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Pinata Inks
(Rupert, Gibbon & Spider/Jacquard Products  http://www.jacquardproducts.com/)

Tyra Smith Cloud9@netnet.net
On those pinata doms I made, the ones that actually look painted...I did paint with the pinata inks (PI). I used an old CD for a palette, put a drop of the PI on it, added a drop of the claro extender and "painted". I did NOT use a good brush (the PI's are very hard on brushes). If I wanted a ligther shade of any color, I added a drop of alcohol to the ink rather than claro extender. I stamped the dom using Staz-On, heat set it really good...let it cool. Then I dipped a brush into the PI and painted on the dom...actually its more like you use the brush to "trail" the ink on the dom, not actually brush it on?? Make sense? If you apply too much pressure on the stamped dom with the PI loaded brush, you can end up scratching off the stamped lines. I used alcohol to "clean" my brush between color sand periodically used the Pinata clean up solution with my brush as wll. This is really a "putzy" technique....and it took a few messed up doms before I managed to figure it out. I don't think I'd want to try to "detail paint" any larger of a surface with the PI's than a dom. And for what its worth....we live in a fairly humid area.

My favorite tech with PI"s is the Faux Polished Stone. (we call it "faux" because it doesn't use tria inks which were used when the "real" polished stone tech was developed by Suze Weinberg...semantics you know) A friend of mine who also demo's for Marco's Paper (thanks Melinda Doster!!!) helped me figure it out. Here's the "scoop" on it...

Get a small block of wood (or acrylic block or even a domino)...this is your base (I use about a 1x1" block). Now put a piece of hook velco on the block. (I got a small package of self adhesive velcro from Walmart and cut it to size). Now you need to cut a small square of felt and press it to the velcro'd block. (The trick here is to use QUILTING FELT, not craft felt. You can buy quilting felt off the bolt at about any store that sells fabric off the bolt (though I didn't see it at walmart)...it runs about $2.36 per square yard, and a yard is enough to last three lifetimes....just get a something like a quarter of a yard.)

Now.... choose two colors of PI and a krylon leafing pen (gold and silver are the prettiest). You will NOT use a lot of the PI on the block but it will go a LONG ways. Scribble a little area of the first color of PI on the felt....repeat with the second color of PI and make sure you put them so that one color is right next to the other color without any space between..don't overlap the colors, just butt them up against one another. Pump the krylon leafing pen a few times in ONE small spot of felt right up against the PI color...and now just "pounce" that ink loaded block up and down on the dom, tile or the glossy cardstock. This gives you a DEEP VIBRANT application of color. If you notice your metallic veining is starting to go away as you pounce the block....then use the krylon leafing pen and add some metallic ink again.

You can use more than two colors of PI's if you want, I have used as many as three and never felt a need to use more colors than that at one time.

***NOTE: make sure you line up several doms or tiles...or keep glossy cardstock handy to create backgrounds with...this way you use up all the ink on the block and don't waste it.***

If you are "pouncing" the block and feel the ink is starting to "dry up" on the felt a bit....then add a few drops of claro extender, a little metallic ink from the krylon leafing pen...and continue pouncing. Twist the block around as you go, to sort of make the background look less "planned" and more random.

Each dom/tile you do without reinking the block will be successively lighter and lighter, but you can get a LOT of doms from one inking.

If you want....you can add drops of the claro extender BEFORE you even start pouncing...try it to see how it looks.

Now....let's say you want a "lighter" shade of the PI's. Throw away the used piece of felt and stick a new one on the block. Apply 2 colors of PI's, dot the krylon leafing pen on it....add a few drops of claro extender and also a few drops of alcohol....now pounce. I like this softer look for a lot of things myself.

Another thing to try.....take a few of the dark doms you just did. Put a new piece of felt on the block, apply a few (3-4) dots of the claro extender and pounce this on the dark dom. You get a neat effect with it.

And yes.....it is just as easy as this. I was intimidated by this technique for about 2 years, it sounds so difficult and if you've seen a finished polished stone piece...it LOOKS difficult. But the truth is...its sinfully easy.

So now you've all these doms and tiles done with the polished stone technique. What now? Stamp on them. Make sure the PI is fully dried (heat set it really good and let the dom/tile cool). First, do NOT use Staz-On or Ranger 213 to stamp with...the inks have some type of solvent in them and will not give you a good stamped impression on a Pinata Ink surface. I LOVE using either VersaMagic inkpads or Brilliance inkpads to stamp on Pinata inks. (if using doms/tiles, you'll have to heat set the ink to get it to dry) You can also do "mini collages" using whatever you want. Probably a lot of other things you can do as well...though this is all I've done at the moment.

Once your dom/tile is finished and fully dry...you'll need to seal it somehow. I tend to use one of three products to seal my dom...

1. Polycrylic Spray Sealant made by Minwax (which I purchased at Walmart in the paint department). It's waterbased acrylic spray sealant that works VERY well.

2. Envirotex Spray sealant...this is probably the BEST sealant to use, but fairly hard to come by. It gives the best protective layer I've ever seen and I can even use it on doms/tiles that will see a LOT of abuse and it protect them well (like for trivits).

On both the above.....use several LIGHT COATS letting each one dry before applying another (I think I generally use 4-5 coats). I've never had a problem with either one "running" my inks and ruining a piece. Key...LIGHT COATS.

