Versamark and Perfect Pearls update

You may remember that I was struggling to master a technique shown by Barbara Gray in her show on Create and Craft.  After corresponding with the lady herself, I then treated myself to a set of the Perfect Pearls Metallics.  (Sorry, that does not fit in too well with the UIU in 2012 principle, but there really was no other way to do this)

They finally arrived yesterday, so I rushed off to try them out, and this is the result.  No, it is not perfect, but I learned a lot, and it is a dramatic improvement on my previous attempts.  I was still too impatient at cleaning the excess off, which is why there are some little gaps in the lines.  I might try putting those back in with a Versamark pen and more mica.  I hate throwing things away.

I hit the button to post this and realised that some of you may not know what I am talking about and how this technique works. 

You will need:

 a piece of black Clarity silk card, 

a versamark ink pad, 

Perfect Pearls in whatever metallic colour you desire, 

talcum powder ( I have a huge baby powder on my desk at all time)

A large soft paint brush

soft kitchen roll

most important - PATIENCE  (I do not have enough of that)

I nearly forgot, you need the stamp of your own choice

 Brush a little talc over your piece of card, brushing most of it off.  Try not to handle the card too much as you will end up with loads of messy finger prints when you add the mica.  I found it was easier to attach it to a piece of copy paper with lo-tack tape. 

Ink up your stamp with the Versamark, then stamp it onto a piece of scrap copy paper, before stamping it onto the Clarity card.  Blotting on to the copy paper gives you a clearer image and reduces the risk of the stamp sliding on the shiny card - it really does make a difference (if you don't believe me, try it for yourself).  Barbara Gray's motto is that if you are using the shiny card, you Ink, Blot, Plot. 

Now you need your soft brush again to transfer a tiny amount of Perfect Pearls to your stamped image.  Once you cover it, very gently brush off most of the excess.  Then leave it till the next day to be sure (do as I say not as I do - I dived in far too soon)

Then you can gently rub off the remaining excess.  Barbara rubbed really hard but she knows what she is doing.  I am still learning and I do not want to waste too much card in the process.

It has to be something like Perfect Pearls as they have a binder within them which holds them to the Versamark.  Plain mica powders do not work - I proved that well and truly before I asked the expert, Barbara Gray.

I do have another Clarity gem to show you, but I have to wait till Sunday as it involves a present for someone else.  It is a project that has been very exciting.  I will show you very soon.

Have a good week, everyone, and I will see some of you in Pixie's playground tomorrow.