Using masks to make very individual backgrounds

Hi,  I would like to share a layout I’ve done where I’ve used a mask to create some dimension to the background.

For this Layout I used the Prima brick mask.
To create the background I started by white washing an area where I was going to use the mask.  Then positioned the mask and inked over it.  I repositioned the mask a number of times to cover the area I wanted to have the showing the brick pattern.

The church window was cut using SCAL on my cricut and then embossed on the Cuttlebug using a brick embossing folder.  I then rubbed some gold rubon onto the frame. 

It finished up like this –

I positioned a photo behind the church window and also cut around the photos I’d taken of the tomb with the children and the statue of the lady and positioned them in front of the window.  There is a hidden tag with journaling behind the children’s photo on the right of the layout. 

The border on the top and bottom is a Martha Stewart punch and I used different colours to give the layout a bit more dimension.  To finish the layout I added the vines which were cut on the cuttlebug and some flowers which were from a punch.  The final touch was the butterfly which is from the Collections range.

FYI the tag says –

“On our tour of the Cotswolds we stopped at this beautiful church in Burford.  It had a lot of interesting features inside including the 16^th century memorial to Edward Harman, the barber/surgeon to Henry VIII.  The monument included carvings of his family of 6 girls, 9 boys and his wife.
Every nook and corner of the church had another interesting feature including beautiful statues (like the lady in the middle of the layout) and a Ladies Chapel separate from the main chapel.  There was even a tomb with the bones on display.”

The finished church layout looks like this –

Thanks for looking and I hope you try using masks as they are a lot of fun and can make a very individual background for your Layouts.