Hi Everyone,
Today's post will be a bit different to my usual ones, but I simply had to share with you my recent new love - these are not new to the market, hence many of you might already know about them, but if you don't... sorry not sorry if I am enabling you here ;o)
I was curious about the Metallic Gilding Polishes by Creative Expressions when I came across them on one of the crafty websites, and I decided to get two colours and play with them a bit. And I have to tell you, I am hooked! I don't suffer from a full set syndrome, but I definitely want to have more than 2 colours of these!
The Metallic version of the Polish comes in 24 beautiful colours, and there are also other versions of the product: a glittery one, and a "normal" one. I haven't used any of these, however, so I cannot comment on them... yet! ;o)
What I mostly like bout the Polishes, is that they come with their own sponge/blending tool - that's why they look so bulky and funny --> there is a sponge hidden in the lid! Some might say that their size & shape makes them complicated in terms of storage, which might indeed be an issue, depending on what your crafty space is like. I don't mind their bulk at all, however, since various blending tools don't come cheap, they also need to be stored somewhere, and the beauty of this product is - I will actually be able to have a dedicated sponge for every colour I own! [for example, I have a dedicated blending sponge for each Distress Ink/Distress Oxide Ink I have, but I don't have enough blending tools, hence I always end up having to switch sponges - it's a bit messy, and destroys the sponges quicker, too!]
You can use the Polishes in ways quite similar to what you would do with your Nuvo Mousses. Bear in mind, however, that the Polishes appear to have a much creamier consistency, and don't tend to dry out over time - not sure if it's a good or a bad thing (since the dried Nuvo Mousses can be re-activated with water, so it's not like they're useless once they dry), but it's just a difference between the two. And speaking of the comparison of the two products - the Polishes come in a glass container, as opposed to a plastic one, which I think is nicer. But, that's just personal preference.
The Polishes are fast drying and water-based, and you can use them on a load of surfaces. You can also blend the colours together (although don't expect blending as smooth as with Distress Inks, for example, since they dry so fast), and you can stamp on top of them - I'd recommend archival inks for this purpose.
What I will mostly be using mine for, is to create beautiful metallic and shimmery backgrounds for my cards. Just a few glides with the sponge, and you get a gorgeous and juicy coverage. A little bit of the product goes a really long way! They dry really fast, so you can move on with your project in no time - I was really happy with that, as I am not the most patient crafter when it comes to waiting for mediums to dry!
You can also use the Polishes to add accents to your dry embossed backgrounds - the tool comes really handy for that purpose, too! If you just glide the sponge gently on top of the raised patterns, it will only cover the embossed parts. If you use more pressure, the soft sponge can cover the whole pattern, both the embossed and the de-bossed parts.
Even though they are rather creamy, almost liquid, you can successfully use the Polishes as "texture paste" through your stencils. For this purpose, I believe the Nuvo Mousses might be a bit better, as they give a bit more dimension and keep the shape slightly firmer, however I still think that the Polishes are doing quite well - you might just need to be a bit more careful and try not to put too much pressure when spreading them, so that they don't seep under the stencil. I find that I need to add a bit of water to my Nuvo Mousses before I use them for that purpose, as they're a bit too dry otherwise, but the reward for this additional fiddly step is a more dimensional and sharper-looking pattern - so you'll have to decide yourself here what you prefer.
Another way to use the Polishes, is to stamp with them! Again, the sponge comes quite handy for application - I told you it's a brilliant gadget! I personally wouldn't use the Polish on photopolymer stamps (I am always worried about damaging my clear stamps, half the time probably unnecessarily!), however I wouldn't have any concerns about my rubber stamps!
Finally, you can water the product down a bit, and use it for watercolouring or for creating splatters on your projects. This is for sure something that I will use my Polishes a lot for - simply because I love the effect.
I am pretty sure there are other uses for these also, but this is what I have tried them for so far. If you have used them and/or have other ideas - please share them in the comments, I'd love to hear them!
Now, I have praised them left and right, but are there any cons? Well, I have found a few... First of all, they smell a bit strongly... Not sure if this is something that will go away with time, but for now I am definitely getting a whiff every time I open the jar. It's not super unpleasant, however, so I can live with that ;o) Second of all - something I've already discussed earlier - they are a bit bulky and heavy. Definitely not an issue for me (for reasons mentioned before), but some of you might prefer to store products stacked one on top of the other, etc. - this is not an option here. Plus, if you have them shipped from a crafty store that charges you based on the weight of your packet - the shipping might end up rather costly... They are also on the expensive side, but taking into consideration that the tool is included, and that a little of the product goes a long way, the price becomes more bearable (plus, if you order them from Craft Stash, and it's your first order from them, you can get 20% off your Polishes!). And finally, they're damn addictive and their colours are amazing, and I want them all! This is so far the biggest con for me, haha!
If you made it all the way to this part of the post - thank you, and congratulations! As a reward, here are some photos of a few of my recent makes with the Polishes. This was just the simplest blending to create a background, but just check out this shimmer for yourself, and tell me you don't want these now?! :o)
Mirella
SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):
Gold cardstock - from my local craft store
FROM CRAFT STASH
(they ship worldwide)
Note that if it's your first order from Craft Stash, you can get 20% off your order of the Polishes
Metallic Gilding Polish at Craft Stash
Ocean Teal Metallic Gilding Polish at Craft Stash
Citrus Green Metallic Gilding Polish at Craft Stash
FROM SIMON SAYS STAMP
