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Don't be scared away!!! EASY AS PIE TO USE. I watched a couple of tutorials on this, went to my Ace hardware store and picked a color. The guy there made sure to tell me to turn the jar upside down for at least half an hour and shake well before using. Ok I did it. And it worked. It went on like butter. I can't believe the bad reviews on this and how hard it was to use.
I had no clue what I was doing. Got the color on and decided it was too light, put the dark wax on buffed it and still thought it was too light. I improvised, put another coat and I love it! I actually went back, exchanged my unopened jar for a darker color and will be finishing it today. Seriously, I painted a small vanity area while I was watching Grey's Anatomy, had the bathroom done by the time Scandal was over.
Seriously, a 5 yr old could do this. It isn't that hard!!! I didn't select this color-I should have gone with a darker grey-which I went back and got this morning. I'm going home during my lunch hour and will finish it then. AND that small jar for $15...that gave me over 3 applications with half of it still left. Depending on the finished product, I'm going to buy that LARGE can and redo my kitchen cabinets. I may need 2 of those cans-I have a ton of cabinets, but it will be well worth it vs. spending 20K to redo my kitchen.
Amy Howard's stuff is EASY EASY EASY to use IF IF IF you FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. And be patient. And follow the darn directions!!! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
The quality of the plastic is good, but the way the stencils are assembled is . The quality of the plastic is good, but the way the stencils are assembled is not. in order to use them with spray paint (which I did) I had to cut the stencils in weird shapes because of the extra characters that they placed around the letters. For example in the stock picture, there is a period and a comma next to the "A", I had to cut each of those out around the "A" (or tape over each extra character) to spray paint the "A" without the 2 other characters and it no longer had a square edge to help line it up. I still used them, and they worked great with spray paint, but they should have used separate stencils for the extra characters. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Not professional, but fun. I am an artist, and I can tell you for sure that these are not real calligraphy-grade markers. They are basically magic markers with chisel tips.
But they're a lot of fun. I whipped off 30 name tags in about 10 minutes, and all my (non-artistic) relatives were amazed.
I saw that one reviewer said they don't write on slick paper. That's true. I had no problem writing on the lightly glossed name tags from the craft store, but when I tested them on higher gloss paper, the ink floated on top of the surface and pooled.
The names I wrote averaged 2-3 inches long and about 5/8" high. I don't think you could write any smaller than that, due to the width of the tips. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Would buy again. I was a bit nervous to buy watercolor brushes online. But I am glad that I did. These arrived on time and with no damage. The brushes are longer than I expected, but I actually like them more that way. The tips were perfectly intact, and appear to be of solid design. If you're familiar with water color brushes, you know that the cheap brushes have bristles falling out and ruining your paintings. This is not the case. Very nice brushes, nice variety in size. I am very pleased with the quality and the price. Would recommend. I do suggest when you rinse your brushes to dry them, mold the tips back into shape while still wet. You want the nice pointy end for watercolors, and if it drys out of place- it won't go back. This is essential with all brushes. Have fun! Would recommend. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Worked Beautifully. Worked beautifully! I was worried because everything I read about dyeing synthetics sounded like anything short of a miracle. Even reviews I read here scared me - the mess, the smell, the spotty results, the stained washing machines and hands, the bleeding onto other fabrics. So I had to write a review of my own because without all of yours, I may not have had such positive results. I dyed a pair of micro suede boots from taupe to black. I could have bought a black pair for $30 more, but the boots were only $20, and the dye was $8. Instead of spending $50, I spent $28 to get what I wanted.
The instructions are a bit too simplified. There should be a helpful hints sections that reads something like this:
If you are working inside, cover your counter space. Open windows and doors for ventilation because there is a chemical smell that may give you a headache. Wear a mask if you're sensitive.
Wear latex gloves when handling the dye or the fabrics that are just dyed. (Duh!)
DO NOT TRY TO TEAR OPEN THE PACKET OF POWDERED DYE! USE SCISSORS. Tearing the packet may cause the powder to fly everywhere. (Im sure youve had that happen with a bag of chips before - same concept. Trust me on this one!) Dont forget to add the dye emulsifier/enhancer. Its small and can easily be overlooked in the package.
Use a pot and/or stirring stick that will not stain, or that you can discard later. (I used a wooden spoon that I always use for crafty projects. It did stain the spoon, but it gave me an indication of how dark the dye was getting.)
I let the water boil rapidly for the better part of a half hour. Then I let it stay in the pot a while to cool because I just didn't want to handle hot water or hot articles.
After the instructed amount of time, rinse until the water runs clear. Seriously, rinse for several minutes even after it runs clear, just to be sure. I did this under a water hose outside over the grass. (Met my objectives and watered the grass.)
I left the article outside to dry overnight. Because I let it boil, there was some shrinkage that I expected. A little pulling and stretching before it was completely dried fixed that for me. I think I just got lucky there, tho.
The finished product turned out better than expected, but my expectations were already low! Not including the drying time, the whole process took about two hours from set up to clean up. Good luck! :) | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I buy these over and over again/Volume inside when you buy in 3's takes a long time to duplicate yourself!!! 2. I just LOOOVVEEEE K&C Die-cuts etc for my card making and scrapbooking. These are ALL great. They even mix and mingle quite well...BONUS!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of them have a picture of what is in the package, so large are the images, on occasion I cut them out and they are just the right size to be used. like a butterfly or ladybug EXTRA BONUS!!!!....notice on most packages!!!!!!!!! the background is a pastel color. Well look closely...well when you BUY IT!!! There is usually a delicate texture to the pastel, and the background card, or paper can be used as a very appropriate inside to a card you may be making for the contrasting writing surface! I usually use parchment or just copy paper. but this stuff, looks classy most every time. Some call it trash, I call it TREASURE!!! Yes my sister and momma taught me right!! and YESSSS... I BUY THESE at AMAZON!!! oh yes on some there are cardstock and acetate for quite a diverse choice for your expressions of various sentiments! I may be OLDER... But I just DO NOT DO YARN>>knot knit or nay to crochet...Scissors, glue, double/stick tape, and card stock YOU ROCK!!!#two..just for you | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Misleading descriptor yet again. I am a color pencil enthusiast primarily, I use Prismacolor brand, branching into exploring the pastel world has been a struggle. While this is a better buy by far when comparing to Nupastel's..
Catch is that I thought the descriptor "Soft" meant this was more in the crayon class smoothness opposed to the crap chalk type. I really hate the chalk type. I am getting tired of every item having completly skewed discriptors! Maybe if you live in a room of razors and sticker bushes it allows this to be dubbed "soft" .
I did purposely sadly reaearch pastels and did choose this one as a good beginner pastel, so that is on me for not.piecing together the part of it being sturdier for beginners it would have to be a harder pastel.
Basics of shipping this item (again new to this media so when I compare this producte it is Vs. Nupastels) Shipping gets a win hands down since none of them arrived broken. Major bonus for this company providing the correct amount of padding by understanding their fragility. I would feel safe using their own box for transportation it is perfect
Initial - I opened it up and was amazed at the color. I made little paper sleeves for each one with simple paper strips and tape which I could not do with Nupastel's odd shape and even more brittle type.
After more use I can give a more rounded review on their application and see whether or not these are the cats pajama's for a beginner. Doubtful due to I hate the chalk type. Until I really try with these and learn proper application techniques, I cannot lay claim as to good vs bad if user error is to blame.
So, in a room full of knives and sandpaper and jagged edge rocks, it is true if you put this item in that room it is the softest thing in there. However, as soon as you leave that room and into reality, you might be amazed to realize that they are hard. To each his own imagination deceiving I suppose. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Good set but bizarre substitutions. I got this product through amazon warehouse deals and I'm mostly satisfied but I am missing well... all the colors. Let me explain. None of the colors that are supposed to be in the set were in the set. Most of them were replaced with approximations of the colors, but a few were completely omitted/had very poor approximations. This isn't too big of a deal except some of the colors im missing are pretty important - namely Fuschia, Goldenrod, Dark Brown, and any red tones. There were basically no reds included at all which is a bit disappointing. There are also weirdly a lot of green and yellow tones - moreso than should have been included in the set, and there is no black (which isn't too big of a deal). The markers are mostly solid qualitywise so far though two of the 24 were a little dry/streaky. Overall I recommend Prismacolor markers but please exercise caution when buying from warehouse deals if you are looking to purchase specific colors as they will not, it seems, be included. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Nice little set for the price. I received this set yesterday and tried it out straight away. Here's some of the good and not so good about this set...
The box measures 7 3/8"L x 3 3/4" W with three separate mixing trays in the lid, the center tray in the base that holds a small sea wool sponge, water brush and small ceramic water tray can be used to mix paints as well.
Initially I could not open the box fully so the cover would lay down flat due to the build up of flash on the back of the hinges (from excessive mold build up) however after scraping it off with a blade it opened to lay flat just fine, though it still needs a tad af pressure to lay it back. Also the cover does NOT close tightly so you will need to use a rubber band, electrical tape etc. If it will not be a stationary pallette.
There are 18 1/2 pans measuring 3/4"L x 5/8" W that are very loose, so no flipping of the box!
The travel brush is nice, holds a fair amount of water, (you'll obviously need to bring more if you are out in the field) and the synthetic bristles hold a point. I don't particularly like to paint with this style brush, but for those of you who do you'll like it.
The watercolor cakes are in the medium range of the color pigmentation , not too light, not rich enough, but that being said they went on smooth and the color intensified once layered, so over all I gave this box set a four star rating because the cons are an easy fix, and the quality is great for the price. I would definately purchase another set if needed. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I wouldn't recommend piling on layers of acrylics. The paper was exactly what I needed! It's so thick that you could probably use it as canvas if you really wanted to. I wouldn't recommend piling on layers of acrylics, but it can definitely hold any ink or watercolor you want. I've used Sharpie and India Ink. It's heavy enough to allow for work on both sides of the paper, which especially good if you're worried about making mistakes. Each sheet can be used on both sides. It's really quite perfect for ink. I haven't tested it in water, but it feels like it could be used for intaglio printmaking. It's a coarser grain paper, so if you plan on drawing on it rather than painting, it's important to keep the grain size in mind. I used it for book binding, and even though it's thick, making it difficult to bend, it really ended up being a good material. Very sturdy, and I've ordered it several times to use in book binding. It's a very practical paper for any artist who plans on pushing paper to the limit. It also comes pre-packaged in plastic, which keeps the paper nice and fresh. It's always terrible to go to an art store, find the paper you want and discover that it has finger prints all over it and dents that never really come out. Paper like this has a memory for everything. It's very unforgiving if you bend it or dent it in any way. Be sure to handle it carefully. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Simple to use for simple projects. I've been working with a Silhouette machine for a couple of years and was a little dubious that this tiny machine could compete, but I tried it and love it! The Slice fills a different niche than the Silhouette. The Silhouette is complex and somewhat inconsistent in performance but you can get welded words, use no expensive cards or cartridges, and have the ability to edit sizes and lines down to the millimeter. as well as removing or adding parts to the original design. The Slice has nowhere near the options of a bigger fancier machine, but it is so easy to use and it cuts great! It's a little rough on vinyl and cuts all the way through the backing, but cutting textured/glittered cardstock (and every paper in between) is a dream! With a little practice it is easy to maximize your cuts from a single page because of the see-through rulers--and pressing "select" when your design is chosen gives you an image on the screen of where exactly it will start cutting and what your shape will look like. And since you have the ruler you know it will stay between 0" and your selected size.
