Luster Mica Powders Technique #1 – Mixing with Gel Mediums

Now that I have officially released the Luster Mica Powders to everyone, I want to start releasing Technique videos and Technique blog posts. I think seeing what you can do with these powders in action will really show you exactly how diverse they are.

This first technique is about mixing the Luster Mica Powders with various gel mediums. Now, since the Luster Mica Powders already have a built in binder, we aren’t relying on the gel to work as a binder, but rather using the gel so we can get a different look and perform different techniques that we can’t achieve with using water and mica powders alone.

Heavy Gloss Gels and Gloss Gels will add dimension to your work. This extra body will allow you to use your mica powders with stencils and texture tools. You can also brush a thin layer of your mica infused gel over a project or portion of a project to seal it in or to layer on top of. You can create multiple layers this way and protect the layer underneath from any additional colors that you would like to add with mica powder mixed with water, thus creating a resist effect. One drawback is that the shimmer doesn’t catch the light the same way it does as when the mica powders are activated with water. It gives it a completely different shimmer that is beautiful in its own way.

We’ll be trying out 4 different mediums today with the Luster Mica Powders: Liquitex Professional Super Heavy Gloss Gel, Liquitex Professional Gloss Gel, Claudine Hellmuth Studios Multi Medium Gloss, and Prima Marketing Art Basics Light Paste (this is an opaque matte medium, but I threw it in to show you the difference). For all different gels I first mixed the powder in using a palette knife on a silicone mixing surface before applying to my surface.

1. Liquitex Professional Super Heavy Gloss Gel with Luster Mica Powder in Hawaiian Orchid:

The Super Heavy Gel was a pleasure to work with. It mixed up easily and it works wonderfully with stencils. The stencil I used in this picture is called Stripes and it’s by Tim Holtz. They are made to be broken up like it’s shown here and I was easily able to apply the gel through the stencil with a palette knife. You can see how different some of the Luster Mica Powders look depending on the light angle and the color they are applied too. Hawaiian Orchid is a color shifting powder. It switches between violet to a more pink/ fuchsia color on black. On white, it stays prevalently pink with a touch of purple shimmer coming through. On the upper right hand corner of the first and second picture you can see where we dragged one of the Texture Tools through the gel. It worked great!

2. Liquitex Professional Gloss Gel with Luster Mica Powder in Gramma Nutt:

Gloss Gel preformed just as well as the Super Heavy Gloss Gel just with a little less heft to it. The gloss gel feels a little more creamy while the super heavy is almost more like a paste. They both dry completely clear and worked great. The smudge you see on the white background is from me partially cleaning the stencil and accidentally getting gel on the opposite side, so it’s by no fault of the gloss gel. The picture shows the gel laid down via palette knife, one of our texture tools, and then used with the Tim Holtz Harlequin Stencil. As you can see from the pictures, Gramma Nutt color shifts as well. This color shifts from blue to a orange/gold. The shift is also more prevalent on the black cardstock whereas the white stays mostly blue with a little of the orange shimmer coming through.

3. Claudine Hellmuth Studio Multi Medium Gloss with Luster Mica Powder in 24 Karat Gold:

Claudine Hellmuth Multi Medium Gloss performed better than I expected. Being that this gel is less viscous than the other gels, I figured it wouldn’t perform well with the stencil at all. I could easily get it to drip from my palette knife. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it worked perfectly fine with the Tim Holtz Doily Stencil! 24 Karat Gold Luster Mica Powder looks pretty much the same on a light or dark, but still appears a little more brilliant on the black.

