2017 Topic 15: Pearlescent {Intro and Challenge}

 2017 Topic 15: Pearlescent

ThePastryStudio

Well hello everyone, Darcy here. As we near the end of the year and the festive season we increasingly see shimmer and sparkle. This week we have another shimmery topic for you in the form of pearls. 

Before we start, let's see who won the Topic 14: Glitter Challenge...

The winner is: Carol Plume from Krafty Pieces

Email Darcy to claim your prize. Darcydotneedles@gmail.com

Pearls are a natural beauty, and have been collected and used in jewellery throughout history. Before cultured pearls the trade in natural pearls was huge, they have such an ancient history, officially the world's oldest gem, they often have myths and legends associated. 

Today, natural pearls are very rare and as such they fetch huge prices, recently a pair of natural pearl earrings sold for 3.3 million dollars!

In the 1900's the technique of cultured pearls was invented which resulted in much lower prices. 

There are many beautiful colours of pearls, from white, cream, silvery pinks, to golden hues , oranges and coral reds, dark blues and blacks. In your projects for this topic you can be inspired by any of the pearl colours. Not all pearls are round, the ones below are called 'baroque' pearls, this means that they are an irregular shape. 

FreshwaterCreation

So how have pearls been used in art, or how have they inspired art? Going back to Egypt, mother of pearl was used to decorate buildings, clothing and jewellery, but pearls have been used throughout history.  For this topic we are looking at the colours of pearls and also the lustre of pearls. 

Pearlescence differs from metallic in that metallic colours are sharp and bright, pearly colours have more of a milky appearance. You might have also heard the word iridescence, this is when colours appear prismatic, like a rainbow. Think of a bubble or a patch of oil, when the light catches it you see the rainbows, this is iridescence. What we are looking for here is the gentle sheen or soft glow of pearls, this is known as lustre. 

Here is a video from the V&A to inspire you. Click here 

Here we have carved buttons, these are not pearls but Abalone, however they still have that pearly, milky appearance. 

Here you can see polymer clay that has had texture added and then beautifully coloured, possibly with mica pigments, the colours are soft and have that pearly appearance. Don't you think the colours work brilliantly over the black. 

Randee M Ketzel

This brooch is not made from pearls, it is in fact resin, however it has the pearly colour and also lustre. 

Kath Marwood

Now for a bathroom backsplash, again this is not pearl, but instead it is Aquamarine and Quartz glass, but look how the light catches the mosaic pieces, they have that same lustre as pearls. 

NewRavenna

This picture shows some of the possible colour variations that you could use in your artwork, these are the lighter shades of pearly colours. 

Colour Pallettes

These are more beachy tones, but you can see how these too fit in with the natural colours of pearls. 

Designseeds

But this topic is not all about colour, to really have that pearly appearance we need the lustre, and what better way to achieve that than to use PaperArtsy Pearl glaze.

This card uses Infusions and Pearl Glaze to add a lovely sheen to these feathers. It packs less punch than the metallic glaze, but is perfect for when you need just a soft pearly sheen added to your work. 

Cathy

Here Julie Ann has added Pearl Glaze to artifacts that she keeps in her bathroom, what a wonderful way to add a little twinkle to these clay pieces and shells.  

For a lovely delicate shimmer Kay Carley has added Pearl Glaze over her painted cosmos flowers and the word box on this clay heart.

A great way to add lustre is with Pearl-Ex powders, here they have been swirled inside a Christmas bauble. 

This time, perfect pearls on die cuts, note again how well they work over a black substrate. 

Rebecca Morris

Pearly substrates can be bought ready to use, how about using pearlescent card and scrapbook papers, this works especially well if you have a wedding card to make. 

PinkPetalPapercrafts

Other wonderful shimmery products are the sprays by Lindys Stamp Gang, here is a great video showing how to create a shimmery crumpled paper. 

Look at this stunning Art Nouveau collection, the lustre is just so dreamy, how could you recreate this? perhaps paint on some pearl glaze or swirl some pearl powder inside a wine bottle?

The Anderson Collection

I love this painted stone, a lovely little gift, or for centre pieces on a wedding table, at a christening, or just in a softly decorated room. This has pearly colours, the lustre and also pearl beads added. 

Arttohaveandtohold

Do you have any liquid pearls? I am sure that you do, all mixed in with your stickles just like me. Get those little bottles of shimmery goodness out and add some little dots to a card just like this one. Unlike stickles which are full on glittery, the liquid pearls are more subtle. 

Lisa Addesa

One last photo, I could not write about pearls without including a photo of the Pearly kings and Queens, if you do not know about this age old tradition then you can read about it HERE. 

MyEastEnd

So go now and have some shimmery fun, be inspired by the beauty of pearls. Whether you use pearl buttons or beads, or you are inspired by pearly colours or it is the shimmery lustre that attracts you, have fun and show us what you have made. 

Don't forget to follow Darcy and Leandra's Pinterest boards if this topic pushes your buttons, you will see plenty more examples to whet your appetite there! I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks!

~ Darcy

We hope that you  learn something interesting from our blog. Our bloggers deeply appreciate your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired! Why not join our challenge by blogging your interpretation of the current topic and link it here?

The current topic link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Oct 29th 2017, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store.


Challenge Guidelines

• The challenge is a for you to show how you are inspired by the current blog topic. We encourage you to play with us and explore your personal creative style.
• Please mention which PA blog post inspired you and and why (link directly to that post). Please don't link to the home page of your blog because then no-one can track back to easily find the original post.
• We prefer your challenge blog post is created exclusive to our challenge, but if our topic fits perfectly with another challenge, then you may link to both if appropriate.
• You are most welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - it's lovely when you do though!
• You can enter as many times as you like. We don't want to restrict your creativity! 

NB. Link closes at 17:00 Sunday Oct 29th  (London Time)

Prize: The winner will receive a £50 credit voucher to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website. The credit voucher includes VAT and postage. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total should not exceed £50. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy. 

email: darcydotneedles@gmail.com

NEW Challenge/ winner: Each fortnight on Sunday, the winner will be announced at 19:00 (London time). In the same post, the link for the next fortnight will be posted. 

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!