Precious Metal Effects Paint by Viva is a nontoxic, water-based paint that reproduces the color and shine of metallic surfaces. This high opacity paint can be applied with a brush or sponge on most surfaces. Precious Metal is long lasting, tarnish-free, and is available in 28 colors.

During our most recent “How Do I Use This?” product demonstration we focused on ways to color metal. We used this opportunity to further sample the product, and loved the enamel-type finish it created on a variety of surfaces.

This product is very easy to paint on and cleans up with water. I painted on my favorite work surface, a teflon/fiberglass non-stick ironing and craft sheet for easy clean up. Depending on the material to be painted, I’ve found that a very light sandpaper will help rough up the surface to give it some “tooth,” allowing the paint to grip.

When the paint first arrived at Artistic Artifacts I immediately thought buttons… metal buttons. The ones pictured here specifically! The button with the white wire attached is the original finish; the others are painted various Precious Metal Effects shades. While for many applications one coat is enough, I found I did like two coats of paint better for this purpose.

Pictured on the right, the Octopus was a raw brass piece. I brushed the paint on, waited a bit and then brushed off some of the color so that the brass could be seen underneath. The PEACE Artgirlz charm was originally a pewter finish, and the Believe tag from Tim Holtz had a vintage distressed finish on it.

The wooden bowl pictured above was a thrift store find; the back view on the right shows you the dark wood finish that was on the bowl before painting. I sanded the inside of the bowl lightly and have applied one coat of paint so far.

The two pieces pictured here [right] were from a metal belt that I took apart. The smaller piece has had two coats of Precious Metal Effects paint applied, so you see the opaque coverage. The larger one had a finish on it, and in hindsight it probably could have used a little sanding with a very fine grit sandpaper, but even without I think another two coats on it will give me the same good results as the smaller piece.

I painted this vintage spoon (pictured right) with the Precious Metal Effects paint. After it was dry, I decided I wanted it flat, so I pounded it with a huge hammer. I have to admit I was pretty amazed that the paint did not chip off in big flakes! You can see some wear but it is minor considering the amount and force of the pounding I subjected it to. I was expecting I would need to recoat the spoon with paint, but this experiment goes to show you that the finish you achieve with Precious Metal Effects paint is very durable.

While in this posting I’ve focused just on this wonderful paint, that night we also worked with Sophisticated Finishes Metal Surfacers, Tim Holtz® Adirondack® Alcohol Inks, and Gilder’s Paste, and ended up with some beautiful experiments. Next month, April 10, we’ll be playing with Angelina. Join us in our Alexandria shop then, or on the second Thursday of any month, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, for these monthly How Do I Use This demos. Each month is a different product, and every session is great fun!