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I love the Viva Decor Pearl Pens---have accumulated most of the colors and hope some new ones like burgundy (for berries) come out. Scrapbook Pal has a good price on them: Viva Decor Pearl Pens
THANKS! I really like using 1/2 pearls on my cards, but they are getting so-o-o expensive. I could make a lot of pearls with one of those bottles or pens . My guess is I can drop the blobs on my craft mat , let them dry and then use mini glue dots to attach them to my cards. By dropping them on a craft mat I can select the ones that are similar size .
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
Barbara, I have the Liquid Pearls by Ranger and the Viva Decor Pearl Pens, and much prefer the Viva. It is very difficult to consistently get the same size pearls with the Liquid Pearls, plus little peaks form at the top which can't be fixed.
I love the consistency I get with the Viva Decor pens, plus with any peaks that might form, you can tap underneath whatever you're putting them on, and the drops become perfectly rounded. You could put a piece of cardstock underneath your craft mat to accomplish this. And the price right now at Scrapbook Pal is excellent at $3.99 each. I paid $5.99 each for mine. I would definitely recommend the cream and the ice white.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
Thanks Linda!!
I originally bought a regular oven liner as a craft mat, but didn't like it so bought the Ranger craft mat . I could cut a piece of the oven mat the size of an old cookie sheet and then I could tap under the cookie sheet to make the peaks settle
I want the faux pearls to be the same size and I definitely don't want peaks on the pearls shapes.
The oven mat will take heat to 500 degrees but it has a mesh type surface. The Ranger one is smooth.
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
Agree with everything Linda said about the Viva line. My Perfect Pearls are gathering dust. The Viva bottles are large and will make a ton of pearls. I store my Viva bottles upright and have no problem with discoloring, separating, clogging, or the liquid drying out. No poking with pins! And that is a delightful exception to what many craft supplies do (gel pens, Glossy Accents, etc.)!
If you are concerned about getting identical sizes, you can make a batch on wax paper and store them. I think you will find it is not too hard to get the right consistency though. It's probably best to hold the applicator ninety degrees above the paper rather than at an angle. Just make one practice pearl on a scrap of paper to get started; the rest will be easy.
The transparent bottle is interesting to use as the pearls adapt to whatever color cardstock you are using. A transparent pearl on purple cardstock will be transparent but will appear lavender/purple. I don't think the metallic colors are very metallic in appearance though.
There are a number of YouTube videos showing the Viva stuff in use.
I love the Viva Decor Pearl Pens---have accumulated most of the colors and hope some new ones like burgundy (for berries) come out. Scrapbook Pal has a good price on them: Viva Decor Pearl Pens
I've heard others say they color the pearls with markers. You might try that for your berries.
And I agree with GypsyRose about holding the bottle perpendicular to your paper and not at an angle - makes a lot of difference!
I haven't seen the transparent Viva's - sounds like that would be really cool to work with.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
I have different sizes of hole punches. When I want to make a bunch on a card or layout and have them all be the same size, I will punch a template by punching strips of a scrap piece of paper and lay it above my project. I use that as a sizing guide and it works great. It even works great for tiny pearls.
I use the Viva pearl pens, too. I have Ice White (when you want a white pearl to look like a white pearl), Silver, Gold (I agree, the gold and silver aren't all that metallic, especially not the gold), and Anthracite - which produces the most beautiful shiny black pearl.