It’s a well-established fact that I do like shimmery, shiny things. So when I heard that there was a new glittery brush-type pen…well, I had to get them, right? (I picked them up at a LSS while I was on vacation, so it counts as a souvenir, too!) Meet the Wink of Stella Brush Glitter Markers from Zig! Here’s how they are described on the JetPens website:
Once the dazzling Zig Wink of Stella glitter brush pen adds its fairy tale touch to your decorative projects, they will look as if they were sprinkled with pixie dust. The soft nylon brush tip lays down thick and thin lines of shimmery color that are perfect for decorative lettering, drawing, and adding highlights to stamp art. Unlike some methods of adding glitter, this pen lets you add sparkle in a clean and controlled manner, without creating gunky residue. The water-based pigment ink is of archival quality and is filled with beautiful specks of fine glitter. (13 colors.)
Let’s take a closer look. When you get them, there is a black ring that you need to remove. (It’s easy, it just unscrews.) Then you have to press the barrel slightly to get the ink flowing. The ink flows smoothly with minimum pressure after that. I noticed that these were VERY similar to the Kuretake water brushes that I have. These water-based inks really DO have a lot of shimmer! I did my obligatory swatch test so you can see how they perform on different papers. The colors really have a LOT of opacity and sparkle…especially on the dark/black cardstock. And surprisingly, it did NOT wrinkle either the papers or the vellum!
Next, I did a comparison on coated versus uncoated paper. It’s pretty important that you do not use glossy paper or Gesso- because these inks need to be on a porous surface to be non-reactive with water. See how the color basically lifts off? Yea, nix the Gesso!! Now, interestingly, you CAN add spray mists or water on TOP of the Wink of Stella markers, provided you use an uncoated/non-glossy surface! This means that you can use your pretty WOS markers and the mists til the cows come home and the colors won’t run or budge. With this last sample, I brushed the markers on stamps and then used them to stamp on these uncoated manilla tags. While I feel that the inks are too juicy for fine detail work, I did love it as a background. I then used some Archival Inks in Pale Ochre to age the tags. If you look carefully, you can see that the Wink Of Stella inks repelled the Archival Inks and stayed shimmery. Oh, and just in case you like to hear my melodious voice, I also made you a video!
While I paid $6.99 for my markers, you can find them for less online. They are a little pricey, but for adding little pops of shimmer it might be worth the investment! I just discovered that you CAN get them in sets of three for a reasonable price on Amazon (3 for $14 bucks) in the affiliate linky below. (I’m already thinking of getting some red and emerald green for my holiday cards.) What do you think? Are they a product that you would use? I’d love to hear your opinion!
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Patti T says
Tried these at a make-and-take in a LSS in Tampa just last weekend. Decided they would be perfect to use on Operation Write Home cards! Bought one of each color at the store. Will check online for better prices when I need to restock!
Jenny says
Hmmm… were you at PikTails?? Because that’s where I bought them! : )
Kuretake Marketing says
Thank you for the honest and thorough review! I would love to stay in touch regarding any reviews on ZIG products that you do! It’s always exciting to see that our products are making their way in the arts & crafts world!
V says
Watched the demos. I watched to see how to get my pen started. Instructions in Japanese, so couldn’t read what to do to get the ink flowing. Found it on your site–to remove the black ring. THANK YOU!!!
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~*~*~*~*~*Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year~*~*~*~*~*
Debbie says
Hello, Is it best to store WOS vertically or horizontally? Also, can you use it over imaged stamped with Dye ink, images colored with Tombow markers or pencil crayons? Thank you
Jenny says
I’m not the expert on marker storage, but I’d guess horizontally makes the most sense. And yes, you can color over almost everything. If the product is water-based, (Like watercolor paints or Tombow markers) you must DAB and use a light hand as it will SMEAR. So just be careful!