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Lots of color and no funky ingredients!!! Excellent. I am so thrilled to find these face paints! My children are six and soon-turning-four and they love to have their faces painted! Recently we were somewhere with two of their friends and they were all begging to get their faces painted but for four kids and a tip it would have cost $70! I promised them I would buy face paints and that we could have face painting day sometime soon! Well, that was today and it was a complete success! We purchased three packs of the brushes listed with the go green face paints and the brushes were great. All around it was an excellent experience! Unfortunately our family has a lead-related story so the fact that these have no lead or other funky ingredients makes me so, so happy. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
These are not Cricut Blades if You Purchase Them From Blade Factory. Beware!!! I bought these from the Blade Factory and after I paid I noticed that the picture on my invoice was a generic picture. I contacted the company immediately asking about it and telling them if they are not the Cricut blades as in the listing I don't want them. They sent me an email saying that they were indeed generic blades and not Cricut blades and that it's Amazon's fault that the picture AND the description are of Cricut. LIARS! THEY list their own items. There are plenty of generic blades here on Amazon that have photos of their generic blades and are not misleading people by using Cricut photos or Cricut descriptions.
They refunded my money, which they SHOULD have done since they are falsely advertising their generic items. I wouldn't have given any stars but in order to review an item you have to give at least one star.
DON'T BUY FROM BLADE FACTORY!!! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Smurf blades. Where to begin... The handles that I received barely resemble the ones in the listed picture. Actual items are MUCH Cheaper quality look and feel. All of the blades are of the cheapest stamped metal that China has to offer. The real kicker is the case they all come in. First I have yet found a way to get it to stay closed. But the BIG SURPRISE was when I put it down and looked at my hands it looked like I had joined the Smurfs! Blue die from a plastic box? Makes me wonder what toxic materials are in the case.
Bottom line: I just blew $5 I should have not been so cheap and gone with the named brand stuff for a few bucks more. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Instructor Approved. I work at a Senior Center, we have 5, 4 harness floor looms. They are awesome, however some of my students had physical difficulties using them, the other issues were cost and space. The solution was to bring in Ridge Heddle Looms. What a great idea! Our director ordered 2 of these wonderful looms. I had to assemble them of course, watch the YouTube video instead of reading the instructions written by a rocket engineer. The process of weaving is lovely, same width and length as most of the floor loom projects, without the backbreaking labor of slaying the reed. Did I mention the cost? We saved $$$$.00 on this solution. The built in warping board is a plus. We haven't needed to use them, but knowing that it's there is a big relief.
One day, I plan to open a studio to teach weaving to the younger generations , I will be using these looms in my business. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
A decent fabric glue. My son had a shirt with a bunch of stitching on the front and a piece of cloth on the inside was glued on to keep it from rubbing on him. It eventually came off and he said it was irritating him, so I kept the cloth, and bought this glue to re-adhere the protective cloth. I used the "OK To Wash It" glue and put some on to the cloth, and then pressed them together. I let this dry for a day and it was a bit stiff. I then ran it through the laundry. The good news, it stayed attached. The bad news, It is still quite stiff. My son wasn't a fan of it initially, but after washing a few more times, it seems to have become a bit more flexible. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
I love this. I LOVE this clay!!!! I wish I met this clay sooner!!!! It is so fine and fluffy, blend well with anything I've mixed with, honey, aloe vela, distilled water, flower hydrosols, tea, so far. After a couple week of using it almost everyday, I clearly saw the difference. The clay is very gentle on the skin, makes it softer, yet it is effective. I can see my pores are much lighter in the color and my skin tighter in general. I think mask with this clay then doing lymphatic massage on the face can make a difference..personally.
Did not do well with apple cider vinegar unlike bentonite clay. Also I found that adding more than one drop of essential oil can hurt my skin. If you would like to add essential oil, add just one drop of milder one like lavender, tea tree.
I would recommend this clay!!!
Also, the seller was very responsive to questions I asked. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
3mm is perfect for wallets. Took a chance, didn't really know what I was buying, was a little hesitant because of some bad reviews. So fare they've been great. Have made two wallets and the holes came out as perfect as I could expect with my limited experience. I feel like pulling them back out of thick leather is when they're going to bend or break, so just be very careful with this seemingly fragile tool. Also, they go through thumbs as easily as they go through leather.
They are tinier than expected. Only a few inches total length. Fine for tapping with a hammer but wouldn't be great if you were expecting something you could grip in your hand like the big ones Tandy sells. But for the price they are pretty great so far. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
It does work for paracord. No this isn't "perfect" for paracord but it will work.. cut it at a nice angle try to get more than 45 but 45 will work and then heat it up and while the cord is warm roll it in your finger to make the tip nice and pointy. (DO NOT roll it in your finger when its hot, just warm) hit it with the lighter again and quickle start twisting it on might need to heat the needle and thread up one more time to get it secure but you can get enough into it to hold strong enough, just don't put a ton of force pulling on it or the needle may pop off but I have it a decent little tug and it worked fine. Then if need be you can melt the cord right behind the needle to make it taper more and make it a smooth transition from needle to cord.
EDIT: Wow just found a way to make the needle work just perfect with paracord. Take the guts out of the first inch of cord, then pull the sheath back forward so you have an inch of just sheath with no guts. Lightly burn the tip and roll it into a point. Quickly heat this point up and it will screw right into the needle and it works great. Finished two axe handles with full turks head knots and currently working on half hitching a pop can sized pouch and it has worked great. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Did My Puzzle GREAT. I used this MP (CS11302 Matte Finish) on two puzzles I was mounting and framing. I've used Masterpiece glue in the past but didn't want a gloss finish on these two puzzles. (One was a Seurat, the other a Van Gogh) I had read about brush strokes showing up in the work. I used a high quality Purdy 3" sash brush. I pour the MP into a disposable paint pan so the brush would fit. Brushed a good coat on like I was paint a piece of furniture and the brush strokes were almost invisible. Maybe if you were doing a high gloss/dark photo image puzzle they would be more noticeable. I only did one coat on top. Next day I could pick up a 4' x 3' 3000 piece puzzle. I didn't go flapping it like a flag, but held together more than enough to wood glue it to a piece of plywood. Great bang for the buck glue. If you want a nice gloss coat and money is no object, the Masterpiece glue give a beautiful GLOSS finish. With either one stretch some painters plastic on your table (tight with no creases) so puzzle doesn't stick to it.
UPDATE - I have used this product numerous times now, works great, but I have an update on application. Instead of a brush get yourself a rubber squeeze like you would use on windows. They come as small as 6 inch and as large as 18 inch. For a smaller puzzle use a small one, when I did my 9,000 piece 5' x 6' puzzle I used a 18" one. Once again stretch plastic (or wax paper) on the surface you're going to glue on. Make it bigger than the puzzle by a good chunk. Pour a good amount on the surface of the puzzle and used to squeeze to spread around filling all the space between the pieces. Will show up nicely since it's white until dry. I just squeeze it in and let the excess puddle off the side. Once puzzle is coated I squeeze around the puzzle to drag the excess away. I cover the excess with old newspaper to keep it from running back to the puzzle and containing the mess. But the squeeze works a lot better than a brush and easier to clean. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
The best medium to light duty scissors that I have ever used or had. First of all, these are not heavy duty all purpose scissors. They are very nice light to medium duty scissors that are fantastic for cutting those fabrics that are difficult to get a clean smooth cut on. The blade tension is easy to adjust to what ever your cutting with them and they work right or left handed. I'm left handed and I hate those scissors with the molded grips for the right hand. I just wish that I could have found a pair like this for my mother while she was alive. She was a professional seamstress with thousands of hours sewing. Over her lifetime she wore out 3 of the top line Bernina sewing machines along with several others. You know you have done a lot of sewing when the finish is worn down to bare metal on the arm of the machine by sliding fabric over it. She would have loved these scissors for there smooth cutting action along with the comfortable grips that let you use these for hours cutting out patterns without making your hand sore. I recommend these for anybody that does a lot of sewing and or quilting. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Disappointment. This was a disappointing purchase. I was hoping for a unique conversation piece and instead got a flimsy piece of junk. It is wobbly as the legs are uneven, the metal frame is bent. The actual size appears much larger in the picture. But worst of all is the timing of the candle's burn. I lit the wick with about 1.5 inches pulled through the clamp and 20 minutes later the flame was going out. The instructions say never to pull more than 2 inches of wick through at any one time, but when the flame is extinguished you should not light the candle for another 15 minutes. This means that in every hour you are getting around 40 minutes of burn time. Not ideal.
I would not recommend this product. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
An update. I am very pleased with this set it comes with exactely the same things you wood get in the exacto kit minus the wooden case . Honestly I cant really tell much of a diffrence between this set and my exacto set except I saved 20 bucks.
Now you will have to order more blades since the kit only comes with one blade in each size , but you would have had to do that regardless and the handles do accomodate exacto blades so its really a win /win.
*****UPDATE********
OK I gotta admit I was a bit blind when I got the set , I was so pleased by how it looked and the price that I missed the old adage you get what you pay for . The blades that come with the set are extremely thin I didn't realize just how thin till i started to use them . I am only cutting through regular foam board and corrugated cardboard to make dioramas and these blades bend with the pressure you need to apply to get through the paper leaving a diagonal cut instead of the straight cut you should get . So if your just cutting paper or neeeded some extra handles ok this is it but if your doing any kind of hobby that requires precise straight cuts these are not for you .
I don't blame the seller they gave me exactley what I paid for . | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Beautiful Lights! Order more than you'll need! Blue-ish glow, not white like the picture. They look bigger in the photo but they are really cute in real life! They're pretty small flowers and the petals are a papery almost felt-like material. I love them. I used them along a wood frame in my dorm room. The string is pretty short though so I would recommend ordering more strings then you think you'll need. They would be great for any sort of indoor decor including weddings! They have a beautiful blue-ish glow that is a cross between winter wonderland and blossoming spring. I included a photo next to my hand to demonstrate the size. Also they have a tiny little screw holding the battery compartment together, which was inconvenient for me because I don't have a toolkit here.. but I used a hair clip and it worked! Worth every penny! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
The was melted pretty slowly, so you have to be kind of . It worked as expected. I'm not an expert in wax sealing though, but here's my 2 cents.
