2019 #2 Brayers: Be Extraordinary with JoFY {by Miriam Grazier}

2019 Topic 2: Brayers

Wow what a fun colour combo, the soft greys and pinks should remind me of those 1980's pastel shades, BUT with the modern touch of a new JOFY bloom, it brings these colours bang on trend. Those dusky pink shades are the peak of interior design-lush right now!! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Miriam  with you today, and I'd like to share with you a fairly simple looking card using a brayer in different ways.

A brayer is my 'go to' tool.  I use one almost every time I craft.  I normally have two smooth brayers, a large and small.  But there have been so many times that I have wished for a brayer that was just a bit bigger than the small one.  Then hey presto, the clever folk at PaperArtsy HQ introduce a branded brayer that is just that! It's like they have been reading my mind.  For my project I wanted to show you that you don't need to be arty to use a brayer and that you can use it to actually help save you time. I have kept my techniques fairly simple so that whether you are a new crafter or an experienced crafter you can achieve great results and a project that you are happy with.

I started my project using the technique shown by Leandra back in 2015.  You can see the You Tube tutorial here.  This is a great way to create a quick and colourful background.   I love using all types of card stock and tissue paper for this, even book pages. 

It's even a quick and easy way to use to stamp your main image on which you then can simply cut out and use as it is or build upon as I have done in my project. 

I even learnt a new brayer technique, which I may now be a little bit addicted too!  It was shown by Sara Naumann and is where you layer a stencil underneath your card stock and brayer paint over the top.  I honestly thought that this would not work or end in too much unwanted paint on my project, but I was really pleasantly surprised that I achieved a result I was delighted with, first time!  I would really encourage you to watch Sara's demo.  

I also used a soft sponge brayer to stencil Chalk Fresco Acrylic Paint through one of the amazing new JOFY stencils.  I love the bold images of these and they really looked quite subtle on my background.

One really useful tip that I can share is perfect with the new JoFY release.  The flowers in this release are quite large.  Once I had inked my stamps and put it onto the card stock, I used my clean brayer to roll over the top of the acrylic block.  This helps ensure that you get a perfectly stamped image using a large or detailed stamp.  Great idea if you don't have a stamping platform.

Brayers are also useful to apply an even coat of paint onto a stamp as I have done here.

I really hope that I have encouraged you to dust that brayer off, or even buy one.  They are a really useful tool to have in your craft stash.  You can do so many things with them and i have only just scratched the surface.  I absolutely love the new PaperArtsy brayer.  It is the right size, a good weight, and worked like a dream.  Absolutely perfect for your mixed media projects.  I was itching to add more detail and technique to my project but wanted to keep it simple in the hope that it inspires you to have a go yourselves.  The best thing for me is that you can create a whole background so quickly and then use it for multiple projects.  It's great if you don't have much time to spare.  

Thank you for joining me this evening.  Happy crafting.... or should I say happy brayering! 

Blog: Miriam's Creative Dreams

2019 #2 Brayers: Mini Love with ESA {by Nikki Acton}

2019 Topic 2: Brayers

Fabulous how Nikki walks you though her brayered layers which are embellished perfectly with the addition of Seth's new minis! take a look! ~

Hi everyone, it's Nikki from Addicted to Art here with you today, and I'd like to share some ideas using a brayer along with Seth Apter's new Mini stamps.

When I saw these stamps I knew I would love them, great for backgrounds, creating texture / texture effects - as well as focal points! I have used my new PaperArtsy Brayer in a couple of ways on these projects - firstly to create backgrounds on a Gel Plate and also to add a thin layer of paint to my stamps.

These panels are 10cm square and I began my creating lots of brayered backgrounds both on the greyboard panels and also on some cardstock for layering. I added a little of my selected colours to the the gel plate - lightly brayered to merge the colours and then laid my surface onto the plate. I used a combination of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics - Sargasso, Pea Coat, Surf's Up, Midnight and Chalk - always good to use colours that go together as their is no risk of creating mud!!

By only gently blending the paints together on the gel plate you can see how they don't completely merge together and it creates some wonderful effects.

On each of the panels I used the new Mini's by Seth Apter to add to the backgrounds and also as my focal point. This panel contains EM34 and EM40.

Texture was added by brayering paint onto the stamp (EM34) and randomly adding to one of my prints.

I added Versamark to the same stamp and heat embossed with Deep Sea Baked Texture. The focal point was added in the same way. (EM40)

For the second panel I used EM33 and EM39. Again I added some texture to the base layer with EM33 before heat embossing in white for the focal image (EM39).

I wanted to be able to hang the little panels so added some wallpaper to the back (this also covered the mess I had made! and the twine on the reverse) and added some string. 

I love the combination of the brayered layers with the stamped textures. Adding several layers really builds the composition and frames the focal point.

Nikki

Blog: Addicted to Art
Instagram: @A2Acardscraft
Pinterest: nikacton

2019 #2 Brayers: Friendship with EAB {by Jennie Atkinson}

2019 Topic 2: Brayers

Ohhh delicious colours from Jennie tonight, and such a delight to see how she pulls the layers togehter so thoughtfully!. Lots of old school stamps in the mix plus of course the newest from Alison finishes everything perfectly! ~Leandra

Hi everyone, Jennie (Live The Dream) with you today with a (colourful for me!) journal page celebrating friendship.

As our theme is brayers I just had to get out the Gelli Plate and use one of the fabulous new PaperArtsy brayers. I have been experimenting a lot with the Gelli Plate since the New Year as I was leading a session using one here in Shetland. I was a bit rusty and so have been seriously addicted to Gelli Plate Videos on Youtube. There are so many wonderful techniques that one doesn't really know where to start. So I have kept this simple ......

