the inkblog

So, you bought a bottle of Pearl Ex powder and you thought, “Boy, this will be fun!” Then you realized that Pearl Ex doesn’t stay where you put it unless you use a sealant or floor wax, neither of which you had in your stamper’s tool box.

Now what? Melted Pearls, that’s what! Here’s my card:

Copyright Stampin’ Up! 1990-2007

There is a wonderful step-by-step tutorial for this technique at SCS: Pearl Ex - Melted Pearls. I’ll sum it up for you like this:

First, I took my stamps and inked them up in VersaMark. I stamped my flowers and then embossed them with a clear powder (the most versatile stuff, by the way!). Next, I dipped my finger in a bit of Pearl Ex and I rubbed some powder onto the surface of every flower. I made sure that they were nice and coated and then I simply heated my images once again. I re-liquified the clear embossing powder just long enough for it to absorb the Pearl Ex into the image where it would be forever set! Nifty little trick, isn’t it?! Here’s a close up so that you can see it shine:

This technique is both easy and fun to do. Just be careful that you don’t overheat your embossed images because you can “burn” the embossing powder down into the cardstock if you apply heat to it for a long time.

Now, you may be wondering how you can get all the extra bits of Pearl Ex off of your cardstock (and table and chairs and clothes…). Well, the answer to that is use a Swiffer cloth! Those things are wonderful. If you don’t use them for dusting already give them a try. I promise that you’ll love them. From now on, I think I’ll keep one in my embossing box because I discovered how helpful they are when it comes time to clean off my work space!

I hope you enjoy playing around with this technique. Happy stamping!