A Hack When You are Learning to Blend Alcohol Markers

 

Are you a beginner when it comes to using alcohol markers? Do you struggle with shading your images? Today I will be highlighting some common issues or mistakes when using the Stampin' Blends alcohol markers and a workaround to make the learning process of highlight/ shadow easier on your alcohol marker journey. 

If you are experiencing bleeding outside of the lines of your stamp 
or uneven/ muddy blending then this is the blog post for you.
I have a workaround to avoid these issues if you are just learning
about alcohol markers

Pictured: Sweet Little Boxes from Stampin' Up! Decorated in
Three Different Themes: Birthday, Baker/Kitchen and Easter

Instructions below! Video tutorial for strawberry box and written instructions for Easter and What's Cookin' versions.

Create this treat box:

• Emboss the Sweet Little Box with Ornate Floral 3D Embossing Folder
• Die cut Granny Apple Green Plaid DSP (from Brights 6 x 6 DSP Pack) with Stitched Rectangle (Size:  )
• Die cut Tasteful Label in Basic White Cardstock
• Assemble Treat Box
• Wrap Real Red Ribbon around the treat box with Tear & Tape Adhesive added to ribbon
• Place Dimensionals on Stitched Rectangle
• Stamp outline of strawberry, leaf and stem in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (full color)
• Stamp off 2 times and then stamp fill for strawberry, stem and leaf in Memento (it should appear light gray after two stamp offs)
• Color your strawberry with Stampin' Blends in Poppy Parade Dark/ Light following technique in the video
• Same with stem and leaf but with Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Combo
• Punch out with the punch from the Sweet Strawberry Bundle
• Stamp birthday sentiment from Sweet Strawberry onto the Tasteful label die cut to the left in Memento Tuxedo Black (full color)
• Position strawberry to the right
• Use Pool Party Light Stampin' Blends to shade around the strawberry on the Tasteful Label Die Cut
• Glue Tasteful Label Die Cut to Stitched Rectangle
• Add Dimensional to Strawberry. Glue stem to top of strawberry
• Place leaf wherever you like. I tucked mine behind the strawberry.
• Add Real Red Bow with Glue Dot (small bow recommended)
• Add Gems if desired (I used the From My Heart Faceted Gems in Red)

Create this treat box:

• Assemble your treat box (adhesive is already on the box flaps)
• In Memento Tuxedo Black ink, stamp off two times and then stamp the bowl, spook, rolling pin and measuring cups so they appear a soft gray in shade even though its black ink
• Follow the coloring steps in the video in the following Stampin' Blends shades:
• Misty Moonlight Light (Shadow area of bowl)
• Balmy Blue Dark (lighter shade)
• Misty Moonlight Dark (for the stripe on bowl in darker areas, Misty Moonlight Light)
• Rolling Pin: Soft Suede Dark and Light and touches of Ivory
• Gray Granite Light/ Dark and Smoky Slate Light (Smoky Slate in the darkest shadow areas, the Gray Granite Dark as the medium tone and Gray Granite Light for lightest shade)
• Color Lifter I added this to a few highlight spots on cups and spoon
• Stamp Happiness is Homemade in Soft Suede ink (used Banner from Tasteful Labels Dies)
• Die cut your pieces
• Adhere ribbon to box (this is the Faux Suede ribbon) just like first box
• Build your pieces - I put Dimensionals on all of the kitchen items and sentiment
• I used the Brushed Metallic Dots as embellishment in the brownish tone

Create this treat box:

• Assemble your treat box
• With Memento Tuxedo Black Ink stamp off two times and then stamp your chicks. I used two of them.
• Stamp basket weave pattern from Natural Textures Host Stamp Set in Memento ink
• Following the coloring instruction in the video tutorial with the following shades:
• Daffodil Delight Combo and a Touch of Pale Papaya Dark as the darkest tone
• Pumpkin Pie Dark for Beaks and Feet
• Bronze/ Ivory Combo for the basket
• Die cut Granny Apple Green Plaid DSP Pattern (same as the strawberry box) from Brights DSP pack in largest die from Tasteful Labels
• Die cut the basket pattern with the medium size Hexagon die from Beautiful Shapes dies, trim off the top so it looks more like a shaped basket, adhere Polished Pink open weave ribbon, also tie a bow with same ribbon and adhere to basket with a glue dot
• Fussy cut chicks
• Stamp sentiment "for you" from the What's Cookin' stamp set on die cut circle from Tasteful Labels dies
• Put chicks in baskets (I used dimensionals on basket and chicks)
• Add a piece of Polished Pink ribbon as the handle of the basket. Tuck ribbon out of sight on back of basket. I recommend glue dots or Tear and Tape Adhesive
• Add gems in Polished Pink (2021-2023 In Color Gems)

Stampin' Blends: Smoky Slate Combo, Granny Apple Green Combo,
Poppy Parade Combo & the Color Lifter to achieve the perfect strawberry... almost

What's Cookin' Bundle is ON SALE! During the month of March 2022
you can get this bundle 20% off and the art on this stamp set 
will work as an effective guide as you learn where to create highlight/ shadow
with your Stampin' Blend alcohol markers.

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today! I have been taking an alcohol marker class and learning some amazing things. I consider myself new on this journey. I typically do very basic coloring but as I play and learn new techniques I like to share them with you as you go on your alcohol marker/ blending journey.

If I try something that doesn't work. I will share that too and that's what started today's blog post because I couldn't achieve a certain blending technique I had been taught in a way that I felt satisfied.

Like many of you, alcohol marker blending can sometimes be very frustrating especially when we make mistakes or feel like we ruined an image we spent time coloring. While I was playing with this "gray shadow" technique I experienced bad blending, over blending, bleeding outside of the lines and wearing down the tips of my markers.

I knew there had to be an easier way to create shadow as I learn how to create shadows with blending and so I am sharing my "hack" or my "workaround" with you. 

Fill stamps or Distinkive Stamps where the artists have already built in the shading for us but keeping the ink light... but still safe to use with alcohol markers.

Memento Tuxedo Black ink is water based which means it is safe to use with alcohol markers. These two products will not blend into each other or smear or blur like what could happen with other inks. But I didn't want my images to be black. I want it to look like I am an expert colorist. I just want a gray shadow. So, we will stamp off twice and then with a light gray guide we color with our desired marker shades.

In the video tutorial I demonstrate with the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set. This stamp set is what's called a "two step" stamp set where there is an outline stamp and a fill stamp. Well, if you have several two step stamp sets on hand, try this! You may love it!

I demonstrate both blending with the gray alcohol markers under the red and then the stamped fill image under the red and both can achieve a "shadow" look. You can decide which you like better. I liked the fill stamp shade with the blends better, but again, I am not at an expert alcohol shading level. Like many of you I am learning. So this is my workaround. This is what I wanted to share.

I have a list of products used below that you can click on and purchase if you'd like. I only demonstrate the strawberries online on the video but I have two other samples here on the blog to show this hack works with different sets.

And can we talk about how adorable those Sweet Little Boxes (treat boxes) are??? I'll admit I hadn't used them for Valentine's Day but they are great! So cute. You can even emboss the boxes too. 

I hope you enjoyed my alcohol marker "hack" for creating shadows. Stay tuned for more tips!