blending brushes Archives - Inkspiration Cards

Create a Sunset with Blending Brushes

Posted on June 27, 2025June 27, 2025 by inkspirationwithteresa

I had a few people over last weekend for an all occasions card class featuring the Notes and Totes bundle. There were a couple of simpler cards. But I also thought it’s be fun to CASE a card from Stampin’ Up!. (Not sure what CASE means? Check out this post) Especially since we got to create a sunset with Blending Brushes.

There’s a lot of colour on this card. So I went with a simple Basic White cards base. To create the sunset I used 4 colours. I started with Garden Green just below the half way point on the card base. Then I added a little bit of Calypso Coral. Next is Fresh Freesia. And to finish it off at the top, Balmy Blue.

In front of this, I added a Basic White fence. And we crumpled some Crumb Cake cardstock for the beach. Then on top of that I layered a Very Vanilla and Pecan Pie tote with a Fresh Freesia scarf. And no day at the beach is complete without a few other things. So I used some Beautiful Bokeh Designer Series Paper to create the water bottle and sunscreen… Balmy Blue for the water bottle of course… and Calypso Coral for the sunscreen. I made sure the sunglasses matched the scarf. And then I finished it off with a Basic Beige sea star.

I heat embossed the sentiment at the top in white. But during the class we switched it to silver. I think the white would stand out more if I’d added a little more Balmy Blue.

Either way I think we had fun! It’s a lot easier to create a sunset with Blending Brushes than you might think.

Check out another card I made using the Notes and Totes bundle here.

And if you want to give this a try for yourself, you can find the bundle in my online shop.

Frosted Forest Decorative Masks

Posted on September 20, 2024September 20, 2024 by inkspirationwithteresa

With Fall kicking off this weekend I thought it was time to do some crafting with the Frosted Forest Decorative Masks. These are an online exclusive that Stampin’ Up! released over the summer. And when I saw them I thought they’d be great to make some snow covered trees… but also some beautiful, colourful fall trees. I just love all the colours of Fall! Don’t you?!

For this first card I chose Crumb Cake as one of my colours. It works great as a tree trunk! And then my other colour is Crushed Curry. So I have Crushed Curry as my card base. And then I added some Crushed Curry ink to a piece of Basic White cardstock using a Blending Brush to have a little something going on behind my tree.

To create the tree you usually use 3 masks. The first is the tree trunk. Next up is the majority of the leaves on the trees. I used Crushed Curry for this mask. And then instead of using the third mask, I added a little Cherry Cobbler ink around the edges of the Crushed Curry leaves. I love how it turned out!

I framed the tree with some Crumb Cake ink and popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then I wrapped some Linen Thread around this piece and the other piece I used the Blending Brush on. On top of that I added a simple “Hello Fall” using the More than Autumn stamp set. “Hello” in Crumb Cake ink and “Fall” in Crushed Curry. Then to finish it all off I added a few of the yellow Faux Glass Dots. I’ll definitely be using these a lot in my Fall crafting.

I can’t wait to make a winter themed card with the Frosted Forest Decorative Masks!

In the meantime, check out another Fall themed handmade card using the More than Autumn stamp set here.

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Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks

Posted on September 1, 2023September 1, 2023 by inkspirationwithteresa

The new Abundant Beauty decorative masks were one of the first things that caught my eye in the new mini catalogue! I don’t use decorative masks often, but I’m hoping the designs in this pack will change that.

For this card design I’m using one of the fall designs and some Sponge Daubers. You can use Blending Brushes with decorative masks too, but when the images are small like these ones I prefer to use daubers. I used Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie and Wild Wheat inks to create this colourful piece of cardstock.

The card base is Wild Wheat and I wrapped some Linen Thread around the sponged cardstock. On top of that I layered some leaves and a sentiment from the Season of Chic stamp set. I stamped the leaves with Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze ink and used the coordinating dies to cut them out. But for the sentiment I used Wild Wheat ink and one of the Something Fancy dies. Then I popped these all up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And to finish it off I added a few of the Brushed Metallic Dots.

I love the Abundant Beauty decorative masks! And I can’t wait to use the sunflower and snowflake masks.

The new mini catalogue launches this Wednesday September 6th! If you live in Canada and want your very own copy, contact me. I’d be happy to mail one out to you… along with a few goodies!

In the meantime, check out some more Fall crafting I did with some of the new mini catalogue products here. Or check out what’s available now in my online shop.

Happy crafting!

Faux Wood Paneling Card

Posted on August 11, 2023August 11, 2023 by inkspirationwithteresa

The idea for this card came from a picture I saw of a home decor project. I really liked how they had an image on what looked like wood panels and thought it would make for a pretty cool card design. I’m calling it the Faux Wood Paneling card for obvious reasons. If you can think of another name, or if there is already a name, let me know. I’d love to hear it!

