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Hello
I am preparing for my stamp camp at the end of the month and I want to do a card with pearl ex but I have never used so I am not sure what the best way to showcase it will be I want it to be a simple project.
Do you have any sugestions for a stamp set I am trying to use all new stamp sets fromt he new catalog.
you can mix pearl ex w/ lumiere paint, and paint it on an image. i don't remember if su still sells the lumiere paint, but it was in the last catalog. or you can fill a bottle w. hairspray and pearl ex and spray on cardstock for a background.
I am wondering the same thing. I have always shyed away from using pearl ex because it looked so complicated. I finally bought some and played around with it. I still haven't had any luck. It just keeps flying around the cardstock and looks messy. If you get any tips, pass them on to me
Pearl Ex is cool! Stamp an image with versamark - then dip a wide paint brush into the pearl ex - a little bit goes a long way! Brush over the stamped image and the pearl ex will stick to the VM - keep brushing and the excess will pretty much come off. Use a swiffer dust cloth to catch up any excess. Or just let it brush over the whole card for a muted metallic sheen! OR mix PE with the lumiere (still in catalog) - again, just a little goes a long way. Lumiere does dry quick. Use plastic spoons for palette - then you just throw the spoons away. You can paint your image after it has been stamped with an outline color. Use the versamark pen to put some umph over something that has been colored - like adding a metallic stripe or dots or something. Pearl Ex is a powdered pigment - you can add it to just about anything liquid - white paint, crystal effects, even try with water to mix! You can mix pearl ex with embossing powder - clear or silver or gold or WHATEVER and get some neat shading. I mixed silver EP with spring green PE and got a neat metallic green. Or mix with clear - try red PE and gold EP. Pearl Ex goes a long way! Doesn't take much of the PE powder - just the tip of a brush into the container and that is plenty to mix with or cover a small stamped image. I think it looks best on dark card stock - black, navy. I haven't tried it on the lighter colors yet.
GOOD LUCK!
My favorite is to dip the tip of the blender pen in the Pearl Ex and paint with it. So beautiful, and not messy at all! You can make it darker for shading by adding more Pearl Ex. Just be careful not to dip the whole pen in, because kind of a pain to clean it off. If you use just the tip, not a problem at all.
I am not an artist by any means, but this makes me look like I am! :lol:
I'm pxi (pearl ex impaired) too, so PLEASE keep the tips coming!
My friend sprays Pam, the cooking spray on cardstock then puts it on with a paint brush. It looks pretty, but it smells a little funny. Truestamper are you there?
I did once wipe my versamark on cardstock and then brushed on pearl ex. It looked was fun.
These PE tips are great. I haven't bought any of the PE or Lumiere because I figured that I would create a mess that I wouldn't be able to clean up. Now I think I am willing to try it. Thank you all for the tips on how to use PE.
Sandy
__________________ Sandy~
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
I was going to ask this same question! I have a customer who wants to make the card on page 232 in the catty, the Lovely As A Tree card. I looked at the recipe in the back and it says that it used just the lumiere and the pearl ex. No prestamping with an ink and no versamark. So, did they just paint the pearl ex mixture on the stamp and do it that way?
TIA!
Sherry
My new favorite way to use Pearl Ex is to fill a waterbrush with Future floor finish, dip just the tip into the powder and use that to paint your image. It's quick, easy, and you don't have to seal it to keep it from rubbing off. I have also used it with Versa Mark, but I use my Embossing Buddy on the cardstock first, that way the powder doesn't stick to the paper where you don't want it. I then seal it with Krylon spray. I've heard that some people use hairspray to seal it also.
I also like to stamp an image on acetate with Stazon ink and run it through my Xyron, image side up. Then just paint the sticky side with the powder using a small brush or blender pen. Adhere this to black cardstock, Stazon side up, and it looks like reverse painting on glass.
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I think the card in question was a stamp painted with different mixtures of Lumiere and Pearl Ex and then stamped onto cs. I can't think of how else they would have done that.
That was my thought, too, but I wanted to make sure. My customer wants to make THAT card and bought the stuff to do it based on the recipe. Since I am still a new demo, I followed that but when I started reading about all the other ways to use Pearl ex I got nervous! Thanks! I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow when we play!
Sherry
To make a WOW background, stamp your cardstock all over with versamark, brush the whole thing with PE, then take a background stamp, versamark it and stamp over the pearlex. This will lift off some of the PE. Spray with a sealant. I use cheap hairspray. You can then finish your card however you like. Another way is to mix 1/2 t. PE with a 1/2 t. Gum Arabic and 1/8 t. water. Mix it well and let dry out. You can then use a wet watercolor brush or the aqua painter to paint, just like watercolors. At convention they made the suggestion that you put down the new sticky tape and brush PE on it for a great accent.
