radiant pearl, twinkling H2Os, pearl ex, lumiere...
 

I want to get some wonderful paints for my stamping....which do I go with? What is the difference between twinkling H2Os and radiant pearls? Which is preferrable?

Can anyone out there give me a hand with this? I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Theresa

Twinkling H2O's are a solid like watercolors...I believe Radiant Pearls are a powder. I have twinkling h2o's and love them...much easier to work with than a powder. There are several posts on this topic...just do a search in the forum.

This is a great question - you and I can't be the only ones who are wondering about this. I just heard about the Twinkling H2Os a few days ago and went to pick them up today. I was (pleasantly) suprised the little craft store near me carried them, and here they are sitting in the sotre bag right next to me! I'll try them out and post soon to tell you what they are like. Based on the comments I've heard, they are sure to be awesome. Not cheap though, at least not in my opinion, but then again, I am about as cheap as they come! I got 6 very tiny jars for $10. :D I bet they will last a long time though. I also got a cheaper water brush - a 3 pack for only $5! They are made by Dove and look pretty much like the ones in the new catty. Ok, I can't stand it anymore - I've gotta try these babies out! Be back soon!

Ok, back again with an update. They are really neat. Very bright and shiny! I just tried them on scrap paper and now I can't wait to use them on a stamped image. I have heard that once they are dry there's no need to seal them, but I have no idea about the PearlEx.

I actually research the forum a while ago and asked a couple of people directly their thoughts. So I will post what I learned and please remember these are strictly personal opinions so if I am off a little don't hate me.

Radient Pearls are a liquid. I have used these before in a resist type method. They are very pretty and blend very well when you are painting with them. They are great for when you stamp or emboss a line image in black and want to paint inside it. The down side is they take quite a while to dry.

The Pearl Ex is a powder and the cool thing about them is it sticks to the versamark ink so you can stamp an image and brush a very little bit of the pearl ex over it. You need to seal it though because the powder has no fixative and can be brushed off if you are not careful. To paint with pearl ex you must mix it in a medium (other than water because it would just brush off when it dries since there is no "glue" to keep it in place). You can also stamp with versamark and then use embossing sticky powder and brush the sticky image. The big difference between using the sticky powder and not is the level of color, using sticky powder yields brighter color.

Twinkling H2Os are just like watercolors, a solid medium you use with a damp watercolor brush. It does not blend as well as radiant pearls, but dries extremely fast. Some people still like how the radient pearls shimmer a little better.

Hope that helps. Thank this board and it's great members for being my resource :D ~Melissa

Twinklers etc.
 

Jumping in here... Radiant Pearls and Twinkling H20's are made by the same company... used to be called angelwings enterprises... she just changed it.... but they are very different. Radiant pearls are liquid... come in a little pot.. many colors... and they are a pearlescent liquid. They can be used direct to rubber ( and spritzed) for a lovely look, or can be painted on an image.. One of the issues with it was depth of color.. and potential to fade. Twinkling H20's are in a pot, but they are in solid form. You use a wet brush (OR AQUA BRUSH!!!) to pick up color... they can be blended, the color is buildable... and you can make the color as intense or sheer as you like... depending on how wet your brush is. The colors also don't fade.

Perfect Pearls, Pearl ex, etc... are mica based powders... Made by two diff companies. Pearl Ex (which is the one we sell) does NOT have a binder in it.. so if you want to apply it wet.. like paint... it needs to be mixed with Lumiere (which we don't sell anymore) or a gum arabic mix (this is inexpensive and fairly easy to find). Perfect pearls is similar, but has the binder in it already. There are also pallette of colors available.. just need to wet your brush and use it. And to confuse the issue more... there is one more product called primary elements... which is mica... and the solutions to make it useable are all sold separate (fabric, paper, wood...) but they are AWESOME on dominoes. Whew.

There are now Pearl Ex stamp pads available... that are great on dark paper.. You can go broke buying all these toys! My fav of the day... invest in the twinkling H2o'S. HAVE FUN!!

Deb

We do still sell Lumiere, btw :)

OOPS! Indeed we do... just saw that myself!

