Mica Pigment Powder Instructions

I'm starting with a cold urgh! I've been feeling it coming on all week and I'm battling with my sore throat and woolly head, so been a bad day and I should have just stayed in bed. I have just lost a long email order that will need retyping (thanks BT!) I had printed it out before hitting the send button but it's only printed half a page so I'll have to rethink the whole order again. Rant over, (unless I end up loosing this as well, then I'll really scream!). I'm going to post the cards separately just in case...

OK, here we go with those mica pigment powder instructions I mentioned yesterday. I demonstrated this at a show last weekend, it is not a new technique but one I decided to revisit and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with this technique again, it is very quick to do, so instant gratification! Unfortunately my camera is still broken so I cannot give step by step photos. Thanks to Debbie for taking these.

This is what I used and a few notes to help

Versamark ink pad - it's a nice sticky pad for this technique, a normal embossing pad normally won't work.

Mica Pigment powders - I've used Moonglow The Outback set - I've reduced the price of this set only, (from £19.20 to £10.00) for the time being here if you want to try them.

Black card - also works well on vellum and glossy white paper, but really pops out on black card.

Anti-static pad - (optional) - this will make sure the powder doesn't stick to any marks/fingerprints you may have on the card.

Dry detail paint brush - using a smaller brush to apply the powder will give you more control over where you put the colours, if you want to use just one colour then it is quicker to use a large brush

Soft blusher type brush - to swipe of excess powder

Anti-static cloth - to remove the little bits of powder left on the card. If you don't have one then dry out a baby wipe completely and you will have a nice soft cloth to use.

Cheap hairspray - Moonglow needs a quick squirt to fix it, (Perfect Pearls doesn't need spraying)

Stamps - solid stamps are probably a better choice than thin lined stamps as you get more of an impact of the technique

METHOD
Rub the anti-static bag over the card.

Ink the stamp with Versamark ink and stamp onto the card.

Take a small amount of powder from the jar with the dry detail paint brush and very gently lay it onto the wet image. It needs a very gentle touch as you don't want to smear the ink, I prefer to think of it as gliding over the card, pushing it lightly over the image. Tap any excess on the brush back into the jar and try another colour.

If your brush is too loaded with powder then dot some of the excess on another part of the image.

Once the image is covered, very gently and lightly swipe the blusher type brush over the image to ensure that all the ink is covered and the colours have blended.

Tap off any excess in the bin. I did try saving the excess bits in a tub once and all you end up with is brown, so basically try not to use too much powder when applying it, you really don't need much at all.

Remove any loose bits of mica by again gently passing the anti-static cloth over the card until there are no bits left around the image.

Give the card a short spray with hairspray, you don't need much at all and if you spray too much it makes the colours run.

Allow a few seconds to dry and that's it!