Friday 25 January 2013

Old Paint -2- Shimmer Paint


A Quick Tutorial:

Hands up how many of us have old acrylic paints that don't even have an inch of paint left in them??

*Jennibellie's hand shoots into the air quicker than in a Hogwarts class that contains Hermonie* 

and I've no idea why I keep them rather than just using them up, they are usually colours I have duplicates of anyway...but as I did keep em let's do something with them =)
I recommend using the cheap acrylic's as pictured for this, as they come in their own bottles they are easy to mix, or you can use acrylic that comes in tubes and just find an extra container

1st:
Extend the amount of your under an inch of acrylic by adding a fluid medium, here I'm using a Liquidtex one found in the acrylic mediums section. This not only helps old gloopey acrylic become useable again but gives it fluidity for the shimmer to mix evenly. I added may be 4x the amount of fluid medium to the amount of paint.

2nd: 
Next alter your colour if you wish, I realised I'd kept the colours of the acrylic paint as I brought them (even if I wasn't much fussed with the colour - again for no apparent reason lol) so here's your opportunity to customise your colour, use something with high pigment like acrylic ink. I want to keep this white so I add nothing at this point.

3rd:
Shimmer time! First I added some of this Acrylic Pearl Medium because it gives extra shimmer without any colour. Now I'm not expecting everyone to have this, so in it's place you could just add some white or cream colour mica powder if you too wanted *extra* shimmerettery, without the additional colour. I also add to this paint some light baby blue mica powder to give it that gorgeous shot-through-with-blue hint that you get in a lot of white/baby pink nail polishes =)
FYI ever since I showed this little black spoon in my DIY Art Glass tutorial I've been asked where I got it ~ the truth is I've no idea, sorry folks! It came with a set of mica powders as far as I can remember, but it definitely isn't something that I've seen available individually *sad face*

4th: 
Shake it baby! When thoroughly mixed test out your paint on a scrap piece of paper until you are happy with your colour, consistency and shimmerettery standards. Enjoy producing some absolutely fabulously arty paper to play with in the future at this point too ;)

5th:
Get some scrap papers and claim your fabulous new paint with a homemade label ~ and don't forget to paint the top of your bottle so you can see at a glance what gorgeous new colours you have to choose from.


There you have it: upcycled old yucky paint into homemade shimmer paints
easy peasy lemon squeezey, enjoy =D

32 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I save the little food sample spoons from the ice cream shop.

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  2. awesome Idea, I have one of those spoon's. I bought it from a sculpure shop, or you can get them at any shop that sells Lab Equipment and Science Shops.
    Thanks for sharing
    Hugz :)

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  3. I also have one of those spoons but i got mine in a glass art / painting kit ...ish haha. I do not remember what it was exactly. But, yeah. It was used to spread the paints instead of a brush which would leave braush marks because the glass paint was so thick. so if your dieing to get one you can check in the glass art section of any art store as well.

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  4. Great idea! Do you know if I can add the gloss medium to my crackle paints that are dieing to bring them back to life?

    Hugs,

    Carmen L
    cal8007 at aol dot com

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  5. fun! i like to water mine down so they are drippy / runny / splattery to use for layering effects

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  6. great idea - you are so creative! enjoy your shimmer paints! and have a happy sparkley weekend!

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  7. Yes! I love this tip - of course lots of almost empty bottles in the house!
    best, Annie - the Netherlands

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  8. Brilliant! Thanks for sharing your wisedome Jennibellie <3

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  9. Thanks for sharing this awsome idea.
    Liefs, Melanie

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  10. Thanks Jenni for this tutorial. Great ideas.
    lovely greet and nice weekend
    Marja

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  11. Great idea Jenni. I have a box of those little spoons...picked them up in a party supply store (they are used either for desserts in shooter glasses or for condiments)...dead cheap and there is about 20 in a package.

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  12. Great tip Jennibellie!! Thanks for sharing with us!!

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  13. hi Jennibellie!! Let me just say that you are like the McGiver of the ART WORLD!! You can make anything out of anything! Love these great tips you share with everyone. I caught up to a few of your past posts - great to see you're still making the world a more beautiful place. :-) xox

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  14. Great Idea!!!! Thanks for sharing with us.

    Barb
    USA

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  15. Another winner! You are the best!

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  16. Love this idea & love your blog! So glad I came across it! :)

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  17. Fabulous tutorial Jenny... yes I have almost empty paint bottles too... so will definitely give this a try... and loving the shimmer...

    Happy Weekend...
    Jenny ♥

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  18. I want mica powder! I too have been mulling over your delightful little spoon since I saw it in the Art Glass tutorial. I thought I might find a tiny spoon, like a baby spoon, at the thrift mart. It is quite cool! Thank you for another great tutorial.

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    Replies
    1. Instead of mica powder, you can use old sparkly eye shadow. I just crumple it up in the pan and scoop it in. Works great and it cheap, cheap. Who doesn't have any old eyeshadow laying around?

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  19. Great idea! I was just getting ready to throw out those old bottles of paint! Thank you so much for sharing another great idea!!

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  20. You always have the best ideas :-)

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  21. thanks for all your ideas and tips!! love your funky shimmer bottles, think its fab that you decorated the bottles too, so funky!! hugs Juls

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  22. I've been insanely hoarding my mica powders for YEARS, Jennie! Must be some kind of sickness. LOL That ENDS....I'm going to add some to the appropriate craft paints. Thanks for the great idea! ♥

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  23. Too funny, I actually just ordered these small spoons last week. They sell them at Blockhead Stamps at quite a reasonable price; I believe you get 5 spoons for $0.70. And that website has the most wonderful products too!

    Link: http://www.blockheadstamps.com/search.php?go

    Jenn

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  24. Hi Jenniebellie! I just want to say that you are a shining light in the world and a true artist. As well as being beautiful outside, you have a beautiful spirit inside that glows. I like to surround myself with beautiful spirits so thank you for taking the time to share your brilliance and sweetness with the world. Xo

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  25. Hi Jenniebellie. I just want to thank you for making the world a more beautiful place. Thank you for your selfless time in sharing your brilliance and beauty. I'm truly inspired by you and so look forward to your you tubes. Bless you!

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  26. Cool ideas re using old paint... thanks J :)

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  27. Brilliant idea, thnx for sharing Jennibellie xx

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