Tyra Cloud9@netnet.net
These paints are a very high quality paint, more than worth the price of buying them.

First off, surface exploration. I have tried FM on several surfaces. They work beautifully and air dry on all brands of matte cardstock, vellums and most semi-glosses. Some colors of the FM are still a bit tacky after 24 hours when painted on the vellums, but a quick spritz of spray sealant clears this up nicely. I do not seal the FM projects I do, it's not necessary really..the only time I use the spray sealant is if the paint is a bit tacky after a few hours. (which doesn't happen often) I am quite sure FM would work beautifully on wood, paper clay, paper casting, handmade papers, regular paper, etc etc etc.

When painting on semi-gloss, the colors are muted, but still very beautiful. Same goes for working on vellums. You can easily build up to a darker hue by adding layers of color if you want. When you use matte cardstocks, the colors are nice and rich, appearing the same in hue as they are in the jars.

I created color swatch cards using black matte and white matte. The colors appear true on the white, with the exception of the interference colors which is to be expected. On black matte, the colors are retained, though very muted...and the interference colors are nothing short of spectacular on dark cardstocks.

FM are NOT slimey paints with a high glycerin content...they have a TINY bit of glycerin in them which allows the paint to gently pull away from an embossed line (NOT REPELL OFF IT)...but you don't feel the glycerin if you get it on your hands. FM is more of a high quality stampers brand of acrylic paints. Yes, there is shimmer in the paints. However the shimmer is very subtle, almost magical. The shimmer is NOT overpowering, it merely compliments the color of the paint and gives the viewer a "twinkle" when they look at pieces created with FM. I LOVE THIS.

FM is a very verastile paint. I've used it alone to create beautiful pieces. I've also used it in conjunction with other color mediums for yet more unique pieces. FM works beautifully with the following mediums (but not limited to ONLY them): Colored pencils, chalks, pastel pencils, other paints of about any type, powdered micas (PERFECT compliment for the Faerie Dust products!!!).

My hubby (Roy) recently created some pieces using FM. He found that you can easily and effectively "water down" the FM to create a wash...as you would with watercolors. The shimmer is evenly suspended even in a wash..and is STILL on your piece when you paint the wash. He mixed it with Windsor/Newton acrylic paints, but they are very opaque so the shimmer was lost. To avoid loosing the shimmer, he painted first some areas with the acrylics, then went and highlighted with the FM on top of the acrylics. BEAUTIFUL. Watercolors are more transluscent, so you don't loose the shimmer when you mix with watercolors. You can mix the FD with watercolors, or use it as a highlight on top of watercolors. Either way is beautiful. If you are using pastel pencils or chalks....spray the piece with workable fixative prior to applying FM on top. The combination of chalks and FM will yield a magical feel to your piece. I very much like having the option of using FM alone, or in conjunction with other products in my artwork.

Dry time...OK. FM does have a bit of an extended drying time. It will stay wet long enough for you to work wet-into-wet or emboss if you want. It air dries quick enough though that you aren't always worried about getting your hands in it and smearing it all over the place, and you can speed up the dry time with your heat gun if you like. But you WILL NOT be sitting hours and hours waiting for something to air dry, hoping it will air dry... The absorbent the surface is, the quicker it air dries.

FM brushes on very nicely..the flow of the paint off the brush to the cardstock is very smooth. Sometimes, when it's wet..it appears to leave brush strokes, but when it dries, the brush strokes are gone, like they melted away. You can let your piece dry, then go back on top and paint more...you won't have defined lines of where wet paint went on top of dry paint. I did most of my "shading" by mixing the FM right on my cardstock as I worked it. First I lay down a light color (or even one of the interference colors), then while it's still wet, I come back on top with a darker hue..blend right on the cardstock. You can mix color of FM to create your own custom colors if you like too.

FM is sold by the palette, 13 colors per palette, and I think each palette runs about $40. That equates to about $3 per jar, and there is a full ¼ ounce of paint in each jar. A little bit of paint goes a LOOOOOONG ways. The palette is a small plastic holder with 13 individual cups. The jars of FM set into each indidual cup, and the jars can be removed if you prefer to not store them in the palettes. If you have Faerie Dust, they are the same plastic palettes that Faerie Dust comes in, only the individual jars of FM set in each little "cup" of the palette.

The palettes available are: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The Spring palette gives you your pastel colors plus 2 interference colors. The Summer palette gives you the mid range hues plus 3 interference colors. The Autumn palette gives you the basic colors plus one interference color. The Winter palette is a compliment to the autumn palette with basic colors, three interference colors and one opal. Which palette to buy??? Well, I'd buy them all...all four palettes are available for about $150 (that's 52 colors). However, if you budget doesn't allow for all 4 palettes, I would suggest you start with the Autumn palette and then the Spring Palette. I know you can also buy the colors individually.

If you want to see some artwork you can check out the gallery on the Magical FaerieLand web site (that's Marya's web site, owner/inventor/manufacturer/wholesaler of the Faerie products).

Magical FaerieLand http://magicalfaerieland.safeshopper.com/

Just click on "Gallery"...and if you want more info, click on "Faerie Myst" on that first page...this gives you more info about the product.

Which colors to buy?? OK..for what it's worth..here's how I would approach it. You need to purchase colors you are FAMILIAR with...basic colors. Think of an 8 pack of crayons..what colors are in that box? Make sure you buy ONE of any of the interference colors (I suggest Rainbow Interference) or the opal color and here's why. You can take your basic color, mix a bit with any interference color/opal...and it will lighten the basic color. I say interference because those are pretty much "clear" if you use them on a white or light background. So the interference colors or the opal can be used as a "mixing medium" to lighten your basic colors. If I were to be buying individual jars, I would choose say a red (Ruby), purple (Iris), blue