Alison's fabulous Friends and Friendship stamp collection (EAB10) was my main focus for the double spread journal page. There are so many wonderful quotes in this set it is very difficult to pick just one .... I feel a mini book coming on at some point!

I picked my PaperArtsy Fresco's quite randomly and it was only afterwards that I realised I had a mixture of transluscent and opaque which I think has worked really well in terms of the lighter yellow showing through.

I wasn't too sure whether these would work together, but after all it's only a bit of paper! I have used the single layer transfer technique (ie multiple pulls) rather than layering all my colours onto the Gelli Plate (single pull).

I started with Pumpkin Soup over the whole page. For the next pull I used Bora Bora, but keeping some lighter gaps. It was this layer that I used some old impression stamps to create a bit of texture. The next layer was Teresa Green very lightly here and there and the final layer was Hint of Mint around the outside edges. I also got a very nice ghost sheet too, although the paint dried quite quickly.

I also used my brayer to get an even layer of paint onto a flourish stamp. 

Mini 96

I used Chalk for this layer and the wider, larger brayer meant a good even layer of paint with no "blobbing" !

A stamping layer came next and I decided to keep the circular elements going with a clock and more some paint circles.

Most of the stamps you see here are my all time "go to" stamps for highlighting background papers.  There are so many wonderful elements in C1 for backgrounds and the two small bookplate stamps in Scrapcosy's set appear on just about everything I make!

Clocks 1 (C1)

Scrapcosy 03

My other go to stamp set is Ephemera 2, this time for collage pieces. In fact the Carte stamp has it's on acrylic block and doesn't leave my craft desk!

EA2

I have used the same ink throughout in terms of stamping and blending (Ranger Archival Ink Potting Soil). I feel this keeps everything balanced with the focus on the colours of the background rather than the foreground inking.

The collage is perfectly sized to sit in the lower corner without dominating the background pages.

The quote I wished to use was quite wide and only just fitted the width of my journal, so I tried to keep the design on this page more horizontal.

It seemed appropriate to leave a clear area of stamping at the bottom of the page.

I did add a few watery paint splatters as I felt the double page needed something to tie it all together.

When I started this journal page I was unsure as to whether the background colours would work together, and indeed whether they would compliment the vintage theme I had in mind. Limiting myself to one ink pad both for stamping, blending and colouring the embellishments has I think allowed it all to work together. This is really quite colourful for me! but I love that the Gelli Plate and Brayer allow me to blend out the colours and add different layers on top of each other to soften the look. 

As always thank you for joining me and I hope that our current theme inspires you all to get out your brayers!

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream

2019 #2 Topic Introduction: Brayers

 2019 Topic 2: Brayers

Well hello everyone, Keren here! I hope it hasn't escaped your attention that PaperArtsy have developed a fabulous new brayer tool. It's slightly smaller for ease of manoeuvring and great for smaller projects but its chunky and really robust surface is perfect for picking up paint and ink and layering it smoothly. It has a STAND- so no more gunking up your worksurfaces when you put it down! The brayers are available from PaperArtsy stockists.

To start the brayer brainstorming, I thought a lesson by Leandra would be the perfect starting point to see brayers and paint in action and also how to solve the problem of combining less than compatible colours!

This next video shows one of the simplest (& very effective) way of using the brayer. Look out for all the Fresco Finish paints she uses on the second project.

Umot Radas

Brayer techniques aren't restricted just to canvases and cards- why not go for some real texture using paint and an embossing folder?

Tammy Hobbs

Perhaps you love the brayered scene look but brayering is new to you? This beginners 'how-to' also shows the technique to create beautiful subtle inked backgrounds; just perfect for stamping over and creating scenes.

Michelle Zindorf

The surface of a brayer is perfect for getting a smooth lay down of ink and paint. What if you want something more textured? How about pimping your brayer?! This post talks through adding elements like elastic bands etc. onto your brayer and gives some amazing ideas for adding texture to printed fabric by using textured surfaces under the fabric that creates the texture over the surface!

Threads

One of the first things that might come to mind when thinking about brayering is monoprinting or using gel plates. Here's a post going through simple techniques and showing how to use stencils too.

Made By Nicole

If that post whets your appetite and you want to explore more on using brayers with gel plates, check out this video by Kate Crane who proves that grunge can be pretty too!

Brayer techniques can produce surprising effects, and this Bouncing Brayer technique is the perfect example. I'm sure you can find lots of ways to incorporate this into your creating.

Charmaine Ikach

If you're wanting to stick to a limited colour palette, I thought that this 'Glow Technique' might fit the bill.

Jenny Hall

When adding ink to brayers, it becomes really easy to do image transfer. I love Kate Pullen's idea of brayering over feathers, and can see this technique being used with a multitude of everyday objects you already have at home.

We can't forget the brayer's capacity to create a variety of patterned backgrounds. This plaid design was easily created using Distress Inks.

Lisa Volrath

This introductory post could have been sooo much longer. If you look at Leandra's Brayers Pinterest Board, you'll see plenty more brayer inspiration. I hope this has got you thinking about techniques you'd like to try or even revisit. This rotating topic is sure to have us all in a creative spin! We can't wait to see what brainwaves you have with brayers! Do create along with us.

You're going to love the projects we have coming up. We are not doing the linked challenge  for 2019, so if you want to create along with us and this topic, please share on our social feeds so we can see what you get up to. The best places are instagram @paperartsy or post in PaperArtsy People Group on Facebook too. 

I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks!

~ Keren