It’s A Let It Shimmer Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to another Technique Blog Hop where we will be showing you a variety of shimmery techniques as we highlight a few of our current Close to My Heart products!  If you have come here from Krista Hershberger’s Blog, you are on the right path! When you are finished taking a look at my shimmery Out of This World cards and  learning some Shimmer Brush techniques, you can click on the link at the end to move to the next blog. This blog hop is simple, fun, and full of ideas.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melissa’s Blog.

For this blog hop, I had a hard time deciding what type to video to create – a tips & tricks or a process video – so I decided to do both.  I had so much fun using my Shimmer Brushes to create these three Out of This World cards and I couldn’t wait to share them with you.  

Before we get into the tips & tricks portion of this post, I want to show you a few close-ups of those globe die cuts. These were cut using the Thin Cut from our Aurora Cardmaking kit.  Aren’t those just stunning?? I just love the look of old globes. 

I used our Shimmer Brushes to create the splattered backgrounds and shade two of the globes.  If you would like to know how I made each one of these, you are in luck♥.  I will be posting a video tutorial on my YouTube Channel later in the week to go along with the video tutorial I have posted below.  

♥ Today, I am going to give you a few Tips when it comes to using our Shimmer Brushes.  I have also included a short little five minute video for you to view. 

For those of you who may want to skip this tutorial and move on with the hop, you can click this link to move on to Melissa Robinson’s Blog.

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TIP #1: Store Shimmer Brushes Upright

This may seem obvious to some, but I realized recently that many people do not know that you should always store them upright.  When they are stored upside down, the ink can drip into the lid and create quite the mess when you open it. 

I like to store mine in our Workspace Wonder Tool Caddy, but I have also seen them stored in a Mason jar or coffee cup. 

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TIP #2: Pull the Lid to Open – Do Not Twist

This is another little blunder I have seen commonly done with our Shimmer Brushes. Many people will “twist” the lid open, unsealing the ink within and creating quite the mess. (Just ask my 10 year old niece how fun that is.) 

Now, there are a few times that you might want to twist open that brush which leads us to my next tip. 

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TIP #3: Twist to Release Pressure

I often travel to locations in the mountains where there is an increase in elevation and, when I take my Shimmer Brushes, the pressure increases in the base causing it to drip ink all over when I go to use it.  I have found that I can release that built-up pressure by carefully unscrewing the tip and pulling out the brush, then tightly screwing the tip back on. 

After I have replaced the brush tip, I will brush the excess ink off onto my All Purpose Mat or a scrap piece of paper before I begin to use it. 

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There you have it.♥  Just a few tips & tricks for using those awesome Shimmer Brushes in your stash. Oh, by the way – our shimmer brushes are NOT labeled with the colors at the top. That is something I did using a label maker. 

I can’t wait to share with you how I made each one of those Out of This World cards. I will be posting the process video, later this week, showing you how I used a few of my Shimmer Brushes to create backgrounds, blend watercolors, and create a blended alcohol-ink-like look. Now ‘Hop” on over to Melissa Robinson’s Blog to see her work!  Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting tips and other fun ideas for using Shimmer on your projects.