Yes, cutting and then having to glue individual letters is a bit tedious. And I haven't gotten the right amount of glue on the mat to make it just right yet, but when I borrowed the 12" mat the person who had applied the adhesive really did a great job because I was able to cut many images from several pieces of paper over the course of several days before it lost its tackiness.
I've seen this machine for as low as $50 over the holidays, which makes it so affordable if you want a digital cutter. If you want a lot of options with size and welding and the ability to alter the designs, this machine isn't for you. If you want a cute, portable, affordable, EASY machine that cuts consistently then this is a great buy. I also recommend the tool kit and hands-free kit if you've got the money. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great set for a workshop, too. Very nice set of brushes.
While visiting an artist friend who paints beautifully, I admired the immaculate edges of a room she painted. She was pleased of course, and quickly gave credit to her collection of many art brushes.
I recalled that conversation when I saw this brush set, wondering if they might be a helpful addition to my workshop. Yeah, I know. They are ARTIST'S brushes. Anyway, took a chance. The answer is that they get used surprisingly often for touch-up in a workshop. They bring clean paint edges up to a new standard. With nice brushes it's easy to add some little finishing details that you'd never try otherwise. I feel enabled with these brushes.
The travel case stores the brushes well.
I'm glad I got this brush set. I hope this is helpful for someone. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Not fun. Didn't find this at all enjoyable. The colors are not anywhere close to what is shown! Shows very muted light colors, in actuality they are very bright very dark, for instance the light purple/lavender color is actually bright purple and the blues are also very bright just absolutely nothing like what is shown. Also this shows a lot of detail and there is really none on the painting. I ended up taking out everything in the water. It was just too busy looking without the detail that should have been there. Very hard to see numbers and many areas with no numbers on the canvas or on the directions. And with the colors being so off, and the picture to look at being about 3" x 4" you couldn't even guess! I will say with all the changes I made the end result was fine, just not worth the frustrations. All paint by numbers are not equal!! I like "dimensions" even tho you usually have to mix some colors. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great compliment and/or alternative to Copics. These are very good markers. Copic is better (and more expensive) but these are one notch below in quality and are still worlds above average generic store markers. They also seem to offer a stronger and darker set of colors than any Copic marker I've come across. They bleed thru the paper more than Copics and can also bleed across the lines if used for adult coloring books if you are not carefu about how hard you press - but are still better than regular "cheap" markers by a long stretch. They can be blended, they don't really streak and they can be used with Copic markers to add a different range of colors. I use both brands and love them both. I was skeptical about paying this much for markers but if you are really into adult coloring or art then these are some of the best markers you can buy and are the best alternative, in my opinion, if you can't afford Copics. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I can appreciate how good of quality they are. I'm not a professional artist, I only draw for recreation. However, as I have gotten the chance to use these colored pencils, I can appreciate how good of quality they are. I really like how compact the case is, it makes it easy to store the colored pencils without taking up a lot of space. The case is of a higher quality than you'd get with a lot of similar products; it looks like it'll protect my colored pencils for a long time.
The colored pencils produce a vibrant color and are very smooth to work with. I haven't done much blending with pencils before, but after hearing that these were a good product for that, I tried it. They really do blend well and with 48 different colors I was able to create any shade I desired!
The only disappointing thing is that I don't have as much free time to spend drawing with this product as I'd like to.
I received the product for a discount as a promotional item in exchange for an honest unbiased opinion and review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Wonderful design. This really is just a great desk. Take you time when you're putting it together, and you won't accidentally miss any of the diagram's instructions or a "L" or "R" ID on pieces. They give you an allan wrench and two other wrenches. It would be helpful to have a phillips head screwdriver, as well. However, I'm a thrifty college student and I managed without. I know the Amazon page mentions the pencil ledge (which is so cool), but on the bottom of the desk's legs, there are supports that you screw in (which I've seen on other furniture.) I think one of my desk's legs is a tiny bit warped (it's not the ground, I've moved the desk to see), but it didn't matter because I could stabilize any imbalance with those screws. Saved me a lot of hassle having to get either another desk or just another desk leg. I'm actually studying design, and I can tell you that this is the rare "great" design that doesn't just meet needs, but the ingenuity behind it actually seems so natural that you forget all of the little things it allows you to do, and you begin to expect these things from every desk you sit at. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great set for a beginner. I'm a beginner but I wanted a nice set of brushes to work with. This set was offered at a great price and gives me just about all the brushes I need. I started painting after going to one of those "paint and sip" classes and loved it! Having attended a few of those, I noticed they generally only offer 3 brushes, a really large one for the background, a smaller one for most of the painting and a detail brush. However, I often wish I had different brushes (while in those classes) so when painting at home, I now have pretty much all the brushes I need in this set. They are sturdy and so long as I spend time cleaning them well after use, I expect they will last. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I was not impressed with the performance of this and would not recommend it. A small amount of the product had leaked out of the container during shipping. Once I opened the bottle I could tell the product had definitely settled. There was a lot of liquid at the bottom of the bottle and solid gunk around most of the opening at the top of the bottle. I tried mixing the product back together but was unable to get a smooth consistency. I figured I go ahead and try using it anyway. The un-mixable "chunks" of product made for difficult application. After leaving the product on for over an hour I had minimal, inconsistent etching on my piece. Overall, I was not impressed with the performance of this and would not recommend it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
great price here. I had looked at the fabric cutter for a while but it is quite expensive and I wasn't sure I would use it much. I finally took the plunge and bought it on Amazon because it is by far the best deal! It actually comes with a die ( a 26 dollar value) and a cutting mat so you can immediately get started cutting. It is super easy to use, the crank is super smooth and I have had fun cutting some basic shapes. We have had a busy month so I have not done much quilting or cutting, but I'm looking forward to cranking this thing up to it's full potential because there are all kinds of videos and hints out there on how to use basic dies to cut more complicated shapes. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
NIFTY. Quite a nifty case and rather well-made. Didn't see it described earlier but it's made of a black canvas material (probably polyester) over something stiff like cardboard and lined with nylon. The outside edges are bound, the zipper seems sturdy, and the stitching looks sound so it should last for quite a while. Also, there's a 6" loop strap sewn inside. The two elastic bands (top and bottom) do make removing the pencils a bit tricky; I prefer just one band. There is room for a couple of more pencils besides the 12 provided. Wish it were thicker and wider to accommodate a larger sketch pad; 5" x 7" top bound pads can be difficult to find. All in all, very good value. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great way to determine which tubes of paint you want to buy and to make a reference color chart. Arrived with all paint dots complete, but one dot that said it was intentionally left blank due to being discontinued. Could easily be used for creating a couple small artist trading card size paintings to fully test these paints, however I used it to create a lightfast chart to put in my window. I wanted to see how these colors hold up over time, but also to have a reference of each color to determine if I wanted to purchase them. I'm glad I didn't blindly purchase certain colors based on the swatches I saw online, because I ended up liking different colors better. This ended up saving me money by being able to purchase the color list I really liked the most. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Beautiful stamps for holiday cards . Very nice stamps, and you get a lot for the money.
These coordinate with Spellbinders dies <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Spellbinders-2011-Heirloom-Ornaments/dp/B005CZNFMS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments</a> and <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Spellbinders-Shapeabilities-2010-Christmas-Heirloom-ornament-Die-Templates/dp/B00427TQY8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Spellbinders Shapeabilities 2010 Christmas Heirloom ornament Die Templates</a>. I love that the "frames" are separate from the "insides," so you can interchange them to get dozens of combinations.
I stamp the frame in one color on white card stock, the message in another color, then use my <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Sizzix-655268-Big-Shot-Cutting-and-Embossing-Roller-Style-Machine/dp/B001AGZZIU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Sizzix 655268 Big Shot Cutting-and-Embossing Roller-Style Machine</a> to cut out the stamped image. I then matte on a coordinating color before attaching to my card.
Very nice set of sentiments and shapes, even without the Spellbinders dies. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Amazing Product. I absolutely love these markers. Here are the pros and cons:
1. Writes on mirrors, glass, chalk boards and all non-pourous surfaces. It's absolutely awesome!
2. Very easy to clean. A simple wipe with a towel and some water and it comes off.
3. Doesn't stain, as far as I can tell. My kid accidentally wrote on a part of his door (as he was writing on the glass) and we wiped it off and it all came off with no problem. BUT note that the door had varnish on it and so was non-porous.
4. After a week of daily use, they're still going strong. Nothing has dried up or run out.
Cons:
1. At first, it's hard to get the ink to come out. You have to shake it and keep pressing the tip down over and over. Once the ink comes out then you're good to go. It's a minor inconvenience, no big deal.
Overall, I really like this product and highly recommend it.
I received a sample for review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great paint set - work as finger paints too. My toddler LOVES finger paints - and these work just marvelously as finger paints. She had the color wonder finger paint set, and burned through the paints in no time - I thought these would work as replacement pots to fit in the hand palette from the finger paints. They don't, the pots are slightly larger - which is great, because it means more paint. But no matter, they work just fine as they are - and even though I've read a few reviews that said they wouldn't work as finger paints, rest assured- they do. They appear to be EXACTLY the same gel paint as the finger paint set, and were much less expensive since they didn't come as a set. A great deal, easy to clean up, great fun kid colors. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Good mix brush for watercolor, seems well made and works well but only 1" wide, thought it would ne larger. Good mix brush for watercolor, seems well made and works but only 1" wide, thought it would be larger, would not purchase again (maybe if it was an add on for a few bucks). Not that impressed brush is really stiff but does hold a lot of water so probably good for washes only and found others that less expensive at full price and the prices at full was 1/3 of this one at full price. I only paid about $4 so I really cannot complain. Always check to see if any of your brushes are add ons, the best way to buy something new without taking a hit to your bank. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Disappointed - so small!! Not worth the money. This set is much smaller than I expected. The tiny pads of paint are seriously smaller than my thumbnail. They measure about 5." x .3" and are so small that if you're using a wide brush, you are guaranteed to get paint from the next pad on the brush. The entire boxed set measures 10" x 5" - much smaller than expected. It took me almost 2 hours to pop out all of the paint, unwrap and organize them. The printed color chart that comes included in this set of 24 is actually a color chart for the set of 40, so none of the colors correspond. For such a pricey set, I really expected a lot more and am seriously dissappointed. Wish I'd opted for the Full pad set rather than the half pad set. Live and learn. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Very Good Washable Scented Markers. These are scented markers that are easy to wash off if you get them on your hands. The smell varies from marker to marker but for the most part they smell nice and all are good markers.
In my pack of four markers I got red (cherry), yellow (banana), green (mint) and blue (blueberry). The green has moderate spearmint like smell. It has a nice green color. The blue has a strong sweet, candy like, blueberry scent and has a nice blue color. The red has a mild cherry scent and a nice red color. The yellow has a strong, candy like, banana scent and a nice yellow color. I notice the smells even after the markers are on paper. The colors are what I would expect in markers and look very much like the colors of the markers.
