Keeping it Clean & Simple With Stampin' Up's Blendabilites

When I think Blendabilities, or Copics for that matter, images of beautifully detailed flowers enter my head. Since I prefer clean & simple cards, I've always thought that alcohol markers just weren't for me. I couldn't make a shabby chic or collage card if I tried. I'm also terrible at using traditional coloring methods like watercoloring. I wasn't expecting to love Blendabilities as much as I now do. I ordered them with the expectation that they would end up collecting dust with the Copics that I bought in 2011. I am so glad that I tried something new! They are now my favorite crafting tool.

I've wanted to make this card since I bought the Countless Sayings I photopolymer set. I even colored it in on a practice sheet that I stamped when I first got my Blendabilities. This card goes to show that in just 5 minutes or less you can still make a card that isn't boring. I toyed with the idea of adding sequins or enamel dots, but I wanted something that could be created with very little cost. You could make an entire set of these cards in less than an hour. 

If you still are on the fence about Blendabilities, I would recommend starting with 2 or 3 colors. My favorites to work with are Cherry Cobbler, Rich Razzleberry, and Daffodil Delight. I love all of them, but I found these to be a bit easier to work with when I had no clue of how to use them.

Also, if you're just starting out and finding that you're having trouble blending, I would recommend trying the Copic Mini Pack card stock or Xpress Blending Card. I was unable to do much of anything on Whisper White when I first started out. I switched to Xpress Blending Card and found it much easier. Once I was able to color an image with some degree of confidence, I found it much easier to color on Whisper White. Just a tip, I know I'm probably not supposed to recommend anything but Stampin' Up product, but I want you to learn to love your Blendabilities. If it takes using a different brand of card stock, I don't see the harm.

All supplies from Stampin' Up!

Stamp: Countless Sayings I Photopolymer

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White Card Stock

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities, Dimensionals 

 

Simple Salutions Challenge - Turned into Gift Set for New Neighbor

I was making my card for the Simple Salutations Challenge at MFPSpeedyTV, and then I just kept going. Normally I would do a separate post for the card and the set, but I'm not feeling well at all and need to go lay down. Just wanted to get this posted before I retire to the couch.

The new neighbors had introduced themselves to me yesterday only minutes before I sat down to decide what to make for the challenge. The challenge was to use only cardstock on the card. I had so much fun making one that I decided to make a set of them to give as a gift to the new neighbors. 

The set didn't take very much time to put together, or maybe I was enjoying it so much that I didn't notice time passing. I made 5 matching cards, included 5 envelopes, some first class forever stamps, and made a matching pen. I made it a set by putting it in a 4 1/2" x 6" x 1" clear gift box that I picked up at a local craft store. 

 All supplies are from Stampin' Up with the exception of the stamps

Stamps: Furry Cat & Box(Simon Says Stamp), Simply Celebrate

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Pumpkin Pie, Raspberry Ripple, and Whisper white card stock, Brights Collection DSP Stack, Polka Dot Parade DSP

Accessories, Blendabilities Markers, Copic Markers(for the brown & gray), Glue Dots, Pen, Hello Honey Ribbon, Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine Essentials Hardware Clips, Whisper White Envelopes, Clear Box, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

Crazy 4 Challenges - Newton's Birthday Bash

I am still having a lot of fun with my Blendabilities markers. I have found that my Newton's Birthday Bash set is a perfect match for the markers. Good thing, because I love my markers and my cats. This was created for the Crazy for Challenges Color Challenge(C4C237), which required the use of orange, turquoise, and kraft. I'm so glad I finally have a way to color my line image stamps AND match all of my papers and inks! These things have made card making way more fun!

All supplies are from Stampin' Up with the exception of the cat stamp, which is by Newton's Nook Designs.

Endless Birthday Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set #137553

Point & Click PLxSU Photopolymer Stamp Set #135787

Whisper White Card Stock #100730

Crumb Cake Card Stock #120953

Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Pad #126945

Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine(from the Tag a Bag Accessory Kit) #130153

Momento Tuxedo Black Stampin' Pad #132708 (Available June 2nd)

Pumpkin Pie & Coastal Cabana Blendabilities Markers, flesh tones & Cherry cobbler for ears, used Kissing technique to get Cherry Cobbler on the flesh tone marker to create pink (Available Mid-Summer)

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. 

