PUFF the Magic paint dragon!!!

It does seem that I am on a mission to own every single product that Dala makes – I admit that I am a little bit obsessed with this company. 

In fact I have so many Dala products in my craft arsenal, my little craft room could actually be a Dala Product line showcase.  A few weeks ago I was looking for something to add texture to a project that I was working on, the Charmaine from the Craft Warehouse in Richards Bay suggested that I try Dala Puff paint.  I initially thought that it looked more like a kiddies item (I immediately thought of finger-paint and coloured pasta necklaces) and I wouldnt really have any grown up use for it but I decided to get it anyway.  I am so super glad that I did because it is fast becoming an addiction. 

It’s like when I first discovered Dimensional glaze and I put that on everything.  I went back an bought out all the colours they had in the store – but in the future I think I am just going to stick with basic black, brown and white – maybe the primary colours as well.  This is because I discovered that this stuff is totally paintable and you can make all kinds off cool doo-dahs out of it.  Dala has a fantastic line of Craft Paint and Inks (which I also have in almost every colour available) and the puffed paint takes the paint very nicely.

So a few details on what it feels like and how it works - it has the consistency of thick custard or instant pudding but smoother.  I am not particularly fond of the dispenser on the bottle it comes in because I find it difficult to dispense it where I want it so I took off their bottle dispenser and replaced it with an applicator tip.  The applicator tip gives me more control – having said that though, I have never actually tried painting it on with a paintbush.  I usually just dispense directly from the bottle.  The bottle itself is nice and squishy so you can squeezy peasy.  It is a bit gloopy and it is hard to get an even or levelled finish but that is not a big deal because it is not meant to be even – it is meant to deliver super puffy amazingness.  I basically “pipe” on the colour like you would with gel-icing/frosting.

Once you have done that – let it sit for a while until it dries.  This is the hardest part, nothing more frustrating than watching paint dry right?  Once it is dry – when you squish it and paint doesnt ooze out from the top skin layer, you use a hairdryer or heat gun to activate the puffing property.  This is the best part…..its like magic – maybe I still am a big 35 year old kind – I still like bubble-wands!!!The longer you heat it – the bigger the puffy bubbles become. Anyhow – onto the application – you can do all kinds of crazy things with it.  

I have used it around clock-face stamps to create sort of a vintage-looking clock frame, around frames for the same effect.  I noticed that it kinda looked like raw mined turquoise when I painted it in Verdigris, so I made a pendant and earrings by tracing out a shape of the African Continent and then putting black puff-paint on it.  Once I puffed it – I burnished it with verdigris acrylic craft paint, dusted it with a little pearl powder and then varnished it with Dala Polyurethane hard varnish.  It looks so super cool – best part is – it looks like stone but it is as light as airdry clay.

   I used a glob of it to mimic the look of a bunch of flowers on a Mother’s Day card that I am currently in the process of attempting.  I then dabbed on spots of acrylic craft paint on each of the little puffs.  I liked that effect.  

You might remember from the last post about the tags I made for the Tim Holtz challenge that I used a bit of it to make a little pebble like texture.

It makes perfectly delicious looking fluffy puffy clouds.

Anyway I love this product and am looking forward to finding new applications for it.  I am thinking it might make nice froth on a milkshake or soda image.  Maybe I could also puff it out big enough to look like super sweet icing on cupcakes.  I could also try laying down a thin strip of it so that I get fairly uniform single line puffs in a row and then painting them in pearly colours to make it look like a pearl necklace. HMMMMMMMM…..I think the potential of this cool product is limitless.