But what about us Carnage crafters? Hands up who has a 100% success rate with these blighters?
Many of the posts on Craft Carnage feature that nightmare moment when the drops either don't form properly (cone shaped rather than a perfectly rounded specimen) or they get smudged before they are dry. A great project is essentially ruined - or else we have to work fast on a cover up.
The theory is that the temperature can affect the shape so in a quiet moment I decided to test that theory.
So, does the cold affect the drops? I would say yes, especially as Jodie the Nuvo drop queen regularly demonstrates after removing the Nuvo drop bottle from her bra where they are, one assumes, warm and cosy!
My craft room is situated in the conservatory which has no heating, so where better than to complete the cold test? There I sat, wrapped up in my warmest clothes, blobbing away and you can see from the picture below how it went. In truth, it did go better than expected but I found that the drops with a pearlescent finish struggled to move from anything other than a cone shape.
I moved into the dining room and treated the Nuvo drops to a spell near the radiator. I think they were much happier there because the pearlescent ones peformed better but were no means perfect
What became clear is that some of the colours just work better than others - and the non-pearlescent ones doing better all round. My favourite are the clear drops as they just do the job right everytime.
To play devils advocate, I also dug out some ancient Cosmic Shimmer pearl drops and tested them as well (the single white dot in the pics) which actually performed brilliantly both cold and warm.
So in conclusion you need to find the colours that work for you and or try a different brand.
As for smudging my advice would be once you've blobbed away, move the card to the highest shelf and leave it there until the drops are dry. Do NOT attempt to do anything more with your project. Oh, and don't rush. I wish I had taken that advice because following the test, I left my blobs to dry on the table and later found them smudged as the teenager had moved some things over them .... CARNAGE!
Thanks for reading
Sarah x
Interesting post. I have Nuvo Drops but don't use them very often. I'd never thought about the temperature they were stored and used at affecting how they blobbed and settled.
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Thanks Gwyneth - the temperature definitely made a difference but then overall, I just think some colours work better than others. The clear one is the best I've used so maybe it's the dye they use? Who knows!
DeleteAlternatively do I as I Sarah, I put my Nuvo drops on pieces of waxed paper (the kind that our 3D foam pads come on) and let them dry then add a drop of glue and fix the already set drop in place. I make batches at a time in varying sizes. No smudges and perfect every time because you can discard any dodgy ones :) Hugs - Debs x
ReplyDeleteThanks Debs, good advice but I do think that kind of defeats the object of having the drops in the first place, if you know what I mean x
DeleteI also have problems with the drops and find that warming them up first does seem to aid with the eventual finished drop finding practice on a scrap of paper first also helps
ReplyDeleteGood tip. I must admit, I just go for it and really should do a test blob beforehand x
DeleteGreat blog Sarah. All you say is correct in my experience! I still love them though, and do a lot of 'painting' with them, which helps avoid the smudging element as there's nothing to knock! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary, that's great feedback and a good tip x
ReplyDeleteGreat post Sarah, interesting. I have yet to try Nuvo drops as I have enough of other brands at the moment but was going to try them. Very informative post, thanks for sharing xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Emma, really appreciate your feedback as I am new to this blogging malarkey x
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