This is supposed to wash of any washable materials. It washed of my hands without a problem. I have not tried washing it off clothes. The box has a warning that it should be kept away from wallpaper or painted walls, finished or unfinished wood, vinyl carpeting and other materials that cannot be laundered.
These are good markers that have scents that match with the colors. The scents last even when they are on paper. Theese did wash off my hands without a problem. These are very good, washable, scented markers. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Go through these like tic-tacs. Awful tick-tacs. Too expensive at any price. The sponge head is connected to the wooden dowel handle by tiny little nub of plastic. This plastic will EASILY snap off in use. In painting the detail molding on just one side of one door, I had to go through three brushes because the sponge head kept snapping off. Believe me, I'm not being rough with them in the slightest. I was even more gentle after the first brush snapped apart. These are just that bad. They just can't withstand even the slightest back & forth brush stroke for more than a few passes before the head pops off and goes tumbling (with paint!) onto the floor.
Frustrated, and without alternative brushes, I decided to finish the door with the fourth brush by holding the sponge directly with my bare hands. Just a sloppy mess. And that's when I learned the sponge will start to crumble soon after the head would normally snap off. Good grief! Tiny little bits of sponge spread all over the place, embedded in paint. What a disaster to pick them out before the paint starts to set!
While these aren't very expensive, their real cost is due to the fact that they don't work and are likely to ruin you project. These might perhaps be suitable for very small jobs - or possibly for children to apply watercolors (at school!!). I would not recommend that kids use these at home due to the obvious problems caused by paint-laden sponge heads tumbling across tables and onto floors. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
The most opaque white available. This is a great and necessary tool to have. The color layers and works beautifully with Prismacolor, Polychromos and have even used it with Inktense. Should you run out of tooth on your paper just spray it with workable fixatif let dry and presto!....you now have a chance to deposit more white. I did not have luck with gel pens as after drying the ink would flake off and could no longer be tweeked.... this pencil was perfect for keeping it all archival and reworkable. For super white highlights there is another product called Titanium White Powder from Brushandpencil.com. ...mix it with the liquid fixative and paint your super bright highlights on...however the shipping is a bit pricey. Overall i am happy with the amount of color this pencil lays and that it blends seamlessly. I also use Derwent Chinese White for more transparent applications. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Excellent set of gel pens with a convenient case. I got these to use with coloring books and drawing for myself. This is a fantastic set of 48 gel pens in a very sturdy case. It comes with 12 Glitter Ink,12 Neon pen,12 Pastel and12 Metallic, The barrels are thinner than an average gel pen, which I prefer. . I like that the pens say the type and size, but for reference the water chalk is pastel, color diamond is neon, flash pen is glitter, and diamond is metallic. The neon pens have a tip of 0.8mm, the pastels are 0.8mm, and the glitter and metallic are 1.0mm.
The variety of colors is great. They are bright and vibrant and are smooth to draw and color with. The coloring books I typically use have very intricate details and these gel pens are perfect for this. I have been using them for over a week non stop and so far the ink is still flowing!
I also really like the carrying case the pens came in. It is a very nice and sturdy case that keeps the pens in place and snap in/out.
Bottom line is these are a really nice set of gel pens at a very fair price. If you are looking for a gel pen set which can get into all those intricate details in your adult coloring book these are a must have. I received these pens at a discount for my honest unbiased opinion. I leave honest reviews after using a product and rate based on my experience as well as if the item is as described by the seller. This product is exactly as described and these are a nice quality. I have no issues at all and have only positive things to say about these gel pens. Hope this helps | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Easy to Use and works well to label containers. Disclosure: This review is of a free product that was given for an honest review.
This pen writes very well. I used it on Black tape to label containers in the kitchen and it wrote easily and cleanly and looks like chalk. If you don't give it enough time to dry it wipes write off so make sure when you use it you don't have anything brush up against it for a bit.
I've used it to label multiple containers thus far and it is still writing well. For the perfectionist it may be a bit annoying that wherever you end your letter the white will be slightly darker than the rest of the letters (you can see it better in the posted picture) I can't find any way to avoid this happening but it doesn't bother me that it does. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Use the soda ash. This works, with ONE caveat: You *absolutely* need to do the soda ash soak! Otherwise this will wash right out, leaving a sad, sorry yellow behind.
Wash your shirt with NO fabric softener. If you dry it (dyeing is another day?), NO dryer sheet!
Rubber band it however you plan to do so.
Mix your soda ash (you buy that separately) according to pkg directions.
Put on gloves.
Dunk your shirt into the soda ash water, and make sure it gets all the way soaked.
Squeeze it out as much as possible.
Squirt or dunk the shirt with dye. Get into the crevices, but don't make shirt drippy with dye.
Wrap shirt in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
Remove wrap. Un-band. RINSE THOROUGHLY in cool water.
Run through washing machine (no detergent) immediately on cold. Dry as usual. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I needed more colors. I purchased the 72 piece set of colored pencils from Colore and I love them! At first I totally thought it would be dumb to have so many colors, but after I purchased another product with a smaller amount (48) I realized I needed more colors! I just started coloring in an adult coloring book at night while I'm watching TV so I have something to do. It is so fun! I am a slightly better color-er than I was when I was little, but I don't even care, it is super relaxing! There are a TON of fun colors in this set and they come already sharpened so you can get to work right away! Believe me 72 different colors isn't too many and I have used almost all of them! The tin they come in has 3 plastic trays that set on top of each other and each of the pencils has it's own little slot so they don't roll around all over and it is easy to keep them organized. I really love this set and it is well worth the price! I will be buying another set for my daughter for Christmas so I will stop having to share! Thanks for reading! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Exquisite Clairefontaine paper in a very useful sized notebook. Wow. As a new fountain pen user, I've read all the praise for the Clairefontaine paper but haven't felt the need to try it.
Well, I recently realized that I don't write a journal entry very often because I don't always carry my large journal with me. So, I decided to try something smaller to increase the frequency of my entries.
This little 3.5 x 5.5" webbie notebook fit the bill perfectly and for $13 online with free 2-day Prime shipping, it is a great deal.
The paper is EXQUISITELY smooth and the ink from my pens works perfectly with this paper (Pilot Blue and Noodler's Ottoman Azure in a Pilot Decimo F and a Pilot Prera with an italic nib respectively).
I will be looking for more items with Clairefontaine paper!!! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
A welcome change - works well. [For the record, I used this ink with the Cross Century II Medalist medium-nib fountain pen.]
Like others have said, this ink has some impressive qualities.
As soon as I opened the bottle (the bottle is glass, and attractive - like the bottles of old), I noticed that it was full to the very brim. While subjective looks have nothing to do with the quantity of ink one actually gets, it's helpful in getting the nib in deep enough not to pull up air, but not so deep that it's overly dirtied.
This ink wipes off of solid surfaces easily - it's much easier to clean off than the Higgins Fountain Pen India I used before. It also doesn't seem to cause "nib goo" on the underside of the nib - which was a regular occurrence with the aforementioned Higgins, particularly when drawing (I draw as well as write).
I decided to see exactly how waterproof this stuff is. While it wasn't a scientific test by any stretch of the imagination, I licked my finger, and rubbed over a completely blackened portion of a sketch I did - and none ended up on my fingertip. The drawing showed no effect, either.
The pen writes more smoothly than before, as well as starting more quickly after pauses with the cap removed.
All-in-all, I think I'm sold on this stuff from now on. =:o) | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Much smaller than expected. This is the first brush I have tried by Silver. I have heard good things about the Black Velvet series, so I decided to try it in a size 6, which is usually one of my favorite sizes for watercolors. I was really surprised when I opened the package and saw the size of this brush! It was considerably smaller than any size 6 I have ever seen. I have put a photo here of a Raphael 8404 and the Silver Black Velvet--both in size 6. The Silver is equivalent to about a size 4 in other brands--maybe even a bit smaller and narrower. To be fair, it is also about half the price of a size 4 in the Raphael, but then again, the Raphael is a Kolinsky sable.
Well, once I got past the size surprise, I tried it out. It has a very sharp point, nice enough snap--not as stiff as synthetics, but not as soft as sable. Just about right for painting details. I couldn't really decide whether I really loved it, though, because it was too small to do very much with it. Most of my paintings are portraits and florals, so this will be very useful for details, but if I wanted a brush to do larger areas--for example, leaves, or blossoms, it's much too small. I would love to try it in maybe a size 10 or 12. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Beautiful local art supply and customer service. I discovered these sketchbooks/journals by happy accident. They have become one of my favorite mediums for doodles, journaling and sketching. All can be quietly and easily done on these soft, yet solid pages. Makes it a pleasure to take up my pens and create something. Did I mention the customer service? It's worth it to order a journal just to get one of Leda's customer service emails. I've never had an order go missing, but there is a fleet of giant swans waiting to be dispatched should this ever happen. A great little company, just up the road from me with a great desire to enjoy their work and help their customers and fans. Thank you Leda. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
The Proof is in the Pudding. I spent a great amount of time researching this gadget before I bought it here on Amazon. I read the reviews that said it was wasteful and inaccurate. And I watched several YouTube videos. And I bought it. I bought it because I have a shoulder that bothers me greatly if I use it too much, and a ankles that swell if I stand too long. And a back that also is persnickety. I had started making quilts to be sent to Japan (quilts4Japan.org) and I quickly found out that my body wasn't able to do what I wanted it to do without some dry spells to recuperate. But I was in a hurry to make quilts!
The day it arrived I got out some fabric I hated and ran it through. I was a bit nervous but I had watched the video that came with it and read the instructions. It was so easy I couldn't believe it. It was absolutely PERFECT. Five minutes total, including getting nervous!
Recently I cut out the pieces for the same quilt I had made initially to go to Japan. A combination of 6" squares and rectangles that are 3" wide. It took me 1.5 hours to cut them all out. By folding the material carefully as shown in one of the YouTube videos, I am able to cut the waste down to a few tiny slivers. So far I have only cut six layers.
Now I have finished assembling the blocks. Because I didn't have to recheck each piece as I worked with it to make sure it was cut accurately, it went together in record time. Yesterday in about an hour I sewed the rows together. Normally by now I would have laid pieces back down to recheck that they were square. Didn't have to do any of that! I could tell during the piecing and assembly that they were, because they matched each other so well. I am VERY careful to put the fabric on the die correctly, on grain. I check any scrap that I did not just cut from the whole piece with a selvedge.
The first time I made this pattern it took me almost two weeks of short afternoons cutting and trimming and sewing to get this far (plus arranging the pieces within the quilt to distribute the colors). I couldn't work long because I hurt! This time I started cutting three days ago. This morning I will have finished the assembly of the rows and be ready to add the border.
Normally I have to keep my cutting board table clear so I can keep trimming. But now I just need enough room to cut off strips to put on the dies. I made a couple of little cardboard rulers for the two dies I am using so I don't cut the raw strips off my fabric any wider than necessary.
In order to preserve the life of the mat, I rotate it just a smidgen before I put it on top of the die and fabric. It still goes through without a hitch, but the impression it cuts in the mat is in a slightly different place.
I do think that the instructions could be better. They are very scattered. The inside of the die packaging tells how many you can cut from a certain sized piece of fabric. And finally I found a similar but fairly confusing table for all the dies online.
