Going Batty Halloween Card

 I love the Penny Black cat and Whimsy Stamps bat images and thought they would look great together on a card.  However, I didn't want to fussy cut them out so I decided to try masking the images and laying Distress Oxide inks over them.  I started with a rectangle of watercolor paper and stamped the cat onto it before applying Nuvo black sparkle heat embossing powder. After setting the powder with a heat gun, I stamped the image on a piece of scrap paper and cut it out to form a mask.  While holding down the mask, I stamped the bat image to the side and heat embossed powder onto it too.  Keeping the masks in place, I blotted some Distress Oxide inks around the images and sparingly spritzed some water onto the inks until I was satisfied with the colors.  After the paper was dry, I used a stenciling brush (see photo below) (purchased from HM BFC) to flick on the Liquitex silver ink (also purchased at HM Ben Franklin Crafts) before moving the masks.  Next, I colored in the images with Copic pens. It was simple to put this card together with double stick tape and foam dots behind the K and Co. die cut sentiment.  Covering images with masks (not the bat one on the cat LOL!) is a good way to protect the images while working on the background and really cuts down on the intricate fussy cutting.  Give this technique a try on your upcoming holiday cards. Happy Holiday Crafting!