More Fun With Blendabilities & Vivid Vases

I've been wanting to make this card for almost a week, but things just keep getting in the way. I will admit that I finally settled and called it finished, even though I wasn't overly happy with much of it. It isn't really my style, but it was for a challenge, and that's kind of the point of challenges. This one was made for the color challenge over at Mark's Finest Papers. If you haven't checked them out yet, I would recommend doing so. Every challenge has a prize. They have challenges 7 days a week. I can't find a reason why not to play along!

As always, feel free to CASE my work. I don't need any recognition, but please don't make exact copies of my work and claim them as yours for your own financial gain. Thank you!

All products used are from Stampin' Up! unless noted.

  Vivid Vases Stamp #133818
A Dozen Thoughts Stamp Set #131059

Bermuda Bay Stampin' Pad #131171

Bermuda Bay Card Stock #131197
Daffodil Delight Card Stock #119683
Whisper White Card Stock #100730

Stamp-a-ma-jig #101049
Circles Framelit Dies #130911
Big Shot #113439
Momento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad #132708(Available June 2nd)
Blendabilities Markers(Available mid-summer, or now if you sign up as a demonstrator)

Shop Now!

Cornering Vivid Vases

I created this card for the sketch challenge over at Pals Paper Arts. I was a bit intimidated by the challenge when I saw it earlier in the week, and was actually thinking of skipping it. When I started playing around with different ways to configure the Vivid Vases image, I had a bit of a light bulb.

For my card, I chose to use a technique I call "cornering" to ink my stamp. I'm sure there is a real term for it, but I call it cornering, because you color the part of the stamp you want to use with the corner of your ink pad, using it like a marker. If you look at the image, you'll notice that I reconfigured my 3 vases a bit. A stamp-a-ma-jig is required to do this. I wanted two of the same vases on my ends, so I made it work. Normally I'd just use paper piecing to do this, but I wanted to try something different. I was tempted to use paper piecing after the coloring didn't turn out so well on this. I put my Blendabilities down for a week, and I swear I forgot how to use them. My 3 year old breaking into them to "make pretty blue dots" on the 8 rows of vases I'd stamped was not a huge help. This combo was good enough for me. I'll work on perfection when I can sit down more comfortably and the kids are in school. Supplies used listed below image. Thanks for looking! Have a blessed week!

 

Supplies are Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.

Six Sided Sampler Clear Bundle #132724

Vivid Vases Stamp #133818

Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad #131171

Bermuda Bay Card Stock #131197

Whisper White Card Stock #100730

Brights Collection DSP Stack #130134

Stylish Stripes TIEF #132174

Circles Framelit Dies #130911

Envelope Liners Framelit Dies #132172

Stamp-a-ma-jig #101049

Stampin' Dimensionals #104430

SNAIL Adhesive #104332

Big Shot #113439

Momento Tuxedo Black Ink #132708(Available June 2nd)

Blendabilities Markers(Available mid-summer)

Lacey Circles Nestabilites(by Spellbinder)

 

 

Blendabilities & Giggle Greetings - An Accidental Card

I was playing around with the idea of just not doing the color challange over at Splitcoast this week because I was just drawing a total blank with the color palette. Real Red, Daffodil Delight, and Old Olive. The only thing I could think of was flowers. I've had enough flowers for the week. Then I decided to play with my Blendabilities a bit. I didn't want to look at flowers, so I dug out my Giggle Greetings stamp set. I stamped a few, because I figured I would be making plenty of mistakes working with such small spaces. This was the first one I did. I realized when I was coloring those cherries red that I could use yellow and green on the bowl instead of the blue I was planning to use. My son said, "it's not bad for a noob". I must say that I agree with him.

Thanks for looking! Here's the "recipe" for the card:

For the Birds Stamp Set

Old Olive Card Stock

Whisper White Card Stock

Brights Designer Paper Stack

Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon 
Glue Dots
Stampin' Dimensionals 
SNAIL Adhesive 

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink - Available Soon!