Also I think the patterns that are shown on their site are terribly unimaginative. I have created two so far that are not boring. The strip dies seem terribly overpriced to me in comparison to the smaller dies.
I admit it is tempting to buy more and more dies. But each time I use the AccuQuilt GO! I am SO glad I have it and the dies I bought. I consider it the best quilting tool I own except for my beloved Bernina.
Right now you could not PRY this from my arms! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Wonderful Gift for My Husband. My husband is a weekend painter so I really wanted him to have a easel that was easy to use, store, and is multi-purpose. I received the package in the time stated by Amazon, the easel was securely packaged and the easel was even nicer than it appeared on Amazon. The wood is wonderful, the fasteners on the drawer and easel are easy to use as his the adjustable heights for the easel. My husband was thrilled and immediately stored his brushes and paints in it for future use. He has since used the easel numerous times and says it is the nicest present he has ever received and cannot get over how easy and practical the easel is.....and I was able to find a nice place on a shelf downstairs for him to access when he is ready to paint (which is most weekends). | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Beautiful Airbrush. I use this airbrush mainly to paint my props, as painting them with a paintbrush was giving an unsatisfactory look.
This brush is very smooth to use, and the pull feature to be able to spray and control it requires some work, but overall is a nicer way to control the spread of the paint.
I have so far used enamels (Testors), Acrylics, and Oils in this airbrush and have had no problems whatsoever. Since the entire brush can be taken apart, it's quite easy to clean it out using the appropriate cleaner, which is another plus to this airbrush.
The only downside I can see is that it doesn't really fit into the <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Badger-Air-Brush-Co-TC909-Aspire-Elite-Compressor/dp/B008J2T034/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Badger Air-Brush Co. TC909 Aspire Elite Compressor</a>'s holder unless you put it in backwards. The fat design however is nice for someone like me with big fingers. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
GREAT die cutting machine - BETTER then Cricuts. I have been a Provo craft junky for the last 4 years, since I started making cards, mini albums, etc.
I take a card class every month at my local scrapbook store (Scrapbook Paradise - Reno, NV) and the instructor uses this machine when designing cards.
I have two Expressions, Gygsy, E2 and Imagine and I have now converted to only using my Silhouette SD and Cameo machines.
There is no comparsion when it comes to intricate details that can be cut with Silhouette machines. You can do print and cuts like the imagine, but not have to worry about constantly calibrating your Imagine. I actually have had 6 Imagines, due to constant problems with the machine. It's a $500.00 paper weight!!!
If you are on the fence of which machine you should get, I would HIGHLY recommend this machine, don't waste your money on Provo Craft machines.
You will not be disappointed with the Silhouette machines, there customer service.
Happy scrapping! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I will never buy a cricut product again. I will never buy a Cricut product again. I bought it to be able to use it with Software that would let you design outside the cart system, and then cut the items on your machine.. There were NO product warnings on the box that said you could not do that. Now Cricut has blocked every user of the software MTC or SCAL from communicating with their Cricuts in sofware updates due to a lawsuit Cricut levied on one of the companies, MTC, and now they are suing SCAL. So for me, my machine just went from being great to being useless.. I bought a Pazzles to replace it where I can create anything I want, when I want it. Yeah, I have six Cricut cartridges, but have never even used or learned how to use them as I had so many other designs to choose from on the 'net I could buy and cut that I liked and didn't have to be locked in to only the repetitive choices of the 'carts' at $80 a pop when I might like only one design on it. Cricut has given me LOUSY customer support about complaints, as others I know who complain. Right now there is a Boycott Provocraft site on Facebook, and a video song on You Tube in protest of Cricut policies, snappy song, clever.. you can see it here if you want to, kinda fun: [...] Protest page on Facebook here: [...] MY advice? Don't buy a Cricut, there are MUCH bettter ways to cut in my opinion, with better machines! (Pazzles, eCraft, Silhouette, Gazelle, Cougar) Cricut is big marketing, I find the hype just that, hype, and fluff... they were not good to THIS customer, and the other 4,800 people who have seen the You Tube video between March 24, 2011 and today, April 2, 2011, most feel pretty much the same as I do, or there would not be only FOUR dislikes on that video. Do NOT buy a Cricut! I was VERY sorry! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Nice Product. Pros: nice to have it all organized and together
Nice quality pencils with good vibrant color
Nice easy closure with magnet
Cons: Cheap sharpener; I will have to go find another. Also, since this kit is designed to be portable, it really should supply a sharpener that catches the shavings. If they continue to use this sharpener just let it be clear plastic not painted silly silver which flakes off.
Does not include information to replace pencils; these pencils fit, look good in the case and are nice quality. It would be nice to to know as you are using them up that you can order replacements.
Sometimes it is a struggle to slide the pencils back into the elastic slots.
The case doesn't expand enough; can't add much in the way of additional papers etc. If you do, the magnetic closure won't work.
Overall, I am happy with this, and it is what it says it is. I would recommend it to a friend. It is convenient and easy to use.
Sent from my iPad | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
The most poorly designed and executed software I've ever used. The Cricut DesignStudio software does enable numerous capabilities not possible with the cartridges alone, but overall, this is the most poorly designed and executed piece of software I've ever used.
It is clear the program was not designed by experienced software engineers, that little to no effort has been put into improving the usability of the product or fixing bugs, and that the company does not respect the intelligence of its user base. It is difficult to fully appreciate the thoroughness of the poor design without first-hand use, but I've provided a few examples that highlight the lack of attention to detail and usability.
- Example of poor software architecture: The software takes approximately 6 minutes to load (on a 2010-era laptop PC with mid-range specs), during which the CPU is essentially maxed out. A bloated windows install can boot in that amount of time, and no commercial software product should take that long to load EVERY TIME.
- Example of a major bug: Sometimes program gets caught in a mode where you can't edit shape size or location and the only way to get the capability back is to quit the program and re-start it again (6 more minutes). I have not been able to reliably re-produce this error, but it happens regularly.
Examples of poor user interface:
- The undo feature doesn't work (or at least not intuitively). For example, if you move a shape's location or delete it, undo will not reverse that action.
- There is no way to drag to select multiple objects for editing (e.g. if you had an array of the same shape and wanted to re-size all the shapes simultaneously). Instead, the program forces you to select each object individually and manually edit its properties, which is tedious and time consuming.
- The user interface for the cartridges is too small, so it's hard to see the detail of the shapes without adding them to your project.
- The menu for selecting cartridges has an insane organizational scheme. Things appear to be grouped alphabetically, but in non-sensical categories. Since the machine will only let you cut shapes for cartridges you actually own, an option to sort the complete cartridge list alphabetically needs to be an option.
- When opening a new project the program doesn't remember the last folder you were in, requiring the user to re-traverse the directory tree or paste in a path every time they open a project.
- Example of poor technical support: There is terrible customer support. The forums at the company website have low traffic and are out-of-date. The forum user interface was also broken so it was not accepting new users or questions.
Overall, Cricut DesignStudio is largely deficient. It will leave an experienced computer user frustrated and angry that such a product was ever developed or released, and a more novice user will constantly be wondering what they're doing wrong, when in fact it's the software and not them that's at fault.
Ultimately, because Cricut is a closed ecosystem for a niche product that serves a small market (mostly scrapers), there is no competitive incentive for someone to build a better version of this product; it's likely to remain the only viable option for adding significant additional capabilities to a Cricut Expression machine. For that reason, if you already own a Cricut and want the benefits described in the positive reviews you have little choice but to buy this software.
However, objectively, it is a terrible product that deserves a one-star review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Fits pioneer scrapbook perfectly. This product came exactly as described. The refills fit my pioneer scrapbook perfectly. There are five sheets, for a total of ten pages, counting front and back. The pages have three holes punched in them, and the package comes with two extender screws. The refill pages have a clear sheet protector on the outside, and there is a white paper on the inside. The white paper can easily be removed and replaced with another paper of a different weight or color.
My one piece of advice to others would be to carefully note how you take the scrapbook apart to put in the refill pages. This was my first time adding pages to this type of scrapbook, and I had trouble putting everything back together correctly. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Very low student grade paints. I actually bought this for just the palette. I received some Holbein tubes second hand and wanted a small palette to pot them into. But before tossing the paint I decided to test it and compare it to my Cotman student grade set. These paints are not as transparent as the Cotman, It is especially noticeable in the yellows. The darker colors also provide a much grainier wash than the Cotmans as well. The included brush is not terrible but not great either. It never gets a very good point to it. I've purchased better water brushes for much less on ebay. If you are an artist or seriously aspiring to be one, buy a small set of high quality professional grade watercolors, they are easier to work with, last longer and are more fade resistant. If you are not so sure and just want to play around with watercolor, buy a nice student grade from a company that makes professional grade paints as well. If you just wanna have fun or are buying supplies for a young child or teen then you can't beat the price of this set. Otherwise skip it.
I'm giving it 3 stars because I only wanted the pallet box to begin with and the price was right. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Comparable to Annie Sloan, but way better price. I bought 2 of these brushes and used one for painting on the chalk paint, for a triple dresser. I must say that I am very very happy with it. I have an Annie Sloan brush that I used to apply black wax on a night stand and it did a great job, but at $52, I am not going to get another one for dark wax application. I am purchasing 2 more today, one for light color paint application and one for dark wax application. Waxing brushes must be kept separate; but having two different brushes for paint is a personal preference.
Note: Like any natural bristle brush, you will have some bristles that come out. That happens in the beginning and if you prep the brush properly, it shouldn't happen while you are painting/waxing. To prep, take your brand new DRY brush and fluff it back and forth against your hands several times. Then gently, squeeze the brush from the ferrule (metal part that holds the bristles to the handle) to the tip of the brush. Remove any loose bristles. Then, before using it, thoroughly wet the brush, and again gently squeeze and remove loose bristles. Since water gets into the ferrule, thoroughly shake it out (this should be done after cleaning brushes, too). Next, wipe the brush back and forth on a lint free cloth..that removes even more water. When done, wrap the bristles in a hair tie (less damaging that a rubber band) to maintain the shape of the brush. Finally, hang to dry. With proper care, I do believe these brushes will last for years. I have stenciling brushes that are decades old and still work beautifully.
Check out You tube on how to wash brushes that contain medium. Wax requires mineral spirits followed by a soapy wash and rinse. Zinnser primer requires dilutes ammonia or denatured alcohol and a soapy wash and rinse. Chalk paint requires a soapy wash and rinse. I use Dawn.
Once you start painting/waxing...label your brush on the handle so you know in which medium it will be used. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great product. I purchased this recently for my wife to do her scrap booking electronically instead of in traditional hard copy photo albums. She is having a blast, but one thing to consider. These photo albums can use up a boatload of memory. Be sure you have a lot of storage space available. My wife's laptop has an 80GB hard drive and on her second album, she filled up the disk rather quickly. Fortunately we had an 1TB external drive that she was able to off-load the album to.
