It is sometimes mostly closer to 0. Soo inside it is!
In the meantime, I've started considering sparkles more. Like my craft area is full of floor sparkles. We aren't going to talk about craft herpes but I have fabulous socks at the end of a craft sesh.
I have a plan for some sparkled candle holders for a summer event this year (hold on to that thought for a while). Pinterest has wonderful ideas with stunning votives and decorations which are wonderful and can be designed for a myriad of holidays.
Only trouble is, I'm actually a quietly seasoned crafter. I know nothing ever looks like those things the Martha Stewart craft teams make without selling your firstborn to the devil-if I had a firstborn I might consider that, knowing what I know about children. Serves you right, Rumplestilskin, take that screaming child. HA!
Anyway, I did a ridiculous amoubt of reading and reviews are actually harder to come by than I thought that they would be. Also, comparisons. The ModPodge people are like "ooohhhhh modpodge then sparkle then modpodge. Use the shiny finish!" and the cheap people are like "1:1:1 glue:water:sparkle" (so... Mod podge?) and I know i use basic glue and sparkle sometimes on cards (gotta love the 2 way glue by Kuretake). I use that constantly for glue on cards and scrapbook pages. It's like Tombo but like way cheaper and a nicer pen shaped applicator.
So i set up a set of trials, with products I already own, to see how they fared.
See below:
This is very old. Like, high school old. Actually. So... 10 years at least? Still good as new. 
I have had this since christmas 2015 or 2016 maybe?
This is a million year old dollar store paint container from when i lost my good one in high school art class.
This is a dollar store brush that i actually love for crafting, not painting. Big difference.
So. What happened?
I mixed the sparkles into the mediums, in my paint holder, and painted it with that green brush onto the clear plastic packaging that i am using to represent glass without wasting a whole piece of glass.
This is the actual plastic test sheet. Super pro eh?Okay. My actual opinions. As expected, the Martha Stewart frosted glass paint dulled the sparkles a LOT. Still pretty I think, but more as a texture-which makes sense. The frosted glass paint is also a texture paint I think. I really like it though, and I think it might still be used for some applications. I did a thick line, a thin line, and a really heavy glop. The thin line is meh, the sparkles aren't spread evenly at all. The thick line is very subdued but pretty. Sparkles do not fall off when rubbed.
The tacky glue may be a bit old. I don't know how long I've had that and I believe that it may have altered the composition of the mix. I would like to think I've had it for about ten years. The package says 2007 so... That's a fair assessment. It doesn't appear to store well and I've moved to a lot of e-6000 use instead of white glue because of the different projects I do. White glue normally smears etc... I did not mix glue with water here and mixed the sparkles right in. Still very shiny! Thicker parts are globby. Sparkles are not even. Glue is visible behind the sparkles so maybe a thicker layer would be ideal, but that would change the texture of the glass heavily. Brush strokes were glaringly obvious.
Anyway, the point is, it was awfully gunky. But, if it were the consistency it were supposed to be, I believe that it would be doable. Downsides are water solubility and possible sparkle retention over time. Sparkles do not fall off when rubbed. Not a smooth finish.
The mod podge was similar in look to the glue but it went on a lot smoother ( thinner texture). I was thinking there are a lot of mod podge ideas, so I tried 3 different applications.
1) mixed sparkle and mod podge, smeared it on. Sparkles are locked in, lose some sparkle compared to #2. Did not spread evenly. Dried very very clear- very little texture from brush stroke. Multiple layers might be required of sparkle to get full coverage but if a little sparkle is the idea-not bad.
2) sparkle mixture with extra sparkles on top. Some of the sparkles came loose but for the short term i think this may have been best. Over time, the sparkles would all knock loose so that you would be back to a dimpled surface with sparkles below. However, some manipulations can occur without a ridiculous loss of sparkle. 3-4 sparkles come off on a fingertip if you touch, more if you rub on it at the beginning but this thins out once the really loose ones are off. They just catch the light so much better. Not smooth at all as the loose sparkles stick everywhere-maybe being the reason that they catch the light.
I hear hairspray helps with sparkle herpes issues but i also hear spray yellows over time.
3) adding a second coat of modge tended to dull it very slightly- hard to notice except in direct comparison to a mixed coat- but also changed the texture a bit and in my opinion it became too thick. Brush strokes were hardly visible but more so than in the first, in the second coat- which is consistent with my opinion of modpodge. A little dab'll do ya, unless you're actually modpodging the crap out of paper ( go for it! It's like therapy).
So, I believe in my case the winner is still modpodge with a layer of glueless sparkles over top the sparkly modpodge mix. I might consider some sort of sparkle sealer closer to, if the sparkles appear to be 'wilting' overtime. A spray on adhesive over the modpodge to readhere parkles may also be possible but that was not in my arsenal of things as i do not do spray adhesive crafting or charcoal and chalk that requires sealing.
Well, there you have it! Questions? Comment and I'll do my best to answer.
No one else paid for my stuff here. It was all lovingly owmed from teenagerhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment