In today’s Installment #3 of the Mask and Stencil Making Series, we will make a mask with–you guessed it–masking tape!
For this tutorial I decided to stick with the giraffe theme. (You do get it, don’t you? Stick = Masking tape? Okay, just had to make sure)
Step 1 Because I wanted to slightly vary the width of the lines, I began with 3/4″ masking tape and folded it to different widths. If you are making something other than a giraffe pattern, you may prefer to use a different width of tape. Tear off a length of tape you can comfortably work with. Try beginning with an 9″ length and adjust as necessary.
Step 2 Fold roughly 1/4″ of the tape down so it sticks to itself, thereby making the width of the tape narrower.
Step 3 Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you have several pieces of tape in slightly varying widths.
Step 4 You are going to begin making the giraffe’s grid pattern. Take one of the pieces of tape. Three inches from one end, fold the tape at an angle. Holding this angle in place, take a small piece of masking tape and tape the angle together.
Step 5 After three more inches, again fold the tape at an angle and tape into place. It doesn’t matter the order in which you create them, but eventually you want to create enclosed shapes, each one unique from one another.
Step 6 When one section of tape ends, attach the next section with a small piece of masking tape and continue the grid making process. Repeat this process until you have created a grid large enough to cover the surface you intend to color.
Step 7 Smooth and soften corners with additional tape. Add further dimension by creating small areas of greater width and shaping them with a scissor.
Step 8 Place the sticky side of the tape against a piece of your clothing a few times so that the mask is not so sticky that it rips your paper.
Step 9 Prepare your intended surface. Color it with the color of your choice. I used Heidi Swapp Mustard Color Shine. Let dry.
Step 10 Place mask down. If if does not lie flat, you can pull the mask taut and tape the outside edges to your work surface. Gently spray your second color over the entire mask.
Step 11 Carefully lift the mask off your project, set aside and let the project dry. When dry, continue on with your project in the manner you desire.
