“Make new friends, but keep the old; One is silver and the other gold.” I was definitely singing this Girl Scout song while reviewing the new Jacquard Pinata metallic alcohol inks. We previously reviewed their regular alcohol inks here, so go over there to get a little bit of a information if you are new to alcohol inks. So what’s different and new about these metallic inks? Here’s what the Jacquard website had to say:
“Piñata Rich Gold and Piñata Silver are liquid alcohol inks formulated with real metal.The metal particles are tiny, and they lie flat, which produces a highly reflective, smooth metal surface. They can be applied to almost anything: paper, plastic, wood, glass (for decorative purposes only), canvas, metal, foil, ceramic, rubber, vinyl…you name it! The new Piñata metallic colors are perfect for scrapbookers and paper artists whenever a true metallic is desired, as well as for oil painters, acrylic painters, window painters, sculptors and crafters of all kinds.”
My first thoughts were that they weren’t as smelly as some other alcohol inks, but if you do have a sensitive smeller I suggest working in an open space with good ventilation. I was happy to hear the shake, rattle and roll of a little ball inside the bottles that assures me that there will be a good mix of the pigment particles with the alcohol.
In the past when I’ve worked with alcohol inks they’ve worked best on non-porous surfaces, but not so with these metallics. The alcohol seemed to settle on the surface and the metallic particles spread to the outer parts of the inks pool where they dried. This did not give off the opaque appearance I was expecting. If working with a non-porous surface such as a plastic or glossy cardstock I suggest working with a sponge and layering the metallic inks, making sure to let each application fully dry. When I tried the inks on cardstock and chipboard I was pleasantly surprised to see them come out as opaque, especially on the black cardstock. However, on the sticky-back canvas, while the color was opaque the tiny particles seemed to quickly absorb into the canvas not really leaving a shiny or metallic appearance.
One technique I played a bit with was combining the metallic inks with regular alcohol inks and playing with some manilla tags.
On this candle I dripped the silver metallic ink all over the candle and then used a Heidi Swapp technique of melting tissue paper into the candle wax. It’s important to let your candle dry completely or when using your heat tool you run the risk of lighting the alcohol ink on fire. Just to play it safe, I let mine dry for 48 hours.
For my final project, I layered the gold ink a few times on top of transparency circles. I scored and glued them together to create a fun kissing ball. You could make these in any size and create a fun festive topiary or ornament.
These metallic inks are new but you can find them online and in some local art stores. They are going to be approximately $3 a piece and come in a .5 oz bottle. Overall, I think it depends on what kind of application you want to use these for and what your medium is. What do you think crafters? Willing to give these little sparkles a try out?
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rebecca bodine says
I’ve never heard of clear gesso.
Leah says
I would use them – I love metallic inks and paints, and the metallic fabric paints from Jacquard are some of my favorites for all kinds of craft projects.