We are currently living in an apartment and there just isn't the space for tones of the hard copy photo albums. Also, my wife has issues with her wrists and the physicality of traditional scrap booking is hard on her wrists. Working digitally saves space and is easier on her wrists. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
OUTSTANDING. My first fountain pen was/is a Cross. It is a lower end cost pen that is black and gold with a gold tip. It looks more expensive than it really is but this pen is no longer produced by Cross. I purchased the fountain pen to set my writing apart from other's on legal documents at my place of employment. (this simple application of a fountain pen has saved me many headaches) One person in the field who was seriously incompetent finally caused me to blow my cork after dealing with his idiocy for five years. Before I knew it, I had thrown my fountain pen against the console. The damage that resulted was the plastic under the gold point lost about a millimeter at the tip. The ink no longer flowed properly. I have since purchased 2 more Cross pens, a Parker and finally a Lamy. None feel as good as the black and gold Cross I damaged in a stupid fit. (in my defense...it did take 5 years for me to reach my breaking point) I have also tried 3 different types of ink and none seemed to work well in the other pens either. I always had to kick start the line before I could write. I purchased this Noodler's ink as a last ditch effort and low and behold, it worked well on ALL the pens. On a whim, I tried it on my old #1 Cross pen and it brought the old girl back to life. This American made ink is OUTSTANDING! It flows well but does not pour out of the pen like water from a tap. I have read a review that said it was clumpy. I know mixing inks in a pen can cause clumps if the pen is not thoroughly cleaned before changing inks. All I know is that this ink could have saved me some bank had I purchased it from the get go as I now, once again, only use my black and gold Cross and the other purchased fountain pens sit in a pewter holder at home. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Beautiful Liquid Chalk Marker Pens. Liquid chalk markers are such a useful thing to have in the home. They have all sorts of uses including craft projects, updating family message boards, planning and organizing. You can write on many smooth non-pourous surfaces including glass, plastic, ceramics. chalk boards, chalk board labels/stickers, and more. Then you can wash the "liquid chalk" off when you are done. (I suggest testing on a small patch first, but I haven't yet had an issue writing on mirrors, other glass, ceramic, smooth plastic and the chalk label stickers).
I love the vibrant colors in this set. The pens have a chiseled tip and write smoothly. I only had one issue, for some reason I could not get the white pen to work. All the others write beautifully so perhaps I just received a faulty pen. I have another set (different brand) and the white pen works, so I am not too worried about it. The colors are my favorite of all my sets of liquid chalk (so far) pens.
I received a set of Anders Blake Company Liquid Chalk Markers to review. All opinions and experiences expressed are my own. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I love the pop up stand in the case! Very convenient to have. <div id="video-block-R1W4CHJIOBKBY3" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/E17V4iLxiCS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81%2BU4Zy0FaS.png" class="video-slate-img-url"> This is a very high quality 15 premium paint brush set. I really like this set out of all my paint brushes I have. I really like the carrying case it comes in because it does a great job of keeping all my brushes in one place. I like the the little pocket slots assigned for each brush so you won't lose them. The bristles are very soft to the touch and do a great job at painting. I used this on my 100percent cotton bags with the last of my acrylic paint and because I did not have enough paint on hand from the last project it gave a rustic look to it. I really like that you have a variety of brushes both wide,small,fine tip for all different kinds of strokes or details. Not once did any of the bristles fall out or shed which was a plus. The handles are smooth and long and very easy to handle and have control while painting. I used acrylic paint and water paint with these and so far they have worked great. The case is pretty long I would say an estimate around 15inchs give or take long and about 1 inch thick. I really like the pop up stand feature because it keeps everything in place whether you are using them,not using them,or drying them. It really lets your paint brushes dry more quickly and the air can circulate to get the bristles nice and dry. They also clean out well I have not had a problem with staining or anything. Great for all kinds of arts,crafts,paintings and works very well with different paints. My favorite thing about this is the pop I have only used acrylic & water paints, so far I am very pleased with this brush set. This is a great set to have or gift to someone who loves painting.
Complimentary Sample provided for review purposes. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Short-handles are very comfortable to use. This set of 8 "detailing" brushes has short, thicker wooden handles and darker (not white) Taklon bristles. The brushes came in a blister pack. It looks like some of the brushes were supposed to have brush head protector over them, but all of the plastic sleeves on mine had made their way to the bottom of the blister pack by the time it arrived here. I did not notice any damage and doubt that the sleeves were necessary, so no need to worry if yours arrive in a similar fashion.
* The handles of the brushes make them more comfortable to use, especially for painting techniques where you rest your palm on a neutral
surface and outline, dot, or line a project. The short length helps with this, too.
* From a quality and construction perspective, I consider these to be about average. I would prefer to see the ferrules be double crimped; in
my experience, this will lengthen the life of a paintbrush significantly.
* Including a bent brush in this set is over-the-top, and I love it. I haven't used one before, and it has been a fun and useful tool.
My only complaint about this set is that the bristles on the 3/0 and the 1 are inconsistent and difficult to get a clean line across. I can't change that, but we can look for ways to incorporate these voices into our art.
I purchased this item using a discount in return for writing this honest and unbiased review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Works great for my oil paints. I bought this acrylic carrier for my 1.25 oz (37 ml) oil paints. The reviews on the oil carrier said the pockets were too small for the paints. It works pretty well. They all fit nicely in there, and I can see the tops so I know what the color is. The only downside is that the pockets are just a tad too big. So, if you tilt it the wrong way, the paints will slide out. I'm going to take this with me for plein air painting, so I think it's great. I also carry my paints to my class in this. It's very convenient. It would be nice if there was a little snap over each one, or a bit tighter right around the top, but it works for me. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great Brush. I am a beginning watercolor student just learning about differences in materials and quality. I picked up the Princeton Snap! brush at my local craft store to get started while waiting for this brush to arrive. Using both, I can say I noticed a big difference. The Neptune brush head is very soft, but comes to a fine point and stays that way. It also holds lots of water, allowing me to achieve the effects I want more easily. My (very primitive) paintings look much better using the Neptune over the Snap. I didn't realize a good brush could make such a difference, especially at my novice level. I plan to pick up a couple of different sizes of the Neptunes. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
If you like stamping and crafting...you should get this product. I just made two stamps that blew my mind. Even though the software comes with the kit, it is also downloadable from the site. The program itself was pretty simple to navigate. You could watch YouTube videos to learn how to use the program as well. I used my own graphics that I pulled off Google and my own fonts that I have installed in my computer. You could buy fonts from them or... you could just download some free fonts! =)
Anyways... I just created two stamps (the ones that were in the kit) super quick and easily. The inking process can be a bit tricky, especially if you are making a multicolored inked stamp (which I did) but the results were amazing.
I really like this product A LOT... just wished that the stamp cartridges and ink weren't so darn expensive. = / | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Fix the wobbliness: buy two. I've been using tabletop easels as monitor/tablet stands for my mobile workstation for almost 10 years, and I've tried a fair number of them from various sources (not just Amazon). This particular stand is the absolute best I've found due to its small size, low weight, and movable arms. But there are two drawbacks compared to others:
1) Minor issue: The legs don't telescope, so you can't fine-tune the angle. But you can hack this a little by slipping an object such as a ruler between the easel and the thing it's holding. The thinner monitors and tablets become, the less I've found this to be a problem.
2) Major issue: The legs don't lock into place, which makes for some dangerous wobbliness. I almost destroyed a piece of equipment when a slight nudge collapsed the easel and sent the monitor it was holding tumbling out a window(!).
But there's an easy fix! Just buy two easels and put both sets of arms on one of them. Turn one set of arms back against the third leg, and it'll be hugely more stable. It's not perfectly rock-solid because only one arm can really be locked against the leg; once it's in place, there's no room for the second to get in as tightly. But the remaining instability is negligible. (Note that doing this requires removing the rubber feet, which I needed pliers to do. I think they may be lightly glued on; after the first removal, I was able to pop them on and off easily by hand.)
It supports my 15" Surface Book 2 (4 lbs. 3 oz.) with no problem. When I apply pressure to the screen with the Surface Pen, the arms swivel a little, but slipping an architect's ruler (the triangular kind) between the tablet and the easel braces it in a way that stops any movement.
If there were another kind of easel that was just as small and light and had movable arms, PLUS the angle was adjustable and it was suitably stable out of the box, then I would downgrade my rating for this one. But in the absence of such a beast, paying double the low price, swapping some parts, and maybe slipping a ruler in the mix is still very much worth it as far as I'm concerned. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Rich Colors. My husband likes to color in his adult coloring books while waiting for my son to finish his practices, karate, demo, leadership, etc. He likes the shape of these pencils, they are triangular. He states the shape of the pencils makes it easier to hold on to while using them. He mentioned that they are really long, but he liked the length. He has larger hands and he feels like he can hold the pencils easily. He likes the shape and the length of these. Now for the pencils themselves, the colors are very rich. You do not have to press hard to achieve a solid deep color. You can also shade with these pencils very easily. My husband has layered the colors over each other to give the colors a different effect. He likes that there are 36 different colors, his previous set only had 24. He likes that tube that they come in because it keeps all the pencils neat and the top stay on and does not fall off spilling the pencils. The sharpener that is in the top of the tube works very well to sharpen the pencils. So a recap:
PROS:
-Triangular shape
-Long length
-Rich colors
-Easy to keep neat in tube
-Great sharpener
CONS:
-I did not order them sooner!!
I did receive this product at a reduced price in exchange for a fair and honest review, but this in no way influenced my review of this product. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Well made and very handy. The palette being reviewed here offered by Chameleon Art Supplies (A very good company to deal with by the way) is a handy little thing made of very sturdy plastic and while not overly heavy, it does have enough heft so that it resists being tipped and based about as you work with it.
I have over a dozen of these small palettes made by different companies which I have collected over many years. This is most certainly right at the top when it comes to quality when you compare it with cost.
I primarily use acrylics when painting and occasional water colors. I will often have two, three or even four palettes working at one time. The reason for this is that I paint a lot of miniatures. These small paintings simply do not need a lot of paint and to cut down on waste I use multiples due to the fact that I am using different colors and color combinations for each painting. For acrylics, when finished for the painting secession, I place the entire palette in a largish zip lock bag along with a wet cotton ball. The paint will stay quite fresh for several days. This saves on pain and if you have purchased good quality acrylic paint of late you will know that this stuff is not to be wasted. This method works for me and I have been using it for years. I see not reason that this would not work for oils also - minus the wet cotton balls.
This little palette is small and easy for storage (an important fact for me) and is ideal for travel. When I paint outside I use an art box to hold my brushes, colors and palette knives...this little thing fits in quite well.
This is easy to wash and the brilliant white color lets you see clearly what you are using and what you are mixing. I have had no problems with it staining after being washed like so many like products.
I am extremely satisfied with this product.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Love this set! Well worth the . I know what you are thinking, "Are these pencils worth that much money?" "Why don't they sell this set in a tin or a box like their other sets?" "Will I really use all the colors anyway?" "Maybe the smaller sets are better." "I don't need the nice wood box, I use pencil cases because I want to be Mobil and don't want to hassle with that big nice wood box." I thought all of those same things. So, I bought the smaller sets, and since there are duplicate pencils I had about 45 ish colors for about $150, give or take a few bucks. The single pencils cost close to $4 each from art sellers, plus shipping. Ther are 76 different color pencils, at let's say $4 each which equals $304, plus shipping. I would like the maker to give us the option of a tin or box, but at this time they don't. Since I do use all the colors, and these are the best watercolor pencils I can find, I decided to return the smaller sets (in new condition) and buy the box set, even though I won't use the wood box to store my pencils. I am so glad I did! I use these pencils every day, with my watercolor projects. The four duplicate colors are colors I use allot so I am not unhappy with the duplication. The four sketching pencils are super nice, the best I have ever used. I have my pencils in a case. However, I see potential use for the wood box. It is truly beautiful, and can be repurposed for other things, from jewelry, other craft supplies, or whatever you come up with. The trays are nicely stained wood, and the foam pencil holders are removable and not glued in. They nest nicely inside the box. Use your crafty imagination.
