Today I am reviewing the Tonic Media Glass Mat and how it works with a variety of mediums in a crafty collaboration. Due to popularity, please note that that it is currently under “pre-order” at Simon Says Stamp. Everywhere else I have looked, it is simply sold out. I am also collaborating with a crafty friend, Olga Direktorenko who partnered with my during the Save the YouTuber event last month. We are going to be creating multi-layer cards and I used a variety of mediums on the glass mat while demonstrating how it works.
My opinions are completely my own throughout this video. I was not asked to make this tutorial nor was I sent this mat as free product. The only cons that I came across are that for video makers, the surface is very reflective, therefore when you have the mat in your screen with no paper or product covering, you will see the above camera setup – not the end of the world. You can see my filming equipment (Arkon) behind it. I like how the ledge of the mat keeps my camera holder in place.
Secondly, it is a bit “louder” as the mat is glass so anything you put down will make some noise, which again, is nothing crazy! Overall, I am super satisfied with the mat. I would like to create a few more videos before I decide how much the reflection bothers me but I think I am going to keep using this as I love the workspace is provides.
I love the elevation of the work surface. I found my workspace was kept free of supplies as they couldn't be moved easily onto my space. Only the supplies I was using were on my space and everything else stayed neatly on the sides. I love the fact as well that I don't have to reach for my non-stick mat anymore, it is just right there! Underneath, there is a non-porous mixing palette in white so you can see the true colours!
You can use your alcohol inks directly on the glass mat (black or white area). It cleans up with a bit of hand sanitizer and a cloth. You can also use the non-stick mat but it will stain and I want to keep my surface pretty – you can buy extra non stick mats just in case! I used the Memory Box Sensational Butterfly Collage die as a front for all of my cards against their colourful backgrounds.
I used Valencia, Dandelion and Raspberry to make these backgrounds. Once the backgrounds had nearly dried, I put a piece of foil over top and rubbed the surface for a marbled foil look (no laminator needed!). I also foiled the centre butterfly die cut with Wild Dandelion foil to create an extra sparkle! In order to do this, I die cut the body using Toner Sheets, added foil and sent it through my laminator.
Another new release item from Tim Holtz is the alcohol ink tin! I love to keep all my colours in here! I don't believe I need any more inks so one tin is perfect for me! Ok, I'll be honest, three more don't fit in here but since some are running pretty low, I'm not rushing to get a second tin. I used to have my inks all laying side-by-side in a drawer and this freed up so much space!
I worked on the glass itself to create a blended background. I found blending much easier on the glass mat than the non-stick mat. I was able to use some of the new colours of oxides as well: Carved Pumpkin, Squeezed Lemonade and an old favourite, Picked Raspberry. I just sprayed it with some water afterwards and wiped away the mess. So easy!!! Afterwards, I used the non stick mat and placed three piles of Texture Paste on it. I coloured it with ink refills and stencilled overtop using my favourite stencil of all time! Clean up of the texture paste was a breeze with some water and paper towel, but you could use a scraper as well if it dries.
Underneath the non-stick mat is a mixing palette area in white. You can see true colours and smoosh your inks overtop to create a watercolour palette. So easy to clean up afterwards and it is truly awesome to work on one surface while doing do many different things! I love all the backgrounds on these cards, I didn't want to distract from the backgrounds so I added simple sentiments from Altenew's Frosted Garden set.
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