Playing with Blending Brushes

Last week, my friend Margo asked me to show her how a card she found on Facebook was made. It was so cool – and the technique is easy. But the card she found was created by a  member of the Stampin’ Up!® Artisan team. These are super talented demonstrators who share ideas each month on their social media accounts (as well as on some Stampin’ Up!® sites). I reminded Margo that while I know how to do the technique, I am no artisan by any stretch of the imagination, and she was ok with that.

Before she came over, I played around with the blending technique. Except for the fact that kangaroos are not woodland creatures (what was I thinking??), I was happy with how this turned out.

First, I started with one of the Small Blending Brushes (did you know we had these? Check out page 67 of the January-April Mini Catalog) and Daffodil Delight and Parakeet Party Classic Ink and blended into the center of where the image would be. (Tip: Since you can’t really start blending off the page, be sure to tap the brush a couple times on your grid sheet or scrap paper so you don’t get a little blob of ink that you have to cover up with trees.) Next, I added Starry Sky Classic Ink with one of the larger Blending Brushes around the edge. Start off the card stock so if you get a blob of ink, it’s on your grid sheet, not your card. Keep the edges darker, but use less ink as you more toward the lighter colors.

After I was mostly happy with the result (remember, you can add more ink if you need to), I stamped the kangaroo from the Count on Me Stamp Set. He was a little “floaty,” so I added some grass for a ground. I didn’t want the poor little thing hanging in the air for eternity. Or however long this card is kept. And finally, I added a couple trees from the Beauty of Friendship Stamp Set in Early Espresso to cover mistakes.

The sentiment, stamped in Starry Sky Ink, is also from the Beauty of Friendship Stamp Set. I die-cut it with one of the coordinating dies, but the dies retired last year or the year before. Since I still have them and they were lying right there with the stamp set, I used them, but there are many other dies that will work. Or you can simply cut it to size with your Paper Trimmer or Snips.

Before I added my kangaroo to a Daffodil Delight layer and then to a Starry Sky base, I colored him and his flower with Stampin’ Blends.

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!

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