| I don't know about you, but I owned a brayer for | | | | - Lift the paper directly off the stamp without twisting |
| awhile before I knew how to use it. Once I started | | | | or moving it sideways to ensure a crisp, clean result |
| using it I loved the effects I could get with it. Maybe | | | | Depending on what kind of ink or paint you are using, |
| you will too! | | | | you may get several impressions from your stamp |
| Using the Brayer to Paint or Ink Up your Card Stock | | | | before having to ink it up again or load it with more |
| A brayer is like a mini paint roller where the roller part | | | | paint. |
| is made of rubber. You can use it to cover large areas | | | | Using paint |
| of paper, just like you would use a paint roller to cover | | | | - Load your roller with paint |
| large areas of wall. Just cover the roller in one colour | | | | - Laying your stamp on its back on scrap paper, roll |
| ink and roll it across your card stock in one continuous | | | | the paint onto the stamp's image |
| motion, then move it back and forth over the paper to | | | | - Reload your roller with another colour of paint |
| lay down as much colour as you want. | | | | - Roll this over the stamp, being careful not to mix the |
| You can add more than one colour of ink to your | | | | paint together more than you would like |
| brayer at once, of course, and roll it onto your paper | | | | - You can also drop some paint onto the stamp to |
| for a multi-coloured effect. | | | | highlight selected areas - experiment with re-inkers or |
| Inking Large Stamps | | | | alcohol inks to see what effects you get from them |
| Sometimes it is very difficult to ink up a large stamp by | | | | by dropping them onto the stamp |
| the normal means of tapping ink onto it or tapping the | | | | - Use the stamp as described above, laying your |
| stamp onto an ink pad. Brayers can make all the | | | | cardstock onto the stamp and smoothing the paper |
| difference to your paper craft projects! | | | | over the image |
| Here's what to do: | | | | - You can also try spritzing the paint or ink with water |
| - Lay the stamp on its back over some scrap paper | | | | before taking the next impression, to extend the life of |
| - Ink up your roller with the colour of your choice | | | | your paint or ink |
| - Roll the ink in one direction over the stamp's image, | | | | You will definitely get several impressions from the |
| then roll it the over the image from another direction | | | | stamp when you use paint and a brayer, and each |
| until the entire image is inked up | | | | image will be slightly different from the last. It is such a |
| - Keeping your stamp on its back, lay your cardstock | | | | good way to create a series of backgrounds for your |
| or paper on the stamp and lightly smooth your hand | | | | cards, for example, or to make many embellishments |
| over the image area | | | | for a scrap book at once. |