Home Made Pearl Swirls



Everybody recognizes these pretty little pearl packs.  In Michael's they run $1.99 per pack.  I usually buy them on sale, because I love to use them on my cards and in my scrapbooks. BUT they tend to get pricey, or they are out of the color I need, or they don't make some of the colors I'd like to have.  Last week I was wondering around the Internet and saw a quick tutorial on making your own pear swirls.  I AM SORRY I DID NOT WRITE DOWN THE SITE OR THE PERSON' S NAME. What she did was scan these and then made a template that she slipped under a transparency and using a Pearl Pen went over the template.  WA LA! She then trimmed then and added them to her card.  COOL HUH?  Thought "I have to try that, but don't own a Pearl Pen."  THEN a "what if" moment hit me. I used to use basically the same technique with Scribble Paint, or Puffy Paint when I decorated t-shirts and sweatshirts. (that was many years ago)



I gave the scan-a-template a try and wasn't real happy with it....so what next?  Well these little pearls are in a transparent package so why not right over the top?

Here is a scan of what I did.  As you can see, there are some mistakes, been awhile since I just made dots with paint.  But on the top side are black swirls and when they were dry I flipped it over and made yellow swirls, the original white ones are still in the package.  I did make other colors, and practice is a good idea.  Then I realized that if you use the same color on the front and the back you get a mirrored image. WA LA!  This is something I really have wanted, since both the bought ones swirl the very same direction.

Now the paint wants to leave a little tiny point, but so small it really doesn't bother me any at all.

Yesterday I had to run a couple of errand for Mr. O and one took me by Beverly's Fabric and Craft store.  I HAD to dash in a take a look.  I did find a Pearl Pen and I did BUY it for $5.99 ouch!!  I just HAD to know if there is a big difference in the final look, before I plop down that kind of $$ for any more colors (which there weren't very many)

Now here is the scanned comparison.  The white is the Pearl Pen and the pink is the Scribble Paint.  There is a very small difference, the Pearl Pen softened the tiny tip a little more, but in MY humble opinion not enough to make up the price difference, and with a little practice with the SP the tip can be eliminated  Scribble Paints are $.99 each, that is a $5.00 difference!! AND the Scribble Paints come in hundreds of colors (well maybe not hundreds) AND why not glitter paint? Hummmm

So there is My great find on the "Net" thought I'd share with everybody.  If you already knew about doing this your way ahead of me LOL.  I have Christmas red and green to get made up for the Christmas season.

Now I can use all I want on cards and scrapbook pages!!!

Why not use a stamped image under the transparency?  I've got some great swirl flourishes to try. How about over a snowflake image? Oh the possibilities are now endless, and you make make many, many, many sets with either choice.......but me I'll stick to the $.99 Scribble paint.

 

Thanks for stopping by

Inky Hugs......