DIY Adventures In Shimmer Land

[Penguincollector]

  So lately I have been trying my hand at adding mica to ink. So far it’s not quite as obvious as factory shimmering ink, or ink altered with commercial ink specific shimmer additives, but I was having a hard time finding any actual measurements. I was also going for tone on tone, as opposites to just siver and gold. I did put some gold in one, to see what shows up. I tried photographing my writing samples, but the lighting was pants and maybe the paper I was using didn’t show the shimmer as much as the cards do. 

 

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Tone on tone, interesting.  I've done shimmer myself (used powder eye shadow at first), but the only one I really liked was a vial of Black Gold.

 

Guess the components!  😹

[Penguincollector]

46 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Guess the components!  😹

  Hmm,  you would do something wild like an MB ink and dollar tree eyeshadow. 

[Mechanical]

Nice experiment! 

 

I wasn't familiar with mica powders so I looked around and this site says, "In general, higher particle size means more sparkle but less coverage."

Particle Size      Effect                 Hiding Power
  1-25 µm            Satin                    Good
 10-60 µm           Luster                  Medium
10-125 µm          Shimmering         Low
20-150 µm         Sparking               Very Low
45-500 µm        Glitter                    Transparent

 

I'm not sure what they mean by "Hiding Power."  How big are the particles in commercial shimmer ink?  I wonder... I don't think I've ever seen it stated.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Outside of Diamine Arctic Blue, my glitter inks were less impressive than wished.

 

I had Edelstein Golden Lapis, and it too was less than hoped for....then I emptied it back into the bottle, shook it and waited, I don't remember if it was 15 or 30 seconds....and filled from the bottom...instead of the top of the bottle like I had been doing, and suddenly I had the Golden Sands others showed in their pictures.

 

I had been going to add more glitter from some company, but never got around to it. Now I might not need to.

..................

It will be interesting to see what different sizes do, when put side by side.

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

1 hour ago, Penguincollector said:

  Hmm,  you would do something wild like an MB ink and dollar tree eyeshadow. 

 

It was definitely Dollar Tree eyeshadow, but the black ink wasn't MB!  😄

[Penguincollector]

28 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

It was definitely Dollar Tree eyeshadow, but the black ink wasn't MB!  😄

 
Platinum Carbon? Parker Quink? five below cartridge? Take-Sumi? Do tell! I have  plenty of eyeshadow that is probably too old to use on my face. 

[Sailor Kenshin]

It could have been Quink, or Monteverde, or Waterman or whatever other black ink that was handy.  It was a while ago...hard to remember.

[USG]

Checking in to follow this thread. 😀👍

[Penguincollector]

Here’s a nice contrast: Diamine Earl Grey with Papaya mica. It’s even shinier than pictured. It’s really pretty.

[Penguincollector]

On 9/1/2024 at 2:14 PM, Mechanical said:

Nice experiment! 

 

I wasn't familiar with mica powders so I looked around and this site says, "In general, higher particle size means more sparkle but less coverage."

Particle Size      Effect                 Hiding Power
  1-25 µm            Satin                    Good
 10-60 µm           Luster                  Medium
10-125 µm          Shimmering         Low
20-150 µm         Sparking               Very Low
45-500 µm        Glitter                    Transparent

 

I'm not sure what they mean by "Hiding Power."  How big are the particles in commercial shimmer ink?  I wonder... I don't think I've ever seen it stated.

  I’ve never seen anything that states what size commercial inks use, or even what they use. Probably a trade secret. “Hiding Power” is definitely an unfamiliar term to me, but this site is a good jumping off point for me to do some more research, thanks! 

[USG]

On 9/16/2024 at 2:21 AM, Penguincollector said:

Here’s a nice contrast: Diamine Earl Grey with Papaya mica. It’s even shinier than pictured. It’s really pretty.

Hi PGC…

Could you compare the Mica powder to the Wearinguel glitter.