The was melted pretty slowly, so you have to be kind of patient to get a big enough glob to stamp.
Sometimes the wax can burn (or catch fire!) so be careful. When it burns it adds a slight black tinge onto the wax. If that's something you don't like then this probably isn't the sealing wax for you.
My only complaint is that I had a half finished stick, but the wick was too small to stay lit on its own. You would either have to hold a flame near it long enough to get enough wax or you could just chop it up and melt it in a spoon. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Great for School Projects. My son is doing a project for school. There are so many modeling compounds out there, I wasn't sure if he'd picked the right one. He knew what he was doing when he chose Sculpey. For days, he's been sculpting with the clay and it hasn't dried out. It takes work to get it malleable enough to mold around the mesh wire. Yes, if you plan to make a big round ball (or in this case, body), you'll need to flatten the clay and wrap it around a mold. I guess thick pieces won't bake well. My son helped my daughter make a little cat as a test case, and it looks great after it's cured. The piece is hard, with a matte finish and some texture -- not smooth and shiny. I love the look. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Best Sculpting Clay Ever. This is hands down the best sculpting clay I've ever used. It was invented by Walt Disney (his initials W.E.D.) so you know it's gotta be awesome!, and the clay is used across the FX industry. I've been using it for some time now to make sculpting armatures for masks that I'm making for theater. It's so smooth and easy to sculpt with your hands, compared to other air-dry clays. It takes a couple days to dry...but if you don't let it dry (and cast something while it's still 'wet') you can typically reuse the clay many many times, which is just another thing to love about it. I have several step-by-step how to videos using the clay at www.theartfulness.com | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Can is defective - But looks awesome. Bought this to paint my daughters bike. I figured out that if you don't push the nozzle down to hard, use short "bursts", shake the can ALOT (every 10 or 15 sec), and make sure you hold can upright (holding at an angle shoots clear goo, hold it upright and you get the best glitter coverage).
A small 16" kids bike took three cans to paint (rims and frame). Even with the aggravation of the cans the bike looks amazing! It looks like metal flake paint you see on hot rods or muscle cars. To touch the paint is not smooth and doesn't look shiny, so to make it more durable I'm going to put on a clear coat as well. Company needs to solve problems with can because this paint looks killer! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Good, but requires much cleaning. The yellow mohair looks just like the pictures above. I like the variations in tones, as it gives you different shades to work with. The hair length is good, too. The product description is accurate, I would say, measuring from 2" - 4". It's very nice, thin, and silky and perfect for dolls or sculptures.
The product description also mentions that "small pieces of vegetable matter may be included with your bag". This is definitely true. At first glance, it didn't actually seem like much vegetable matter was there; however, (as you can see from my picture) I took the lightest shades of yellow and cleaned those first, which left quite a bit of vegetable matter lying around. I would agree with a previous reviewer that this takes quite a bit of time to clean, for even just a few strands. If you take a few strands of hair and just shake it, you can see bits of vegetable matter fall, and then there's still lots more caught in the hair.
Now, the product description mentioned that there would be vegetable matter, so it wasn't entirely unexpected. I just had hoped that there wouldn't be quite as much as I found in my 1 oz. of mohair. After cleaning, the hair actually seems to be good quality, silky hair. The price, too, is great for the amount of mohair you receive, compared to some sellers. But, being the lazy person that I am, I think I would prefer to spend a little more money and not have to spend a lot of time cleaning it.
Overall, this is good mohair. It just has a lot of vegetable matter in it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Fun and entertaining. Bought these after hearing about how fascinating they are to play with. I work with kids and I've already brought them out a couple times - always a big hit. They're a good tool for teaching about how some things take a long time to finish, and the sensory experience of rolling your hands around in them is absolutely unique. Only thing I'd point out is that they are quite easy to break; they come apart in solid pieces, kind of like a rubber bouncy ball would if you were able to break it easily. Not really a problem as they still absorb and release water broken or not, but something to be aware of. I'd buy 'em again if I ever run out! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Worked as good or better than I expected it would. Worked as good or better than I expected it would. I was trying to repair 2 small cigarette burns on the back rest of the seat of my boat. The seat color is off white. I initially used a small glob of the white and a tiny amount of the brown. It made the color way to dark. I ended up putting a small amount of the mixture in the rest of the white and was able to get a color match. After it dried I tried to wipe it with the rubbing alcohol I had and it wouldn't get rid of the sticky feeling no mater how much or hard I rubbed. I thought that may be it was because the alcohol was old or something (didn't think alcohol went bad) so I went to the store to buy some new. When I got to the store I saw the there are 2 different percentages of alcohol 70% and 90%. I figured that the 90% would work better and boy was I right. using the 90% alcohol was the trick. If you use this product Know it takes very very very little of the darker colors to tint the lighter colors and you need to use 905% alcohol to get rid of the sticky feeling. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Beautiful Color and Sheen, Lovely in Arrangements and Projects, Versatile. This ribbon had varied reviews, but I am so thankful I took a chance and ordered it. The metallic blue wires make it pliable and easy to shape in many ways to enhance floral arrangements. They also give a gorgeous highlight to the arrangements. This shade of flowers is hard to find here, so the ribbon worked beautifully to complete the color balance needed. I ran out of this ribbon and definitely will order it again. Using it gives me pleasure as I discover additional ways I can form the ribbon for new looks. I used long florist wires to hold the ribbon in place. At times I found it helpful to run the wire through the mesh as a starting point for some of the designs.
This ribbon worked so well and received many compliments. I ordered again and added more colors. It has become an item I want to include in my supplies for arrangements as well as for ribbons. When I needed blue flowers and none were available in this shade, this ribbon worked perfectly in helping me create exactly the necessary element for success in the design. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
You Might Like It. IF you are looking for a tool that will aid you in aligning layers of paper for a card front or scrapbook page, this tool may just be for you. I always have problems with alignment, plus I have RA, and my hands are affected and they tremble sometimes. While this is costly, it is helpful to me. I appreciate that it as 1/8" increments on it for extra good precision. It's transparency is crystal clear. I am giving it a 4-star rating because I am still learning to use it and get comfortable with it. Also, the 4 stars is because I reached over to pick it up off my desk, and the metal that lines the outside slit my finger clear open and I had to have stitches. No fun. So, now I have learned to be very careful when handling it. I have yet to write a letter to the company and complain about the sharp metal. There really is no reason for the edge to be that sharp. It could easily be metal-polished to become smoother and still maintain a good edge on the tool. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Adorable hole punchers. I just love these. They are so easy to use and fun. I have arthritis and if I can use these, just about anyone can. I used different color construction paper and cardstock, red, green and white for Christmas and cut out the snowflake and Angel to sprinkle on my table for decoration. I also used some as confetti in cards. There are many uses for these and they are just adorable. The kids will have fun with these. Can also give as gifts, they come individually wrapped, then packaged together so easily separated. I would recommend these.
Disclaimer: I did receive this at a minimal cost for my unbiased and honest review. My opinions are my own. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Scrapbooker's glue. I have tried one glue after another searching for the glue of my dreams. 3M wins again. This glue comes out of the tube in drops or globs, your choice, with easy pressure or more. After a long time with the cap off a little bit of dried glue has to be snapped off, but then the glue flows smoothly right away. Dries quickly. no special smell, and IT STICKS. Any glue will wrinkle paper if you use too much. Used sensibly this glue makes no wrinkles and no mess. I've just used it for 100 cards. with a 3 layer front and an insert glued inside, and I still like it. I bought several tubes for gifts.
I used only the fine tip end, for lines and dots of glue, on edges and corners and reindeer antlers.. The other end is a one inch wide sponge for larger surfaces. It might take a while for the glue to saturate the sponge. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
I was very excited about the pretty, vibrant colors and the reviews seemed promising but . I was very excited about the pretty, vibrant colors and the reviews seemed promising but the actual results were disappointing. They don't look that much like the photos. The patterns are nice but the colors are off. The yellow is the closest to its true color, but even it is darker and more of a mustard color. The hot pink is more like dark coral. The turquoise chevron is definitely more of a spring green. The reds are not as vivid and the one that looks like light blue is more like a dark sea foam green. It's not that they're bad, they're still fairly cute but they're not what I expected based on the photos. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Five Stars. <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/PenBlade-3-Pack-Stainless-Steel-Craft-Knives-Premium-Hobby-Utility-Knife-with-Retractable-Blade-for-Safety-Three-Blade-Sizes-10-Curved-Edge-11A-Straight-Edge-and-15-Small-Curved-Edge/dp/B0109326CM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">PenBlade - 3 Pack Stainless Steel Craft Knives - Premium Hobby & Utility Knife with Retractable Blade for Safety - Three Blade Sizes: #10 Curved Edge, #11A Straight Edge, and #15 Small Curved Edge</a>
Love, love, love these for crafting. I'm bought another set for my other home. These blades are study and SAFE. I have been using them to cut paper - lots of paper- and they are still sharp. I use them to pick up vinyl, to help release paper from my Klick-N-Cut electronic die cutter, along with picking up glue dots for my card crafting. I bought another set for the kitchen, and a set for my husband's tool area. I feel I have been hard on these knives but they have held up, the retractable mechanism is still working. I have a 9 year old God daughter who crafts with me. Being retractable is just one of the reasons I bought these craft knives. I cannot say enough about how satisfied I am with them. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Winds 4-ounces, not more. I untangled a full ball of yarn, loaded it onto a swift, and began to rewind. The yarn label shows size 4-medium, 197 yards long, and 4-ounces. . This Yarn Ball Winder held 4 ounces, but only with some manipulation. It wound 3 or more ounces without trouble, then the yarn slipped beneath the ball supporter at the bottom of the spindle. I wound a few more times before I noticed the trouble. Had to stop and unwind back to when the trouble began. I solved the problem by squeezing the ball, making it narrower and taller so I could wind more yarn. Had to stop and squeeze several more times until all 4 ounces were wound.
