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Craft Product Review: Art Institute Glitter, Fantasy Film, and Fantasy Fiber

You read last week that I used to, ahem, not be a fan of glitter.  But not to fear – I’ve been brought over to the glittery side!!  Last week I reviewed Donna Salazar’s new magical glitter, Fairy Dust, by Clearsnap.  This week, I had the pleasure of playing with a variety of different kinds of glitter and other fun products from Art Institute Glitter.  I’m telling you – my studio is looking very magical and shimmery these days!!  I just can’t stop playing!!

I actually started out this time playing with the two products that most intimidated me…they intimidated me because I had never heard of them and had never used them before.  But I decided to just go for it anyway – what was the worst that could happen, right?  I had a package of Snowflake Fantasy Fibers, and a package of Waterfall Fantasy Film…both of which you are supposed to heat with an iron to make a sort of “fabric” which you can then cut into any shape, according to the directions.  Per the directions, you can also layer them with each other, and you can also put them directly onto an inked stamp and iron them on the stamp…which is what I decided to try.

Fantasy Fiber and Fantasy Film

I chose a stamp I had just picked up for $3 at a local stamp store garage sale last weekend, inked it with Ranger’s Archival ink, and put alternating layers of the film and the fiber on it.

Put alternating layers of film and fiber onto the inked stamp

Then the directions said to use parchment paper or a silicone ironing sheet – I used my craft sheet – over the top and to iron over it for 3-5 seconds.  I used my new Purple Cow mini-craft iron, so it took a bit longer.  After it was done, the fibers and film were all melted into one layer and I was able to cut the butterfly out.

After the layers have fused together, cut out the image

I love the texture of the resulting “fabric.”  Check out the fibers melted into the film, and the color variations are gorgeous!

Fused "fabric" - you can see the fibers in the film

Next, once the ink was dry, I began using the Dries Clear adhesive with the metal tip to add glue to the tiny sections of the butterfly so I could add glitter to the butterfly.  I used the Woodland Pee Wee kit shown in the first photo above.

Use metal tip for precise application of glue

Add glue to small sections of the butterfly and pour glitter on one color at a time

Once it was dry, the finished butterfly looked like this.

Finished butterfly made from Fantasy Film, Fantasy Fibers, and glitter

Back side of butterfly

How gorgeous is that butterfly?!  What a beautiful embellishment it would make, or as the focal point on a card!  Even as a Christmas tree ornament…so many possibilities!

Next, I tried out the Fantasy Fiber by itself.  I tried staining the fibers with some Wild Honey Distress Stain – and it worked great!  I wrapped it around this little tag from Graphic 45, and heated the fibers with my heat gun.  Once the fibers heated up, they melted into themselves, molding around the tag.  I then took another piece and put it on the back of the tag, so that it would fluff out around the sides of the tag; I heated it so it would melt into the piece of fiber that was wrapped around the tag, which worked perfectly.  No glue needed!

Fantasy Fiber wrapped around bottom of card and heated

Fantasy Fiber heated onto back of tag

I also added green glitter from the Royal Velvet microfine Pee-Wee glitter set.

Royal Velvet microfine glitter

Finally, I tried one last project.  I wanted to use the micro-fine glitter on a larger area, to show you just how velvety smooth this glitter is…it is truly amazing!  I had this stamped image from a workshop I took last year…it was just on a piece of white cardstock.  I started by adding some color with watercolor crayons.  Then I used the Dries Clear adhesive with the metal tip to put glue over the letters of the words, and added the microfine glitter to each word, one at a time.

Then, I added a final line of glue around the outside edge of the image, and poured on a line of the gorgeous Gala Glitz in Teal.  The Gala Glitz is an amazing blend of huge chunks of vintage glass glitter and beads in a gorgeous color blend.  I personally can’t get enough of it!!

Gala Glitz - Teal

Microfine glitter and Gala Glitz glitter

Art Institute Glitter has SO MANY other products to choose from as well, and their glitter comes in a huge array of colors, textures, and sizes.  There is something for everyone!  I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for new releases and good deals!  Speaking of which…what are the prices?

A 1 oz. jar of the Gala Glitz sells for $10.10.   The Pee-Wee Royal Velvet microfine kit shown above sells for $19.90.  The Pee-Wee Woodland transparent art glitter kit shown above sells for $15.00.   A 2-oz bottle of the Dries Clear adhesive sells for $6.50.  The Fantasy Film sells for $7.50, and the Fantasy Fiber sells for $10.00.  The quality of their products is unquestionable, and even the small tubes of glitter in the Pee Wee kits will last you a good while!

Have YOU tried glitter from Art Institute Glitter?  What do you think?  Are you a fan?  I’m eyeing the Elements Earth Textures line myself…it looks super cool too!!

 

Comments

  1. Oh, wow. I just LOVE the fairy tag you made. I may have to check this stuff out.

    The butterfly is beautiful, too. I like how both sides are decorated. This technique would be great to make 3D decorations for the wall or a hanging mobile.

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Jenny Barnett Rohrs is Head Dummy and Pied Piper behind CTD, which focuses on reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news. Jenny has appeared on HSN, Scrapbook Soup PBS series, and is currently the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS.

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