Ink Techniques: Blender Pen

A blender pen is like a blank marker with a clear solution that mixes with ink on it's nib. It allows you to blend colours beautifully so you can achieve shading and colour mixing on an image.

Blending on Designer Series Paper
The rooster image is from some beautiful Stampin' Up! paper called Beau Chateau. Use a gentle hand when blending on paper.

Squeeze a closed ink pad to press some ink onto the inside of the lid. Open the lid and pick up a small amount of ink on the blender pen.

 To reduce the intensity of the ink swipe the blender pen on scrap paper before colouring the image.

 I coloured Not Quite Navy and Wild Wasabi inks on the tail feathers, wings and breast, building up the colour, but keeping it light.

 I used Riding Hood Red ink on the comb and wattles, Cajun Craze ink on the legs and beak and More Mustard ink on the neck, wings and tail feathers. Afterward, I added some of these colours to the tail, wings and breast, too.

 Finally, I used Crumb Cake ink on the frame and the ground. The backgound   inside the frame is coloured very lightly with Pool Party ink.










Supplies
Stamps
-You're a Gem 122268
-Sunflower 123606
Ink
-Not Quite Navy pad 103008
-Wild Wasabi pad 109014
-Riding Hood Red pad 111836
-Cajun Craze pad 119671
-More Mustard pad 103162
-Crumb Cake pad 121030
-Pool Party pad 122938
-Soft Suede pad 115657
Paper
-More Mustard card stock 100946
-Crumb Cake card stock 120953
-Naturals Ivory card stock 101849
-First Edition Specialty Paper 121878
-Spice Cake Paper 124003
Tools
-Blender Pen 102845
-Petal Card Double punch 119273
-1 in. Square punch 124094
-Scallop Edge Border punch 119882
Accessories
-Linen Thread 104199
-Mini Library Clip 109857
-Stampin' Dimensionals 104430

Blending on a Solid Image

Save a worn-out blender pen to remove ink from an inked stamp when you want to change the colour of part of the image with a marker. After I stamped the image, the blender pen was used to blend the inks and to add another dark colour to the flowers.

I inked the stamp with River Rock, a light green, and used my worn-out blender pen to remove the ink from the flowers.

Then, I used Rich Razzleberry and Perfect Plum markers to colour the flowers.

Some areas of the foliage were coloured with Always Artichoke and Soft Suede markers. Huff on the inks and stamp the image.

Use the blender pen to blend the inks while they are still wet.









Instead of using an ink pad lid for a palette, as described in the first sample, you can scribble a marker on a plastic surface. I used an Elegant Eggplant marker on a stamp case.








With the blender pen I picked up some ink from the palette and blended  it onto the flowers.









Supplies
Stamps
-Just Believe 116948
-Sincere Salutations 115068
Ink
-River Rock pad 109010
-Always Artichoke pad 105219
-Rich Razzleberry marker 120970
-Perfect Plum marker 100035
-Always Artichoke marker 105113
-Soft Suede marker 121608
-Elegant Eggplant marker 105110
Paper
-River Rock card stock 121616
-Always Artichoke card stock 101722
-Confetti Cream card stock 102835
Tools
-Blender Pen 102845
Accessories
-Perfect Plum Taffeta ribbon 122987
-Basic Rhinestones 119246

Blending on a Stamped Image
To keep your outline image from blurring while using a blender pen you must use a solvent-based permanent ink, such as StazOn. Let it dry a bit before blending your ink colours.

After blending the inks on the butterflies I used Smooch Illuminate Top Coat to make them shimmer.











Supplies
Stamps
-Kindness Matters 122900
-En Francais 109521
Ink
-Jet Black StazOn pad 101406
-Basic Gray pad 109120
-Marina Mist marker 119679
-Wild Wasabi marker 120975
-So Saffron marker 105114
-Smooch Illuminate Top Coat 121084
Tools
-Blender Pen 102845
-Stamp-A-Ma-Jig 101049
-Big Shot 113439
-Framed Tulips embossing folder 121809
Accessories
-Basic Black Taffeta ribbon 119962
-Basic Pearls 119247