It was aggravating to have to stop and start toward the end, when the first 3 or so ounces were so much fun. Seems to me it wants to make yarn cakes. It will be great for tidying up leftover yarns. The Yarn Ball Winder sure beats winding over my fingers! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Beautiful product on cakes, once you know how to use it. If you have never worked with gold leaf it's not very easy. There are tricks to using it, each leaf is in it own little paper pouch like. The trick is to open the end without touching the leaf, it's static from your body that will suck it to your finger and ruin a leaf. If you use the paper as your tool it goes on very well. Here is a wedding cake I did last Friday and it was beautiful. This was a 4 tier cake, 14", 11", 8", 5" round tiers and I just missed covering the bottom tier by like 3 inches. So 2 packages would have been to much, but I was short... so I just used my gold paint to cover that part in the back of the cake so you couldn't see it anyway. Product is great tho to give you that gorgeous look of gold with a little patience, one you get how to use it, it's a breeze. I will definitely use it again. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Love it. I was super excited receiving this in the mail! and when i got it i immediately had to test it out. I got a make-up sponge ( a clean new one of course) and opened it up. i noticed it looked dry so i put some water in the cap and dipped the sponge into it. the paint went on smoothly and nicely. i absolutely love this product! It works better and is more convenient then Ben Nye in my opinion. One you don't have to mix it and two it comes in a large container. i love how easy it washes off with soap and water. It's perfect for any Homestuck cosplay and i recommend it to everyone. I personally recommend sealing it with baby powder or the sealant of your choice. i'm definitely buying more when i need to restock. but i think this will last me a long time! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Fairly intuitive. This makes a really nice final product, if you know what you are doing. I am not the most crafty person, so having some technological help is always a good thing. This creates a really nice patter, but the included disk creates a very thick "border". The end result is beautiful, just not what I first thought when I saw "border".
The cartridge is nice and heavy, which creates a nice pattern using cardstock (the only material I have used thus far). One thing I noticed is when I slide the cartridge across there is a small "click", I thought this was telling me the next place to punch, but ended up with a little overlap of the pattern that messed it up a bit. So, I needed to use my eye to tell me when to punch again (I may have lined my paper up wrong though.
Overall a great tool for crafty people that make beautiful things. I may not use it as much to justify having it, but am thinking of lots of different things to add a bit of a sparkle here and there. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
LOVE it. I LOVE this Washi tape so much! As I'm just getting into DIY (specifically, bookbinding), I've been purchasing all sorts of different Washi designs as I look for new ways to spice up crafts to make for my friends.
I've looked up SO many uses for these online and am really excited to get into using these on the covers of notebooks I'm making, as well as in my agenda and on my school supplies!
Pros:
~ Come together in a thin plastic box for storage.
~ Can be written on with both pens and pencils (though pencils naturally require a bit more pressure.)
~ The tape is similar to waxed paper, and strips can be torn off of the roll with your fingers. When I first purchased, I was worried that it would be a plastic and I would have to cut it, but thankfully it's not, making using these rolls a lot easier.
~ In addition to the above: since this tape IS essentially waxed paper, all the white areas on the tape are opaque, and partially assume the color of the object you place them on -- which I thought was AWESOME, as it does contribute to the color harmony of whatever you place the tape on.
~ Beautiful designs! I've sampled a few of the tapes in the attached photos on a makeshift notebook. They also look great when used together because of the shared color schemes. I just love looking at them in general!
~ Can be used in a normal tape dispenser. There are also ones specially designed for Washi tape, with multiple tape holders, but those are not very cheap, as can be guessed.
~ Have a bunch of great uses. Don't just use this as regular tape, I beg of you. Go online and look at all the different things you can spice up with this stuff. It's become a staple in my crafting.
Cons:
~ One of the rolls in this set was thicker than the rest, which was a little strange. The rest of the rolls were also somewhat small, both in tape wideness and roll thickness. If you're a heavy user of Washi tape, these might not last you a long time. They're a pretty standard size for Washi tape, but still.
Overall: I'm hooked, to be honest. Highly recommended!!!
* I update reviews regularly if anything about my opinion or experience with a product changes over time. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
The Skinny On SunWorks Construction Paper 300 Sheets, Assorted Colors. I am hoping to answer some questions for potential buyers that I had prior to purchasing this construction paper:
*There are 10 colors in this assortment (number of sheets of each color is in parentheses): purple(15), brown(15), orange(25), blue(30), red(40), green(40), yellow(30), black(25), pink(15), light blue(15).
*There are an additional 50 sheets of white paper (kind-of a creamy white).
*The weight is substantial for construction paper; heavier than copy paper but lighter weight and not as stiff as card stock.
*The colors are bold and vibrant. The black is really black, not dark grey.
*The paper is color-fast, it does not bleed when wet.
*It folds and cuts very well.
*The surface texture is very nice. I bought this mostly for coloring with my 16 month old daughter and wanted paper with enough texture that crayons would leave a nice, satisfying mark even under light pressure as she learns how to hold and bare down with a crayon properly. This paper is perfect for that.
*Great for markers; no bleeding, just nice crisp lines. Also, as an experiment, I held a marker in one spot to see how long it took to soak through to the other side-3 seconds. That means less marker transfer to floors, tables and other household surfaces.
*The paper is environmentally friendly: it is source certified through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and is recyclable.
*Made in the USA.
*At the time of purchase, the price was the same for 300 assorted sheets as for 100 sheets of a single color.
Overall, I think this was a great deal for the quantity and quality. I know we will have lots of fun coloring, cutting, pasting and doing all of the other great things kids love to do with construction paper! I will definitely buy another ream when we finish this one. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
The very best scissors. I am a scissor monster. Don't touch my scissors. My family knows not to use my sewing scissors for anything but fabric, even though they might be tempted to "borrow them" to cut cardboard or paper. These are my tools, and I buy the best. And these are the very best. I bought my Kai 12" about 6 years ago at a national sewing conference. I am a professional sewer with 39 years of experience cutting and sewing vinyl and leather products. These scissors are a joy to use. They cut thru 3 layers of leather and 5 layers of vinyl without a care. They cut thru layers and layers of cotton fabric, yet still are able to cut a thread without fraying. These are definitely heavy duty, precision made, lifetime scissors. I am buying another pair for my production manager. He deserves a pair. I could let him use mine, but I would have to have to fire him if he dropped them. Yes, I am that serious about my scissors. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Very versatile little things! With the right decoration inside, they could easily be beautiful in any decor capacity. So incredibly cute! As a grouping of all 3, with flowers or greenery, these would be ABSOLUTELY gorgeous! They would also be great as a stand alone decor. I think they might work well for kitchen herbs, or a similar plant that is cut from regularly??
(Although they aren't watertight, I'm sure that could be easily dealt with by spraying water into them, rather than pouring it in). These could be painted any color you like, and could be painted on the front with craft paints in any motifs you might enjoy. Very versatile in that way, but also beautiful just as they are. I would definitely purchase these again. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Great for Cuts on Foam Board. I have started mounting photographic prints on self-adhesive foam board, because I like that look much better than prints in frames. My prints are smaller than a standard sized piece of foam board and before I bought this mat cutter I was finding it almost impossible to trim all 4 sides of the foam board and have the cuts be straight and square. It is very easy to do with this mat cutter. The long straight edge has a groove in it and the cutter slides along that groove, insuring the cut follows the straight edge precisely. I'm only using only a small portion of this device's functionality, but it's doing just what I needed done and I could not find anything else cheaper that looked like it would do the job. Amazon's price was much cheaper than in local stores. I don't know about mat board, but if you're planning on cutting foam board order lots of extra cutting blades as they dull fairly quickly cutting through the foam board. A dull blade stands a good chance of ruining the print you're trimming. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
I would give 0 stars if I could. This iron is terrible, with defects that have the potential to be incredibly dangerous.
It worked nicely for about half an hour. The next time I used it, it heated unevenly. The temperature would go up and down so much and so unpredictably that it was impossible to solder a smooth line. And then the screws that held the iron to the handle started coming loose, and the iron would wiggle back and forth as I held the handle, making it even harder to make a smooth seam. I tightened the screws, but they loosened again pretty much immediately.
I used this iron for a total of about five hours, over a period of about a week and a half. I was able to complete one project, far below my usual standard of workmanship, due to the fact that soldering a smooth seam with this iron is pretty much impossible given how terrible it is. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Leaves sticky residue on other gear when in a pack. I haven't actually had to use it yet so I can't speak on how well it works for patching stuff... It isn't the easiest to store it in your pack for extended periods of time without it unrolling and coming detached at the sides, sticking to any gear you have in the same bag with it. Now some of my stuff has a sticky residue all over it because the roll won't stay curled nicely, even with a middle item supporting and a piece of scotch to hold it together. I bought a 5$ full repair kit with needles, thread, seam glue, replacement mesh patches, and replacement tent patches like this tape that seem much better (more heavy duty, don't come undone from stick pad, and stay rolled/folded)... it was cheaper, came with more stuff, and is more effective. While this product seems good, I think there are better alternative sources for cheaper. I got my repair kit at a Dunham's sporting shop. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Counterfeit Rainbow Loom Review (you are purchasing a fake. To understand how to spot a fake, see: [...]
My children have several rainbow looms, the one purchased from this vendor is counterfeit (according to the URL above). Although the loom does seem to work correctly, out of the box, the loom was assembled incorrectly (a minor fix), such that created bands were one link short.
Aside from the fact that counterfeiting is illegal, most people probably will not be able to tell the difference. The c/f loom has some sharp edges that could snag a band, and is missing a few aesthetics (red direction arrow, engraving on the base-supports), and a bit "cloudy".
All in all, a fairly well made counterfeit -- not rocket science though ...
