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Has anyone ever made their own watercolors with pearl ex? I have a ton of pearl ex that I purchased on a whim several years ago and have done nothing with it. Since luminarte is going out of business and there will be no more twinkling H2O's I was thinking that pearl ex may be as close as I get to them again. I was thinking of using Schmincke Ready-to-Use Watercolor Binder as a base and then just adding my pearl ex to that. I was hoping that someone might have done this before and could give some guidance as to whether this would work or not. THANKS
I made them and they work exactly like the sparkling H2O's once they are dry. You'll need some tiny containers to make them in because the recipe makes enough to last quite awhile.
I use the tubes of watercolor paint mixed with pearl-ex & a few drops of glycerin(to make it easier to mix). I store them in paint mixing cups. Let them dry out completely before putting lids on. I'll try to get some pics up later.
I just came across my notes from a product class I did years ago. I can dig them out again.
If you don't want to mess with the gum arabic, you can always use your blender pen to pick up the PE to color with, or use Future Floor Finish in a waterbrush to paint with.
The main reason I've loved PE over all the other brands out there is that it IS such a versatile medium. Once you purchase it in a particular form, say watercolor pots, that's it...that's the only way to use it. In powder form, you can brush it on as is, mix it with paint or ink, mix it with polymer clay (or just brush it on and bake it), make it a watercolor....lots of different ways to use it.
OK just an update for those who have the PE and freaked out because there will be no more H20s. I purchased the gum arabic that jacquard makes (same company as PE) and it worked great. Granted it was a little messy at times as there are a couple of colors that dont' want to mix but now I have my own little pots that I can refill as needed.
I just made the watercolors and they are messy to make. The ratio is 1 part gum arabic (I used dry) to 4 parts PE. I used distilled water (probably too much) The PE kept hopping out of the palette mixing well and when the whole thing was done it looked like yucky goop. It took a long time to dry. But...
The watercolors are beautiful!
I also made a shimmer spray from PE and distilled water. I added a little alcohol as a preservative
I too make my own twinkling H20s by mixing Pearl Ex and Gum Arabic. For mine, I also bought one of the small white watercolor pallets- the one with alot of small indentations/cups and made an entire pallet of twinkling H2Os. After they dry you can paint with them and a small watercolor brush dipped in water.
Also, as Betsy mentioned, using Pearl Ex and a waterpen filled with Future Floor Wax is another great alternative.
Someone on another site a few years back had a "recipe" for making your own Twinkling H2O's with pearl-ex, watercolors and a bit of glycerin. ("Watercolor" in this case means the artist's watercolors in tubes.) I tried it, and the paints when done worked exactly like the twinks - vivid color with lovely shimmer.
I have the instructions saved somewhere and can try to find them if someone wants them, BUT making your own involves enough time, effort and expense that you're really better off buying them from Luminarte, now that they've decided to stay in business. The only way making your own saves any money is if you already have a stash of PearlEx that you don't know what to do with and if you already have the watercolors (although Michael's has some starter sets with small tubes that you could use a coupon on and save some $$)
cbet you are entirely right thank you. When you find the instructions please post.
I use glycerin on dried out stamps to bring them back to life.
I must be behind the curve I had no idea Luminarte was back in business. I know a stamping store that bought a whole lot of the H2O's when they heard H2O's were going away- I guess they're really surprised...
Here is a question for anybody: I live in inland so cal and cannot find future floor wax. I have looked in grocery stores and a few hardware type stores. Does any one have a suggestion? I want to use it with polymer clay.
Did a little searching, and they've relabeled it as "Pledge with Future Shine"
I have a bottle of some other brand from family dollar that's labeled as "acrylic floor finish"
And I will look for the instructions for the homemade version when I get home - they're not on the original site anymore, or at least I can't find them
Hey Cheryl... "C": thank you I will look for Pledge with future shine. I am assuming it's the same thing as Future floor wax - that is they didn't call it new and take out the stuff that really worked.
there are so many items that I've bought over the years from the dollar stores so I'll give them a look. Have you tried the acrylic floor wax yet?
When you can find the homemade recipe please post .. gotta love those home made recipes, some of them are better than the original product!
Making watercolors with pearl ex?
