An Experiment with Stickles

Have you noticed how Stickles is really thick and dense and gives awesome coverage? I did, and now I want to get rid of all my loose glitter. I hate using it. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Don't tell me not to be a hater. Haters gonna hate. And I hate loose glitter.

It's messy.  I get it everywhere I don't want it (my face, the dog's nose, my cup of coffee), but it flakes off everywhere I do want it. Unless I use lots of liquid glue, and then, why not just use Stickles?

Are you following me? You don't have to agree, just hear me squawking freedom.

Thank you.

Well, have you ever wondered if you could use Stickles for projects in which you wanted just a bit of glitter, or maybe just a schmear of glitter?

I have, so I decided to experiment by mixing Stickles with a bit of water and brushing it onto a card with a cheap paintbrush. The results were very satisfying!

I chose three very old Hero Arts watercolor flower stamps and colored them with Memento markers...because Memento ink is water-resistant when dry. I didn't want the ink smearing messily while I painted over it with the Stickles. After coloring on the stamp with the markers, I spritzed several squirts of water onto the stamp for a watercolor effect. Love this technique!

The photo doesn't show the effect very well, so here's a close-up:

Cool, eh?  I think so! Below are two more cards and close-ups.

This last one had an interesting twist. The orange Stickles seems a little different from the others. The glue in which the glitter is suspended is actually orange, not clear. So the white areas inside the petals turned orange...a fortunate effect in this case, I think! Also, I added a bit of extra yellow glitter right out of the bottle to the center of this flower because the "painted" glitter didn't define the center very well, especially after the white spaces turned orange.

The soft schmear of glitter over the watercolor images looks fabulous. It would look stunning over PTI's Watercolor Wonders set...which will be my next experiment with it!

And I totally want credit for trying something new. I haven't seen this anywhere, although it seems so obvious now that someone else MUST have tried it before. Great minds think alike...whoever they are.

Remember to use a cheap brush when painting glue...that $30 sable brush does not deserve to be mistreated, okay? Also, only use water-resistant or water-proof ink for this technique, or you'll likely make a mess.

And I'm getting rid of the loose glitter, so there shouldn't be any more messes in my craft space.

Right?

("She's delusional.")

I heard that.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts, SU Amazing to Zany
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: paint brush, Stickles, cup of water, post-it notes for a makeshift palette for the Stickles, dimensionals