I'd stick with the original if given the choice, as the details seem to be a bit more well refined. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Lead free- great deal, even come with tabs- can be trimmed if needed for smaller sizes, economical. *Free item provided for evaluation and review.*
I am very pleased with these and would buy them. I love that it is a 50 pack of wicks- which can be trimmed for making votives, and there's no lead or zinc, for the same price I'd pay for 15 at my local craft store. The come with tabs to stick them to the bottom of your mold or container too, which is a nice bonus that I usually don't find in the packs I get locally. The wicks are firmly inserted into the tabs, and they are coated and stand up fairly easily. They burn evenly and well.
Anyway, I like these, and they are lead free, so they help me make good candles more economically. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Not what I was expecting. I selected this carving kit because years ago in an art class I used a wooden tool shaped just like this. It felt great in my palm and allowed great control for fine details. Unfortunately in this set the skinny wooden dowel included passes through the handle and by friction holds the blade in place for carving. To do that, about half an inch protrudes out the butt so the user cannot exert pressure straight to the tip with the palm of one hand while guiding it with the other. The metal collar, which I thought would screw down tight to hold the chosen tip steady is simply a thin (I think) nickel to keep the working end from splitting. I'm afraid it has to go back. **On the upside, the kit had a nice selection of 5 sharp tips and it was delivered in less than 24 hours from the time of order placement-- on a Saturday! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Kai will only stand by their products when purchased directly from them. I purchased these listed as used, but received them unopened in the original package with a returned sticker on them due to being left handed. Less then a year later...they're dulling out and not working. I was told by people that love them to contact Kai, because this isn't the quality they have. I did. Kai's response was to take it up with Amazon since they only stand by their product when purchased directly from them.
They worked fine for the 8 projects I got to use them on. Problem is, they're expensive and should certainly last longer then 8 projects and more then 9 months.
If you have to have Kais, buy from them otherwise you'll eat the money if they develop a problem and have scissors that you have to pay to have fixed.
For me...I would buy from another company that stands by their product, not just their store. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
If I could give it zero starts, I would! Smells awful. I opened up my package from Amazon and there was a horrible stench. I thought maybe it was coming from the plastic bag the beeswax was in. Nope, the beeswax itself smells terrible! Hard to describe, but the closest thing I could describe it to is old sweaty socks that have been sitting around for a while. Ugh! I thought, stupidly, the smell might go away if I melted it for what I would be using it for. I made a batch of homemade lip balm, added essential oils. Nothing got rid of the awful smell and now I've wasted my other supplies making something I will just have to discard. So disappointing. Buyer beware! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Beautifully detailed. Versatile. Love this embossing folder! The image embosses crisply and evenly with a lot of dimension and depth. I've used it in a sizzix texture boutique, cuttlebug, and fiskars fuse and it embossed beautifully each time. I've used it on cardstock and heavy weight paper and have been extremely pleased with the results. It's a very versatile design...from elegant to whimsical. I've used it for birthday, anniversary, wedding, & sympathy cards and can see myself using it over and over again. This beautiful design makes for super quick and easy cards. Emboss it, stamp a sentiment inside and out and you have a great card. This is a must have for me. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Happy for now. I got this winder today and I really liked it! I'm nervous due to all the negative reviews, but so far, I've wound a large ball with little issue. My one issue is that occasionally, the yarn slips off and wraps around the center column of the winder. I'm not sure if my tension is too tight or too loose, but I will practice. I'm chocking it up to a newbie error so we shall see. Otherwise, it's really cool and faster than my nostepinne (and easier on my wrists).
Update: I discovered an excellent use for this winder. I'm planning a project that will use doubled threads in two different weights and colors, and I used my winder today to wind the balls of combined yarn. So super pleased, and I've now figured out the tension and have no more issues with slippage. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Works great but terrible shipping! Was in an envelope and leaked a bit. This silicone putty works fantstic! It its so easy. To use, you need an equal amount of white putty and an equal amount of purple putty and knead them together. You need to work quickly because you have about a minute to knead abs then in starts to set up within 3 minutes, whuch goes fast. So, plan ahead, make sure you have everything ready! Until you mix them, they do not harden.
I think this works best for smaller molds. It may be harder to use for a larger mold. I watched a video on you tube to see how exactly it worked before i made my molds. I have made seven small molds and still have a little bit left. (1lb. Package)
The only reason i didn't give it 5 stars is because when they shipped the putty it was in an envelope so the box got crushed and one of the putties leaked a little. I was lucky and didn't lose barely any putty but it could have been really bad! So, they should ship it in a box! But it works great so, 4 stars! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Love this set! ! Works in so many levels. With all the school projects, art projects and just having fun coloring in general we really needed a good set for my daughter as well as myself. The watercolor pencils are great they even work on your body, just get them wet a little bit and you have a artistic way to express yourself for holidays. The all lead pencils are great for my daughter's sketch projects at school, she has to have specific pencils and these were included in the set. The pencil role is a nice included option, that way we don't always have to have them stored flat , we can tuck them away in a drawer and not worry about them getting broken or damaged rolling around loose inside.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I receive this item free to facilitate this review. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Haven't needed to use this tape. So far I haven't needed to use this tape. The only reason for putting in a rating is that the shipping experience was EXTREMELY poor. I ordered several kinds of tape plus some fabric cleaner in one order. It was split into two, but they both had the same order number. One of the shipments via Fed-Ex Smart Post was initially messed up and had to be rescheduled, but I couldn't tell which so I had no idea what was happening. I got an email saying that the shipment had been cancelled for an incorrect address before I got the email that said that it was an internal error, so for awhile I thought I had been charged for something I wasn't going to get. Then one of the shipments got split again, still with the same order number. It wasn't until everything finally arrived after a month that I knew what was going on. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Great little heat gun tool. I bought two of these tools for my high school art classroom; my students have used them for curing embossing powder, heating/manipulating recycled plastic water bottles and shrink film, and for speed-drying paint and plaster. These heat guns have a nice fit and feel in the hand, give off just enough heat to do the job but still very safe temperatures, and the outer casing is plastic so they stay relatively cool. My only small complaint is the little wire stand attachment does not work well; the stiff tension from the power cord makes the thing hard to balance on the wire stand. Not a big deal, I have the students put the heat guns facing down in a coffee can so I don't use the wire stands anyway, but it's a design flaw. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
NOT 4x6!! BUYERS BEWARE. I bought these bags for packaging 4"x 6" items, such as postcards, photos, and greeting cards, etc. And nothing fits because these bags are NOT 4x6!! I'm sure many of you are buying this type of packaging for the same reasons as me, and the bargain price for 200 is very enticing ( it was when I posted this, anyway ), but if your items are 4x6, and your not willing to cut them up to fit in the bags, then this isn't a bargain at all. It's a waste of your money. There are several other packaging sellers on Amazon who sell better products, it costs a little more, but clearly it's worth it. I've already ordered a replacement product that says right in the description it is slightly larger than 4x6. P.S . Amazon issued a full refund for the bad packaging. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Heavy-Duty Crafting Scissors. This is a spendy pair of scissors, but they're Fiskars! (Did you know that orange-handles scissors are a registered trademark of the Fiskars company?) My interest is collage and altered books, and I tried these scissors on cardboard and box-board. You know how when you're cutting cardboard and you get far enough into the cut that you have to bend back part of the cardboard to keep going? These scissors are beautifully designed so that you can cut without having to bend half of what you're cutting through.
For yucks, I tried cutting through a very thick page of a children's board book. The scissors got a good bite but couldn't slog through the middle of a page that heavy.
The handles also weren't entirely comfortable for me, and each crafter will need to weigh the value of these heavy-duty scissors against Fiskars' perfectly serviceable regular scissors. I got these as a review set and like them very well, but I can't say that I'd spend this much if I had to buy them out of my own pocket, when Fiskars' regular scissors are so good. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
I am very disappointed by this product. I am very disappointed by this product. Many of the reviews said this was easy to use and they only ruined a couple of bottles before they got the hang of the process. However, I have tried MANY bottles and cannot seem to get a consistent clean cut. Every time I end up with a jagged edge in one location or another. I have read many reviews/directions/tips to see if it was a user error. I don't think this is the case. I think this is a poorly made product and I wish that I could return it. If anyone has ideas of what I could be doing wrong please let me know! I would love for this to be successful, but I am getting frustrated in trying. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
OK paper. I bought these sheets of paper for craft purposes (cards/scrapbook), I like the patterns on the paper, not too bright not too faded.
I gave them three stars because it's not Washi paper its just regular sheets of paper with print on only one side and there is just too little to justify $4.50 for this product. In fact it would be more economical to pay $8-10 for those 12"X12" scrapbooking pads that have more sheets in them, with print on both sides and the paper is thicker.
The patterns are nice though, neutral which is good for all kinds of projects. I don't know if the people who sent this out intended this but it says in the description there are 14 sheets, I received 20 sheets, 10 patterns/styles so two sheets for each pattern. Two of the patterns are printed on this thin crumpled like paper, not sure if it's Washi because I keep hearing Washi is suppose to be thicker than regular paper and these were almost as thin as tissue paper. I included photos.
Unfortunately I will not be purchasing this product again. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Great Design, So Many Uses. The <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ozera-Silicone-6-Cavity-Cube-Mold-Tray/dp/B00Q7T5H38/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ozera Silicone 6 Cavity Cube Mold Tray</a> has given me so many great ideas. First, the pan is marketed as great for soaps, or baked goods and the options are endless from there. I've never made my own soap so I decided to give these a try. They are fantastic for that. I found a great soap bar recipe, worked it up, poured it into the mold warm and liquidy. I chilled the molds and popped out the bars, it was perfect. It was so painless, I could make them one bar at a time as needed, it cost just penny's a bar with the recipe I used, love it.
Since this is a 2-pack, I have one dedicated for soap making and the other for baking. I have baked up brownie cakes, and muffin cakes. My absolute favorite is Banana Nut muffin and they were so delicious, very moist. The best part is they popped out for easy presentation. I wrapped a few as gifts for friends. Simply wonderful.
