Saturday, July 18, 2009

Twinkling H20s

Today I am going to talk a little about Twinkling H2Os. This is one of my favourite colouring mediums, in fact I have lots but I really like the H2Os because they are just so vibrant.

Twinkling H2Os are little solid cakes of watercolour paint in small pots. They are very shimmery, lightfast and acid free. They presently come in 168 colours. H2Os can be used on paper incl watercolour paper, cardstock, wood, plaster and glass.
General Instructions
Select your colours place a few drops of water into the pot to form a puddle, an eyedropper is perfect or you can spritz the water with a small spray bottle. Let sit for a good 10 minutes. By wetting the pots first this will allow the paint to soften and the colours become more vibrant. If you only want a very soft wash of colour there is no need to wet the cake first.
Next
Stamp your image. I prefer to stamp and emboss my image, the embossing helps keep the image sharp and clear. You can use a waterproof ink if you don't want to emboss, however, I find your stamped outline becomes less defined and a little 'murky'.
Now using a paintbrush or a waterbrush simply paint in your colour. As long as the paint remains wet your colours will blend nicely. The more colour you add the more shimmer you will get.
You can also use your Twinkling H2Os on dark coloured cardstock with excellent results, but for even better results on dark card I suggest using the iridescent range of colours.
You can also use the iridescent paints over top of watercolour pencils for a little extra shimmer. for example Green iridescent over any shade of green pencil.

As you can see in the photos I store my H2Os upside down. I have painted the colour on the bottom of each pot for easy reference. The colour you see in the pot is not necessarily how the colour will actually come out on card.
Direct to stamp
You can also paint the H2Os directly onto your stamp. Fter painting your stamp gently mist the stamp with a spray water bottle and stamp direct to your cardstock. Watercolour paper will also give you a fabulous result. NOTE: The H2Os will stain acrylic or clear stamps

the finished cards
Unfortunately the shimmer is not all that visible. They do look better in real life. However you can see the vibrancy that these paints are also known for.
This is a stamp from My Favorite Things

And this gorgeous image is from High Hopes Rubber Stamps

This last image is from Flourishes Stamps this is the direct to stamp method

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

9 comments:

Anita said...

Wow! Great information! Beautiful cards!

Judy in Indiana said...

Please tell me that you already know this product was discontinued as the company that makes them has gone out of business. LuminArte products can be hard to come by, but some stores still have product on hand.

Mark's Finest Papers said...

GORGEOUS!!!

Etha said...

Michelle the poppy is out of this world to die for beautiful!!!!!!!
I got upset by the whole twinks episode, first they say they are going out and still PRODUCE to keep up with their selling out orders, everybody rushes like mad. But perhaps people like me who need to use current products for publication submission skipped it because we can no longer use it for that. Then they get enough cash flow and DO stay in business. Felt a bit cheated by that....

Liz Williams said...

Love your blog!!! Glad I came by!!

Kim said...

Those are awesome!!

Amy Sheffer said...

Woweee!!! Excellent info on the H2Os, and FABULOUS projects! TFS!

Unknown said...

your coloring is amazing!

Cole Meyer said...

Love your tutorial. Your cards you made with the H20's are beautiful. Would have liked to have heard how you made your highlights (example: the pirate's britches) so remarkable. Or is that just a practice thing? Thanks bunches!