4. Prima Marketing Art Basics Light Paste with Luster Mica Powder in Blue Ice:

Prima’s Light Paste is definitely not the first thing I would think about mixing with Luster Mica Powder. It is an opaque matte paste which is the opposite of what helps shimmer shine. However, I am glad I tried because I did discover something interesting which can have its time and place to be used. If you apply it thinly, you can see the color and a little bit of the shimmer. If it’s thick, then it is opaque and you really just get the color of the mica powder as it would have looked on a white background and no real apparent shimmer. BUT if you look closer to the bottom picture, you will see that it has some shimmer coming out through the matte paste. It reminds me of when the sun hits a rock just the perfect way in the desert. It has a beauty of its own and could be used for certain projects. Blue Ice is a color that is much more apparent on a black surface. When it is applied over white it really looks more like a super pale blue.

Here’s the video showing me performing these techniques:

That’s it for the first technique! I hope you learned something today! Thanks for stopping by!

NEW Luster Mica Powders from Intoxicating Arts!

We now have 19 different Luster Mica Powder colors available for sale on our website!

Luster Mica Powders are a great way to add some shimmer to your next project! Each 1/2 ounce jar includes 6 grams by weight of powder. The powder has a built in binder. That means you can mix it with just regular water and it will stick to paper, chipboard, cardboard, wood, canvas, and other porous surfaces!

Here are some other ways you can use Luster Mica Powders:

• Mix with other fluid or semi-fluid mediums such as acrylic paints, gloss gel, glue, etc. You can use it to tint or add shimmer to existing colored acrylic paints.

•Mix with Encaustic Wax . (some of the powders are not stable in wax, so we advise testing it out before making a full batch)

• Mix with Resin or brush into molds before pouring

• Mix with clay or brush on top before baking

•Stamp with embossing ink and then brush the mica powder over the stamped image. Mist with a fine mist water bottle to seal in the design.

• Make your own Mica Spray mists! Make sure to only mix a little at a time, since a little goes a long way. Use warm water to help the binder and powder mix well. Let sit for about 10 minutes and then shake up. You will want to use a fine mist spray bottle for the best effects. It also helps to swirl a little between sprays since the mica will settle to the bottom. You can make multiple spray mists from one jar. I would recommend not putting any more than one grams of powder per one ounce of water.

To purchase Luster Mica Powders for only $3.89 per jar, just click here! 

Here’s a video covering all of the colors we have to offer. We have even more colors to be released and I will be making technique videos in the coming months!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

New Lawn Fawn Stamps with Exclusive Laser Cuts!

I’m so excited to have the new release Lawn Fawn Stamps in stock. I don’t always order all of the new releases and I am inevitably kicking myself for not. I just posted up 13 new listings of Lawn Fawn product and we now have 27 different Lawn Fawn items to choose from in the store! Two of the new listings are Lawn Cuts Dies. To make it even more exciting, I have designed laser cuts that coordinate with each set and they are available exclusively with a purchase of the stamp set from us. There are six different sets that include these special laser cuts. In addition to that little bonus, these new release stamp sets are discounted 10%!  Without further ado, here are the stamp sets that include exclusive laser cuts! (Remember: Just click on the picture to get to the listing and purchase!)

Bugs & Kisses $13.50

Bugs & Kisses comes with a laser cut thick plastic mason jar and a mdf wood twig! 

Next up is Flirty Frames

Flirty Frames $13.50

Flirty Frames comes with a “love ya” sentiment which fits into the larger rectangle frame perfectly!

Then we have Critters in the Jungle.

Critters in the Jungle $13.50

Critters in the Jungle comes with a laser cut MDF wood palm tree!

Next Up is Baked with Love

Baked with Love $13.50

Baked with Love comes with an adorable wooden mixing spoon and a rolling pin!

Here’s one of my favorites, Gleeful Gardens.

Gleeful Gardens $13.50

Gleeful Gardens comes with a cute flower.

Here’s the last one that comes with a free laser cut. It’s called Let’s Play.

Let’s Play $13.50

Let’s Play comes with a rectangle sentiment.

Those are all the stamp sets that come with free laser cuts, but they aren’t all the sets we have! One of my very favorite sets is called “Scripty Sayings” .

Scripty Sayings $13.50

There’s also some super cute small sets that we sell for just $7.20 and even one that’s only $3.60! CLICK HERE to see all of our 27 different Lawn Fawn listings! 

