New Product - Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint

I finally found the new Tim Holtz Crackle Paint and bought a jar. This comes in a 1.1 oz. plastic jar and is a thick water-based paint in colors to match the Tim Holtz Distress Inks. The cap has an attached applicator for no mess, no fuss. It's a one-step crackle process - just paint on and wait for it to dry and crackle.



I tested this on a plain shipping tag. The directions say to paint a medium coat for fine cracks and a thick coat for heavier cracks, so I painted thickly on the top portion of the tag and a thinner coat on the bottom to see any differences. I apologize for the poor photos - this was very hard to get a closeup without glare.




The first photo shows the tag just after painting (with glare). The second photo shows the dry paint crackled.

I was disappointed in this product and doubt I will purchase more. It is expensive and does not produce a nice crackle finish as I expected. The thinner coat of paint hardly crackled and the thicker coat looks more like parched ground rather than cracks. I think a regular crackle product produces a better effect. You can also crackle by painting over any white glue while wet - using Elmers glue and inexpensive craft paint would do the trick more cheaply than this product. One amazing thing about this paint, though, is it's self-leveling - you paint it on very thickly and messy and it levels out to a rather smooth application.