[Review Sample Provided For Review And Evaluation] | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Regret purchase. Regretfully I am writing my third feedback letter. On January 23, 2013, I was promised a refund to my credit card to clear up some problems on this order. I was told it had been processed. I have not seen any credits for this problem. I have tried to contact Blue Skies as well as Amazon about this. I have had no response from Blue Skies. Amazon claims the refund was processed. I don't have any of it. Although we have enjoyed the duck tape that was ordered, I won't be ordering again this way.
SECOND FEEDBACK LETTER:
Such a fun product. My grandkids love the angry bird duct tape. I'm very pleased with the quality. After some minor problems in shipping, everything was cleared up and I couldn't be happier with this order. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
But that is tedious with all the different food colorings you have to . I am a very busy mom and do not usually write reviews for the many purchases I make with three children. Busy, but careful about what my little ones touch, taste and incorporate in their daily activities. This product is a WIN with me. It is eco-friendly, child safe, no strong or unpleasant odors, no staining, and is long lasting. I have a 10, 5 and 16month old and this stuff gets put to the test. My oldest always complains of itchy hands after regular play-doh, so I started making my own a long time ago. But that is tedious with all the different food colorings you have to make first(but fun when you do have time). This stuff is excellent when you do not have the time to make your own. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM ARTIST!!! DO NOT PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY. If I could give no stars I would. Not for the product but for the scam artist that sell this. First of all it is overpriced, but what is really bad is the lack of customer service they provide.
My mother was picking up 4 of these for the grandkids for Christamas. I found these and ordered them for her. She picked them up as well without me knowing. I contacted the seller the same day to cancel. When I heard nothing I sent another cancellation request the next day. Still no answer. Finally they send me the shipping info even though I requested a cancellation twice and I also contacted Amazon. With what they want me to pay to return these items I might as well keep them and use them as gifts down the road.
BUYER BEWARE!!!! These scam artist charge $10 - $12 more than other sellers and on top of that are unprofessional to deal with. I will NEVER NEVER purchase anything from this company. And Amazon should never allow them to be a seller on their site. I have made purchases from Amazon for years and this is my first bad experience and I will be very leery ever using a third party on the Amazon site. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Back to the rotary cutter and scissors for me, I guess. So far I have no idea how this works. I have called people, written emails.... no clear answers, so right now it is sitting in a corner gathering dust. I have never seen this demonstrated in person, but watched numerous youtube and company videos. Those are all as clear as mud. They don't tell you what all you have to have to be able to cut strips for quilting, they are so focused on making cards and paper projects. I also ordered the Sizzix Big shot Plus Adapter B because one lady said I would need that and a Big Shot Plus Platform, neither of which are going to be long enough to cut a length of material of about 22" (straight off the bolt, not opened up). I can't make up my mind if my biggest mistake was buying this in the first place or being so positive I was going to like it that I threw away the boxes because the garbage man came that day. I realize I am old, am self taught at sewing, but I can't understand all the terminology everyone uses. I can't even find out if a Big Shot Plus is the same machine as a Bigz. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
A Honkin' Bottle of Goodness. I love Liquid Sculpey.- there seems to be no end to the uses it has. It makes an amazing adhesive - there are other polymer clay adhesives out there and I will admit to have fallen totally in love with one (Lisa Pavelka's Poly Bonder) - but Liquid Sculpey wins out over that for a couple reasons. It lasts a LONG time. It doesn't dry out. Liquid Sculpey has a creamy tint, making it easy to see where it's been placed. A few drops of this can also soften up old clay. This one item can replace many products in your clay box.
TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) makes phenomenally cool image transfers. The depth of the transfer material is up to you and how thick the TLS is applied. Baking it kinds of dries it out, turning it into a matte surface that is really unique - kind of like leather in a way. I like laying out a really thin layer and then baking it. There are so many cool things you can do with the slightly-bendy sheet...punch it, cut it, draw on it, paint on it...
Speaking of paint, adding some oil paint to uncured TLS will allow you to use this awesome medium as a colored glaze, enamel, or grout. It is also great all by itself for adding a glaze to fired polymer clay pieces. It's also great to add Pearl Ex (or other mica powders) to get a metallic sheen. There are just so many cool things to do with TLS - I could write for days and never tell you about all the fantastic things you can do with TLS. This is one crafting supply that seems to have infinite possibilities. The best thing to do is to push the limits yourself and see what you can come up with. I'd love to hear what everyone else does with it! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Saral Transfer Paper. I have used Saral Transfer paper for years. I have a woodworking craft business and transfer patterns to birch plywood in order to paint the designs. I have found that the blue and the white both work very well. When a design I am painting has dark and light areas and I want to transfer details, I use yellow since it will show up on either area. I would say that I use blue the most and use the same cut sheet over and over again. It lasts quite long. I haven't had quite as good success with the black, so I haven't ordered it in a long time. The aforementioned three colors work best for my purposes. All three colors leave clear marks where used and without any stray marks or smudges. It erases fully when needed. Great product. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Unsafe at any speed - AVOID. As I type, I'm suffering the discomfort of a cellulitis facial infection in reaction to this product. It's not a question of cross-contamination, as the Crafty Dab face crayons I used were a freshly opened package untouched by anyone else and my hands were clean. The first couple of days of discomfort led me to search online about allergies and face paint, at which point I discovered a newly reported study showing that many hobby-shop face paints (INCLUDING THIS BRAND) are contaminated with toxins such as lead and common allergens such as nickel, making me most sorry I'd talked my husband into using it, too -- he's horribly allergic to that metal, but luckily the moment he started feeling signs of allergy, he removed the makeup. I'm less lucky, as I wore it the whole evening without feeling anything and now have painful tender spots along the left-hand side of my face, swollen lymph glands, a $75 prescription of heavy antibiotics, and the doctor bill for today's visit and next week's follow-up. STAY AWAY, folks!
(The report cited can be found by searching "A Report on Heavy Metals in Face Paints" online. It is a scientific report whose science was reviewed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, among others.) | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Addictive (in a good way) for crafty kids. No, I'm definitely not making bracelets with this, but my 10 year old daughter certainly is. The fad caught on a while back but she recently wanted to make her own, and now she's taking orders from family members so she can make them to order! I certainly have no problems with her playing with this vs. TV or video games. She hasn't ventured beyond the standard weaving pattern, but I think she's getting ready to experiment. I would definitely recommend a LOT more rubber bands when you buy this. We didn't have many break (only a few during her first hour or so using it) but once she gets into it, you'll need a lot more bands. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Not the best - globs when coloring. There glitter gel pens in theory are wonderful but when you touch to paper they are not so wonderful. The colors are really dark and the ink flows way more than it should and makes a mess as they do not dry very fast. I realize they are bold but not to the point where it globs as coloring. I do like the more glitter and bold lines but there are far better ones out there for close to the same price. The case they come in is missing the back and it is to save plastic, I get that but if the back is not created then it needs to be a sturdy case. These however are great for wide open spaces to color, so that makes me think these are more suitable for Jr high kids or so. Either way they have been added to my gel coloring pen collection and I am sure they will get used sooner or later, | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
I'm not sure why all of the bad reviews. It must be that the picture shown . I'm not sure why all of the bad reviews. It must be that the picture shown to other reviewers is different than what I see. Mine shows a 4 oz jar of clear cream wax which is what I expected. It even says 4oz in the title. When you wax over chalk paint, it does darken the color so if you want something to look linen then use acrylic paint. That way you can get the color you want and don't have to wax it. I thought the wax went on just fine and it did not streak my furniture. I did have to put on about 3 coats which is why I gave it 4 stars. I'm thinking maybe if it were just a tiny bit less creamy it would cut down on how many coats are used. Otherwise, this wax went on easily and I had no problems buffing it out with a lint free cloth. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Allydrew is my favorite. I have a very large collection of the Allydrew Washi Tapes! They have easily became my favorite washi! The colors are bright and true to color. They are the thin "real" washi tape that is easy to handle! Especially for me, since I do make many mistakes when tiring to make a the tape lay straight, I can re-pull the tape up and my paper or calendar won't get damaged. I use them in my planner long with my 11 yr old uses them to simply decorate cards or any art she is doing for the day. The rolls have great amount of product. Inwhich I really enjoy! Since I purchased many other Alldrew washi , I was able to purchase this pink set at a discount price for my honest review. Let's say I would of paid full price for it! I am a Allydrew fan! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
How I stopped the streaking....finally. Was ready to throw it away out of frustration...have always had the streaking issue. Tried the baby wipes, didn't work. Wipes would come out clean after running them through the smallest opening. Decided to wipe the rollers with some pressure as I turned the machine. Nothing came off the top roller. Since I could not get to the front roller from the top of the machine, I swiped the roller from underneath, back and forth as I once again turned the handle. To my surprise, all this black stuff turned up on the wipe so I used a few more wipes until there was no more. Tried the flesh tone clay again and to my surprise, no streaking. Obviously running wipes through the machine, did not clean the machine. You may want to try this approach before trashing this machine. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
ONLY True Variable-Temp Woodburning Tool. For under $100, this is the best you will find. The temp control is a dial, meaning you can FULLY and finely control the temp... this lets you not only adjust for diff types of wood, but for other materials as well: leather, gourds & pumpkins, etc., all the way down to plastics and papers. The next closest thing out there is to have a switch that lets you pick hi or low... which is just not enough to match the heat to the material you are burning without ruining most leather and all synthetic projects. Yes, it would be nice if there were more tips, but the most important ones are here, and temp control is something you can't give up once you've got used to having it because it drastically expands the success of the burn process and the materials you can use. Handle never gets hot, never requires gloves, this tool is a solid value. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Good for creating cascading crepe paper arrangements . . . I'm currently making crepe paper flowers for wedding bouquets for an upcoming wedding, and these floral stems are the perfect gauge for creating cascading Italian ruscus stems. They are sturdy enough to not break under light stress, and they are very flexible for shaping for a cascading effect. It's very easy to attach leaves with hot glue and to wrap floral tape around the completed stem.