I wish I still had some of the recently retired Sahara Sand cardstock. It would have looked really nice! Crumb Cake is too dark and so I’m using Basic White. The softer colour of Very Vanilla would maybe work even better for this card design. I did use Crumb Cake for my card base though.

The biggest tip for this design is to do ALL your stamping, colouring, etc. first. Embossing first would make it alot harder to get nice even colour. I stamped one of the images from the In the Moment stamp set using Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Then I stamped the birds from that same image a couple more times. To avoid getting any unwanted leftover ink on your cardstock, make sure to use a scrap piece of paper or cardstock to cover the rest of the image.

To create the sunset I used my Blending Brushes along with 3 different colours. I started at the bottom of the cardstock with Crushed Curry. Then I used Flirty Flamingo and finally Calypso Coral. These 3 colours go really well together and blend well too!

Next I coloured the image with Stampin’ Blends. I used Dark Crumb Cake for the railing, the band on the hat and the hair. Then Light Crumb Cake on the hat and belt. For the dress I used both the Light and Dark Flirty Flamingo Stampin’ Blends. And for the wine I used Light Daffodil Delight. If you’re more of a red wine person Merry Merlot would work well.

Once that was done I embossed it with the Timber 3D embossing folder and cut it into 1″ strips. To finish it off I stamped a phrase from the same stamp set with Memento ink and then added some Crumb Cake ink around the edges. Then I popped it up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

This Faux Wood Paneling card was fun to make! I don’t think I’ve used so many different techniques on one card before.

Check out another card I made using the In the Moment stamp set here. And you can find this stamp set along with everything else you need in my online shop!

Simple Handmade Wedding Card

Posted on June 28, 2022June 28, 2022 by inkspirationwithteresa

I’m finally getting around to sharing the card I made for my team’s recent Annual Catalogue card swap. With every new catalogue we always do one and I just love all the different card samples I get! I can’t wait to share some of my favourites with you. In the meantime here’s my simple handmade wedding card.

For our swaps we have to use a new stamp set as our main focus. And we need to have an embellishment of some kind. It could be Designer Series Paper, ribbon, jewels. Just something a little extra to step up your card design. For my design I used the Happiness Abounds stamp set. I wanted to make something simple as I needed to make 15 cards. While I sometimes enjoy making cards with a few different pieces/layers, those cards do tend to take a little bit more time.

For my colour combination I used Pale Papaya and Pear Pizzazz. Both are such nice soft colours and they go so nicely together. And instead of adding some of the coordinating DSP, Hues of Happiness, I added some extra colour using the Blending Brushes. I added some Pear Pizzazz behind the flowers and Pale Papaya to colour the flowers. You can stamp the flowers first and then use the Blending Brushes or vice versa. It’s completely up to you. Just make sure if you stamp first that you give plenty of time for the ink to dry so you don’t end up smudging the lines from the stamped images.

From here I used the Blossoming Happiness dies to cut out the two smaller flowers. Then I popped those up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And the embellishment I used was a few of the Rhinestone Basic Jewels. If you want to add a bit more sparkle you can add some using the Wink of Stella Glitterbrush to the flowers.

Such a simple handmade wedding card! Check out this other card I made using the Happiness Abounds products here. And you can check all the products from this suite in my online shop.

Colourful Butterflies

Posted on June 24, 2022June 24, 2022 by inkspirationwithteresa

I’m always on the look out for ideas for projects. Sometimes to craft something different and sometimes because I just need ideas. And one stamp set that I’ve needed some ideas for is the Amazing Silhouettes stamp set. I really like the images in this stamp set, but I seem to get stuck. So this card design came from a few different cards I’ve seen lately. And I thought it’d be fun to add some colourful butterflies using some of the new In Colours.

To really help the colours pop I used a Basic White card base. But I didn’t want just a plain card base so I embossed the front of it using the Painted Texture 3D Embossing folder. Then to frame the images and phrase and help the colours stand out even more I used some Starry Sky cardstock. For the butterflies I first stamped the image from the Amazing Silhouettes stamp set in Starry Sky, Sweet Sorbet and Parakeet Party on a piece of Basic White cardstock.

To create the butterflies to layer on top I used my Blending Brushes with each of the ink colours on a few pieces of Basic White cardstock. Once they were dry I used one of the Brilliant Wings dies to cut out the butterflies. Then I used some Mini Glue Dots to adhere them to the stamped cardstock.

I popped up the framed cardstock with the butterflies using some Stampin’ Dimensionals. And the phrase I pulled from the Bottled Happiness stamp set. I cut it out with one of the smallest Stitched Rectangles dies and then used a bit of Stampin’ SEAL and Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals to have it on the same level as the butterflies.

I really love these colourful butterflies! This was such a simple card to make and I love how it turned out.

Check out this other card I made using the Amazing Silhouettes stamp set here. And you can grab the stamp set along with anything else you need in my online shop.

