It’s fall in the northern hemisphere (and spring in the southern). It’s that magical time when it’s not too hot, not too cold, and the trees are doing their magic. Leaves are falling down (or coming out) and I can’t help but notice their shapes and texture. Yesterday I took some time to make some new pendants with my Mica Leaf Tutorial.
If you’ve followed me a while, you’ll recognize this tutorial from a year ago. But I thought I’d share it again for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. I wanted to play with some new mica powders that recently arrived in my mailbox. I have always used Pearl-Ex powders by Jacquard, but recently I received some Perfect Pearls by Ranger and some MetalFX by BeadFX to review and while I’ll write about it later and give them a proper review, I couldn’t wait to give them a try. I’ve used all three brands of mica powder here. They’re all topped with resin, which really magnified the sparkle and shimmer effect but made them quite difficult to photograph.
Get the Mica Leaf Tutorial HERE.
Sources
Perfect Pearls were provided courtesy of Poly Clay Play.
MetalFX were provided courtesy of BeadFX.
3 thoughts on “Playing with Mica Leaf Tutorial”
These are spectacular Ginger! I’d love to know the difference between Pearl Ex and Perfect Pearls. I have Pearl Ex already, but I’m always looking for shiny new things I can add to clay. Are the red and blue shades Perfect Pearl colors? I don’t remember seeing vivid shades in Pearl Ex.
Thank you! There is a difference between Pearl-Ex and Perfect Pearls, and that is that Perfect Pearls are just like Pearl-Ex but include a binder, likely gum arabic, in the mix. That means that water can be added and they act like a paint (if you’re doing work on paper). But the thing is, it’s gritty. So when you use Perfect Pearls on raw clay the powder will scratch and won’t give a smooth finish. Neither line has a good red. Pearl Ex absolutely does have nice blues, though. You can buy the colors individually, a good place is Poly Clay Play. (http://www.polyclayplay.com/Cart/categories/Powders/Pearl-Ex/) I have been planning a comprehensive article on mica powders and it’s coming soon…after the new year. Stay tuned!
Thank you for the quick reply Ginger! I have read extensively about the binder vs no binder difference, but figured it wouldn’t make a difference for clay. The bit about it being gritty is interesting though. I’m definitely looking forward to your mica powder review!
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