Hi Carol with you today to share my experiments with a new product from Creative Expressions/Cosmic Shimmer called Pixie Powder… which can be found in the shop, here.
The powder comes in 30ml "puffer" bottles and in a range of colours. The powders have lots of mica in them which means they have a gorgeous glimmer….
So, what do you do with them? and on what? the descriptions all say use porous surfaces - but, I want to test all surfaces and see how they react - so. for this first post, I am trailing the following:-
Watercolour card
A card base which I think is 180/200gsm
thick cardstock which I think is 90gsm
so, for the first test - do you use it on wet card or puff it onto card and spritz?
First up - THICK CARDSTOCK AND GOLDEN MINT
On the left I have added powder then spritzed with water
On the right I have spritzed with water and then added powder….
As you can see both have powder patches - I must say, in my opinion, the puffer bottles don't allow for controlled powder application and some of the powders seem finer and come out much quicker and denser, but, that is just my opinion. I think with a finer application the powder patches wouldn't be there, unless you are heavy handed.
The powder then water does allow for all over colour saturation with colour graduation whereas the water then powder has given a definite solid colour… the cardstock obviously doesn't like the water as its bubbled quite a lot.
WATERCOLOUR PAPER - PURPLE VIOLET
On the left is water then powder.
On the right is powder then water… this appears to be the best overall coverage, there seems to be little to no difference between the two stages, although the water then powder seems to be more contained as when the powder was laid then the water spread…. the mica coverage on this is lovely and regular.
CARD BASE - 180/200 GSM - RICH GOLD
On the left you have powder then water, with water then powder on the right hand side.
The cardstock doesn't allow for "spread" and the colours have remained quite restrained. there are powder patches on the water - powder side….. the colour has also saturated thro' to the other side.
VERDICT:-
It would appear that the watercolour paper gives the best overall results. Either way, the colour is constant and even and the mica evenly distributed. However, if you like the more uneven look, the thick cardstock gives a lovely uneven look, the powder then water doesn't give any paper segregation.
PAINTING:-
I mixed some powder with water in a paint pallet and used a paint brush to add colour to a stamped image.
The image had been stamped onto the thick cardstock and has some slight raises due to the water, although the colour produced and overall coverage of the mica is lovely….
I also added background colour to a piece of water colour paper. This gave a gorgeous all over deep green with great mica spread.
and again to a piece of thick cardstock. This didn't paint as well as the watercolour paper, and you can see the brush strokes, but, I personally like this effect.
Use this mix in a spritzer bottle and spitz backgrounds for a great look. Don't forget that mica clogs up the spray bottles so rinse after use.
Whilst playing with the powders it would appear, that irrespective of the cardstock, the amount of paper and water also has a heavy influence on how the powder performs…. tip the bottle horizontally before removing the lid and gently tapping gives a light powder coverage, although, some of the product still comes out a bit heavier than others, then spritz water whilst standing adding some height also gives a different impression.
Here I have used a Crafters Workshop, peacock dolly stencil, onto a card blank…
I then gently puffed the powders onto the dry cardstock with stencil in place. I then spritzed with water from a height so that it misted rather than be a heavy spray..
This is the result
with the stencil still wet, I have flipped it over and added the residue to a couple of tags…
see that glimmer?
I think the important thing with this product is to play and decide for yourself how you like the results.
Next time I will be showing you some results with the test pieces.
I hope you find this useful.
Carol xx
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