Last weekend, after a bit of a browse at YouTube videos, I took the plunge and bought a set of Clarity brushes. These come in a set of four, differing sizes, and have much softer bristles, very smooth and silky feeling. The only problem with all these brushes- they are not cheap, are they?
I also bought a new stencil, but we'll get to that in a while.
Today, I took myself out for a walk, for some exercise. I only live a 5 minute (10 for me at the moment) walk from our shopping centre, and it has plenty of places to have a sit down and get my breath back.
In our centre is an outlet of The Works, and I freely admit I always drop in on my way past, they have some amazing bargains usually. Today proved to be no exception.
They have a special offer of 2 for £3 on 3 different ranges of paintbrushes. What caught my eye were the range with the Fuschia coloured ends- they have a 1", 3/4" and 1/2", as well as many smaller ones.They felt lovely and soft, and I thought stood a good chance of working well as colour dusters, and being smaller than usual, could provide a great opportunity for some detailed work with stencils. They only had two of the largest left, so I got the two smaller sizes as well.So, I hear you ask, did they work? Well, here's what happened when I got home:
You remember the Clarity stencil I mentioned? This one is called Double Bubble, and comes with the cut out bits as well, for masks, which I though a great idea.
I got out 5 Adirondack inkpads, Sunshine Yellow, Butterscotch, Sunset Orange, Citrus and Lettuce. The stencil was attached on a couple of sides with some low tack tape, and I'm ready to try out the 1" brush.
Time for the second colour, Butterscotch.
That blends into the Yellow with no problem, no harsh lines.
Then swap to Sunset Orange, and it's blending in so easily I'm actually really amazed.
From Sunset Orange through Citrus and ending with Lettuce, I am really, really impressed.
By the way, off on a side note here- do you find you have problems getting your inkpad to stay in place when you are using colour brushes or a brayer?
I bought a roll or two of rubber matting from Poundland- I have one sheet under my craft mat on my desk. This little offcut keeps my inkpads in place for hands free use!
Anyway, back to the ink blending.
So much so, I shall be having another walk over later this week, to see if they've had any more delivered! They have some great multi buy deals on many art and craft products too, I noticed.
6 comments:
Got both sets of brushes Shaz, Inkylicious and Clarity. These look great but our Works shut down last year. I miss it too. Love the outcome of your stencils. Hugs Rita xxx
Hi Shaz. Checking in to let you know how informative your post was to me. I own those Royal Soft-Grips in every shape and size due to my Arthurs, wonderful product. Love the acrylic handles and the bristles do well too. How interesting that the 1" mop makes a great stencil brush! Well, I have my one plus 18 Judikin stencil brushes that are shaped like the shaving brushes (except mine remind me of those troll doll shapes from the 1970s - hahaha). I guess I will stick with them for now, bought them strictly for stenciling inks. If the bristles jump ship after use, however, I'm getting some Royals which I assume have politely held their bristles in! I won't have as good a price as you've scored, though. Guess since R-L is a UK company, that's only fair! haha Your stenciling looks so pretty! xoxo
Ooh thanks for the heads up, will have to have a wander there tomorrow. Your test piece looked great. Cara x
Wow..thanks for the tips for this..and for the nod about the brushes..lucky we don't both live in the same town or we'd be fighting over those brushes! Elaine no 20
How fun, you inspire me to pull my brushes out of the drawer, maybe I can see what I can do with them - I am sure nothing as fun as yours! Blessings, Donna #9
Those brushes look fabulous! I would love some, but they are not common here in Oz. Will have to look on internet (as usual). Love that bubbly sort of stencil. I have a round circle stencil (perfect for Bokeh effect). Shaz in Oz bought one too when we met in Sydney for lunch last year, and I haven't used it yet!
Post a Comment