Does the Mica light up as much as the Glitter?  Are the particles the same size?  Is there any disadvantage to using powdered Mica over Glitter suspended in a liquid?  What about clogging?  Did you find an advantage of one over the other?  How about Ease of use?  What shimmer colors do you find work the best?  What ink colors work the best with shimmer? 👍😀

[Mechanical]

On 9/15/2024 at 11:21 PM, Penguincollector said:

Here’s a nice contrast: Diamine Earl Grey with Papaya mica. It’s even shinier than pictured. It’s really pretty.

You’ve done so well with this. Nice! 

 

Before I started reading FPN, I had never heard of shimmer ink —  or pigment ink, for that matter.  Learning about these inky varieties has raised my interested in particle size.  I read here that carbon black comes out to be about .05 µm and Prussian blue about 0.1µm.  It looks like the mica starts in at 1µm.  Apparently powdered sugar comes in at 60 µm. 🙂

[Penguincollector]

4 hours ago, USG said:

Hi PGC…

Could you compare the Mica powder to the Wearinguel glitter.

Does the Mica light up as much as the Glitter?  Are the particles the same size?  Is there any disadvantage to using powdered Mica over Glitter suspended in a liquid?  What about clogging?  Did you find an advantage of one over the other?  How about Ease of use?  What shimmer colors do you find work the best?  What ink colors work the best with shimmer? 👍😀

  Hi USG,

  The mica lights up differently than the glitter- I think there may be a sheen component to the liquid in the glitter potions. I cannot tell the size of the particles in either. The mica is small enough that it’s certified for body care/cosmetics use, and from what I read, that is required to be very small. I have yet to use the mica powdered inks in a fountain pen, I use a vintage E. S. Perry dip stub with an underfeed and a glass nib for the most part. I am mentally rummaging through my collection for a pen that can be sacrificed for the endeavor. I have tried quite a few different combinations and would have to write more with each to get a better handle of what the writing experience is like with each. The advantage of using mica is the endless customization, so I just keep trying different combinations. Maybe I’ll do a weekly revisit on a day that seems slow.

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Herbin Orange Indein, is an ink I've been wanting for some 12 years and never get around to buying.

[Penguincollector]

  You would like Orange Indien, @Bo Bo Olson, it shades beautifully. I also like that you can buy the small bottle and try it a few times before committing to a larger one. My MB pens in particular are very well behaved inked with it.

[Penguincollector]

10 hours ago, Mechanical said:

You’ve done so well with this. Nice! 

 

Before I started reading FPN, I had never heard of shimmer ink —  or pigment ink, for that matter.  Learning about these inky varieties has raised my interested in particle size.  I read here that carbon black comes out to be about .05 µm and Prussian blue about 0.1µm.  It looks like the mica starts in at 1µm.  Apparently powdered sugar comes in at 60 µm. 🙂

 

  Thanks! I had limited experience with shimmer until lately. I’m a recovering “only same brand inks in pens” person, having been convinced of that in childhood. I’m still a bit scared of pigment inks, preferring to use enough for the project and cleaning the pen immediately after use. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

7 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

can buy the small bottle

Great idea..............................in I don't often do orange.

 

Once again, there are so, so many inks I wish to try. Even with 100 inks, a never ending problem.

I was totally shocked I had at least 13 new inks this year.

 

Buying Herbin small bottles would be something to do with some flea market money, after the second flea market...The first this fall is next week. The summer was too hot to even think about it...or was in the middle of vacation time etc.

[Penguincollector]

I think I just made my new favorite ink:

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 9/18/2024 at 12:02 AM, Penguincollector said:

Mica powder to the Wearinguel glitter

Sooner or later I'm going to buy one of the two....so keep up the experiments, so we can find out which is best...or if a combo filling is needed.

 

Diamine Arctic is a very good Glitter ink...shake and fill from the top.

 

Diamine Tropical Glow and Brandy Dazzel, didn't markably improve when filled from the bottom as the cloud of glitter settles. I had had hopes because of the ink below.

That worked real well with PE Golden Lapis; suddenly there was the Golden Sands that shows up in everyone's photos. (And never before for me, out side of Arctic.)