Pigment Ink Mist + Masking Fluid

Yesterday I shared how I mixed up a bit of wayward Pigment Ink (reinker) with Ranger's Stamp Cleaner to make a handy dandy Pigment Ink Mist.  Today I wanted to show you a great technique to pair it with.   Of course you could use the plastic masks on the market but you could also try it with your own hand cut or die-cut shapes.  Remember if you do use a die-cut machine you can use the "negatives" (the paper left over from the die-cut shape) as a mask too!  I've also used punchies and stickers as masks as well.

SO, those ideas aside I wanted to talk about Masking Fluid....  It's a great medium that is used alot in watercolor painting but it's also perfect for rubber stamping as well.  Now, masking fluid is a bit pricey - it was 13.00 for the bottle I have BUT it lasts forever...you use such a small amount on each project a single bottle will literally last you years.  And if you use a 40 or 50% off coupon it's really inexpensive.

Masking Fluid is a sticky medium that usually comes in a bottle so it will need to be applied to your paper using a paint brush or something similar.  You can paint virtually any design onto your paper to create images, shapes, blocking, lettering, etc. 

I also wanted to mention that I used this technique on a variety of materials - Georgia Pacific Cardstock, Ranger's Tag, and a couple different brands of cardstock.  It all worked very well.

NOTE: If you do not want to purchase the Masking Fluid you can substitute Rubber Cement for the Masking Fluid.  You will be a bit limited on what you can do with it design wise as it is very difficult to paint or spread rubber cement as thin as the Masking Fluid.  Rubber Cement however will work great for larger more graphic designs.

O.k....to start out, paint a design onto your foundation.  For the first example I painted a few flowers, stems, leaves and a butterfly on the tag.  You will notice that this masking fluid starts out white.  As it dries it will become invisible.

For the second example I flicked the masking fluid onto my foundation....

Then I used my canned air and blasted each dot of masking fluid....

Now, you MUST let the masking fluid dry.  This is the hardest part for me because I hate to wait.  But you really need to.

After the fluid has dried, mist with the Pigment Mist (or any other type of mist in your collection).  Let this layer of ink dry completely.  This may take a while but I used my heat tool to speed it along ;) 

NOTE: if your paper isn't completely dry before you move onto the next step you will tear parts of your paper and design away when you remove the masking fluid.

Once the paper has dried, dab off the excess ink from the masking fluid.  Use your finger, an eraser or an adhesive eraser (the little rubber thing you rub excess adhesive from your projects) to remove the Masking Fluid.  Sometimes you can pick at one edge and peel it right off...other times you can just rub if off completely.  Either way it comes off easily and if your paper is dry it will not effect the colors or paper.

Here you can see how the black mist has covered and muted various areas of the paper while the masked areas are bright and  vibrant.

Here is the tag that I added flowers and leaves....

And a couple more examples....

This is a very easy way to really make a highly personalized piece of art! 

There are no limits to the designs you can create.  I think this is one of my favorite ways to make my own background papers for cards, ATC's, Gothic Arches and so much more.

I hope you will give it a try!