I wouldn't try to use it with heavier arrangements . . . it's not designed for that. I also wouldn't use it if you expected your project to stand up straight in a vase. It might not be heavy enough to support a large number of 180 weight Italian crepe paper leaves; I think I'd go with 24 gauge for that. But it is perfect for crafting crepe paper foliage stems with light, smaller leaves or other smaller elements cut out of either Chinese, 100 weight paper or German extra fine weight crepe paper to create just the right draping effect for a cascading bouquet.
I just placed another order. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Too soft. These were given as a gift, so I can't complain too much. They do make the perfect size mold for 1 per bath and the bombs are easy to get out. However, almost every time I try to press down, it is too easy to press slightly on the top/bottom and make a dent in the bomb. Also, the bomb mix always gets in the grooves where it comes together and is not as easy to get out. Sure, if you get everything JUST perfect you can eventually flake it off when it is dry, but the metal ones are so much easier to press together and immediately remove excess. These are good for projects where someone may be making and taking them and you don't plan on keeping them. But not good if you are using these to make a bunch as a gift and plan on keeping and using these molds regularly. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Some things to be aware of. I really like this glue for my mosaic projects. I glue stained glass on window glass. My only real complaint is the glue strings are hard to avoid. When I dispense a small amount on the glass it's a little bit difficult to break the tiny string of glue from the tip of the bottle to the surface where I am gluing. This glue dries fairly quickly, but it is weak enough so that if I make a mistake I can remove the piece I just glued, even up to a day later. It hardens well over time, but is soft enough to correct mistakes and move the pieces if I need to. Over time the glue firmly holds the pieces in place. It is low odor unlike other silicone glues. It goes on clear and of course dries clear. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Too flexible - the brooches sag. These do not really work as advertised, nor as the other reviews stated. I am making a bouquet out of entirely brooches and other jewelry using a silk hydrangea base, but maybe this would work a bit better if you were only inserting a few small brooches into a real flower bouquet?
The stems are REALLY stiff and the silicone "flower" tops are REALLY flexible. TOO flexible. They hardly hold up the brooches, and except for the tiniest brooches, they look like they are melting off of the stem. Also, the white is REALLY obvious under/through the brooches, so I had to spray paint them with metallic spray paint, but the spray paint doesn't stick well to the silicone. I ended up using hot glue to glue the flowers flat onto the brooch backs after pinning the brooches onto the stems as intended for the product. I got these specifically so that I *wouldn't* have to glue or permanently wire them and damage the brooches, but hopefully the hot glue won't cause any damage. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Decent for Fall Photos. First, if you plan on using this to make any realistic fall leaves pile, you'll need more than one bag. To make a real pile (for jumping and playing in), you'll need a lot of bags. I used about 4 bags for my photo shoot needs. In a couple settings, we just randomly scattered a bag's worth around the ground and around the other props (hay bales, etc). As long as you don't show a close up of the leaves, they look natural enough as added color on the ground. Then for another scene, we added 2-3 bags to an existing real pile of dried up browned leaves. They stood out a little bit until we mixed them in well enough. It's not a perfect solution to fall leaves, but it will definitely work to help bump up the color for pictures. To be clear about how "natural" they look, they're about a 3 star. Up close, they don't look real at all. They are a realistic size, and it's nice that the colors are blendable, so they can look realistic from a distance or mixed in with actual real leaves. If you want a leaf that looks more realistic, go for the 120 Artificial Fall Maple Leaves by Factory Direct Craft. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Great idea, needs better blades. These scissors are a great for cutting pattern pieces as long as the fabric isn't too heavy. They don't lift fabric as much as normal shears would, which is pretty cool. They don't cut as well as my Gingher shears. These are not my main fabric shears, I only use them to cut fabric from patterns.
I want to mention that I was able to get them to cut better by either tightening or loosening (don't remember now) the hex screw. I didn't like that I needed to use my specialty screwdriver set hex bit to make the adjustment because the size is somewhere between 5/32 and 1/8 inch.
I would have given the scissors 4 stars had the hex been a more standard size. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Quilling Strips for crafting. I received these Quilling paper strips by YazyCraft almost a month ago and have used them for several crafting projects and arts and craft ideas. It comes in an assorted pack of 100 sheets with many different bright colors. The colors are much nicer in person than in the photo. They can be used for a lot of different holiday crafting ideas to do with your children also. It is a perfect width and length for several quilling crafting projects. They are easy to curl and make into different intricate shapes. They appear to be a quality paper. I am glad I ordered them and added them to my crafting supplies. I would recommend them. Disclosure: I received these as a free promotion for my honest unbiased review. My opinions are my own. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Nice utilitarian shape, well made and durable, food grade, release & wash up well. These make nice, plain bars of soap. They are food grade silicone, so they can be used in the oven to bake food, but I used mine for soap. They just need something hard to support the bottoms, since, being silicone, they are floppy to handle, though the sides hold up well.
I put mine on a cookie sheet, and poured a glycerin soap mix with herbs in mine. The soaps came out very pretty, as nice plain squares that are perfect to actually USE. The molds released the soap very easily and cleaned up like a charm. Being in a plain rectangular shape, they are easy to wrap and tag as gifts.
I'd recommend these to have around the house. They have so many uses for creative people, and are well made and durable. I keep mine in just a silicone stack in a cabinet, but they have a little hole so you can hang them if you like.
I think they would be pretty to make tiny little square layer cakes out of too. I might try that next.
Free sample provided for testing/evaluation/review. Highly recommend. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Verdict on Tenacious tape repair on rain fly: Undecided after one week. Bought it to fix my ripped rain fly. Followed directions with cleaning surface, cutting tape larger than fix needed, and rounding edges. Since it is at grommet eyelet, i added long strips on webbing and 3 inches into rain fly: one perpendicular and 2 at 30 degrees out; repeated on other side of rainfly. Used up 2/3 of the role. Left a stack of text books (~30#) on the repair for a 5 days. Tested it last night with inserting the short vent pole and can say tape does 60-70 of job...could see the tear and tape separating as i gently inserted pole into eyelet. Removed pole gently, inspected the repair and all seemed okay..Put more books on repair...will let it sit another week or two before testing again. Not sure how I feel about tape. Instruction says repair will get stronger with time. Will know after two weeks, folding/wrinkling up rainfly, unrolling and leaving pole in eyelets for a day...will update this review if I can. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Easy to use and sharpens with no damage. My knives are so dull and I never had a knife sharpener to sharpen them, until I purchased this one. This has three rod sharpeners, ceramic knives, station two sharpens even your dullest blades, and the third hones them to a razor edge.
It is very easy to use, just pull your knife through three or four times to restore any knife to a precision edge. This sharpens your knives very nicely and does not damage them. It has a solid ABS plastic body and slip-resistant rubber feet, which makes it easy to handle and stays put during use. The handle of this sharpener is located to the side of the rods, so your hand is safely away from the moving blade throughout the sharpening process.
This works really great, and fast. Now I do not have to worry about dull knives anymore, I have sharpened all of them.
I received this knife sharpener to use, review and to give my honest opinion about using it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Loving Pastelmat. I am a newby when it comes to pastels. I just started a year ago. Thus far, I had not been satisfied with the papers I have been using. The heavy textures were difficult for me and left me frustrated. Pastelmat is a wonderful, velvety paper. It's a totally different experience for me, and with only one picture completed, I'm still just experimenting. But the results of that one picture have encouraged me tremendously. I was able to accomplish effects that so far had eluded me. Pastelmat has already brought me to a new level as an artist and I'm excited to start my next portrait. I tried this paper because is is used by many professional artists. I can see why they choose it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
New one worked great, I have already done a couple of test . I received this as a gift, and unfortunately the one I received was broken. I contacted the company that made it using the card included in the box, and they were very quick to respond, get a bit of information, and get a new one shipped to me directly from Amazon, with 2 day shipping.
New one worked great, I have already done a couple of test runs, including one with over 30 minutes of laser run time, without any problems.
Software is a bit rudimentary for design work, but I am working with it and other programs to try to get the best results.
Very happy so far, with plans to make things like gift tags for presents for family and friends, and other smaller items. Great intro into laser engraving. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Great for small repairs. Tape is only a couple of inches wide. Needed this to repair some damage from my dogs to a discount faux leather couch. Color match is great, you can hardly tell. Also, the tape is strong enough to make the repairs necessary, I do wish they offered a wider version. What's not great is after a few days the tape begins to peel back and the backing and adhesive are white, so it's quite obvious. Another drawback of the white backing is that if you don't make your cuts perfectly with sharp scissors, the backing shows. There is a tip on the box to use a little olive or vegetable oil on your scissors to prevent the adhesive from sticking to the scissors, allowing for cleaner cuts. Overall, this tape does the job, especially if you don't have animals/kids that continue to destroy what you have already fixed. :-) | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
16 engraver from Dremel...really. What was I thinking! There was a reason I hadn't bought a Dremel in years...they're cheaply made, so they fail often!
$16 for an engraver? I should have known better. The most important part of the tool, the system Dremel used to hold the cutting bit in place, failed. The little screw was never able to hold the bit, finally it stripped. So it failed without being able to perform a single operation. But really, I'm not surprised. You'd think they would "get it" after all these year! Cheap price doesn't cut it if it doesn't work, and when the bit cannot be held properly, the tool does not work! What's it going to take for those low quality tool manufaturers to stop wasting our time! It's going back. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Good sizes but no washers. So ok, these are really affordable and at this price point you get quite a few. You get different sizes too which makes it a fine starter set for someone. They're plastic as opposed to glass which affords an ease of use: also nice for beginning crafters. They do NOT however come with washers meaning any toy they're included on cannot be given to children for risk of getting yanked off and swallowed. And without washers your only choice for adhering them is with glue meaning you'll have to buy another thing to use them which for beginning crafters may be a drawback. All in all I've given them 3 stars for their affordability and variety but given the lack of included washers, caution their restricted usage. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Totally saved me from having to buy a new leather armchair. I had no idea that the sunlight and humidity had been wreaking havoc on my favorite nearly 10 year old leather chair until a friend came by and sat in it and the entire surface of the chair cracked. I was nauseous, but before I went out and started chair shopping, I figured I see if there was a fix. There was and this stuff it it! I ended up purchasing two kits and a satin topcoat. I applied the first application and waited a full week before I applied the next. I wanted it to fully cure. After the second coating cured I applied the top coat and BAM, successs! My chair actually survived. You can see from the pic that some of the cracks are slightly visible, but I didn't care to use a filler. This stuff works! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Kit is a good deal, but expect to spend a lot more. Dremel makes great products, and these tools are no exception. The accessories have always been pricey, but are generally worth the cost.