I hope you saw something that excites you. Thank you for stopping by!

All About Creating Texture

I have always been one of those people that touches things. Even when I am not supposed to. I remember being in stores when I was little and getting told ” Don’t Touch THAT!” so many times. I would just find something shiny or pretty or textured and want to touch it regardless of how fragile it was or what the price is and with no consideration of how clumsy I am. So, it’s only natural that I think paintings and mixed media projects with a lot of texture and dimension are even more awesome than their two dimensional siblings.

That being said, not only do we offer our own Texture Tools, but we also carry Ranger’s Texture Tools and all of their Texture Pastes. Prima Marketing also has some great products for texture. I’ll run through each of these really quickly.

In my last blog post I shared our new Texture Tools. These are not a replacement or competition to Ranger’s Texture Tools though because the textures are almost completely different. Having both sets would give you even more texture options.

Click the picture to buy!

Ranger’s Texture Tools come in a 6 pack with a removable ring for storage. These texture tools have texture on the long edge and one of the shorter edges. They have a print of the design on them for easy reference. They are made of a durable flexible clear plastic , very similar to the plastic we used on our Texture Tools. Drag the tools through mediums that can hold peaks and keep their form such as Ranger’s Texture Pastes. Ranger’s texture tools retail for $7.00.

Ranger has three different Texture Pastes to choose from. They each come in a 3.9 ounce jar and retail for $7.50. Click on any of the pictures below to purchase from Simon Says Stamp.

Click to Buy!

The first is an opaque texture paste that will cover any imagery underneath it. This is their original texture paste. Acrylic paint and inks can be mixed into the texture paste to make a solid color. One of my most favorite techniques for using the texture paste is applying it through a stencil with a palette knife. After the paste is dry, you can also stamp on it or paint over it. Ranger states that these texture pastes are artist quality.

Click the picture to buy!

Then, Ranger came out with Transparent Texture Pastes. This picture above is Transparent Matte. Transparent texture pastes are great for adding texture without covering up the layer underneath. You can also tint these with inks to get a transparent colored texture. This one dries clear with a matte finish.

Click the picture to buy!

This is probably the one that I am most excited about! While there are times that I don’t want any gloss, most of the time I am using my Luster Mica Powders or Luster Mica Spray Mists and I want a TON of shimmer on my project. You can mix Luster Mica Powder in this for sparkly dimension! Of course, you can mix mica powder in all of the other ones too, but it shows up the best and sparkles the best when it’s in a gloss.

Prima Marketing has a pretty cool paste as well!

Click to buy!

Prima Marketing’s Light Paste is from Finnabair’s Art Basics Line. I have to tell you that I am IN LOVE with everything Finnabair has come up with for Prima so far. It’s right down my alley. Light Paste holds its dimension, so it’s another great option for use with stencils and texture tools. The difference is that it is light and airy feeling. You can add a lot of dimension without added weight. It is opaque and dries white with a tiny bit of transparency to it. A major bonus is that you can dry it with a heat tool! However, I noticed some shrinkage that may have been attributed to drying it this way. I have not tried air drying it though, so I can not be sure. Most of the time in art shrinkage is not a problem since we are not dealing in “exacts”. Light Paste can also be used as an adhesive, but for economical reasons I would stick to using it for dimension. Art Basics Light Paste can also be mixed with acrylic paints to achieve a white-washed dimensional paste. Another great characteristic of Light Paste is that it is bendable! You can put it on projects that have movement and not worry about cracking. You get 8 fluid ounces in a jar for an MSRP of $13.00. That’s still a great price when you consider what a large amount you are getting. This paste is unlike any others I have tried and is worth a purchase to have in your craft arsenal!

I hope this blog post has been informational and helped you decide which texture product is right for you. If you have any questions, just post a comment or e-mail intoxicatingarts@gmail.com. Thank you for stopping by!