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Twinkling H2Os on Black Background

By M. Elizabeth Lee
Rubber Roadsters
Advanced Stamping Team Designer/Writer

Twinkling H2Os are watercolors in a solid cake form available in individual round mini pots with a screw cap lid.  These colors are loaded with iridescent elements of rich Mica pigments blended with pure watercolor pigment to give them sparkling luster.  They are suitable for a variety of surfaces such as cardstock, vellum, watercolor papers, canvas, wood, unglazed tiles, baked clay, shrink plastic, and dominos.  Shrink plastic should be heat shrunk first before applying the Twinkling H2Os to the stamped design.  Some of these surfaces such as wood, unglazed tiles, shrink plastic, clay, and dominos should be sealed after the application of Twinkling H2Os.  A high-quality spray sealer is Krylon Crystal Clear or Glossy.  A matte finish tends to dull the shimmering luster somewhat.  Future Floor Finish makes a superior sealer for tile, domino, clay, and shrink plastic projects colored with Twinkling H2Os.  Put the Future in a handy small pump spray bottle found at craft stores or beauty supply houses.  Add 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of Pearl Ex to a 2oz. pump spray bottle of Future for added luster in the final finish.  Future has an extensive shelf life so share with friends or give as gifts to friends who share similar art interests.

Although LuminArte produces both Twinkling H2Os and Radiant Pearls, these two products should not be combined.  They are entirely different types of paint with unrelated properties.  Radiant Pearls is an emollient based paint much like oil paint while Twinkling H2Os is pure watercolor pigment paint.  All Twinkling H2O colors can be intermingled with each other to create additional colors and effects.  Being highly concentrated cakes of color, Twinkling H2Os have a long-lasting quality.  The colors are quite opaque from the beginning of the brush stroke to the end.  Thinning with water will dilute them for shading purposes, which may reduce the sparkle.  However, sheer iridescent colors are designed to lighten opaque colors without compromising any loss of shimmer. 

There are various techniques that can be accomplished with this medium.  A standard procedure is the traditional color block method of filling in design areas with a variety of colors.  Other processes include painting on black surfaces; palette painting directly onto a rubber stamp; and rendering color to bleached out designs.  Also, fabulous watercolor backgrounds can be achieved to use as back drops for other stamped design work.

Supplies:

• Single Rose Rubber Stamp (Comotion)
• Versamark Ink Pad (Tsukineko)
• Black Eclipse card stock; cut to size:9¼x6¼”; 4¼x5¾”; 3¼x4½” (Kelly Paper)
• Funny Bones Bone Folder (Ranger)
• Heat Tool (Milwaukee)
• Gold Embossing Pearl (Ranger)
• Mono Adhesive (Tombow)
• Fern Twinkling H2O's (LuminArte)
• Passion Twinkling H2O's (LuminArte)
• Indian Copper Twinkling H2O's (LuminArte)
• Ruby Red Twinkling H2O's (LuminArte)
• Garnet Twinkling H2O's (LuminArte)
• Key Lime Twinkling H2O's (LuminArte)
• Irish Mist Twinkling H2O's ((LuminArte))
• #8 Flat La Corneille Brush (Loew-Cornell)
• #4 Round Soft-Grip Brush (Royal)
• #2 JS Jackie’s Liner Brush (Loew-Cornell)
• Waterbrush (Royal)
• Water receptacle
• Fine Mist Spray Bottle filled with water (Michael’s)
• Corner Punch (EK Success)
• Grid Cutting Mat for Work Surface (Creative Memories)
• 16" Cutting System (Genesis)
• Personal Paper Trimmer (X-Acto)

Instructions:

1. Prep the cake watercolors by adding about 3 drops of water to each mini pot (adding more as needed) with a waterbrush to soften the paints for use.  This is a brush that has a refillable water barrel.
    
2. Place the 9¼x6¼” piece of Black card stock onto the rotary paper cutter as if it were going to be cut in half.  Close the hold down bar and move the blade out of the way.  Take a bone folder and score the card stock twice right up against the hold down bar.  Remove card stock, fold in half, and set aside.
    
3. Using a flat brush, paint the Twinkling H2Os randomly onto the entire piece of Black 4¼x5¾” card stock until completely covered.  Lightly mist the card stock with the spray bottle of water several times allowing the colors to run together.  When somewhat dry, splatter on Key Lime paint for a speckled effect.  Allow to dry completely and press flat in a book. 
    
4. Ink up the Rose stamp with the Versamark ink pad and stamp image onto the Black 3¼x4½” card stock.  Sprinkle Gold Pearl Embossing Powder over stamped image.  Return excess powder back to the jar.  Remove powder specks from the black card stock with a dry paint brush and heat emboss until all powder is melted.  
    
5. When painting the rose, use thicker paint with a drier brush. The paint should be the consistency of whipping cream or acrylic paint in the 2 oz. bottles.  Also, this technique allows some of the black card stock to show through the design for a dramatic effect.  Refer to photo for color placement guide. 
    
6. With Key Lime and #2 Liner brush, paint the leaves. For the bottom leaf, start each single paint stroke on the right side of the vein and feather off almost to the edge of the leaf.  On the left side of the vein, start each single paint stroke on the edge of the leaf and feather off towards the vein. 
    
7. For the left leaf, start each single paint stroke at the left side of the vein and feather off toward the leaf’s edge.  On the right side of the leaf, start each single paint stroke at the leaf’s edge and feather off towards the vein.
    
8. For the right leaf, start each single stroke at the center vein on each side of the leaf and feather off towards the leaf’s edges.  Go over some strokes of all leaves with a second coat to highlight them more.  Paint the left side of the rose stem and calyx.
    
9. For the rose petals, use Garnet paint with a #2 liner brush for the smaller petals and a #4 round brush for the larger petals.  Starting at the tips of each petal, make single paint strokes feathering off towards the base of the petals. The black card stock shows through at the base of the petals acting as shading.  Work one petal at a time.  When finished painting the rose petals, go over some strokes of all petals with a second coat to highlight them more.  Refer to photo as a color placement guide.  Allow the rose design to dry completely.
    
10. Run Mono Adhesive to the back edges of the watercolor background design.  Mount it to the center of the Black folded card stock.  With the Corner Punch, punch the top left corner and the right bottom corner of the rose design.  Reserve the cut off corners.  Run Mono Adhesive to the back edges of the rose design and mount it to the center of the watercolor background design.  Apply Golden Gel Mediums Soft Gel Matte to the back of the punched corners and off-set glue them in place.  Refer to photo for placement guidance.

 Published previously on SS Reflections

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