Blender Pen - Tips and Tricks

Hello Stampers and thanks for stopping in today!

 

 

Today I thought I would talk to you about a product that has been a part of Stampin' Up! for a very, very long time (besides me, that is).  That is the Blender Pen!

 

I love using Blender Pens in so many different ways......you can use to add color and even remove color.  They are much different than using our Aqua Painters and also our Stampin' Markers.  You can do shading, full strength coloring and even remove color.

 

 

Blender Pen Watercolor Methods at a Glance

Classic Stampin' Ink

When it comes to getting bright, deep colors, Classic Stampin' Ink is the favorite medium for watercoloring. To get spectacular shading, color in steps. First, fill in your image lightly using a small amount of ink, and let dry. Next, color the image again with the same color, but with a greater concentration of ink for a darker shade. Color just the areas of the image you want darker, like the outside edges.

You can also use two different colors that are similar, like the sample above to get natural-looking shading for your stamped images.


The Blender Pen: A shady character (but in a good way)Here's one more Blender Pen shading trick for you. When using the Instant Watercolor technique (that's when you ink your stamp using Stampin' Write Markers), for a darker color in the middle, use your Blender Pen right away after stamping to pull some of the color from the edges in toward the center of the image. If you want to fill your image in with a lighter color, wait a moment or two after stamping for the ink to dry before watercoloring with the Blender Pen. For this technique, always pull color from the edges of the image into the center.


Many customers have asked me, while the Blender Pen seems to go on forever (not to mention double sided tips and you receive three in a package), what can we do once the pen has dried and no longer usable?  Well.....you can always refill the solution.  Here's a make shift recipe to refill your blender pens....it's a temporary fix but I recommend just purchasing new ones. I have had mine for so long....don't even remember how long I've had them...and they seem to last a very long time.  

Blender Pen Solution

For a 1 ounce bottle fill…(Eyedropper bottle works best)
1/3 parts Glycerin (found in cake decorating section of craft store)
2/3 parts distilled water
¼ teaspoon alcohol

1. Remove pen tip (pull and twist gently and lay the tips flat overnight in fluid.
2. Fill the pen barrel with the solution.
3. Place pen tip back in hollow by pushing gently (do not push tip but glide it in holding on the sides).

Here's more information about our Blender Pens -

Blender Pens 102845 Price: $10.00 Combine the flexibility of watercolors with the convenience of markers. These dual-tipped pens are filled with specialized solution to blend ink easily. Use with Watercolor Paper or Shimmery White Cardstock and Classic Stampin' Ink. The tip cleans off with just a stroke or two on scrap paper, so you don't need a different pen for each color. * 3 pens * Flexible tip on each end * Acid free * Xylene free * Nontoxic Now go ahead and order yours today! Have a Super Stampin' Day! Glimmer Hugs!   Susan