March 2021 Technique Blog Hop – Masked Grid

Welcome to the March 2021 Technique Blog Hop! I’m excited to be a part of this fun collaboration with fellow Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators. This month’s theme is Masked Grid. Keep reading to see my project below, then make sure to hop over to the other blogs to check out more great projects featuring the Masked Grid technique.

Masked Grid

This technique is where you mask (or cover up) sections of your paper and add color and stamped images to the section not masked. As you work, you will need to move the mask around (and possibly add more) to color in other sections and cover up the finished sections. When done, remove all the masks to reveal the colorful “grid” design. You can have as many or as few sections as you would like (I went with three). I find that larger sticky notes work well as masks for this technique.

For my cards, I chose to use only three ink colors (because I only have three blending brushes so far), plus black ink for the stamping. Each card follows the same design, but I tried out four different coloring methods – Blending Brushes, Sponge Daubers, Stamping Sponges, and Sponge Brayers.

To start, I masked off the top portion of the white cardstock (the areas that would be colored blue and yellow). Then I colored in the area with Calypso Coral ink and stamped the flowers. Next, I moved the mask to cover the Calypso Coral section and added another mask to cover the area that would later be colored blue. Then I colored in the open area with Bumblebee ink and stamped the butterflies. Finally, I moved the second mask to cover the Bumblebee section (the Calypso Coral section stays covered). Then I colored in the final area with Misty Moonlight ink and stamped the dragonflies.

After all the coloring and stamping, I decided to run the Wink of Stella Glitter Brush over the stamped images for some added sparkle. I then added these layers to a regular Basic Black card base. The sentiment piece was stamped on a strip of white cardstock, trimmed, and added to the card with a couple of Dimensionals. To finish it off, I added a few pearls around the sentiment.

Here’s a look at each of the finished cards.

Blending Brushes

Sponge Daubers

Stamping Sponges

Sponge Brayers

I really enjoyed trying out the different coloring methods with the Masked Grid technique. My personal favorites are the two using the Blending Brushes and Sponge Brayers because it was easier to color those larger areas. I like the daubers and sponges for smaller areas. This technique still works great either way, so use what you have and enjoy!

Thank you for hopping to my site and checking out my project! If you saw something you love, please contact your demonstrator to place an order. If you don’t have a demonstrator, I would love to help you!

Click the NEXT button below to head over to the next blog to see their awesome project.

Here’s a list of all the other demos participating in this hop. Check out all of their posts for more great projects.

March 2021 Technique Blog Hop Roll Call

• Nicole Mahler
• JoAnn Pollock
• Carole Garrison
• Rachel Tessman
• Vy Tran
• Mackenzie Grimme (currently here)
• Kristie Strum