers... that's a big no-no in my book.

HP1301

HP1302

HP1305

HP1109 Alison hasn't used this set but it's similar, so I've added it for reference

So the Molotow masking pen seemed like the perfect solution.  Not only is there no cutting involved, but you can deal with all the fine detail so that the inking, or whatever you do over the top, gets into all the nooks and crannies.

I won't go into detailed how-to stuff, as it's really pretty straightforward - but there is something very satisfying about the moment when you start to rub away the rubbery blue masking to reveal the pure white underneath.

I'm so glad I thought of doing some spots and blotches as well as masking the main images. No big making-of details, but I do want to share some of the stop-start process of this, if only to prove that things don't always go smoothly!

The reason I went round the houses was that one of those "ought to" thoughts got in the way.  I thought I "ought to" do something more interesting than my usual vintage neutrals, so (probably influenced by the lovely Pink and Orange challenge) I started out on a bright background for my masking.  But when I stamped the first of the Hot Picks images, it just didn't work for me.  For one thing, I could see I would lose lots of my lovely backgrounds under the later layers, so I decided that rather than pursue it any further I would save the four unstamped panels for something else.

So then I headed blue/green-wards.  I stamped my images and added the masking using the Molotow masking pen but, after doing some watercolouring and inking, I found that the fluid was very reluctant to come off the cardstock I'd used (and I was also feeling unusually ambivalent about the blue/greens for some reason, even after the addition of some Vintage Photo), so it was back to the drawing board yet again.

This time I threw out the "ought to" thought, and followed my true instinct, which is what I "ought to" have done the first time!!  And with some proper watercolour paper, the masking fluid in the pen behaved itself much better.

I imagine the handwriting as notes around the flora and fauna specimens - the observations and notations recorded by a Victorian naturalist.

So I wanted to create distressed, aged papers for my botanical sketches.  In the end, I went a bit darker with my inks so that the pop of the masking would be more extreme.

And I like my little specimen labels (they're Calico Craft Parts)...

... as well as how the panels look on the ATB.  It might not be terribly complicated as a project, but I think the simplicity really works for these intricate, detailed stamps.

And I'm glad my naturalist is a sketcher rather than a collector of specimens - so it's all pictures on the outside of the specimen box rather than bodies on the inside!

Altogether, in the end, it pleases me greatly to look at, so there's a lesson there for me in trusting my instincts (which, to be honest, I usually do - so proof, rather than a lesson, maybe, that I'm right to do so!).  

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you're enjoying masking things in many ways this fortnight.  I can certainly recommend adding the Molotow pen to your tool box.

Alison Bomber
Words and Pictures
butterfly crafter on Pinterest

Those pens seems to be getting rave reviews too, so good choice Alison! I love the brown vintage tones, and I think we are all guilty of attemping to overcomplicate things, when we should probably go with our gut instinct first! I did have to laugh at your fussy cutting remark, you and I need to send Lauren into therapy for her fussy cutting extreme behaviour! She takes it to the next level! I'm with you, life is too short! Haha ~ Leandra

We hope that you  learn something interesting from our blog. Our bloggers deeply appreciate your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired! Why not join our challenge by blogging your interpretation of the current topic and link it here?

The current topic link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 26th February 2017, (note you have 3 weeks for this challenge) and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store.