The 300 rotary tool is a good one. I have a 4000 as well, and the 300 can do almost everything it can. With the proper attachments, the MultiMax and Trio could perform the same functions as the 4000-specific accessories the 300 can't use. The 300 also lacks the true variable speed of the 4000, but the 10 speed settings on the 300 will be close enough for just about anything.
The Multi-Max makes an excellent detail sander. Haven't been able to try the cutting function yet.
The Trio is essentially a hand-held router. Great for things that the rotary tools don't have enough power for. Uses different accessories due to the larger shank and higher power.
The only real criticism of the kit itself is the included storage bag. It doesn't keep the tools separate and doesn't have any good way to store the accessories (the rotary tool accessories come in a small plastic box, but the other tools' accessories come in plastic bags and will end up loose in the bag unless you provide your own storage box.
Why not five stars? There are some key parts not included. To do everything shown in the pictures, you need to add:
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dremel-565-Multi-Purpose-Cutting-Kit-565D/dp/B0000302YS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dremel 565 Multi Purpose Cutting Kit 565D</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dremel-TR820-Trio-Compact-Foot-and-Dust-Port-Adapter/dp/B003ZD2JFS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dremel TR820 Trio Compact Foot and Dust Port Adapter</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dremel-TR654-Straight-Bit-1-4-Inch/dp/B003ZUXQH6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dremel TR654 Straight Bit, 1/4-Inch</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dremel-MM720-Yoke-Cutting-Accessory-Kit/dp/B003ZUXQDK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dremel MM720 Yoke Cutting Accessory Kit</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dremel-TR560-Trio-Guidepoint-Bit/dp/B003ZCVAW2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dremel TR560 Trio Guidepoint Bit</a>
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dremel-MM440B-Multi-Max-Wood-Flush-Cut-Blade-3-Pack/dp/B0028N6N08/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dremel MM440B Multi-Max Wood Flush Cut Blade, 3-Pack</a>
Obviously not including these kept the price of the kit down, but it was something of a disappointment to see how much extra has to be spent to make proper use of the tools. The last two items, at least, should be default components. Photos of the attachments in use should not be used to advertise the kit if they are not part of it. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Just as advertised. This transfer tool is great for getting a basic pattern onto wood. I suggest using dark, clean lines (it does not transfer fully dark areas with all the fine details as well as I would like, so simple lines are better...i.e., an outline will transfer better than an image or something with a lot of ink in it). If you are using this tool to get a simple pattern onto wood, leather, etc., for re-burning over it later and adding details by hand, it really does take the guess work out of how much room your design will take up and the proportions of your design (e.g., you won't have to free draw the head of a bird only to realize it is out of proportion with the body size, etc.), which saves a ton of time. I would buy this again. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Very disappointed. This is NOT 60-lb paper as stated. Average quality. I am disappointed -- thought I found a new fine-quality paper to work with, but there is nothing special about this paper. The main reason I purchased this Staedtler Calligraphy Parchment Paper was because the description and product cover both say "60-pound paper". Not even close; this is probably 24-lb or less. It is average quality.
Staedtler has a great reputation for their better-quality products, so I'd really like to know why they call this paper "60-lb." when it's no heavier than my 24-lb copy paper. I intend to email the company and will update this review when they respond.
Regardless, I'll use this for drafts, practice and teaching. I require fine paper for my calligraphy work (Strathmore 500 Series, Arches, Fabriano 'hot press' etc), so I will continue to purchase my paper from other sources. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Another originally good product turned into a cheap one. Some years ago I bought a pack of two Westcott Titanium scissors from the local Staples store for something like $25. It was expensive but they worked really well. Recently I needed to buy some more and saw this seemingly same product offered on Amazon for less than half of the price. I was thrilled at first but soon realized the reason after receiving the product - it has been turned into a cheap product, much different from the original. The molded handle is made of cheap plastic, much worse in look and feel than the original. One out of the two pair of scissors had a nick in one of the blades. There is no cover for the screw. Overall the "new design" looks and feels cheap. I suppose this is what we get when we keep pushing the manufacturer to come up with lower and lower price stuff - the quality suffers. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Perfect for baby's hand print. I used this Sculpey clay four years ago to make my son's hand print for each grandparent and a few other family members when he was about 3 1/2 months old. It rolled out easily and I was able to get six hand print plaques out of one package with a little left over. I punched two holes about an inch apart at the top of each one before I baked them for ribbon to go through as a hanger. It didn't take much pressure to get a very detailed hand print. They baked quickly and came out rock hard. I used acrylic paint on each and they took the color very well. We all still have them hanging on our walls. No cracks in any of them. Tip: it was easier to put the circles of Sculpey on the pan before I made the hand prints. That way they didn't stretch out of shape and distort the print when getting them from the counter to the sheet pan. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Disappointed. I ordered this new version of the Slice hoping that the problems were fixed from when Making Memories produced it but found the same issues still there. I had to change the blade after 5 cuts of paper, the blades did not cut the paper but chewed it. I wish that the Slice would work, it is such a great idea and so handy, but it just is too high maintenance with all the spreading of the adhesive, washing off of the adhesive to reapply and then, not cost effective due to all the blade changes. I am really sad about this product not working which is why I gave it a 2 and not a 1. I still have hope for it to get better someday. I did return the unit to Amazon. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
You'd be better off mixing super sculpey with sculpey firm. This clay can be great if you're looking for something to hold extreme fine details and yet be easily moldable. And you're probably thinking of buying this because youve already been mixing Sculpey Firm with Super Sculpey. I thought it would have had the potential to be the best sculpting polymer clay. However the cons aren't worth the pros for me. With more work it could suffice as a go to sculpting clay, but not strong enough for most jewelery pieces.
Pros:
- Easily moldable
Its hard to find a strong clay that can take on details and yet be easy to mold. Though its soft and can still retain its shape and details, you will have to sacrifice strength in small and even medium sized pieces.
- Retains shape and details
Keeps its shape, but larger pieces will buckle under their weight unless theyve got a sturdy armature. Easily carve textures and small pieces.
- Sticks to itself
Youll have no problem attaching parts and smoothing them into the sculpt. Isnt sticky to the touch.
- Sandable and Paintable
For lighter colors it will need multiple coats but it can be painted with acrylics. Certain brands may make the surface stickey. Ive noticed cheaper brands are better, but I always spray or paint over with a finish. Can be sanded but be careful for thinner pieces can be brittle.
- Bakes solid to a matte
Feels like rock when cooked.
Cons:
- Just a brittle as super sculpey and sculpey III
Unless youve got an extra strong armature and a stronger clay for small pieces (apoxy, kato etc) then the sculpture won't hold up for a long period of time. Leave it untouched then youll have better luck.
- Not good for jewelry
If you plan on making from intricate to less complex pieces... Consider using a different clay. Sample your pieces before selling or gifting. Small parts are easily breakable and any part can chip if hit correctly.
- Only comes in grey
Not always a problem, but having a dark base is hard for painting over which youll have to do if you want any other color.
Overall i would only reccomend this to someone who doesnt mind reinforcing this clay with other strong clays and if durabilty isn't a priority. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
This has its place to shine, but it might not be the best all around epoxy product, read on. After reading a ton of feedback from users, I have a pretty good idea of why I won't buy Sugru, and will stick with the few products I do use.
Sugru- Will get hard in the package, makes it not store well, and expensive if you don't get to use it. If you don't need all of the Sugru in the package you open, too bad, what's left over is going to get hard just as fast as what you used. This can make the repair really expensive compared to some other products I am going to tell you about.
Sugru comes in colors, that it by far the single most desirable quality of the product, so if the color is important to you, it might be the way to go. Just don;'t buy more than what you plan to use.
Have you ever seen epoxy tape? It is sold under the name Kneaddatite, and it is Blue on one side, and yellow on the other. The roll of epoxy tape is 1" x 36", and you tear off just what you need. You take as much as you need and knead it with your fingers to mix the two sides. When yiu have a solid green color, it is mixed properly. I have used this for a long time for many things. I have a good process to mixing it by twisting it, tearing it and doing that until it is roughly mixed well, then work it with your fingers until the color evens out.
It is very sticky and if you have sensitive hands they suggest rubber gloves. I think it is too sticky to mix with rubber gloves, and it does nothing to my hands. The sticky quality makes it stick to most clean surfaces. with all epoxy, you should clean the surface with rubbing alcohol, and mke sure it is free of oily finger prints, and other foreign matter that prevent sticking well.
It dries within and hour, or so, and is workable for a good amount of time. It does not shrink, and does not can be molded into any shape.
Once it is hard it can be drilled, tapped (which means you can put threads in it so it will accept a screw), and sanded and painted.
Kneadatite is by far my most used epoxy fix all product.
Then there is J B Weld liquid epoxy. This comes into two types of this product, one is Qwik, and which cures in 5 minutes, but not fully until about a day. The quick hold has to be needed, because the Qwik product does not have the same holding power of the slow curing product. In any case, the liquid well has to sit for a few days to reach full hardness. It also can be sanded drill and tapped. I really can't say if it can be painted, but depending on what you use it for, and what type of paint you use, painting might be ok.
These two products are available on Amazon, and they have a long shelf life, so a year later, you will find then to be useable. I would not plan to use any epoxy after it is years old, but I can't say how long that is because it will be different for each product. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Using this glue was the worst quilting mistake I have ever made, I wish with all my heart I had used fusible webbing. Because I tried such a big project with this glue, I thought about giving it two stars, because it would be much more manageable for a smaller project. But I just can't. Please use fusible webbing for your fabric fusion needs!