Blendabilities Markers in Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, & Real Red - Coming Soon(yay!)

Stampin' Up Blendabilities Basics - The Video

Apparently the people who requested this were never told to be careful what they asked for, or at least they didn't heed the advice. I hate speaking to anyone other than my cat, unless I know you, so this one was hard. Doing it alone with a tripod and no clue what I was doing, well, it's my first. I'll do better next time, if there is a next time. Just a video for those of you who asked or may have questions about the basic blending techniques with Stampin' Up's Blendabilities markers.

Not a Flower!

(Stamps: Vivid Vases, Express Yourself, Gorgeous Grunge. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, StaZon Jet Black, SU Crumb Cake. Paper: Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, & Whisper White Card Stock, Coastal Cabana DSP. Accessories: Deco Labels Framelits, Banners Framelits, Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, & Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities, SNAIL Adhesive, Glue Dots, Dimensionals)

 

This is my first attempt at coloring anything other than a flower with large open spaces. Not a ton of colors to work with...yet. I'm looking forward to the full release of these. I will probably be supplementing with some Copics for what I don't have. I am terrible at watercoloring, so the Blendabilities are a good fit for me.

 

This was a simple card to color and piece together. I started by coloring the image on Whisper White card stock, then ran it through the Big Shot with the Deco Labels die. I stamped the sentiment on a 1/2" thick strip of Rich Razzleberry that had been run through the Big Shot with the Banners die on both ends. I used my new favorite accessory, the Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alignment. So much less waste(and frustration). After running the Coastal Cabana DSP through the Big Shot with the largest Banners die I stamped Gorgeous Grunge at random on Crumb Cake with in of the same color.

 

It's quite a quick and easy card, but it is by no means plain and boring. Time from concept to taking a photo of it was less than half an hour. Not too bad considering that most of that time was spent choosing my papers and sentiment. Still keeping it clean and simple, just the way I like it. 

Happy Mother's Day!

(Stamps: Blended Bloom, Teeny Tiny Wishes. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Rich Razzleberry. Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White. Accessories: Rich Razzleberry & Old Olive Blendabilities, Brights Designer Buttons, White Baker's Twine, SNAIL Adhesive, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, and of course paper snips)

I would like to say Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there. My mother is the most amazing woman I know. I have always looked up to her and strive to be more like her. She is kind, patient, giving, intelligent, beautiful, and just about as close to June Clever as it gets. She dedicated her life to making sure our family was taken care of and happy. She still does this today, even though she has no obligation to. My mom is just a special person, my words can't do her justice.

This is the card that I made for her this year. Hopefully she gets home from church and opens it before peaking at my blog. This was my first try at using the all new Blendabilities markers. It is a clean and simple card, but there is nothing simple about it.

I started by using the Blendabilities markers to color in Blended Bloom, one petal at a time. I cut the flower(no die for this one) and used Dimensionals to adhere to a piece of Whisper White. The Dimensionals give it just the right amount of pop. Before threading the White Baker's Twine through the button, I took my medium and dark shades of Rich Razzleberry to it. I had to try it. I hear it works well on the organza ribbon, can't wait to give that a try. If you attempt to color anything that is slow to absorb, like ribbon or thread, use care in handling it until it is dry. It can take a few minutes to an hour, depending on the material colored. 

I adhered the white to a square of Rich Razzleberry with SNAIL, then adhered both to the 4 1/2"x 4 1/2" card with glue dots, just to keep it from being to flat. I added the threaded button with 2 glue dots to finish it off. 

A note on the coloring: This was my first attempt at using the markers. While the blending went well, you can see that not a lot of thought was given to shading and highlighting. I take no shame in it. We all start somewhere. A lot of my friends have yet to share their work anywhere online, and I think they do beautiful work that should be shared with the world. I'm hoping that sharing my not even close to perfect work can help inspire those of you who are still holding back to inspire some of your work. 

Thanks for looking. And again, a big thanks to all of the moms out there for being the glue that holds this world together! I love you, Mom!

