Let’s Blend Challenge – Blended Borders

Hello and welcome to September’s Let’s Blend Challenge. Many times when I am working with elements, I like to add a subtle “blended” touch to them. I thought it might be fun to create our own blended borders for this month’s challenge. Here is my finished page and below it I have explained the beginning steps of creating the blended border.

First the background paper was chosen and I played around with adding textures to it. Sometimes I tweak this step after the border is finished. One of Katie’s Stuffed Edge Documents borders was perfect for the base of my blended border. You can see it is just slightly blended…the edges are not so sharp, and things are just a little softer. To do this, duplicate the border layer and go to the filter gallery. Under the artistic tab, I played around with a few filters, and finally decided on the dry brush filter. Once you have a filter you like, save it and then if needed, you can change the opacitiy, fade, or blend mode.

An actual “blend” from the Spectrum Sherbet Collection was then added under the border. Here, I used the Dry Brush filter again. After I saved it, I changed the opacity to 85% and the blend mode to Linear Burn.

So, that is basically the base of the page. Obviously, I used the colors in my photo to choose my color scheme. When filling in the border, the Ready Made Layered Borders are so helpful. By using the layered version, you can use as little or as much as you need. Here are the products I used: Bound Paper Pack No. 01, ARToption Ledger Pack No. 2, Blendable Layers No. 12 Base, ARToptions Mini Mix No. 15, Bound Notebook Blends, Watery Grids No. 1, Spectrum Sherbet Blends, Ready Made Layers Outdoors No. 4, Hidden Creek Ephemera,(camera with added filter)

I am hoping this all makes sense, but if you have questions, feel free to shoot me a message. Katie has provided a freebie, to help inspire you. Feel free to use some or all of it, or do your own thing. I can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

As always, please don’t forget to post your layouts in the Let’s Blend Challenge Gallery, as well as the September, 2025 Challenge Participation Thread to earn store rewards.

I hope you have a chance to participate in this challenge and I look forward to seeing your pages in the Gallery!

Happy Blending!

Joanne