Finally!

Hey!

It's taken me a while but here is a tutorial on brayering; I was planning on doing this sooner but the batteries went in my camera and for once I didn't have any new ones! I hope it's OK, I'm not super at teaching via text and pics, I'm a kinesthetic learner myself!

First things first, I like to work on glossy card for brayering. I find it blends ink fantastically well and is quite forgiving on harsh brayer marks and my mistakes!

I like to stamp my main image first that will be at the forefront, colour it in and emboss with detail clear embossing powder. If you haven't got clear embossing powder don't panic, you could use a masking technique but I find that kinda fiddly and time consuming!

So for my little doll (yup, still lovin' that Hero Arts set LOL!), I stamped her using Memento Black ink. I coloured her in using Letraset Promarkers (Ivory, Pastel Pink & Blush for her skin, Berry Red & Cocoa for her top with Pastel Yellow and Gold for the bottom of her top).
I then coloured over the whole image with a VersaMark pen. When doing this it's best to colour over the light shades first, gradually getting darker. Don't freak out that you've wrecked your VersaMarker like I did the first time - you just need to scribble on scrap paper after to get rid of the colour the pen picks up! Next, add detail clear ep and heat.

Next I tore some scrap paper to create the landscape and placed it over the paper secured with masking tape (Keeping the other piece of torn scrap paper to do the sky later).
Now for some fun brayering to commence! I loaded my brayer with Whispers Ink Savoy Green (I'm desperately trying to use these inks up so I can invest in some new juicy pads!) and rolled away!

To add some more texture and detail I sponged SU! Old Olive ink on top, paying particular attention to the edges and the torn paper line. I don't use fancy sponges, just the kind I can do the washing up with (though obviously not the same sponge for ink and soap suds LOL!) After applying the ink I used a piece of kitchen towel to wipe the ink from the doll I embossed. I find I use more kitchen implements for craft time rather than time in the kitchen!

Using the other half of the scrap paper as a mask for the grass, I then brayered the sky. I didn't actually have a nice juicy blue ink to use so had to use the top half of a Marvy blending ink pad! This was kinda tricky - I must get my hands on a nice light blue - any recommendations?
(Apologies, I took this pic after brayering and moving the mask so I know that there's some grass showing in this pic but I swear that it was covered accurately whilst brayering - the pic is just for demonstration!)

To make the sea and horizon I just placed a straight piece of paper across my sky (keeping the grass mask on too!) and brayered the darker shades of my Marvy Blending Block, sponging Whisper Royal Blue ink towards the horizon line to add detail. As you can tell from the pic, my brayer has had its fair share of ink! Although it's stained this ink never transfers onto my work, I usually use baby wipes (Alcohol-free) to clean it after inking.

It was only at this point I realised my big mistake! I'd forgotten the sun, Oooops!!!! I'm ALWAYS doing stuff like this - I get so into brayering I forget what the end result was supposed to be LOL!
So with another piece of glossy card, I cut out a circle and inked it with Whispers Sunshine ink, sponging with Whispers Butterscotch ink along with SU! Ruby Red ink to give it some detail. (Normally I'd cut a circle out of a post-it note before brayering the sky to create a circle to colour.)

Before I stuck my sun on I decided that I wasn't happy with the sky. Being the perfectionist I am I had to do something about it otherwise it would nag me! I sponged Whispers Azure Seas around the edges of the sky (strange to be using a shade named about the sea for the sky but if it works, go with the flow!)

Finally, I stuck on the sun (along with cursing myself for forgetting about it!) and added detail with a white gel pen to the sea and doll herself. I also used a black pen to draw the birds; that sky was looking pretty empty without them! Then with my Letraset Promarkers I created the shadow under the doll (using shades Ice Grey 2 & Ice Grey 4). When applying the marker I usually dab the ink with kitchen towel to help blend it more. When making a shadow, just think where the light source is coming from and where the shadow would cast itself. I've been known to actually get a torch and an object to work this out when I know my brain isn't up to it!

Now for the hardest part (for me, that is!) getting it to look good on a card! I picked some K&Co paper from the Amy Butler Belle Mat Pad with colours that could be picked out of my scene. I would normally mat and layer the scene more but the size of card (DL size) wouldn't allow for layers this time. So to compensate I added both buttons AND ribbon although I'm not entirely happy with my ribbon. I so wish I could tie gorgeous bows but for me it's always safer to stick to simple knots! Anyways enough of my self-criticism: here's the final piece!

Ta-dah!

I hope you enjoyed reading my tutorial and may even be inspired to have a go at it yourself! Remember: if I can do it, nearly anyone can LOL! I'm also open to any comments, questions or even requests for future posts!

Thanks for stopping by!
Aimes
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