*Request* Basic Brayer Techniques

Today I have a requested technique for a few people that I've been meaning to get to for a while now (thanks for waiting ladies!). Janie and her friends in Canada asked to see a few basic brayer techniques.  They were lucky enough to get a great deal on some brayers from a local shop but had no clue on what to do with them so they asked me to share a basic brayer technique or two. 

Here you go ladies....

Basic Brayer - Ink Application

1. Ink your brayer by rolling it across the ink pad several times.  I like to roll it until I can see a nice even coat of ink across the entire roller.

2. Apply the ink to your cardstock by placing your brayer just off the edge of the paper and make one complete pass over the paper from edge to edge.  If additional ink is desired, roll from edge to edge again. 

Tip: Don't push your brayer back and forth. Since the roller never leaves the paper you will end up inking the same exact areas over and over without really covering the whole area.  Just remember edge to edge.

Easy Rainbow Brayering (If you don't have a rainbow ink pad)

1. Choose 2-3 colors of ink (or more if you're feeling adventurous!).  For this example I'm using primary colors - red, yellow and blue.  

2. Ink up approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the brayer with the first color; roll it onto the paper - edge to edge.

3. Roll the brayer across scrap paper to remove any excess ink and clean the roller with your favorite rubber stamp cleaner.   I know...CLEAN it??? Yes, it's easy and only takes a minute.  This prevents ink buildup on the roller which tends to get muddy after one or two additional colors.

4. Apply your next color in the same fashion as you did the first.  Apply the ink to the paper slightly overlapping the first.  This will naturally blend both colors creating a third.

5. Remove the excess ink on the scrap paper and clean the roller.

6. Add additional colors of ink, overlapping the previous color when you apply the ink to the cardstock.  Remember to clean the roller between each new color.

and here is what your Inky Rainbow might look like....

For a bit of interest I spritzed some stamp cleaner into my hand and flicked it onto the cardstock.  Let it set for a few seconds then dab away the cleaner. 

Don't throw away your scrap paper....after a few rolls you get some pretty cool looking designs which could be used as a card background or you could even use it to stamp your main image onto. 

Tomorrow I'll share a couple more basic brayering techniques so be sure to check back then :)