I love these pencils. They activate with very little water, lay down smoothly, are very vibrant, and this set has earthy colors, not so many of the bright colors not often used in landscapes. They are great for nice coloring books with thick pages because they need so little water though if kept away from water can be used as color pencils (they may smear a bit used like this so take care) Also, they can be used in creative ways with the Luminence color pencils. At the current purchase price on Amazon I paid about $3.34 per pencil (there are 84 pencils in this set), which includes the wood box. I am very happy with my purchase. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
LOVE LOVE LOVE. Although this is a "toy" I got it to put in my home office, and everyone loves it so much I've moved it to the common area near the entrance way for everyone to use, and I'm purchasing another for my office. I'll be gifting this to everyone for years to come. Note: the packet in the package indicates there are mini versions of the board that are made into cards to be sent and then can be used as normal once received, so I'll be looking for those, and also, it looks really cool with "rocks" in the bottom, so find some cheap ones on here to add to it for looks or buddaboard sells them as well (I just stole some from our candle display in another room, and threw in a penny). Great gift, sometimes I wish it would last a little longer, but as the box says, it's all about "the art of letting go"
** on another note: to address others concerns: yes, the edges of the product do look slightly cheaply put together, the bottom box is plastic, with a sticker on the front, and the mat is a foam board, and the board itself is basically just a big sticker on a piece of cheaply painted wood, and yes, you should read the directions, that way it lasts because the water can damage the wood, if not used properly (so it says), but I still love the darn thing and so does everyone else, and would buy it again and again, but if I ever find a "more durably made" version, I will probably upgrade for myself... | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I like to write on our bathroom mirrors and remind my . I have several sets of Chalk Markers and I think this is going to be one of my favorites. It is not the typical bright neon colors that these come in. These are more earth tones which works for some of the projects I use them for. I like to write on our bathroom mirrors and remind my family to pray that morning or to put a bible verse up for the day. I have used them for a multitude of things and they write well, and come off easily. I have had them They don't smudge easy as some other sets I have owned. Great set!!! I received this product at a discount in exchange for an honest and unbiased review and all thoughts reflected in this review are solely my own | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Did not work for me. I bought these for my Explore Air based on suggestions that they were better than Cricut brand and cheaper as well, and I really wanted to like them. I do a lot of intricate cuts and these just don't work for those. I tried all three blades in the package and they just did a terrible job with intricate cuts on vinyl (the cuts were sloppy and generally imprecise. The vinyl was torn and ragged looking along the edges). I went out and bought new Cricut brand blades and was back in business. I'm not really a Cricut cheerleader, and use very few of their branded materials and supplies aside from the machine, but I will stick with their blades over these. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Labor intensive product. Ordered from Amazon, sold by Tiger Textiles to set dye in fabric. Once received decided product was too labor intensive for my project. Instructions for use were to heat water to over 120 degrees, add cloth and solution and stir for 20 minutes, then dry. Requested return which I received but I had to pay return postage which was 35.02 and I only spent 33.73 on 2 bottles but wanted to return it the proper way and not just throw it out. My refund from Tiger textiles was only $14.38 so I am out 54.37 instead of just the cost of shipping return. I was told I was charged $19.35 as a restocking fee. Really a restocking fee was never mentioned in any correspondence. Very disappointed with Amazon but especially Tiger Textiles. Expensive lesson learned!!!! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Closer to a Toy. Not a fine art product. Purchased the 12 color sketch set at a local retailer. I decided to take the plunge and learn color theory with this product thinking it was a quality fine art purchase. After spending the last week learning about color and watercolor paint, I now wish I had gone with a traditional watercolor brand and not Koi, which is closer to a toy than a fine are product. Think Crayola.
After researching watercolors and messing with the 12 color kit, this is what I learned.
*You want pigment not color.
*You want colors with very good lightfastness (otherwise they will bleach out)
*You want watercolors that will disperse and mix well and still keep their intensity.
*The more expensive the paint the more pigment it contains and less binder or filler. The 3 categories are generally: Entry level, student level, professional level. The price goes up with each.
Koi markets this as a student grade product but its not. Its an entry level product but its overpriced for what you get and heres why.
Koi has these problems:
-They list colors not pigments (even though listing pigment makeup is standard practice for fine art products at the student level and higher).
*This means you cant determine lightfastness unless you manually test it
*You cant make a color comparison with other brands because color can mean anything.
*More than likely this means they use very few pigments to mix all their colors instead of individual pigments for each color. This makes the palette muted compared to the pure thing.
-The kit uses a cheaper single plastic plate with reservoirs for each color instead of the standard pan square making it impossible to replace individual colors. (Tube paint isn't formulated the same as pan paint. Yes you can use tube paint but it may not reactivate or the colors may appear dead. They put different levels of gum Arabic, glycerin, and preservatives in pan paints compared to tube paint.)
-Koi only offers kits. You cant buy individual colors to replace the one you use the most.
Considering all these negatives, the product is more of a toy with no way to compare colors to other companies because Sakura hides the pigment makeup. Along with the fact that these paints aren't archival, you're left wondering how they get away with pricing this as a student grade product and then provide no path to expand to professional grade among their brand or any other brand. Instead of buying the 48 color set, you're better off buying a professional grade limited palette. It'll be the same price. You may think you're getting less color, but you have more variety of pigment from the professional grade to work with giving you a much wider range of possible colors with the added benefit of less binder in the paint. In my case, I wish I had gone with something like Winsor & Newtons Cotman brand. That is actually a student grade product and they list all the pigments in their paint, sell them in individual pans/tubes, use standard pan sizes making it easy to replace, and as of this writing is $2 cheaper for the 12 color set than the Koi brand. Mind boggling to be honest. I wish I knew all this stuff a week ago. Meanwhile, my Koi set will be sitting in a container along with my other cheap art supplies.
Honestly, I feel mislead because Sakura offers other great product lines like their Pigma Micron pens. I mean, these guys even invented the oil pastel in the 1920's (cray-pas, a portmanteau for crayon pastel). And all these 5 star ratings from people who can't figure out how to correctly put together the water brush. I guess the easier something is to do, the less critical reviews become. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great for on the go. My husband has been taking an art class in college. He needed some colored pencils for his class and his projects, and then I found this. The packaging was perfect for him. He is travelling so much at work that he needed a packaging that would be easy to transport them in his bag and keeping them close. Since his time is very limited, he likes having these close and the packaging makes it so easy for that. He loves the fact that when he unrolls it the colors are easily able to be found and easy to keep organized. There are also spots to hold his sharpener and eraser (it comes with a nice eraser and sharpener, too) and always have them accessible. He had recently spent a small fortune on a "professional" set of pencils, but these are his favorite ones. He loves the way that they are easy to use without having to use too much pressure to get the desired effect. Whether it is for a beginner, student or professional, these are a great set, especially for a set on the go. I did receive a small discount for the purposes of product testing and leaving honest and unbiased feedback. This set is with him now on another trip and he uses them daily. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
First Airbrush and Very Pleased. I purchased the Badger Patriot 105 for scale modeling. I've built models on and off for years but never used an airbrush. After allot of research I chose this airbrush for several reasons:
1. Very well made airbrush and reasonably priced.
2. I'm using the airbrush for scale model painting. The size of the needle is just fine for my needs.
3. The Patriot is all chrome silver. I felt that it would be easier to see in the cup and make sure I cleaned it well compared to the darker color cup of the Velocity.
4. The warranty can't be beat.
5. Parts are easy to find. In fact, I was in Michael's Arts and Crafts and saw needles and other parts for sale in the store.
6. Badger airbrushes are made and assembled in America. It's a family owned business that makes a really great product. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
For experimentation only. Perhaps it's not fair to call this airbrush complete junk but it is pretty close. The components fit together poorly. The cup is hard to clean. Mine arrived with a smashed and cut o-ring on the .3mm nozzle. This airbrush sputters paint even when hooked up to a smooth flowing regulated air tank. It's almost impossible to reliably adjust paint flow with 'dual-action' trigger. Back Pressure causes air bubbles in cup.
I could go on. I have used this thing for less than an hour and am supremely disappointed. Even for a $30 Chinese knock-off this thing is bad. Will be returning and buying an Iwata.
At least the compressor I bought seems to work.
Update:
I have taken this airbrush apart and tried all of the different needles/nozzles. I have tried everything I can to make it work. It really is pure trash. The good news is that I bought an Iwata Eclipse and it works flawlessly. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
but I would NOT recommend using in any cartridge-style calligraphy/fountain pens. This ink works very well in dip pens, but I would NOT recommend using in any cartridge-style calligraphy/fountain pens. Unless you immediately and thoroughly clean out the pen after initially using with this ink, it will stubbornly clog the pen and is quite difficult to clear out. I tried the ink in several fountain pens, and the ink flowed fine from them. However, when I tried to use the pens a day later, I had to clean the nibs before ink would flow. And, once I put regular ink back into the pens (maybe a few days later), I had to repeatedly and intensively clean the nibs and inner housing of the pens to clear out all of this calligraphy ink before the pens would write at all with regular ink. I will NEVER use this ink in a cartridge-style fountain pen again! However, this ink does work fine with dip-style pens. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Taking my builds to the next level. Have received the pens and have slowly and carefully began detailing the wings of 1997 Ban Dai W-Gundam Zero (Endless Waltz) I have been holding on to.
As someone who used brushes before, I can see myself using these markers a lot. (The Endless Waltz version of Zero has a very detailed "bird like" wing system)
I still love my brushes for painting larger parts and also brushes can get in hard to reach areas. Still these Gundam Markers are great for detail work. I plan to purchase more Gundam Markers for future builds. I only wish I knew about these 10 years ago when I first began to work on Gundams in my spare time. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
What I expected. I'm very happy with this; it's pretty much exactly as described, and I didn't have the problem others have had with wrinkled pages. It seems well-made. It was packaged with a desiccant, which I ended up being glad of, since the mailman dropped it on the doorstep during a major storm and then failed to ring the doorbell!
Photos attach well with double-sided scrapbooking tape. If you want to do more of a scrapbook than a straight album, you can write on the cardstock fairly easily.
