How To Blend With A Brayer .... Part Two

Pic 1

All ready to go now? Wrists all relaxed  and floppy? Okay, lets roll.

As you can see from Pic1. Adirondack ink pads have an easy peel label on the back that gives you  advice regarding colour combination's to use for a 'tone on tone' look. I find this useful and I am going for the Willow,Citrus and Lettuce option with Pitch Black to shade the edges.

Pic 2

Pic 2 shows all the 'kit' for today and I remembered to lay my brayer on it's plastic frame not on the rubber roller!
I have cut a DL strip from my Lavinia Smooth Matt card stock and placed it on a pile of cheap copy paper. Next to this is another stack of cheap copy paper that I will use to take off the excess ink from my brayer.

Pic 3

Load your brayer with the lightest shade of  ink making sure it has even coverage right across the roller with NO gaps. (See Pic 3) Uneven coverage leads to lines and 'messy' blending
Flick your brayer three or four times over the cheap copy paper to take off most of the ink.

Pic 4. cheap copy paper on right!

All the time you are using your brayer, to take off ink, or to blend on your card stock use a QUICK FLICKING movement and be gentle!
Also, it is vital for the blending process that you just 'kiss' your card stock with the brayer. If you press too heavily your brayer will 'bite back' and give you unsightly lines...not nice!
After removing most of the ink go to your card stock (which is placed in a vertical position) and starting 'off  the page' from the copy paper, go across your work from left to right using the light flicking movements.
You should hardly see any colour!
Ink up the brayer and take off the excess ink and do the same again......repeat this over and over until you are happy with the depth of colour of your background. Pic 4 shows the pale background and how much ink is on the cheap copy paper.
Change ink pads to the next shade up and with fresh copy paper in place, ink up just half of the roller (see pic 5) Take off the excess ink by rolling across your copy paper FOUR or FIVE times. Yeah I know it's a lot but trust me I'm a card maker! You will get lines if you rush this or leave too much ink on!

Still keeping to the same 'light touch flicking method ' Brayer across three quarters of  the card.
REMEMBER to keep an eye on your copy paper as you must not allow any ink from this paper to taint the clean area of your brayer.

Picture 5

Repeat over as before until you are happy with the blending and depth of colour.

As long as you are gentle you should not get any lines as you 'blend' into the lighter section.
If you do, then don't panic, ink the roller again and take off the excess, brayer again going from left to right   until it smooths out! If you are left handed do you go from right to left.

Always, always, brayer from the beginning of your work each time. The very edge... 'off the page' and go from left to right. Please do not start from  'where you left off' or the middle. I hope that makes sense!

Repeat all of  the above using  your final darker shade.Take your time it's worth it.Once you have got the 'knack' you can blend colours very quickly. Are you asleep yet?
Part three tomorrow !
Eileen x

How To Blend With A Brayer...... Part One.

I have a few of these

This post is one of three that I hope will help if you are having problems with 'blending' while using a brayer and your dye based inks.

Part One shows you all the equipment I use to achieve the results that I like. There are other products, however, those shown here are the best ones for me.

My Brayer tree!

My brayer 'tree' is an old mug tree that I use to store and protect my brayers.

The brayers don't see the sun! (along with my stamps they stay in the dark) I never lay them down on their rubber edge as this can dent the surface of the rollers. So hanging them is tidy and saves them from damage.

You will notice I have three Speedball Brayers (soft rubber) and two hard plastic brayers with vivid red rollers in two different sizes.

I will talk about the techniques I use with this kind of brayer in part three of this tutorial.

My Favourite Card for blending

For now, I want to concentrate on the blending technique and I find I can only achieve the blending I like with my Speedball Brayer.
Next up in my equipment list of 'must haves' are the inks I use. Adirondack dye based Ink pads and Big and Juicy pads. I don't use ANY other inks on my Speedball Brayers.
I use baby wipes to clean my brayers or mild soap and water NEVER, NEVER solvent based cleaners!
Finally, the  paper I use is SO important.
Postcard size card from Clarity Stamps, Smooth 160gsm paper from the IQ premium range at Staples ( not cheap but lots of it and a cheaper way when you are learning!) and finally Matt card stock from Lavinia Stamps, most of my cards are made using this one.

You will also need piles of 'cheap as chips' copy paper... any brand will do.

