Pebeo Expandable Paint has a multitude of uses for raising the level of your mixed-media art. Paint it on a surface, and it expands when heated with a heat gun or ironed from the back side. It comes in white and can be mixed with color before applying or painted after heating.

Here are some tips for using expandable paint:

• Lay a stencil over fabric (such as velvet), or a fabric-paper combination. Brush expandable paint through the stencil. Remove the stencil and heat the paint with a heat gun to raise the surface. Let cool and paint the raised pattern or rub with a Shiva Paintstik.
• Spread about 1/8" expandable paint on fabric in a shape that you want (such as a tree trunk), then use a tool like the end of a paintbrush to draw lines, ripples, or shapes in it. Heat and paint when cool. (Wash the brush or tool immediately after using.)
• Use a very simple, deeply etched rubber stamp (such as “Spots with Dots” ) to apply expandable paint to your surface. Use a fine brush to fill in any gaps left by the stamp. Clean stamp and brush immediately.
• Brush about 1/8" expandable paint onto your fabric base. Embed small items such as shells, small rocks, or beads into the paint (which acts as a glue), then heat.
• Brush expandable paint on to your fabric base. Sprinkle sand, mica flakes, glitter, or microbeads onto the paint, then heat to expand.

For more ideas on how to use expandable paint, see Linda S. Schmidt’s article in the Winter 2006 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine (Issue 24) and Mixed-Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor.

If you’re going to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago this weekend (April 13-15), be sure to stop by our booths (1731 through 1735) in the Make it University section. We’ll have workshops, product demonstrations, galleries of reader art, virtual studios featuring some of your favorite artists, plus books, back issues, and products for sale. Find out the details on our website.

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