The new Masquepen is a dream come true! While masking fluid has been around for a long time, this innovation allows you to mask much more detailed areas than before. This, of course, opens up a myriad of possibilities for stampers and other artists.
In case you are not familiar with masking fluid, it is a light blue fluid that dries clear and rubbery, and easily peels off any surface. It is used to mask off an area that you want to protect while working on surrounding areas. Up until now, masking fluid was applied with a brush.
The Masquepen is a fine-tipped bottle of masking fluid. The fluid flows nicely through the tip, which has a slanted opening. You will have the most control if you hold the tip against the paper with the opening facing up. The Super Nib attachment is optional, but you need it to achieve those really fine lines.
Do you enjoy creating your own backgrounds? With the Masquepen you can create any pattern you wish, and then add color by stippling, painting, or brayering over it. The grid background on the Congrat-shoe-lations! card was created with the Masquepen and watercolors. Also, take a look at the Tie-Dye Birthday card, and see how to achieve tie-dye effect.
By masking off parts of images in different stages you can create stamp art with great detail and depth. The Tribal Man and Deco Jungle cards show two different versions of this technique. On the Tribal Man I used a combination of Masking Magic [a masking film] and the Masquepen with the Super Nib.
The Masquepen is truly a panacea for any stamper, and especially for those who enjoy scenic stamping. No more cutting out finely detailed masks! And think of all the times you have been coloring an image and had ink or paint get into an area where you wanted no color. Eyes, for example, will always get the Masquepen treatment from now on whenever I color people or creatures. The Masquepen is one more item to add to the stamper’s list of must-have tools!
