Tuesday 10 August 2010

Brayer & Sponging Creates Scenic Cards

Using a brayer to create scenic cards can be either a quick solution or a complicated one.


I love colour and the way you can create different effects by layering - all it takes is a little knowledge of the colour wheel to determine whether you want to use harmonious or complimentary  colours to create the desired effect. A word of warning tho', If you decide on complimentary colours be very careful not to neutralize them - they will turn muddy when layered on top of each other and you probably won't be too pleased with the result.


At the recent Canberra Craft and Quilt Fair a number of my Stampin' Up!® team members and I manned a booth for the four days of the Fair. It was fun and part of the service we provided was to demonstrate some of the different stamping techniques. By Sunday I was tired and it was invigorating to sit and demonstrate for a while. Here are a couple of the samples I created. There was another one in purples that Heather admired, so she took it home to show at her next workshop.

Please be aware these are simply samples and eventually I'll make them into cards or wall art, but for now you see them in their unfinished state.

The colours are harmonious and are brayered onto Whisper White card stock from Stampin' Up!®. I've used a mask from a Post It note to create the sun setting behind the field of flowers. The stamp set is "Upsy Daisy" from Stampin' Up!® which is one of my favourite and most versatile silhouette stamps.

The next sample I stamped 3 layers of flowers using two of the colours from the background plus the compliment (green)  for the final print. See how it takes up a brownish tone?

The hills and clouds are created by tearing a strip of thin paper (such as computer paper) which is then placed against the card stock and sponged lightly at the top. Just move the torn paper at different angles to achieve the lovely hills and ensure you use darker colours towards the front of your creation.

The final sample shows how sponging th edge of the card helps to keep the eye looking at the image. The darker edges balance the brightness of the sun. Usually you'll have a bright white rim around the sun - this happens when you brayer over the positive circle (mask) then sponge in the negative of the mask. I just add a little of the lightest colour by sponge to soften the effect.

If you'd like to learn more about brayering and sponging you can contact me  I'll assist you with the products you require and you can either attend a workshop to gain tips about the technique or receive hints electronically.  Why don't you give this a try? You'll be surprised what you can achieve in a short time.

Let me know how you go

cheers

Ann




1 comment:

Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I hope you found something to inspire your creativity. Let me know you have visited by leaving a comment. I would love to hear what you think about my craft projects.
Live in Australia? You can purchase Stampin' Up! products via my On-Line Store?
Best wishes, Ann.