I really like using the pearl ex too. These tips are great. If you're just starting to try it, here are a couple things I found that might keep you from being frustrated. I versamark an image onto dark paper, then use pearl ex. Just put a small amount on the end of a paintbrush and move it around to color the image. Don't force it into the paper because you'll end up pearl ex on the non-versamarked parts that is hard to get off. I then tapped off what I didn't need and then used a really big make-up brush (like a blush brush) to get rid of the extra. I found that if I swept the image, it could cause the image to smear. Instead I tapped the brush on the paper like you tap a stamp on the inkpad (an analogy we'd all understand!) My favorite stamp sets to use pearl ex with are anything with an asian theme. I've also seen it used with the retired stipple butterfly.
Wonderful ideas and instructions, everyone. This thread is a regular PE techniques workshop, isn't it? Pearl Ex is my favorite medium to work with - in its many forms and I am always looking for new techniques to try. It is so versatile. And once the initial investment is made, it is very economical for a little bit goes a very long way.
That having been said, let me give a word of caution. PE is powdered mica and it does fly around when used dry, as in brushing it on CS or an image stamped with Versamark. I have found that if I am doing more than a card or two, my throat begins to get scratchy. The same feeling I got when I was working with the grinding wheel when doing stained glass until I learned to wear protection. Now, I keep a dust mask in my PE drawer and put it on along with my reading glasses. PE is beautiful but it belongs outside my body. Don't let this discourage you. Pearl-Ex is fun to use and recipients wonder how in the world you did that card; "it's so beautful".
Betty
My demo used a method no one else has mentioned yet. She took a piece of glossy black cardstock (I guess it wasn't SU!), then she put liberal dots of plain old elmers' white glue on top. She picked two colors of Pearl Ex, a copper and a gold and used a brush and gently stippled them into the elmers' glue on the top of the card. She did this all over the card, making sure at least a little glue and Pearl Ex was on every surface. She then heated it up with the embossing gun and it bubbled up and made this beautiful background, I can't describe it! She attached that to a card, then stamped the stipple butterfly in versamark on a smaller piece of plain black cardstock and stippled the same two colors on the butterfly and layered it on top of the bubbled up card, it was stunning! I didn't have the same colors of Pearl Ex as her, I had light pink and light yellow, which I put on top of white glossy cardstock and did the same thing. It turned out very different, but was very pretty and elegant looking. I ended up making mine into a wedding congratulations card. Anyway, this did wow everyone at that party! I hope I explained it well enough for you to try it, since I am not a demo! Good luck!
Have heard you could do that - thanks for great instructions! Can you do the same with embossing powder? I saw lots of cards at convention with this neat effect - was wondering if it was strictly PX or could be used with EP. Love this site just for this reason - what a great sharing of great minds!
My demo used a method no one else has mentioned yet. She took a piece of glossy black cardstock (I guess it wasn't SU!), then she put liberal dots of plain old elmers' white glue on top. She picked two colors of Pearl Ex, a copper and a gold and used a brush and gently stippled them into the elmers' glue on the top of the card. She did this all over the card, making sure at least a little glue and Pearl Ex was on every surface. She then heated it up with the embossing gun and it bubbled up and made this beautiful background, I can't describe it! She attached that to a card, then stamped the stipple butterfly in versamark on a smaller piece of plain black cardstock and stippled the same two colors on the butterfly and layered it on top of the bubbled up card, it was stunning! I didn't have the same colors of Pearl Ex as her, I had light pink and light yellow, which I put on top of white glossy cardstock and did the same thing. It turned out very different, but was very pretty and elegant looking. I ended up making mine into a wedding congratulations card. Anyway, this did wow everyone at that party! I hope I explained it well enough for you to try it, since I am not a demo! Good luck!
This is the radiant pearls technique. It's fun and really cool. To get black glossy paper you brayer one of our glossy card stock sheets. It's fun.
Another word of advice that I wish someone had given me when I started playing with PE ~ the embossing buddy is a god send. It helps on PE more than on embossing powder. You should really invest in one of those and a package of Pledge wipes before starting an PE technique.
I didn't always want to mix the Lumiere with the Pear-Ex and have all these containers and I never knew for sure how much to mix. The jar said to use 1 part Art Gum Arabic Powder to 4 parts Pearl-Ex and then you can use it with any liquid medium and not have to spray with Krylon to seal.
I used my Weight Watchers scale to set the bottle of Pearl-Ex on. Not good English, Ha!, but then I reset the scale to 0 with the bottle on it. I then added Art Gum Arabic Powder until it came to 1/4 of what the label said was in the jar. Shake it and then use it. I used it with Versa Mark, Oyster Shell, or Snowqueen Radiant Pearls, etc. Once its dry, its there to stay. It sounds cumbersome, and I have also given it a SWAG and it works too.
I can hardly wait to try all the other ideas you have all given.
Pearl EX Help.
