Technique Spotlight: Glitter Glue Paints

Today I thought I'd do a technique that I find soooo useful for adding a little sparkle to your cards and other projects. We're going to be making our own glitter glue in custom Stampin' Up! colours. Glitter glues and paints are really popular for adding shimmer and shine to your papercrafts and I love being able to make any colour you want!

Now, I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever do this...but having never read a tutorial for it I have no idea if there's an official "recipe" out there - this is just my tried and tested way of making a glitter glue/shimmer paint!

To start, you'll need:

• Toothpicks
• Reinker in the colour of your choice (I'm using Soft Sky)
• Crystal Effects
• Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

That's it! Let's get started! First, spoon out a small amount of glitter onto the lid of a stamp case. Yup, no fancy mixing jars or even plastic plates here - I just use a stamp case because I always have one on my work surface! I just use the toothpick to spoon out a small amount of glitter. You only need as much as you can use in one sitting.

Add one or two drops of reinker on top of the glitter. It's best to start with one if you want a colour really close to the Stampin' Up! colour - I used two because I wanted a darker shade of Soft Sky.
Mix the reinker into the glitter using the toothpick. Mixing it this way first gives a really nice colour to the glitter.
Add three or four drops of Crystal Effects to the glitter. It's best to start with a small amount, you can always add more later to tone down the colour. Mix well with the toothpick.
That's it! All done! Your glitter glue/paint is ready to be used on your project. I like to use an old dried up blender pen to paint it on, a cotton bud or the toothpick will also work.

I pick up a small amount of the solution and paint or dab it on. Here I've used a dark solution of Soft Sky to shade the flowers. Once you're finished, be sure to use a tissue to wipe the remaining solution off your stamp case. I just scrub my dried out blender pen on scrap paper to remove any mixture.
The finished product! It dries in minutes, and not only do you get the sparkle from the glitter, I also find there's a subtle shine and sheen to the overall solution. A photo doesn't do it justice, I hope you'll try for yourself! If you'd prefer to just add sparkle, perhaps to a snowflake on a Christmas Card, just omit the reinker when you make up your mixture.

The best thing about this technique is the glitter will NEVER flake off your project. No more glitter on your hands.....face.....carpet....the cat....

See the finished card here: Bloomin' Thanks

Stampin Supplies:
Reinker in the colour of your choice
Crystal Effects
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

All supplies available from Stampin' Up!