When I started to brayer I got in a right old mess but after watching some DVDs from Clarity Stamps and Lavinia Stamps and getting the products that will produce the results you want, it is JUST a matter of practice and 'flicking your wrists!......
Part two ...How to Blend is.....tomorrow. Make sure all yours wrists are 'floppy' by then please!
Thanks for looking.
Eileen xx

It's A Doodle With Clarity !

On smooth white Matt card and using my brayer I blended two Adirondack ink colours, Stream and Sunset Orange ( bit bold but who cares!)
I used both of the Leafy Swirls stamps from Clarity Stamps and then 'doodled'  with a white gel pen.

Thanks for dropping by today and please keep an eye on my friend Angela's Blog She has music on it now!! Oh gawd ...what am I going to do with her!   Eileen x

More Lovely Lavinia Stamps

Hi, I am posting a quick card this evening that I made using Lavinia Stamps. The colours are perhaps a little unusual !

I  just love Lavinia stamps and really enjoy playing with them.

I watched the Ranger products show on QVC yesterday and they featured the Melting Pot ...I have one of these and I am going to dust it off tomorrow and try to produce some of the work I saw during the show.
Thanks for all your support ... I really appreciate it ...Eileen xx

A couple of Rub-on's and a Sticker.

Good evening everyone, I hope you're  having a good weekend.
I went to the Allhallows Crop today and along with loads of my crafty mates I had a super time. Thanks ladies for a great day!

 

This card was made for my friend Sheila.
The main flourish is a Rub-on, so is the sentiment. The daises are dimensional  flower stickers that I've had for ages and I think they look lovely.
I am happy to report that Sheila loved the card.
Eileen x

A Brayer And My New Lavinia Stamps.

I hope your weekend is a good one so far.
I went to a crop yesterday and had a super time with loads of crafty pals. Thanks Stephanie and all the ladies for a great time and yummy cake!

The day just flew by because I was playing with my Adirondack inks, my brayer ( I love it) and some new Lavinia stamps ....it was deep, deep joy!

This card is for my friend Barbara, ( don't look at the pictures Barbara then it will be a nice surprise!) who will be celebrating her birthday on the 31st of October.

Barbara is recovering from an operation  on her knee. Wishing you a speedy recovery Barbara.

Thanks for looking today.
Eileen xx

Our Daisy.... x

Our Daisy,
who will be a year old at the end of October.
Such a sweet nature. A total joy!

Shapeabilities Cross Collection Easter Card or Wedding card.

Hello, I just fell in love with this card when I first saw it on the FB Spellbinders Paper Arts Page.

The lady that designed and posted it there is Irina Blount.

I went on line to buy the 'Cross Collection' and have used them lots of times, as this card is ideal for so many different occasions.

I also used my Hougie Board to emboss some of the lines needed on the card stock layers.
The Spellbinder die is the 'Fleur De Lis' Shapeabilities Pendant.
Thanks for stopping by today.


Eileen x

This is what it is!

Hello ....well this is what I have been up to.
I first saw this card design in a magazine.
I think it was in Card Making Inspirations.

I used various fonts from Quickutz Dies for the numbers and Nestabilities Stars. The Snake came from 'google' and I printed it and added some Glossy Accents onto it's 'scales'!
I think it is a fun card and I enjoyed making it.
It is easy to do but takes some time with the doodling ! Give it a go....why not!
Eileen x

Flowers and a Melt Pot!

Hi everyone,
I am not posting a card today.I have been playing a lot with this new 'bit of kit.' Well, say new but I bought my Melt Pot in April at the Ally-Pally in London.

I have only just got around to using it because I saw an article in this months Craft Stamper magazine called Faux Porcelain Flowers.   I read the article and looked on the site recommended  /http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ and was hooked !!

 My first faux porcelain flower

Look at the left hand side of Sherry's site in categories, faux porcelain.
I had a great afternoon and this is what I produced ....not bad for a FIRST attempt .

I must say I got a bit 'cocky' and because my first one was not too bad I reckoned the next would be a doddle... WRONG ! the second and third attempt were rubbish ....only fit for the bin . Huh!

The  pink flower was cut with my Nestabilities (Dahlia) then coloured in with distressed inks and its dippy time into the pot!
The second and I think, better flower, was cut using the first four Blossom Nestie dies and some lovely printed paper.
I also used a heat gun on this one to smooth out the bits and bubbles left after I  had removed it from the pot.

The video on Sherry's site is easy to follow. However, she uses a different flower and a slightly different technique to the one in the Craft Stamper mag....anyway I had great fun.

Thanks for stopping by
Have a good weekend
Eileen x