I used gold highlighter and vodka and had a splattering problem with the brush. I don't know if this was related to the fact that it gradually ruined my $17 sable brush (breaking off bits - I had used the same brush to paint the lamp days before) or if I was doing something wrong. It seemed like the mixture was either too thin to coat or it splattered dust below where I was painting.

I tried cleaning the brush, remixing in a new container and finally just held a piece of cardboard underneath where I was painting, but you can see in the close up pic what it was doing.

Anyone have experience with this?

Maintaining the proper consistency is an ongoing process. As the vodka evaporates, you need to add more.

You were getting dust spatter because your brush had dry dust on it. To avoid that, keep your mixture and your brush wet. If your application is streaky, just add more dust or wait for some of the vodka to evaporate. You also may want to try using a smaller brush.

I like to fill a small bowl, like a condiment dish, with dust. My Everclear is in a tiny squeeze bottle I found in the art section of the craft store. I just squirt vodka into my mixture as needed. Which is quite frequently.

You can clean up the spatter with a cotton swab dipped in vodka. It may take a few applications.

BTW, your cake is GORGEOUS!

Oh my gosh, thank you! I wish I had known how to clean the splatter.

Your method is basically what I did - but I used an eyedropper. I kept cleaning the brush and starting over, but that didn't help. I guess I just needed to work more with maintaining the consistency, but I wouldn't see any dry dust anywhere and then there it would be, splattering on the cake again.

I think your suggestion of using a smaller brush is worth trying, too. I'm certainly not going to use natural bristles again.

And thanks for the compliment on the cake!

I have a different take on it. How about choosing a softer brush. Stiff brushes spatter dust all over the place when bristles go BOING. Soft brushes don't BOING. Just an idea. Next time, I would guild the pcs off of the cake then advere them. Try removing the spatter with a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol.

I got a great tip from Nicholas Lodge at the Austin cake show in February. Instead of using alcohol try using either orange oil or lemon oil (not extract) to dilute your dust. You end up with a great consistency, it doesn't evaporate as fast as alcohol and best of all -- NO streaking. I couldn't believe the difference when I tried this method. I know that is a little off topic but I wanted to share it since it worked so well for me.