My regular readers will know that I love colouring. Just recently I seem to have been obsessed with Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. It’s hard not to be when it’s so easy to get great results, especially over larger areas. But that’s not the only way to add colour to a project. Today’s idea using a Blending Brush was one of those that just popped into my head. It’s a lot less precise than Stampin’ Blends but it certainly was worth the try.
BLENDING BRUSH BACKGROUND
I began with a 2″ x 5-1/2″ piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card and a Cherry Cobbler ink pad.
Using a Blending Brush in a light circular motion I brushed on the colour little by little from the top right corner. Then I turned the piece around and did the same thing in the diagonally opposite corner.
TIP – The trick with a Blending Brush is to build up the ink gradually, starting from an edge. This will enable you to avoid harsh lines and dark spots that will be more challenging to blend out later.
As I added more ink I made the colour darker towards the edges of the card. I also wanted to leave a much lighter area towards the centre where I planned to stamp my sentiment.
After all the inking was done it was time to stamp. So from the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set I chose the large complete poinsettia image. Then using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it across each of the coloured corners. Finally I stamped “Happy Holidays” in the centre.
BLENDER PEN DETAIL
One of the problems with stamping onto this Blending Brush technique is that it is quite imprecise. This meant the tiny flowers at the centre of the poinsettias were red and a bit lost. But I had a plan to remedy that.
Using a Blender Pen I carefully tapped the tip onto each small flower area to lift off the Cherry Cobbler ink. Each time I did this I cleaned the removed ink from the tip of the Blender Pen by scribbling onto some scrap paper.
TIP – When removing ink from your project, don’t ‘scrub’ with the Blender Pen as it will damage the surface of the card. Just allow the solution in the pen to gently lift off the ink. Then make sure the area is completely dry if you plan to add a replacement colour.
Once the tiny areas were lightened I coloured them in using the bullet tip of a dark Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker. The result was subtle, but that’s pretty much how poinsettias are anyway.
Now I was ready to turn the completed strip into a bookmark. So I shaped one end and added the ribbon hole using the Delightful Tag Topper Punch.
To finish, I threaded some gold 3/8″ Fine Art Ribbon through the hole. Then with a Mini Glue Dot on either side I secured the ribbon in place. And there you have it, some very colourful poinsettias with very little actual colouring needed.
What do you think of this technique? I quite like the effect and will very likely try it again on a larger project. Watch this space!
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