Merci for die cut stamps!

Here is another card we stamped tonight at my Sale-A-Bration card class. I really like this stamp set and this color combination (taken directly from the ginger blossom designer paper) but what I liked the most is how easy the die cut stamp set made the masking technique. Normally, to do masking, you have to stamp an image on a second sheet of paper and cut it out. I like cutting, so this isn't a huge deal, but even I can appreciate it when Stampin' Up! saves me a little time and effort.

With the Sale-A-Bration and Occasions mini stamps being die cut, not only are the stamps easier to mount, they also bring with them an extra bonus. The brown sheet that you normally peel off the foam and throw away now serves as the perfect mask.

When you hand-trim your stamps you do it in straight lines to avoid undercutting. This look is fine for the rubber, but it definitely does not create a nice looking mask. With die cut stamps, however, the stamps are cut with an even outline all around, so the piece you normally discard is actually really useful.

I took this photo so that you could see what I meant. In order to sponge around the main image on the card, I simply placed the brown paper I peeled off the foam when I mounted y stamp set and placed it over my image. Voila! The perfect mask.

By using this method I can be sure that I will not get the sponged ink on any of my image and that I will have a nice "halo" of unsponged card stock around the image. Very cool!

By the way, for this card I used river rock ink to sponge around the mask and then ruby red ink to sponge the edges.

Here's the card recipe:

Stamps: Merci (earn it free through Monday with a $50 purchase)

Paper: River Rock, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla card stock, ginger blossom double sided designer paper

Ink: Ruby Red, River Rock, Groovy Guava, black stazon

Accessories: River Rock double stitched ribbon, stamping sponge, blender pen, small and large oval punches