There was some dust/sand in the packaging which others have mentioned with Rustic Ridge's products. Some of it was leather dust, but I think some was escaped desiccant. It didn't do any harm either way. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I love that it is just the sheets. After doing some searching for permanent vinyl not on a roll, I came upon this. I love that it is just the sheets. I am not a planner by any means and by buying packs like this it makes it a lot easier to just think of something and go to my stash and find what I need and with so many colors in this pack I usually have just the color I need. In my opinion it is so much easier to work with the sheets than the rolls. This product is great. It cuts very nicely and weeds easily and comes in such beautiful colors. I have not used it outside yet but I have applied it to glass and washed it multiple times and it is still going strong. I love this product and I will be purchasing from this seller again in the future. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
False Advertising. I'm a Member of CPSA.(Colored Pencil Society of America.) Majored Fashion Illustration and Advertising Design at CCAD.I love Colored Pencils from all over the world. These are advertised as Ultra Soft on the box. They aren't. They are hard. Upon application they do not blend well at all. They are more like Crayola and Prang. I thought they would be more like Prismacolor Scholar Pencils. They look beautiful and would be OK for someone who colors for a hobby if softness doesn't matter. This is false advertising on the box and description. Id like to return them but have to drive far away and use lots of gas and time to do that. I would like a refund to my Amazon points on my account. They also are streaky on smooth paper. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I think this is a great product for the price that I paid and I would buy it again. I think this is a great product for the price that I paid (around $24).
Bear in mind when judging this that it is not the type of artist quality paint that for example Winsor and Newton make, but theirs also would cost well over 5 times as much.
For what it is it is wonderful. The colours are rich and fun, are they lightfast? I can't say, my guess would be that they might not be, but this won't affect many people at all. Don't leave an important (to you) art work in straight sunlight and it will be fine. It is not recommended that you leave any art work in direct sunlight, no matter how high the quality of the paint.
Side note: work with acid free paper if you want to preserve your work for longer, without yellowing of the paper. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Overall great, but can get very hot. Despite its seemingly small size, this light box may be the best $12 I've ever spent on art supplies. As the cartoonist of my school's newspaper, I use this light box primarily for inking the final drafts of my comics. Its size is perfect for my 5x8 comics, and I can easily take it anywhere to work (as long as there's an electrical socket!). My only problem with the light box is its light bulb. When plugged in, the light bulb is very bright and allows pencil marks to be seen through 5 sheets of paper, but it also makes the plastic directly above it very hot within 15 minutes of use. The temperature is tolerable, but I wouldn't keep my hand in that one area too long or let a child use this light box. Despite the heat, I can see myself using this light box for many years to come! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Cricut Mini - best thing since sliced bread. I love this item! I have done some scrap booking in the past but am expecting my first grandson shortly. I purchased this for that purpose but once I received this item I discovered just how many different things I can do. I've already made mini diaper cake toppers with the cricut, baby shower card and a purse gift bag just to name a few! The tutorials that Cricut offers is very helpful plus the Cricut Craft Room program that comes with this is very user friendly! I plan on using this item way more than originally thought. This item was perfect and saved a significant amount ordering through Amazon than their website. The order was guaranteed for two day delivery and it came overnight! I can't say enough positive things about the Mini! I recommend to all scrap bookers and beyond! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
These are beautiful pencils. It's like coloring with butter. These are beautiful pencils. It's like coloring with butter. I watched a review on YouTube and decided to purchase them. The pigment is bright and beautiful, and they blend easily. The reviewer on YouTube said that they are a combination of a wax and oil base. As I use them, they seem to be the best of both worlds. They come as pictured, in three large trays. The third tray is absolutely gorgeous, with the soft colors muted with grey, and 4-5 neon colors. Actually, I really like all the colors. I use them with a T'GAAL manual sharpener, and it works well with these pencils. I'm lucky enough to have some spending money every month, and this was 2-3 months worth. I really do love them. As a side note, there are two blacks (black and lamp black), and two whites (white, and soft white). I've been blending with the 'soft white', and it is very nice. I imagine some more accomplished artists could appreciate it even more. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Manufacturing and design errors. Expected better at this price point. While the desk itself looks great once you assemble is its a pain to put together. The holes in the frame are not big enough for the screws you are given. I had to wait for my husband to get home to help me and even he had a hard time. Once the desk is put together you're gonna notice that there is no guard to catch your paper/canvas. They include a guard in the package but no where in the instructions does it mention it. We screwed it on only to find out that its completley useless. The guard is supposed to support your paper while you work but it only comes out less than a cm than the desk. So the desk has limitations on how you can use it if you wanted it raised (which to me would be the whole point in buying a desk that raises instead of regular one). Unless you can tape whatever you're working on to the desk while its raised you cant use it.
Overall the the desk looks nice and the glass is secure. But I expected better manufacturing and design at this price point. They seem like stupid mistakes that can be fixed easily by the people who designed it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
A year later, still loving my Cricut Explore. I'll start with a disclaimer: I am not a master crafter or even hobbyist. I dabble, at best. It has been the ideal cutter for my simple purposes, and I have only scratched the surface. I upgraded to the Explore from the Mini and have had it since its initial release, about a year and a half. I use it with some frequency and have never had any technological, mechanical, or other issues requiring trouble shooting. It is user-friendly, especially if you've already been using Cricut and Design Space. Here are my favorite features:
- Quick and simple for cutting. If I need some colorful paper leaves or snowflakes, I can have them in a snap.
- I love being able to export my own or online graphics into my designs. For example, I needed just the right size/shape of a dog tail for a Pin-the-tail-on-the-doggie game for my toddler son's birthday party. I created the graphic on my computer and then was able to cut it relatively easily. It took some time to figure it out, but seems easy now that I've done it once already.
- The ideas and possibilities Cricut offers are amazing. I could be endlessly enthralled by the fun projects presented on their website, if only I had an inordinate amount of time. The projects range from simple to intricate, and all look incredibly fun. Such amazing creativity coming from this company!
So, one downside when creating designs (perhaps it's been fixed already), the built-in software automatically determines how many mats are needed for your cuts. While this might seem convenient, I like to drag/drop/place the objects on the mat preview myself (to save time and paper). But the Explore overrides this and is not very conservative, even when all of the objects of the design can easily fit onto one mat. I found it annoying enough to downgrade it by a star. However, I would certainly purchase the machine again even knowing this! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
hope it does the job i intended it for. I had a ruling pen years ago and I was sure I STILL had it... but alas I do not .... so ordered this one with the hopes that it wold be a nice enough quality, I haven't "used" it yet for the purpose I bought it for and I think it will be relatively fine for that (adding masking fluid to my watercolors) BUT I would be VERY careful when I do this because the pen is pretty cheap and rough at the tip, not at all like I remember my old drafting ruling pen (the one I have no idea where it walked off to... or with whom!)
b4 I bought this I did look for them here on amazon and they all looked to be about the same quality.. so I got this one. its not a quality piece and as I get into using it I may have to find a better one somewhere.... | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
High quality long handled paint brush. I was truly impressed with this brush from Chameleon. The brush is huge with a nice 9-10" handle that is thick and easy to grip. The brush works wonderfully, and far better than similarly priced brushes that I've purchased in value stores over the year. I don't know what a professional artist would think, but my kids loved it. It cleaned easily after each painting and we don't seem to be losing bristles. My kids use this for everything from painting posters to various clay models, and they are finding the brush to be an excellent all-around utility brush. I'll admit to not being an expert on brushes, but I've bought a few more expensive brushes over the years which easily cost far more than this one and don't perform as well. This is an excellent value and recommended.
Note: I received a free sample from the manufacturer for the purposes of review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great product. I did a lot of research before buying this for my finace. Some of her friends have Cricut machines but the expensive cartridges and restrictive software outweigh the lower price for the machine. The Silhouette software is pretty easy to learn and allows you to create cutting patterns from any image. We were able to sketch out a design, scan it in as a JPEG, clean it up in Photoshop and then automatically generate a cutting pattern based on the black or white areas of the JPEG. More complex patterns can be purchased from Silhouette via their online store a la carte, so you aren't forced to buy an expensive cartridge with a few dozen patterns when you only really want one. The initial price of the machine is a little higher than some of the competitors, but the easy to use, flexible software makes it well worth it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Perfect size for a Ken doll shirt. These Micro Rounds were purchased in Oct. 2015 for $2.29 and "add on" free shipping. There were 67 buttons in the pack. They are the perfect size for a (Barbie) Ken doll dress shirt or suit sleeve cuff.
These buttons have a right side and a flat side, which you can feel with your finger. I also purchased these in white, which show the detail much better. The white buttons appear larger, but I think they are the same size. There were 62 white buttons in a pack. Using a regular sewing needle with double strands of thread, I could fit only two passes through the tiny holesbut they held the buttons fine. No, I don't think I'll try putting these through buttonholes.
I had to purchase larger buttons from a local store, for the front of the Ken suit jacket I was sewing. (The 3/8-inch buttons I used were slightly too big. The correct scale size would be 1/4 inch.)
I will post photos to show the comparison of the black Micro Rounds to a Ken ATM doll's shirt "buttons", a 3/8-inch men's collar button, and a penny. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Probably fine for brushing, not great for pour techniques. These are very thin. I do fluid art, resin pours, and most of my work is incredibly "wet" a day, sometimes more. These canvases, and the cardboard they are attached to, are so thin that they warped when they dried. In order to make the pieces I had created still usable to hang on the wall and of a quality I was comfortable trying to sell, I had to glue the completed art canvases to non acid archival quality foam core board, put a weight on it overnight, and then in the morning after the glue had dried, I had to cut around the edges of the foam core to make the solid, now-sturdy backing match the round shape o the 12" canvases. I'm sure these round canvases might work very well for folks using acrylics or oils and a brush, but my flow technique is just too wet for these flimsy canvases to hold up without warping and adding additional support after the fact.
As you can see in image one, showing the 3 pieces I have done on these canvases so far, you can see the warping already starting after just about a half hour of wet paint on the canvas. By the time they were completely dry, the canvases had nearly folded in half...like a taco shell. The glue and foam core was my only saving grace getting the done canvases to be presentable. After cutting the foam core around the edges of the round canvases, I added a thin layer of resin to not only cover and protect the painting, but I also allowed it to drip down the side and hopefully help seal the foam core and the thin canvas as one piece so it won't fold up again later. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Heat Press Stopped Working After 3 Uses; Return Shipping Costs Over $100. I used the heat press 3 times (made 3 shirts) and it promptly stopped working. It worked great the first two times, but then started losing heat and now won't heat at all (I didn't change or adjust anything). A word of advice if you are considering purchasing this heat press: the seller, Fancier Studios, is refunding the purchase amount, but will not pay for the return shipping even though it is a defective product that is still under warranty (it's been over 30 days since I purchased). The heat press weighs 53 lbs so will cost over $100 to return for refund. That means the three shirts I made cost me about $40 each! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Good construction but needs more information about what light pad will fit. I was disappointed that the way the product is designed there is no room to fit a full size light pad under the desk We bought the additional light pad support bars, but they turned out to be useless since the middle support bar obstructs being able to place a light pad across the whole desk. I suppose we could still purchase a smaller light pad to fit into the corner, but it would have been nice to know that detail when we purchased the desk. Otherwise the desk seems to be fairly well constructed and strudy enough. The trays on the side were a bit of a pain to install, and one cracked when I pushed it on. But it wasn't on the whole hard to assemble, and it seems to be the right sort of thing for my daughter to do her artwork on. Time will tell how it holds up. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great product for new life to old furniture. This product works great. I used it on two micro Swede chairs. They now look great at a fraction of the cost to reupholster.
