Friday, March 06, 2015

Leadership Artisan Samples 2015 - Blendabilities!

Welcome to our final week of our Leadership 2015 Display Board Samples! If you have missed my previous posts check them out here:

This week I will be sharing the projects that I created focusing on Blendabilities! What are Blendabilities you ask? This year Stampin' Up! launched this exciting new marker ... an Alcohol marker. I have had a lot of fun playing with different techniques. Hang on to your seats! There are four samples and a load of tips!

** updated March 11, 2015 ** - Due to quality issues from the manufacturer, Stampin' Up! has discontinued this product line and the Blendabilities Alcohol markers are no longer available. To read more please click here.



I purchased white feathers at a local dollar store and colored them with the Melon Mambo Stampin' Blendabilities. Just make sure that you have a scrap piece of paper under the feathers as you color. Color from the spine of the feather out to the tip. This will keep your feather veins neat.

Stampin' Blendabilities come on a variety of colors. Each color pack comes with three markers: light, medium and dark. ($15.95 CAD for a pack of three markers!). This color spectrum is perfect for blending and shading. I created an ombre effect on the back ground cardstock for this card using the Smoky Slate Stampin' Blendabilities. The paper I used is the Sale-a-bration Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper. This paper comes white with a glossy white pattern. I started at one end with my dark Smoky Slate marker and colored a third of the card stock. Then I moved on to the medium marker for the next third blending the transition from dark to medium. I finished the last third of the sheet with the light marker, again blending my transitions between colors.

Coloring a background technique like this will take a bit of ink. You need to think of your markers like you do Designer Series Paper. It is consumable. We are spoiled with our amazing Classic Stampin' Pads that last forever with a little re-inking along the way. Blendabilities are not re-inkable so you need to think of them a little differently. That being said, I have put these markers to the test! I created this swap card for leadership and colored the Soft Sky background at least 75 times before my markers gave out.






Leave your half-backed Pearls & Rhinestones on the packaging sheet when you are coloring them.

The background of "Thanks so very Much" was colored with blendabilities (similar to the technique in the card above). I started with Melon Mambo then blended to Pumpkin Pie and then finished with Daffodil Delight. I did this same combination on a separate piece of Whisper White card stock and punched it with the Boho Blossom punch to create the flowers.

I have always loved spattering ink on my projects and have to say that the Blendabilities are fab to spatter with! I flicked the thick brush end of the marker with the inside of the marker cap. 
The official caution from Stampin' Up! when coloring accessories (ribbon, buttons, clips, staples, etc.) is that this can cause the brush tips of your markers to fray. I imagine if they knew I was spattering with them that this would fall into that caution category as well. I have not been gentle with my Blendabilities and can say that personally I have not discovered this issue. I am very relaxed about my Stampin' Supplies (my demonstrator discount helps this I guess). If you are one to take extreme care with your supplies you may want to have two sets of your fave colors, one for coloring images and one for coloring accessories & embellishments. 




This project was pure and simple coloring fun! Stampin' Up! has been releasing loads of stamp sets that are perfect for Blendabilities!

Before I sign off today we may as well talk about the elephant in the room. You may have heard that sadly these markers are temporarily unavailable for purchase. Stampin' Up! commits to sell high quality crafting products and it has been found that there are quality issues with the recent shipment of Blenadbilities. Stampin' Up! is working tirelessly to resolve the issue and the markers will become available as soon as they meet the quality of their high standards. I promise to tell you here as soon as that happens!

You must click through the other amazing Artisans that did samples for the 2015 Leadership display boards. There work is absolutely amazing!
Allison Okamitsu - Nice People Stamp
Becky Cowley - Scrap Junkie
Cindy Schuster - Nutmeg Creations
Kaitlyn Zumbach - Create with Kaitlyn
Kate Rueda - Paperland Creations
Krista Frattin - Stampin' Dolce
Lisa Harlow - Dwell Delightfully
Mercedes Weber - Paper Paradise
Sarah Sagert - Sarah Sagert

Thank-you for visiting (and taking the time to read all of the tips I had to share today!!!). Have a creative day!

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