If you love shimmer and shine, Finnabair Art Alchemy Sparks Acrylic Paint is lovely to play with. It gives you a glittery, metallic look without loose glitter ending up all over your craft table—and probably on you, too!
Project 1: Stencilled Circles
For this page, I used a stencil to paint simple circles in different sizes. The paint felt a little thinner than a regular acrylic, and I found that a little went a long way. It also worked well for dry brushing and adding small highlights to make parts of the page stand out.And yes, it really does sparkle! The photo doesn’t quite capture the shimmer, but it catches the light beautifully when you see the page in person.
Project 2: Adding Sparkle to a Textured Canvas
Next, I tried Sparks Paint on a canvas. This project is still a work in progress, but it’s already giving me a good idea of how the paint looks on a surface with more texture and dimension.
I’ve used paddle pop sticks and chipboard pieces to build up the canvas. They give the piece some interesting shapes and raised areas, and the shimmer helps draw your eye to those details. As the light hits it from different angles, you catch little flashes of sparkle that are much easier to see in person than in a photo.
That’s one of the things I’ve enjoyed about experimenting with this paint: it can add interest to a simple stencilled journal page, but it also looks lovely alongside the layers of a mixed media canvas. I’m looking forward to adding more to this piece and seeing how it all comes together.
Project 3: Quick and Shimmery Tags
For my third little experiment, I made a few tags using white cardstock. The Sparks Paint looks gorgeous against the white—it really lets the colour and shimmer stand out.
I prepared one set of tags with a layer of white gesso and left the other set as plain cardstock so I could see how the paint behaved on each surface. It’s a simple comparison, but a handy one when you’re deciding whether an extra layer of gesso is worth adding to a project.
I also didn’t want to waste the paint left on my brush between colour swatches, so I dabbed it onto another tag. Those leftover touches of colour became part of the design! In the two finished tags, you can see how the shimmer catches the light and gives even a quick project a lovely finish.
It was a good reminder to keep a spare tag or two nearby when painting. You never know what you might make with the little bits left on your brush.
My Final Thoughts
After trying these paints on both a journal page and a textured canvas, I can honestly say I love them. The shimmer adds something special to even the simplest painted shapes, and it really comes to life over raised details like chipboard. Photos only tell half the story—you need to tilt the project in the light to see the full sparkle!
If you’re tempted to try them for yourself, have a look through the Finnabair products and see which colour catches your eye. ✨
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Julie