Hi - I have the Lumiere paints, all the PE colors (except the very newest 6 or 8 - whatever they just came out with) and the H2O's. I love the H20"s as far as ease and depth of color - they are wonderful.

I REALLY LIKE the PE - it is so verstile. I have made a PE palette by mixing 1 part powdered gum arabic, 3 parts PE and a little water together in each part of a monthly pill dispenser. One little compartment for each color of PE. The measure I used was somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon. Mixed with a skewer. Then you let them dry very well. To use you just use a very wet paint brush. You get an excellent result and it does not have to be sealed due to the gum arabic being included in the mix. Another cool PE trick is to put Future Floor Polish (the clear stuff) in a water brush. Squeeze the brush gently to get the flow of polish into the bristles. Now - using the tip of the brush gently dip into the powdered PE and then paint. This dries almost instantly and again you don't need to seal due to the polish already in the brush.

Just a few of my favorites to use these products....I look for tips like this so I can feel better about the big cost upfront but then get many uses from the product---by the way, the palette and H2O's will probably last my lifetime cuz you only use a little!!

Hope this helps....

Mary

OK...You have all convinced me that I need twinkling H2Os...now...where is the best place to get them? I was hoping that SU would start carrying them this year! :cry: Maybe next year!!!

If you could direct me I will give them a whirl!
Thanks! :)

Another neat way to use Pearlex powders is to use floor wax in an aqua painter, eiher pick up a small amount of powder on the brush or mix a little on a plastic lide or paletter and paint with it. It dries fairly fast and the fix is then built in. I bought inexpensive aqua painters at Hobby Lobby (3 for abut $7.00, I think) to use for floor wax and bleach. Now your only problem is to find floor wax these days. LOL. My stamp gals share -- Future floor wax is the one we use.

Oh yes, I love the twinkling h2o's too. But they give a very different effect.

I have the twinkling H20's and love them. Someone told me a tip I wanted to pass on though. After you use your twinkling H20's, don't put the top on while the cake is still damp. If you do they could mold or mildew. I always leave the top off until I am sure they are completely dry and I've never had a problem with them.

Radiant Pearls are no longer being made, from what I was told. :( They are now using Twinkling H2O's instead, I think.:confused:

Now to confuse you more...they have come out with Shimmerz. It's like H2o but it's all mixed with water so you don't do anything but dip in it and paint. The look interesting but I've only seen them on the internet.

Anyone had experience with Shimmerz? Tx..

I haven't read this thread but wanted to share something I did just for fun ... I scribbled on some cardstock with watercolor pencils (2-3 colors in the same shade - I used blues) then I used my AquaBrush and Pewter Twinkling H20s and applied it over the blue pencils. It came out really shimmery and was an easy way to make your own colored cardstock for backgrounds and using with punches.

I don't have any photos (camera batteries are dead) but if you have watercolor pencils and Twinkling H20s just try it!

Happy Crafting!
Tina aka TeeGeeDee

I have both the Radiant Pearls and the Twinking H2Os and love them! You can find them here: here

I really like my Twinkling H2Os.
Last week I discovered (inexpensive) Yasutomo pearlescent watercolors, and they are great too. I posted a picture on my blog yesterday (Click)
I also like Iridescent medium, which can be used with regular watercolors, another photo here on my blog.

I love my H20's also. I also have Lumiere paints and Perfect Pearls. I use them all for different things but I use the H20's the most. Very easy to use and the colors are awesome.

My cousin has almost every color of Radiant pearls and lots of the Lumiere paints as well and I got to expirament with the Lumiere paints yesterday while playing in her stamp studio! Ooooh I'm in love now :rolleyes:!! I brought along several images that I prestamped and embossed in clear EP and painted them at her house. Unfortunately all but one of them smeared as they did not completely dry...:(

I just ordered a pack of the Lumiere paints (they call it the Exciter pack) from Dick Blick for $9.54. Here is the page where you can check it out!

Here is a picture of my image I painted yesterday (I have not made it into a card yet....)I just love all the shimmer and colors she had available for me to use! :mrgreen: