Raisin Boat’s class on brayering during last winter’s True Stamp event was truly inspiring. However, I don’t have any of the re-inkers they used on hand. So what to do when you want to try a technique, but don’t have the supplies?

You improvise!

Rather than using a re-inker, I spritzed a puddle of Dylusions misting ink onto my non-stick craft mat. I then rolled my brayer into the puddle, and began rolling the ink onto the paper. A few die-cut poppies from Memory Box later, and a card was born.

Don’t you just love the ombre effect on the background? The lines that you can see in the ink? That’s because I used a soft brayer rather than a hard one, I think. I had the soft one on hand, so used that rather than buying the hard one. I’m cheap!

Which brings me to today’s point: Say you want to try a new technique, but don’t have any of the supplies recommended by the instructor. Rather than going out and buying a whole bunch of new stuff, go through what you have on hand, and think about how you can make what you have work. Don’t have re-inkers, but do have spray mists or liquid watercolors, or acrylic paints? How could you use them to approximate the technique you want to try? That’s how you discover your creativity: by experimenting and playing. It’s really fun, you should try it some time!

To all my US readers: Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day is filled with joy and peace! Actually, how about a little joy and peace for everyone, no matter where you are! Thank you for being here!