It sprays similar to spray paint though it does not create nearly as much overspray. It took 5 cans to cover a medium size chair, two coats with some touch up. It has been about a month since I did the job and the color has not faded or cracked and still looks great. the fabric is a little stiff from original but not a problem for me. Some of the sprayer triggers didn't work so great but I replaced the faulty sprayer with one from another can and that worked fine, maybe some redesign on the sprayer is needed.
I recommend and will buy again to bring new life to some other old chairs. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Creative Uses for Homeschooling - Great for Dyslexic Student Too. We are having a ball using these big chalk markers on our sliding glass doors! My boys love "hands on & active" learning projects. The bright colors and the size of the Chalkola sets are PERFECT for my son with dyslexia! He has a talent for art and was super excited when he saw the colors and was happy to try out a new tool.
It is really important to offer him a variety of ways to practice reading, writing, and math due to the dyslexia & the markers are a terrific addition to our educational supplies. Using them in creative ways actually helps to boost his brain power (left brain / right brain) to help with recognition of letters and numbers. We are drilling math facts, writing words, blended sounds and more on glass doors and laminated worksheets! NO COMPLAINTS when it comes time to do the work due to making it fun with the Chalkola markers. I'm searching for new & creative ways to use them to keep up this momentum - very exciting for this homeschool mama!!! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Size does matter for me. My daughter gave me this as a gift this Christmas. Because I'm the primary caregiver to her 5 month old twin girls when she's working she knew how difficult it was for me to be out of my studio for long stretches of time. I was hesitant at first because of the size of the pans but it only took me three seconds to fall in love with this set. The colors are of superior quality and beautifully transparent. I use my regular brushes with it because I do very little in the way of watercolor sketches. I did fill and test out the included brush and can see that it would be super handy for field work. For myself it's a way for me to watch the babies but keep a small but creative footprint. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Convenient and stable. It arrived on time and in good condition. It is fairly intuitive to figure out how to adjust it, but it comes with simple instructions. It took me several minutes to set it up, but will probably be faster with practice. The legs are very compact. The top portion and the bottom portion of the legs telescope out separately, so it gives you a lot of flexibility in height. I purchased it to use at focus groups with the Post-It Easel Pad. It fits the pad very well and seems stable. The vertical bar wasn't quite tall enough to fit the top of the pad, but there is a hole in the pad near the top that it fits through in order to secure the pad to the easel (so it doesn't topple over). The only thing I'm not sure what to do with is the strap (with velcro) that is attached to the horizontal bar. I've included a few photos. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
easily change temperature control. When I was younger I was given crayons the more colors the cooler they were. And of course the pens with the 4 different colors they were the tools I got. Children these day's get the most innovative thought out toys. Although this is not necessarily a toy it is a huge imagination station! I would have never dreamed this would have even been possible.
This is pure awesomeness!!! It is the updated Version of Scribbler 3D Pen with LED Screen, easily change temperature control, use PLA or ABS plastic which you can find almost anywhere these days. This is the entertainment pen for all ages and creators. You simply push a button to draw awesome 3d lines. It has various easy to use buttons to control speed, temperature. All you are left to do choose the color of plastic filament. The pen weighs just 2.3 Oz which is very light and easy to grip. And it comes with 3 loops of plastic filament to help you to get the imagination flowing right out of the box.
Updated Version of Scribbler 3D Pen with LED Screen, easily change temperature control, use PLA or ABS plastic, switch easily!
Unleash your Creativity with Scribbler 3D Pen!. Let it run rampant in your studio! With such power of creation in your hands, create 3D art and objects with ultimate ease and precision!
Scribbler 3D Pen replaces ink with plastic which melts at a high temperature which is used to draw in the air or on a surface to create 3D objects. Melted Plastic cools down very fast which makes the whole process safe.
With Scribbler 3D Pen you can easily control extrusion speed, temperature and choose the plastic filament. Scribbler 3D pen weighs just 2.3 Oz which is huge improvement compared to other brands.
Scribbler 3D printing pen is perfect for kids and adults, it is fun no matter what. Scribbler 3D pen comes with 3 loops of plastic filament to get you started! It has speed settings so you can draw fast or slow. This will amaze anyone you show it to!
If you found my review helpful please mark it as helpful if you have found it less than helpful feel free to drop me a comment and I will provide feedback to the best of my ability.
I did receive this product at a promotional rate in exchange for my unbiased honest review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Durable and Perfect for learning to mix primaries. I picked this up at Blick a while back, it is a lot more sturdy than your average plastic flower shaped mixing dish. The 6 tiny wells are great to squeeze a bit of whatever water colors your using. I used it like that (with the Daniel Smith watercolor essential set) when learning to mix primary colors, enough space for 2 yellows, 2 blues and 2 reds. It's a very durable, nice and heavy plastic that stains very minimally (reason for 4 stars). Although, it may come fully clean with a magic eraser sponge, never tried it tho. Next best thing to porcelain if you wanted something non breakable, to travel with, or stick it in a bag for plein air painting. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Nice colors, but not worth the cost and wait. The markers are okay, with vibrant colors. I received these at a discount in exchange for my honest review, however I don't feel the listed price and shipping time are necessarily worth it. I ordered on April 29th and they arrived on May 13th, if they were a higher quality art market that was at a special price or hard to find, this might be worth the wait. As far as I can tell, they were shipped in a timely matter, but were shipped from China.
Due to it's 2 week travels in nothing but a plastic bag, the case was cracked and the lid had ink splatter inside. The markers aren't especially comfortable to hold and have no advantages over Crayola or similar brands of washable markers. I didn't realize they would be shipping from China, and I'm sorry for being environmentally irresponsible by ordering cheap markers to be shipped over seas.
I only give 3 stars because they do work. Photos included. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Convenient palette, substandard paint. Nice small kit but many of the pigments are disappointing. I prefer transparent watercolor and many of these are opaque and chalky looking. I know the transparent issue is subjective but what isn't is the way some of these colors mix. I took this to Italy and used it to sketch and paint wonderful produce that we found there. I was painting a beautiful pepper that had both red and green colors in it. When I created a wet-into-wet wash the colors mixed and instead of creating and interesting interpretation of the pepper as the paints I normally use would (mostly Daniel Smith a bit of Winsor Newton and Holbein) my pepper looked as if it had serious dermatology issues. I will use up the paint in the palette for figure drawing gestures and replace with the aforementioned paints from tubes. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Flimsy, thin, and cut "grain short. I am disappointed in this chipboard. For my purposes, I needed an exact measurement of 8.5"x11"; yet this chipboard measured about 1/16" short of 11". For many that might not be an issue, but for me, it meant trimming hundreds of sheets of papers to make a neat and tidy book. The other issue is that the board is cut "short grain" which means that the fibers of the board are running across the board, not up and down. Again, this might not matter to you, or it might be an advantage, say if you are making a book that is 11" wide and 8.5" tall, but for my purpose, I needed the grain to run "long". There was no way to know this before purchasing. Also, I believe the board is fairly flimsy. Again, there was no way to know from the description. My caliper measured the board at .1.2 mm thick or .05 inch thick. .05 inch is 1/20th of an inch. For me it's too thin. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Awesome in slime. I bought the purple to "red" (more like pink) to make slime with my daughter. It works great! She has a nice ball that changes color when it warms up. Here are some slime hints:
1. Use clear glue, not white glue
2. She used the glue/sta-flo recipe
3. We guessed and added 1/8tsp per "serving". This gave us a brilliant purple and vibrant pink. A little goes a long way with this stuff.
4. This pigment turns color around 92F, which is below but close to your body temp. Warm bath water or pool water is like 85F, so a little warmer than that. You may need to hold it between your hands for a couple minutes. It does change color and the kids love it. You don't need to hear it in the microwave or steam or boiling water, those will probably destroy the pigment per manufacturer. A small ball in a closed hand is sufficient. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
These inks are absolutely FANTASTIC. I am always looking for new mediums to . These inks are absolutely FANTASTIC. I am always looking for new mediums to inspire me, and these inks definitely fit the bill. Each color is VIVID and intense and responds well to dry brush, wet on wet, and a variety of other techniques. I would recommend using them on Strathmore Watercolor paper for best results. They also work well in conjunction with other mediums such as watercolor. I love the ink medium because the quick drying, non-editing aspect forces me to be more spontaneous, which has very good results for my practice. I would recommend these inks to anyone who is curious about the medium, and for such high quality the price is absolutely right. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Packets do not dissolve. After using the tulip pre-filled kits we needed more colors to finish our Disney shirts. The kit colors were vibrant and didn't mute or muddy. These dissolvable packets were not the same at all. The packets did not fully dissolve causing clogged spouts and undesirable splatter messes, the colors did not homogenize the same as the kits resulting more yellow undertones with all three colors (red, green and blue) ending in lime edging that was not noted in the kit colors. Furthermore, the exact same process was used for these colors as was used for the kits however now we have to remake four more shirts and buy the kits because these packets are useless and a complete waste of time and money. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
I Love Using Vellum on My Handmade Cards. I make my own greeting cards and the vellum really makes them look more special and professional. I use a laser printer and the artwork and wording comes out nice and crisp on the vellum. The marble white goes with any color cardstock I want to use; and since it is marbled, it gives the cards an even more interesting look. Sometimes I use the vellum on the front of the card and sometimes I use it on the inside of the card. Either way, they always look nice. I can even use glitter glue with the vellum. I receive more compliments on my cards since using the vellum. Purchasing the vellum through Amazon saves me at least 50% over purchasing it at the craft stores. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
The thing that made me buy it and that I liked the best was the. I have been airbrushing for a couple of years now. I also own the Iwata trigger style, a krome and sotar 2020. This actually sprays really well especially given the price. The thing that made me buy it and that I liked the best was the .08 needlle/nozzle combo. I have nothing else that can spray so much paint great for covering large areas.. I purchased a while ago I'm not sure from which seller. I'd like to give it 5 stars but I bent the >08 needle accidentally. Now I am unable to locate spare parts. You will need parts for airburshes guaranteed. If you can't get them the airbrush is essentially disposeable which is not good. So for now I'm giving it 3 stars, I almost wanted to go 2 but it is ok. Realize it's half the price of the Iwata, and you can get a very nice Badger for not much more. I've tried ebay, tcp global, emailing the seller (maybe not this one) with no luck. So even though the Iwataz costs twice as much it's a bettert deal. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
Great for watercolors. My GUI'S HOUSEWARE Paint Tray Palettes arrived in perfect condition. The two palettes were packaged in a padded envelope, which protected them fine. The palettes were shipped along with some other items I ordered, if shipped separately they might be packaged differently.
I really like these palettes. They are fairly thin, but seem sturdy enough and I think they will last a long time. I am using the palettes for mixing watercolor paint and they work great for this. The palettes clean up easily, are just the right size for my needs and have enough different sized and shaped wells.
I highly recommend these paint palettes, they are simple, but are just what I was looking for.
I received these THE GUI'S HOUSEWARE Paint Tray Palette Art palette Box Art Alternatives Paint with 10-well Thumb Hole Retail Packaging-white (2pcs, White) at a discounted price in exchange for my honest opinion. I give the items an honest review, no matter what I paid for them. When I review items I simply go by these Amazon recommendations for rating the items:
One Star - I hate it
Two Stars - I don't like it
Three Stars - It's okay
Four Stars - I like it
Five Stars - I love it | arts-crafts-and-sewing_painting-drawing-art-print |
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