Hippest Hippos

Posted on June 21, 2022June 21, 2022 by inkspirationwithteresa

Summer is officially here! I’m looking forward to a slower pace and more time for crafting. And I’m definitely looking forward to round 2 of Sale-a-bration. I especially love the Hippest Hippos stamp set and coordinating dies that you can earn for FREE starting next Friday with qualifying orders. So to celebrate the first day of Summer I thought I’d pair these cute hippos with the Friends are like Seashells stamp set.

With that in mind I went with a beach themed colour combination. Pool Party and Crumb Cake I feel work great for this. I used Crumb Cake for my card base. And then I added Pool Party to mat the images and phrase. Before I stamped my images I used my Blending Brushes on the main piece of Basic White cardstock. I used Crumb Cake along the bottom to create a kind of beach and then Pool Party along the top for a water/sky look. On top of the blended inks I stamped some specs of sand and a few seashells.

Then for the hippos I stamped them with Smoky Slate on separate pieces of Basic White cardstock. Once they were dry I used some of my Watercolour Pencils to colour them in. Then I cut them out with the coordinating dies and popped them up with some Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The phrase comes from the Friends are like Seashells stamp set. And I cut it out with one of the Stitched Rectangles dies. Then I popped it up with some more Stampin’ Dimensionals and added a few of the Faux Sea Glass Shapes.

This was such a fun card to make! I can’t wait to create some more with the Hippest Hippos. Stay tuned for more cards featuring these guys.

For information about how Sale-a-bration works check out this post from this past Sale-a-bration. And make sure to bookmark my online shop so you’re all set for when it kicks off.

Summer Theme Challenge

Posted on July 6, 2021July 6, 2021 by inkspirationwithteresa

I wasn’t sure if I was going to join this week’s Paper Craft Crew challenge, but then I saw the theme. This week’s Paper Craft Crew challenge (PCC433) is a summer theme challenge. And as soon as I saw the picture I knew I had to do it, I just couldn’t resist. It also sparked some inkspiration for my card design. Here’s the picture for this week’s challenge…

I love watching sunsets and in summer you can enjoy them even more because they’re earlier and the weather’s warmer. So for my card design I wanted to create my own summer sunset. To do that I pulled out my Blending Brushes. I love using these!! Check out one of my first projects with them here. For the sunset I chose 3 colours to blend; Pale Papaya, Flirty Flamingo and Calypso Coral. I started with Pale Papaya at the top, Flirty Flamingo in the middle and Calypso Coral at the bottom. The Blending Brushes really blend the colours together nicely.

To frame my sunset I used Flirty Flamingo for the card base and some Basic Black to help the sunset pop. But I still needed more. To accent the sunset even more I used some of the Meadow dies. I die cut a few flowers and butterflies out of Basic Black cardstock and adhered them to the sunset with Tomboy Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue.

I still felt like the card needed something else. So I added a simple phrase from the coordinating stamp set, Quiet Meadow with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. But no bling this time around.

This was such a fun card to make! I definitely need to use my Blending Brushes more often. Check out the rest of the cards for this summer theme challenge from the Paper Craft Crew here.

Blending Brushes

Posted on February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 by inkspirationwithteresa

I totally have a new favourite tool! Before this I liked the idea of sponging and blending to create great projects, but didn’t do it very often. I think that’s going to change now. I’ve only used Stampin’ Up!s new Blending Brushes twice now, but I’ve fallen in love with them! The first time I used one of them I made my own Shimmer paper. This time I used them with our ink pads.

These are super easy to use and even easier to clean, if you choose to. I’ve heard some of my team members clean them like the Blender Pens. So you rub it on paper until no more colour comes off. When I made my shimmer paper I decided to clean it with just some water. I didn’t like the idea of Shimmer Paint drying onto my brush. It came off very easily and the brush was just as soft once it dried as it was before I used it.

For this card I thought it would neat to create a border around the edge of a piece of Basic White cardstock using the flower from the Tasteful Touches cling stamp set. I used Tuxedo Black Memento ink and gave it some time to dry before I started to blend with the brushes.

In terms of colours I thought of using a bright blue and then a yellow like the centre of a flower. So I went with Bermuda Bay and Bumblebee. I haven’t used this colour combination before and I think they work really nicely together. Definitely going to have to file this combination away!

So once my stamped flowers were dry I used my ink pad lids to hold the ink for my brushes. All you have to do to do that is squish the lid towards the ink pad while it’s still mostly closed. Once the ink is on the lid you just rub the brush in the ink. Make sure to dab off some of the colour onto another piece of paper before blending. You can even start blending off the cardstock and move in. To blend just move the brush in circles wherever you want that colour to go.

The phrase came from the Waterfront stamp set. I cut it out with one of the Stitched Nested Labels dies and then popped it up using a couple of Stampin’ Dimensionals. To finish it off I added some Braided Linen Trim. Here’s the full card…

I LOVE how this card turned out! And I can’t wait to do more with Stampin’ Up!s Blending Brushes. So stay tuned for future projects.