Thursday, August 11, 2016

Clarity Brushes: Flawless Color Blending

Hallelujah!
Finally!
Flawless color blending is a real life possibility!!

WOW!

I finally had some time break out my new Clarity brushes!
They've been sitting on the worktable in the studio for more than a week...
Finally.....I had a chance to give them a try!

I started out with some apprehension...
Decades of card making...
and all sorts of (failed) blending tools later...
I (think) that I have finally found something that makes great blending a cinch.
Wowzer!

I needed to create a few sympathy cards...
and thought that I'd put the brushes to work for the first time.
A true test...being that flawless blending of darker colors can sometimes be a challenge.
I was going to use a few purple ink..and a dark blue...

And guess what!!?
The Clarity brushes did not disappoint!

Wanna see?

Card #1
First try with the brushes...
I was able to build the color(s) with multiple strokes of the brush...
and..
adding different colors to the card stock was a breeze.


To create the card I double stamped the flower and sentiment
from the very beautiful Large Peony 2 stamp set by The Ton Stamps using my MISTI.
I positioned the stamps...
and stamped once with gold ink..
left the stamps in position in the MISTI...
cleaned the stamps
moved the card front a tiny bit on the MISTI platform
re-inked the stamps with black ink
and stamped again.
Doing this gives a golden glow around the black lines of the image and the sentiment.
I finished the card with a few drops of clear drying Morning Dew Nuvo Drops
(Love Love Love Nuvo Drops...all of the colors are fantastic..and Morning Dew is awesome!)


I had such fun using the Clarity brushes..
I decided to give them a second try...
again...with the same ink assortment...
and again...to create a sympathy card.
This time...I did something a little bit different.
I highlighted the area where the large flower was stamped by adding a deep pink ink
You can see the gold and black double stamping a bit better in this photo..
especially where the sentiment is stamped.
The sentiment almost looks like the camera moved when the photo was taken...
See the gold shadow?
That's the double stamping.


Applying and layering the ink was a breeze...
I hesitated a bit before adding the deep bright pink ink to the flower area...
but thought..
Go for it!...If it looks bad...trash it...it's just a piece of card stock ...no biggie
so..
I went for it...
and I'm glad that I did...
because it allowed me to see the possibilities that exist when using Clarity brushes.

I bought 2 sets of the brushes...
and plan on designating one for each color family...
that plan should keep my brushes working nicely...and eliminate transfer of residual color when changing to an ink out of a color family.

My final thought?
Clarity!!!
Where have you been for decades of my stamping and card making life!!
Holy moly!
I can hardly wait to get rid of the oodles of sponges and other blending tools
that I have bought over the years......
tried..
disliked...
been frustrated with...
ruined a card with...
and never used a second time.

Adios miscellaneous blending tools...
Clarity brushes are in the studio now!

If you've been thinking of getting a set or two of these wonderful brushes...
don't hesitate...
They're easy to find on line...
(I ordered mine for an awesome price......at Mollys Square
I just checked the website...and she still has them in stock)

Have a great day my crafty friends...
Now...leave me a comment below telling me how excited you are...
because you're off to order yourself a set or 2 of these awesome brushes!
Michelle.






5 comments:

  1. These are the BEST brushes I have EVER used! They are so easy to use and get great results right away for a decent price! Don't know how I got by without them! There is BCSB and ACBS and the ACBS is definitely the better place to be! (before and after clarity stencil brushes) LOL
    I highly recommend that EVERY artist get a set or two!You will be glad yo did!

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  2. Do you have a website where they can be bought?

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  3. Do you have a website where they can be bought?

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    Replies
    1. Merle....the web site that I mentioned above is sold out now....if you google CLARITY BRUSHES...you'll see some search results that will lead you to web site that carry them!

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