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Search the archive, three years of Inklings.
Ask the Artist
Our Artist in Residence, Dina Kowal, answers your questions
November 4, 2015
Q: Marianne wants to know: "I understand masking when house painting. Can you explain masking as it pertains to stamping?"
A: There's an overlapping concept between house painting and stamp masking, in that with both concepts you're keeping color out of a certain area. The purpose for masking a stamped image is to make another image appear to be positioned behind it. It's a great technique for creating a little scene, with a little pre-planning to determine which image(s) will be in the foreground, and moving back to the background. You'll stamp your foreground image first, then create a mask by stamping the same image onto lightweight paper or a sticky note, and cutting it out just inside the outline. Lay the mask over the stamped image, and stamp the image that you want to appear in the background. Remove the mask and color as usual. Click here for a basic masking tutorial and here for more masking alternatives.
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October 28, 2015
Q: Cindy says: "I've tried masking and I love it. However when I try using a solid stamp, I always get a space between the "mask" and the new stamp I'm putting down. If I use an outline image it works fine; it's just when I use the solid ones. Is this just me?"
A: The masking halo is a result of the mask being just a little bit too large. When you create your mask for an outline image, you're probably cutting on the line or just inside the line, which corrects for the thickness of your mask when you stamp a second image. When you cut your mask for the solid image, try cutting inside the shape just slightly so the mask is just a little smaller than the stamped image. That should correct the problem.
October 21, 2015
Q: Mamie wants to know: "I purchased a die and no matter what and how I try, the paper gets stuck and the pieces don't come out. I've tried running wax and foil paper to no avail. Any suggestions/trick to make them come out w/out having to use a needle to pierce them out?"
A: Most low profile, solid dies have laser cut pin holes used for pushing paper out with a pointed tool. For those that don't have this feature, or for intricate dies with many small cut areas, you can purchase ejection foam - these are very thin adhesive foam sheets the thickness of the die's blade. To apply the foam to your die, simply adhere the sheet of foam to the die, cut it to size, and run it through your cutting machine. The foam will stick to the die, but has enough cushion to allow the die to cut cardstock, then push the cardstock out when cut.
October 14, 2015
Q: Karen asks: "I just found about 180 A6 envelopes. How can I make a card to fit this size rather than the A2?"
A: I use A6 envelopes for A2 cards - the envelopes are 4 3/4" x 6 1/2" so they easily accommodate that size, especially if your card has dimensional layers or you have some photos or extras to tuck inside. You can also extend the length of your 1/4 sheet cards to 4.25" x 6" if you want to fill the length of the envelope, or use 12"x12" cardstock to cut card bases that are 4"x6".
October 7, 2015
Q: Linda asks: "I'm new to blending. I like to work with charcoal pencil; I haven't used color pencil yet. Can I use the blending stump without any solvents?"
A: Blending stumps like the ones used in this tutorial are versatile items to have in your art supply arsenal. They are a pencil-shaped tool made of hard compressed paper, and they come in a variety of sizes suited to different levels of detail in blending. Try using them dry for blending chalks, pastels, PanPastels, charcoal, and graphite. Dip them in a solvent such as Odorless Mineral Spirits, mineral/ baby oil, or rubbing alcohol to blend wax or oil based mediums such as oil pastels, wax-based or oil-based colored pencil, or crayon.
