It started out to be a masterboard

Quite some time ago, my internet friend Nancy of Quilting Potpourri asked what a masterboard was.  It was at that time, I promised I would share one on my blog and possibly even write a tutorial on it.   However, there are many, many, many other artists who make them far better than I.  Two people I can think of are Helen of Stamping by H (see many examples here) and Angela at Felix the Crafty Cat (see many examples here). I actually first read about masterboards when my WOYWW friend Julia at Stamping Ground shared one she had made.

I'm fairly certain you won't find the word "masterboard" in a dictionary, and if you live in the States, the craze may not have hit in your area or you chose to ignore it.  It's very, very popular in Europe, though, especially Great Britain.   When I think of masterboard, I think of a large multiple layered sheet that is then cut into various sizes, such as ATC, inchie, moo, postcard, tag, greeting card, or other background sizes to which you then add a focal image.

You begin with the paper, and depending on what you are making, you should choose your paper wisely.  Heavy cardstock weight paper is good if you are making ATCs, moos, or inchies.  300 lb watercolor paper is good for postcards and tags, while printer/copier paper is great if you are adding the cut masterboard to a greeting card.  I've started with cardstock weight paper, because I originally had an ATC project in mind.  Of course, my mind slipped its one track and deviated after awhile.  That's when I decided to join Moo-Mania and More for their Autumn Mood challenge.

Since the idea behind the multi-layered background seems to revolve around stamping, stamping, and more stamping, I was hoping for something quick and easy. But right now, the idea I had was to create a few of my own stamps.  After all, I'm not really a stamper, so I was hoping this would cover any mistakes I might make.  Again, I apparently didn't think this part through.

I began with a clean lid from a take out styrofoam container and a stylus.

I didn't want the recycle insignia to be part of or show in the stamped area, so I had to cut around it.

I decided to create designs in two of the styrofoam pieces and leave two plain. 

My fingers don't have much pinch grip, so picking these up after they've been stamped would be a real disaster.   Out came my trusty tape gun and tape.

This is a really lousy photo, but I have folded the tape in half, leaving wings on each end and pressing it to itself in the center.

After pressing the wings in place and centering the "handle" the best I could, I cut the excess wings from the styrofoam stamp.

Now even a klutz like myself could lift and use this "stamp."

Then it was time to repeat the process for the rest of the "stamps."

You might notice that I have returned items to their "homes" as I completed each task and before I took a photo of the next step.  That keeps my very small and limited space as clutter free as possible.

I had an autumn and Halloween theme in mind because of the Moo-Mania and More challenge, so grabbed the only autumn inspired paint I own.  Now most masterboard artists would use ink, such as distress, dye, pigment, or solvent in the form of ink pads or reinkers.  I wanted something a bit different, thus the reason I created the styrofoam stamps.  I don't like getting paint on my rubber or even acrylic stamps, thus my desire to create my own.

I laid out the paint on my tray and placed a paper (kitchen) towel handy to blot off excess paint before I stamped.  I was going for a "dry brush" effect.

No need to worry about the "dry brush" effect, because I liked the effect I got when I squished the stamp into the paint.

I admit this is NOT what I originally planned, but the project began to take on a mind of its own.

Next came yellow paint, which pushed the process even more off course.   At this point, I thought it looked incredibly bland, so I grabbed some of my wax linen thread

and tried to run it through the third paint, although, because of my lack of grip, I dropped the thread in several places, so it made unintended marks I had to live with.   It was time to allow the paint to dry, so I left these pages that originally were to be masterboards, but had turned into something different, to dry.

This morning I began stamping, then remembered to take a photo of the stamp and new tool my internet friend Mo (Mass of Hair) of So Much TO Learn had sent me.  I confess, it didn't help much because my stamping still sucked!  Yes, SUCKED.

I filled a total of four sheets of cardstock weight 12 inch by 12 inch paper with these designs, although I varied the placement of the rubber stamps.

My original plan of creating ATCs had gone out the window 

as did my plan to turn this into a masterboard as soon as the project took on a mind of its own.  I'm not sure what I'll do with these, but they will make good backgrounds for something autumn or Halloween inspired, I'm sure.

Thanks for making it through this far, and, even though I didn't make a masterboard as planned, I was able to make something that fits Moo-Mania and More's challenge.  I hope you also noticed that you can make art out of recycled items for a very little money.  As always, I greatly appreciate your wonderful comments.