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I felt inspired recently to pull my Pearl Ex powders out of the closet and make a few stamped images.
In the pictures to the left, the top picture is a completed card using an image that’s been colored with Pearl Ex powders. The second and third are stamped images, not yet assembled into a card.
If you are not familiar with Pearl Ex powders by Jacquard, you can read about them at Jacquard Product’s web site, or check them out at Amazon: Jacquard Products Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments 32 Color/Set
I love Pearl Ex. These glorious little pots of color have so many uses. And — even though they appear to be somewhat costly, a little bit goes a very long way. I am still using the 24 pots of Pearl Ex I bought several years ago and they will last a long time yet.
Pearl Ex is not to be confused with Radiant Pearls or Perfect Pearls. These two products, as far as I know, will stick to surfaces and can be painted on. Pearl Ex powder is pure mica and has no “sticky” agent included.
On the one hand, this makes Pearl Ex powder a little more difficult to work with. It requires the additional step of first using something sticky, such as the watermark ink that I demonstrated in the video below.
On the other hand, since Pearl Ex is a powder, you can mix it with almost any other medium and use it in tons of different ways. In that respect, it is much more versatile than the “paint on” kinds.
Here is a video demonstrating how to make a greeting card using a stamped image colored with Pearl Ex powders.
The finished result varies somewhat depending on the texture of the paper or card stock you are stamping on. The color of the card stock is also a key factor, obviously. Interference colors of Pearl Ex show up wonderfully on dark colored paper, but are not effective on a light background.
One other tip — I struggled with this technique for ages before someone finally figured out what I was doing wrong. My watermark ink was too “juicy” — causing an unattractive smear when I applied the Pearl Ex. If you find the same thing happening, the solution is to partially dry the watermark ink first, using either a heat gun or letting it air dry.
If you dry it too much, the Pearl Ex will not stick, so timing is crucial.
Do you use Pearl Ex in your crafting projects? Leave a comment and a link to your work, if its online.
