Pearl Ex and Pastel with Future Floor Finish Tutorial

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Hi Everyone! Do you still have your Pearl Ex somewhere in your drawer or closet? I don't see too many people using it now a days! I have loads of them! I used to use them a lot but sadly, I've moved on to other coloring mediums that I've neglected to use my Pearl Ex. Unfortunately, when Pearl Ex was really popular 3 to 4 years ago, I bought tons of them thinking that I'll run out and I needed every color in the largest container possible. Ha!!

Every 6 months there seem to be a new color medium and I can't keep up! My problem is I don't just buy a few of whatever is "in" at the moment, I buy the mega sets, KWIM? Well. . .I decided to start using my stuff, even the old stuff because art is art. . . it never gets old even if there's new stuff out in the market.

So. . .today I decided to use my Pearl Ex. Remember how cool it was to use the Pearl Ex with Future Floor Finish! Wow, that was such an innovative way to use the Pearl Ex. For those who've never heard of this technique. . .well, because Pearl Ex comes in powder form, you need a medium to "bind" and liquefy the Pearl Ex so you can paint with it. Future floor finish has an acrylic base that works perfectly to "hold" or "bind" the Pearl Ex so that when it is applied, it won't rub off.

Typically, you would use something like Versamark ink or Embossing ink to "hold" the powder and spray it with a sealant so it won't rub off. But with these mediums, you can't exactly "paint" the Pearl Ex on to your cardstock. Well, some one out there in artsy land came up with the idea of using this floor finish. I wonder if there's a chemist/artist that sort of sits in their laboratory and come up with these sort of stuff! LOL!

If you like the shimmery effect of Pearl Ex but would like to have more flexibility and be able to paint with this medium.. . .well, check out my tutorial. It's not a new technique but I did add a little twist to this technique. I added pastel to the mix. . .it's used to creating the shading and highlighting that you really can't do with the Pearl Ex.

Pearl Ex works best with darker cardstock. It "shows" better for some reason. The results with this technique usually has an "artsy-fartsy" look to it.

Anyway, check out the tutorial and tell me what you think!