Masterboard Magic

Hi! Linda Edkins Wyatt here with three very different projects that I created using masterboards. In case you're not familiar with the term, a masterboard is basically a large sheet of fairly heavy paper (like cardstock or watercolor paper) that you decorate, then use in other projects. For two of my boards, I cut the masterboard into smaller pieces, and for the third, I used almost the whole sheet for the project.

I decided to use my very first collection of stencils, the Lemurian Garden Collection, because they're dear to my heart. I wanted to use the same stencils with different colors and techniques to illustrate how different the final results could look. On the picture below, you can see each of the masterboards and the final products I made with them.

 Here's the stencils I started with:

These five stencils are from my very first group, the Lemurian Garden Collection.

MASTERBOARD 1:

I used an old favorite technique for the first board--torn old printed pages glued to a big piece of watercolor paper, then overprinted with stencils. I pulled pages from a yellowed medical dictionary and haphazardly ripped them, then glued them in place with matte medium.

The six photos above show how I created the background from torn book pages.

Once the board had dried (I let it dry overnight) I started stenciling with my Lemurian Tulip, sponging white paint with a wedged cosmetic sponge. I stenciled randomly around the background until it was well covered.

The four photos show my process for stenciling my Lemurian Tulip on top of the torn and glued bookpages.

MASTERBOARDS 2 and 3:

I worked on these two boards at the same time. One was a piece of watercolor paper that was a "clean-up page." It was mostly black acrylic, with bright color splotches and patches. The other masterboard started with a clean white piece of watercolor paper.

On the left, a clean white piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper, and on the right, the paint-splotched paper.

Here's how the white one (masterboard 2) developed:

I started with my Lemurian Tulip and some pretty pink paint.

 

Next, I added the Lemurian Pansy with pale blue acrylic.

I added some dots and strokes of color here and there to make the color flow around the masterboard.

Here's how masterboard 3 developed...I was working on them simultaneously, but it looks quite different from board 2 even though I was using the same colors and many of the same stencils.

The first stencil used was my Lemurian Leaf, with white acrylic.

I used all five of my Lemurian Garden stencils: the Leaf, Spiral, Pansy, Tulip, and Lily.

Once I had the masterboards finished, it was time to play!

I decided to cut up board 1 and make ATCs.

A 9" x 12" stenciled masterboard yielded nine ATCs.

I applied VersaMark ink through the stencil.

Next, I sprinkled gold embossing powder on the card and shook off the excess, revealing the Lily image covered in gold embossing powder.

I used gold embossing powder through two different stencils ( the Lemurian Lily and the Lemurian Spiral) on the ATCs. The darker color is before I applied heat, and the lighter color is the final look, after the embossing powder melted and cooled.

Board 2 was so bright and cheery that it was perfect for greeting cards. 

I cut a section of the masterboard slightly smaller than the envelope and glued it to a folded piece of cardstock.

Small binder clips (over parchment paper) ensured that all edges were glued securely.

I stamped words on thin tissue paper to see what would look best over my stenciled background.

I decided to go simple with the word hello. I carefully glued the stamped word in place.

Board 3 was just the right size to cover an old moleskin journal that my daughter had used in high school. I had saved it for years and recently rediscovered it, chock full of ideas and sketches that I had forgotten all about!

Again I used small binder clips and pieces of parchment paper to make sure the glue stuck well. The parchment paper keeps the clip from sticking to the project.

 

Once the stenciled paper was securely on the journal, I trimmed it with scissors. I discovered that the ribbon placemarker attached to the top of the journal had come unglued and fallen out. So, I decided to use some pretty sari ribbon with interesting embellishments to create a new bookmark.

Gwen Lafluer's Bazaar Finds embellishment kit had just what I needed to finish my journal.

I added a handmade (by me!) tassel, African Trade Beads, and some Turkmen Jewelry Parts.

Here's all three projects, together with the masterboards used to create them. I hope you'll give masterboards a try!