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As a disclaimer, I must say that I have not worked with Studio 2 or Tria inks in bottled form. Of course, Tria is the new incarnation of the old Pantone Markers but we always used them as markers, not as a liquid dye. So this may be true of all of them, but I found this to be *very* limiting:

Most of my uses for color are not conducive to dropping the color on the artwork and spreading it around. I usually have to "paint" with it. I always put a few drops of the color I'm going to use in either a little plastic cup or on a styro plate. The dye dried so fast that it was gone before I could reload my brush. The brush strokes did not blend - they really showed the strokes because they dried *so* fast. Now, I do live in the Soouthwest, it's true, but I have never seen anything dry up this fast. Is this the case with all the bottled alcohol based inks?

I added some rubbing alcohol. It lightened the color and made the dye stay wet long enough to paint with it, but brush strokes still showed up on most non-porous (and porous surfaces).

Anyway, I tried the extender but liked the effect of adding rubbing alcohol better. I painted on glass and plastic (acrylic). It very much resembled other glass paints I have used but dried a lot faster. If the Extender is going to be a necessary medium, it needs to come in bigger and less expensive bottles than it does. I tried it on porous card stock and bisque tiles (first diluting with alcohol). I actually liked this best (no brush strokes). I was also pleased that the inks did not cause my Memories Black to run (I thought that would happen because I can clean up the Memories with alcohol. However, the color was deep and dull. It was exactly like when we used to use Pantone Markers for layouts etc, the color did not have any "light". That is because it sinks deeply into the paper and there is no white of the paper left to reflect the light and "light" the color.

I was not pleased trying it in any dilution on either side of Sheer Heaven. I would not, in fact, recommend Sheer Heaven as a pleasing surface for this medium (that is only the second occasion I have ever had to say that). It did not, however, turn Sheer Heaven opaque like regular alcohol will do.

Mixing in water does not work - the pigment separates into granules. However, that was an interesting *effect* that could be used on purpose in some circumstances. I tried that water formula on already baked white polymer clay and liked it. I also tried an alcohol-extended mix on the finished clay. I liked the way that looked too - very matte and intense color but no brush strokes.

My feeling is that this is a medium for *very* specific applications. That's ok. Our own glazes are *only* meant to be used on polymer clay and other non-porous or plastic surfaces, so you can certainly have a product that is "narrow-band" in its usage.

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Highly versatile, Piñata can be used in a variety of applications, including rubber stamping, fine art, fiber art, and scrapbooking. Also use Piñata in calligraphy, faux finishing techniques, graphic and airbrush applications, as well as wood and leather staining.

Try Piñata On: Coated and uncoated papers, Shrink Plastics, Foiled papers and mat board, Leaf and gilded surfaces, Ceramic and Terra Cotta, Cellophane and acetate, Glass, Leather, Metal, Fabric, Wood, Canvas

Ideas and Tips:

a. Nothing is as beautiful as Piñata brayered onto vellum!
b. Color match glass drops and beads to your personal artwork.
c. Dye Skeleton Leaves into brilliant bursts of seasonal colors.
d. Mica bits are glorious with Piñata.
e. And, don't forget to try Piñata on sea shells
f. Air-dry clays
g.Grommets, eyelets and fasteners!

Try mixing Piñata with Claro - It will stay shiny and not change color. More importantly, it extends the drying and working time.

When mixing Piñata with alcohol a slightly lighter color is produced. When sponging this mixture, expect to see tiny bubble-like textures. This is very effective in making background papers and other interesting textural faux effects.

Alcohol dropped or brushed on top of dry Piñata removes the shine. This is particularly effective on terra cotta surfaces or in faux finishing techniques where shine would detract from the overall effect.

Claro dropped or brushed on top of dry Piñata will make it spread, creating rings of marble or a stone-like texture. Slight dulling occurs, but most will remain shiny. Just like real stone!

Spritz or brush layers of color over color. When wet, each layer will push aside the under layers creating amazing effects. Allowing each layer to dry will produce beautiful glazes and truly spectacular colors with clarity and depth.

Add Blanco Blanco to any of the Piñata Colors and achieve a completely new glowing range of pastel variations with a touch of opacity!

Resists: Gum Arabic Mix Gum Arabic with water to a heavy cream consistency. Apply this to a rubber stamp or paint it directly onto a surface. Apply Piñata. Gently wash away the Gum Arabic. Crayons Draw with various colors and apply Piñata. Wax With caution, following directions from the manufacturer, apply melted wax to fabric. Crinkle the fabric, allowing the wax to crack. Apply Piñata. Iron the wax away to create beautiful batik effects.

Piñata applied using stamped Gum Arabic as a resist.

More about Piñata Colors, Claro slows the drying time of the colors. Claro is also a transparentizer and a color extender.

Piñata Clean-Up contains moisturizers to keep brushes soft and pliable. (TIP: Use regular rubbing alcohol to clean off most of the Piñata from brushes and sponges. Use the Clean-Up for the final rinse to keep brushes soft and ready-to-use the next time!)

To make the transparent dyes lighter you may spritz with alcohol or use the Claro extender. Or mix with Blanco Blanco the white dye to make a more pastel but opaque color.

Pinata Ink Resist:

Products Used:

Piñata Colors
Gum Arabic
Cut N' Dry - Foam Pad
Paintbrush
Texture Sponge
Glossy Card Stock
Distilled Water

1. Mix 3 parts Gum Arabic to 1 part water. Stir well.

2. Apply mixture to Cut N' Dry - Foam Pad with a brush. Apply to a stamp and stamp onto glossy card stock. Let dry.

3. Apply drops of Piñata over the paper. Use a Texture Sponge to move the Piñata around. Let dry.

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