Blendabilities Basics

(Stamp: blended bloom. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black. Blendabilites: Cherry Cobbler & Daffodil Delight. Paper: Whisper White)

(Stamps: Secret Garden. Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black. Blendabilites: Cherry Cobbler & Rich Razzlebery. Paper: X-Press Blending Card)

I apologize for the image quality. It's about as good as I can get with 2 screaming kids and a cat that has been hell bent on sending my Big Shot from my desk to the floor. I haven't spent much time working with alcohol based markers, but was quite excited when I was able to preorder the Blendabilites(being a demo has it's perks!). I think the belief has been that the Blendabilities would function exactly as Copics. This is not accurate, though they are similar. On that note, a common misconception in the stamping world is that Copics are more or less an "Artist in a Box." They are not.

They are easy to use once you get the basics down, but even then a basic knowledge of shading and highlighting is definitely needed. The look of an image colored with alcohol based markers of any brand is indeed very unique and hard to replicate with any other medium. I personally believe that they are worth taking the time to get acquainted with. I have always loved the look of art that has been at least somewhat skillfully colored with them. I am still learning, but there are some basics that I've picked up.

1. Start with your darkest marker and end with the lightest.

2. Work fast. Time is NOT your friend. Flowers are the best place to start as they allow you to take things one petal at a time. 

3. Use ONLY Momento Tuxedo Black ink. If you are trying to use StaZon, you will blend it in, since it too is alcohol based.

4. PAPER MATTERS! I can't stress this enough. I will not assume that just because a person forks over what some might consider to be a small fortune on markers that they buy the best paper. Why? Because that HP printer card stock, well it doesn't function the same as Whisper White, at all, not even for basic stamping. I know this because I have tried to cut costs in all of the wrong places before. Totally guilty of it. Two paper choices that I recommend are Whisper White and X-Press Blending Card(not a Stampin Up item). I prefer the X-Press Blending Card myself. Blending seems to go a lot more smoothly on it. I have also found that the end result is a better match to the papers and accessories. 

5. Use the fine tip, not the brush. The brush doesn't apply the pressure needed to move color from point A to point B. 

6. When you are done shading with your lightest shade, start to pull from the light area through the medium and dark areas. This will help blend. I see a lot of people using the "blender pen" for this. Some situations it may be the best option, but unless you are trying to remove ink because you put down too much, it isn't the best tool for this. Just start at the top of your light area with your lightest color and flick down, maybe throw in a few blending circles down in your darker area, and see what happens.

7. Don't expect to get it on the first try. There is a reason they've allowed us to preorder these. It's so we have time to get familiar with them and find a method that works best for us. Don't compare yourselves to others. Some people have an eye for shadowing and highlighting, most of us don't. You'll get there, and when you do, you will have something that even makes you say "wow" every time you look at it.

8. Don't be afraid to ask. Most of us would be more than happy, especially when we know there isn't an over abundance of information available, to answer any questions. If you're on Stampin' Connection, Splitcoast, or someone's blog, don't hesitate to send them a private message and ask for tips. After all, we are demonstrators. We have a passion for what we do, and we love sharing our knowledge with others. Most of us at this point wouldn't see a question as an inconvenience, but more of a compliment, since we are all winging it.

9. Each color behaves differently. Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler, and Rich Razzleberry are the colors I would recommend starting with. Just as we have developed our own way of working with every other product we sell, or have sold in the past, we will one day work with these without much thought. It will become natural the more you do it.

10. Share your work and ask for tips. No one is judging. Most of us are far too busy criticizing our own work to take the time to look at others work and scoff. Again, helping and sharing what we do know is what we love to do.

I apologize for the layout of this post. My computer, which I despise anyway, has been taken over by my hubby. I'm posting from an app on my iPad. If it only had the controls that are available on the PC I'd be in love. I will be posting a photo heavy tutorial on my blog tomorrow along with a downloadable PDF step by step for use at classes. All I ask is that you don't charge for any classes that you happen to hand the tutorial out at. Also, please don't charge for online tutorials that are a copy of my work. I don't believe in charging to teach people how to use products that they buy from me. A minimum order requirement is fine. Due to high demand, I will get over the fact that I HATE my voice and have dry, cracked hands and make a video tomorrow.