Blendabilities - A Game Changer

If you're at all interested in the new alcohol markers from Stampin' Up, this one's for you. Maybe you don't use a lot of Stampin' Up stamps, but you use the colors because you don't have time for matching every random brand of paper, ribbon, and ink out there. Or maybe you do use a lot of Stampin' Up stamps, but tend to gravitate more toward the solid image stamps, or stamps that require very little to no coloring. If you're in either of these categories, and you're interested in a way to color your images without all of the guesswork, the Blendabilities markers are something you're going to want to take a look at.

Some of us have amassed a frighteningly large amount of stamps that we rarely, if ever use. For a lot of us, the reason they collect dust is because there hasn't been an easy or fiscally sound method of coloring them, other than watercoloring. I'm not so great with a paint brush. Even so, the muted colors aren't always what I'm looking for. I want something vibrant, but not blah. I want something that won't cause my bank account to go negative. Most importantly, I want something that matches my cardstock, designer series paper, buttons, and ribbon.

Some of us might have bought alcohol based markers at some point. Maybe we used them. We might have even managed to color successfully with them only to find that we would have to find new paper and purchase it elsewhere. Or, maybe they have been collecting dust with the stamps that we never use because we have nothing to color them with.

Here's my quick photo enhanced story. I like cute stamps, cats, critters, kid's things. Love them. Stampin' Up has had some great ones, but I've bought others as well. This photo is roughly 5% of my unused stamps. The rest are in boxes that I haven't unpacked.

 

I apologize for the photo quality. It illustrates my point. Cute stamps, but they rarely get touched. Yes, the ones on top are new releases. Old habits die hard. I never stopped buying those cute stamps that I really had no way to color. The next one might be familiar. I know I'm not the only one who has bought them only to have them become a decoration.

I present to you Mr. Meanie face. I bought them, they were on sale, but still cost a small fortune. My husband says they were $125, so I figure they were double whatever I told him I spent. They have sat on my desk and intimidated me for 2 years. In December, I did get distracted from a project with a deadline to play around with them. I colored a few things that weren't too awful considering I didn't know what I was doing.

Again, I apologize for the poor photo quality. Not half bad for having no clue how to use them. However, the next photo illustrates why I didn't continue to play with them.

Ok, so the coloring isn't terrible, but was that going to match my Season of Style DSP? No. Did it match any of my card stock? No. Up until 3 weeks ago, things remained unchanged. Then a game changer entered the market, and my craft room.

 

Blendabilities! Yay! As a demonstrator, I was able to preorder these. My experience with Mr. Meanie face up there left me unsure of how to feel about these. I was a bit intimidated at first, but that quickly faded. Now I find myself looking through my old stash of neglected stamps for images to color. I will point out that these markers cost significantly less than the others, and left zero guesswork. I spent a lot on other markers that weren't in that first set to try to get close matches, but had no luck.

In less than 10 minutes, I was able to stamp, color, and cut to create this. I love cats. I can't resist those cute little sets. I'm quite happy to have the Blendabilities to color them with now. I can't get enough of these markers. I'm not an expert, and I'm sure he looks pretty flawed to all of the Copic pros out there, but I'm quite happy with him. Happy enough to share my final picture, a close up of my coloring.

As you can see, I opted not to color the bag, but I could have. I chose to go with the DSP paper piecing to keep my card interesting. 

That about sums it up. I will say that coloring with the Blendabilities is not quite the same as the Copics, but it seems quite a bit easier. Idiot proof might be the better term. Maybe it's because I've gotten used to them. If I had taken the time to work with the others, I may well have developed an easy routine. You're going to love these markers. I know I do. I'd like to clarify that I am not bashing Copics, or people who love them. I'm merely sharing my personal experience and opinion of the new Blendabilities markers compared to my experience with Copics.