Brayer

The brayer can be used to create backgrounds for your stamping projects. It is like a paint roller, but made of soft rubber. It is very easy to clean. Just rinse it under running water and wipe dry with a paper towel. Stubborn pigment stains can be worked on with alcohol or stamp cleaner.

USING THE BRAYER
 * Roll the brayer over a stamp pad in one direction. Lift and place it back on your starting point on the pad.


 * Roll again in the same direction. Repeat until the roller is fully inked. Do not roll back and forth on the pad - you will only be inking 1/4 of the surface.
 * After the brayer is inked, roll it on yur paper or card. Use scrap paper under your work, as you will be rolling off the edge.
 * Roll the brayer back and forth over your project, re-inking it if necessary until you are satifsfied with the effect.

TIPS
 * All types of paper will receive ink from a brayer, but paper with a matte or glossy finish allows more even application with less lines showing. Different papers will give different effects.
 * A brayer can be used to ink large stamps. Ink the roller and roll directly onto the stamp.
 * Stamp a small image onto a clean brayer. Roll the image onto your card, for a reverse image.
 * You can determine the color of your card. Choose any color(s) of ink and apply to white cardstock with the brayer. (Matte or glossy coated stock works best for this.)
 * To help prevent lines of overlapping ink, use a soft pad of newsprint under your work. Also, it helps to hold your inked brayer at a 45 degree angle and roll off a bit of ink from the very edge onto scrap paper before applying it to the card.
 * Brayers can be decorated with water based markers by drawing lines to make plaids, squiggles, etc. directly onto the roller. Roll it out in one or more directions.
 * Apply ink onto dimensional textures such as bubble wrap with the brayer. Press this onto your project after inking it.
 * Create beautiful backgrounds with Marvy metallic markers rolled onto a wet glossy card.
 * Create "leather look" backgrounds by rolling a layer of liquid applique onto a card and then evenly heating it. This texture can be stamped, punched or used as a layer on your cards.
 * Store your brayer with the rubber side up, so that it doesn't develop a flat side from sitting on a hard surface.