Friday 20 May 2011

Cosmic Shimmer Misters


Shimmer mist is suitable for use on any porous surface such as : Card, Paper, Papier Mache, Canvas, Wood, Fabric - will NOT be washable.



Tips:
* The mica does settle so shake well before use.
* Bottles are best stored on their side, this helps keep the tube to the nozzle clear of mica reducing the risk of clogging. Less shaking needed too.
* If the pump clogs remove it and rinse in warm water, do this before long term storage.
* Use a small shallow box as a spray booth to prevent any stray squirts escaping.
* Use a craft mat under your project so you can mop up any overspray on spare card, it may come in handy for another project, waste nothing.
* Mica's are very effective on dark backgrounds so experiment with coloured bases to your projects.
* Colours co-ordinate with other Cosmic Shimmer products to help you mix and match.
* Wear gloves if scrunching your card, some colours can stain a little.


Ideas:
* Stamp an image using Perfect Medium, then clear emboss before spraying. Lightly dab off excess spray from stamped areas as it will stick to the embossing a little. This will retain the base colour on your card. Alternatively you could stamp and emboss using coloured powders after spraying. These two tags were sprayed with the same colours, one onto white card and the other onto black card.
* Create dramatic backgrounds by using several colours. Seascapes, stormy skies, sunsets, galaxies - on black card, enchanted forests, the list is endless, let your imagination run free.
* Spay thin card, then while still wet scrunch it up and smooth it out again. To get it quite smooth again you can iron it. If you then rub gently over the card with an ink pad only the raised areas will pick up the ink.
* You can spray fabric but it will NOT be washable.
* Use masks to spray over, there are some really gorgeous ones available.

I hope this has given you some idea about Cosmic Shimmer misters. Choose a couple of colours you like together and have a play, if you like what you see, and I'm sure you will, then invest in a few more and have fun. I love all the Shimmer mists but I would have to say the Pearl Mist is my favourite, it has a clear carrier colour so it can be used to add a subtle shimmer to almost anything from wedding cards to christmas decorations.
There is also a range of Chalk Misters available now. These are very similar to use but they have no shimmer, they are a chalk effect that have many uses of their own.

Monday 2 May 2011

Sew Simple goes Cosmic

I would like to say thankyou to the staff and visitors at Sew Simple on saturday for making it a most enjoyable day.
As promised over the next few weeks I will try to give you a run down on the different Cosmic Shimmer products and their uses.
This card was made using the new Cosmic Chalk Mists, they give a matt chalky finish. They have a fresh spring like look and once you've played for a while you can get some lovely effects. Personally I like to use them as a subtle mist, blending two complimentary colours rather than an all out solid coverage.
This was using green and yellow, well I was demonstrating on the outskirts of Norwich, over the Trellis mask from That Special Touch Of... The stamps are all from U-Mount Botanical using Archival Jet Black and Coffee. Foliage was stamped in Distress Forest Moss and clear embossed. Clear embossing powder over the stamped butterfly and yellow flowers made painting with Cosmic Watercolours nice and easy. The Pinky flowers were stamped on card misted with the chalks in purple and pink, all flowers were cut out and glued onto the background with Cosmic Acrylic glue, as was the butterfly. Matted and layered on green, gold and pearlescent chocolate card seemed to suit it.