The short: This glue is messy, hard to work with, dries crusty and impossible to clean.
The long: I am a reasonably experienced quilter and was intrigued by the pattern for a hexagonal quilt that my daughter-in-law asked me to make as a wedding quilt. The pattern was fairly simple--although time consuming-- and this glue was strongly recommended to attach the hexies to the base fabric. After looking at the product and watching the video, I was expecting something that would be far better than using fusible webbing that can sometimes add stiffness. Because there is a lot of fabric in this quilt and the hexies are ironed into shape rather than cut, I wanted to avoid any stiffness. The glue certainly didn't live up to its promises!
I glued a sample first, just to make sure that it would work out. It seemed OK. I noticed right away that there would be two initial problems. First, it was tough to get the glue all the way to the edges of the fabric without having some squish out. I decided to solve this by using brushes to put the glue on the fabric. The second was that the glue bled through the backing fabric. Not wanting my quilt to get stuck to the table or the floor, I put the entire quilt (top, batting, and backing) on a quilting frame so that the glue wouldn't leak through. It didn't take us long to figure out that the glue was going to be a huge problem! I suppose I should have called it quits right then, but I would have had to get new backing fabric at least because there is no way of getting the glue off the fabric once it's on. In retrospect, I would have done it anyway!
We had almost 400 hexies to place, so I solicited help from other members of my family and we started brushing glue on and trying to place the hexies. The brushed on glue wasn't thick enough to hold the fabric, even though we were being generous, but when we used the bottle, the glue was squishing out all over. Once it dried, it left a permanent, shiny, crusty, glue spot. In the meantime, it was getting all over the hands of anyone who touched it, so if they touched the quilt, more glue spots. We persevered and did our best over two sessions and many hand washes.
Once the glue had dried, there were still many, many of the hexies that had edges that were popping up. I had originally planned to do my own machine quilting as the original pattern called for straight lines. I changed my mind about machine quilting it and decided to take it to a long-arm quilter who could easily go around each hexie, tacking the edges down. I spent another few hours gluing down the worst of the popped up hexies to make it easier for her. To our dismay, the glue was so crusty that it shredded her thread when she tried to follow the edge of the hexies, resulting in her having to use straight lines across the hexies after all.
Today, I have spent a few hours on a third round of gluing to get the worst of the edges down. I have had to be extremely careful, because too much glue and it seeps out, getting everywhere, and too little and it just doesn't hold. As I'm typing this, the quilt sits under a board held down by weights in the hopes that it will help more of the glue stick. I'm thinking that I will have to do yet another round after I finally wash it. This quilt represents hours of time and hundreds of dollars at this point and I am literally in tears over the shabby quality of it due to trying to use this glue. I wish with all of my heart that I had used fusible webbing! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Perfectly cut out for cut-outs. This is the third EK Success Paper Shaper we have purchased (all different diameters.) The punch is solidly fabricated, depresses effortlessly through a variety of materials, and most importantly executes a particularly clean, round (laser-like) cut. Weve mostly used the punch with purely personal, family-oriented (picture) decoupage projects, for which wait for the pun the circle nesting punch is particularly well cut out. The only forewarning is that due to the design of the punch itself, the maximum distance of the cut-out is limited (i.e. how far in from the border of the material the cut-out can be produced), but that was apparent to us when we purchased the item. Without a doubt the quality of the punch, as well as the sturdiness and sharpness of the circular cutting mechanism, will lead to a long life of effectiveness. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Birthday Madness. I bought this kraft paper while planning my daughter's First Birthday. I wanted a material that I could use for a wide-range of purposes at the Birthday Party (table-cloth for food, wrapping paper, sign material, book-making, etc...) and I found it in this product. We used compostable plates, bowls and spoons, so I wanted something to go with the "natural" look of those items.
I dressed it up by contrasting the kraft paper with a lot of white lace (both real and paper). I used a paper-punch that creates an edge that looks like lace for many of my signs. The contrast of the brown and the delicate white lace was quite beautiful.
I only used a fraction of the roll for the Birthday Party and am excited to have plenty left over for future art projects.
I am giving this product 4 stars because my only issue is that it is not a heavy enough weigh. It feels lighter than a 50lb paper. But, overall, you can't find a better value for your dollar. A great find!
Check out my blog for photos of the First Birthday Party... [...] | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Not worth the money. It's $100 worth of nothing special. The only cut you can make is straight acrossed, and that $100 price tag doesn't help the bottle come apart any better than a $25.00 cutter. You still have to go through the process of heating/cooling in order to get a clean break, and you still have to sand the edges down.
For $100, you would think it would allow alternative cut options (angled or straight), it would come with better directions, and design ideas, and that it would take much less time.
I even got the $35 leveler - which was even a bigger waste of money.
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Last edited by the author on May 6, 2014 5:29:54 AM PDT
Ray Nicholas says:
Heidi:
We are always here to help with your questions and concerns.
I personally answer all calls. My phone number is at the bottom
of the instruction page.
Your friend,
Ray Nicholas President CSG Inc.
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Posted on May 14, 2014 9:25:57 AM PDT
[Deleted by the author 1 hour ago]
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May 14, 2014 9:25:57 AM PDT
Ray Nicholas says:
Ms. Ho, After using the bottle cutter myself and having excellent results. Perhaps, YOU shouldn't be playing with sharp objects in the first place.
(:
Be blessed,
Melinda R.
______________________________________________
May 14, 2014 9:33:59 AM PDT
FireFXGlass says:
Ms. Ho, I have used the bottle cutter a lot with great results. Perhaps, YOU shouldn't be playing with sharp objects in the first place.
Be blessed.
Melinda R.
________________________________________________
My comment to the inventor of the product aka also known as Ray, FireFXGlass or Melinda (how do I know? Because they forgot to change their login on the post they deleted earlier):
Ms. Da -
You're clearly incapable of understanding the concept of quality products worthy of such a pricing structure as the one you placed on a piece of plastic that you would normally see on tv selling two for one at a price of $20.99.
Hold on though ... if you buy right now, we'll send you the leveler free of charge. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Quality of product seems to wax and wane. I am a wildlife and nature photographer that produces and sells fine art prints of my work and as such, I recently purchased 3 separate orders of these mat sets...
The first, a pack of 10 16x20 white mats, arrived in pristine condition - they were packed nicely in a purpose made box that prevented them from moving around during shipping while providing more than adequate protection and the mats and backing boards themselves were accurately cut... if that was how ALL of these sets arrived, I would be giving a 5 star rating... however, that was not the case with the two more recent orders of 25 set packs.
The first of these two 25 set orders arrived with very slight damage to one corner... the packaging for this larger quantity pack was not as adequate as the previous 10 piece pack... the box lacked the inner protection so there was slight damage to the one corner... presumably caused by mishandling during shipping and thus not the vendor's fault entirely - perhaps if the packing featured the same internal protection measures as the 10 pieces packs, the issue would not arise, and again the rating would be 5 star...
However, my most recent order of a pack of 25 sets was most definitely a problem that was entirely the manufacturer's fault... the backing boards and the mats were cut off-square and did not match up perfectly like the previous sets. Unfortunately, the issue wasn't apparent until I got to the 5th or 6th set... I had already assembled several of the sets and mounted prints in them before the issue became noticeable and with each consecutive board, the error became increasing noticeable. Once properly assembled with hinging tape along the top edges, the bottom and one of the side edges did not match up exactly - Ordinarily, this wouldn't be too much of an issue IF I was just using them for the artwork that I produce for display in my own home since I could hide the error inside a frame, but these were used for artwork that I produced for an upcoming art/craft show that I have a vendor slot in (which happens to be tomorrow) and as such, the issue with the boards/mats causes a reduction in the quality of my finished product - If I were framing the prints with these mats/boards then it wouldn't be too big of a deal, but I'm not framing them, these are being sold as matted prints where my clients can choose their own frames - this makes the error noticeable to them and, as a result will more than likely cause me to have to reduce my prices to accommodate an issue that should not be mine to accommodate...
Had I noticed immediately instead of half way through mounting several prints - which obviously cannot be unmounted without causing damage to the prints, and had there been enough time to return these for replacement, then I likely would not be quite so disappointed with the most recent order...
Golden State... I want to purchase your products again in the future as they save me an enormous amount of time, but if this is the kind of thing I can expect - inadequate packaging, uncertainty as to the quality of a particular batch of you products, and obviously the lackadaisical approach to quality control that seems to be occurring within your organization, then I guess I'm going to have to find a different source for my matting needs. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Nice heavy duty bags for bread or snacks. I bought the 1.5 ml.bags for freezing and storing homemade bread in addition to these bags which are 2 ml. thick. The 1.5 ml bags are plenty heavy for bread, but I also make homemade corn chips that would poke holes in a thinner bag. These bags are plenty thick for this purpose. It should be noted that although these bags are 18" long, the volume of a loaf of bread will take some of the length. For example, I made a 13" pullman loaf, and put it in one of these bags. You might think that there would be 5" of plastic beyond the end of the loaf to twist closed, but there was barely enough to close the bag. Since my husband wanted a toasted sample of the bread, it worked out fine by reducing the loaf length by two slices. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Definitely worth it. Love Big Shot Plus! Bought as replacement for the Cuttlebug. The extra wide platform allows you to put your embossing folders and dies in sideways and paper can hang outside at whatever angle you want. I use my Cuttlebug cutting plates on the larger base plate (and adapters) as I don't have larger dies yet and the large plates will warp if using smaller dies and folders all the time. So much better and easier to use than the Cuttlebug. Doesn't slip around on the table as you crank and no need to add paper shims and force through the rollers to get a good cut. Yes, some intricate dies may still need wax paper, but I believe most dies are designed to work well with the Sizzix Big Shots. Worth the investment! | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Used For The Price Of New -- Ho, Ho, Ho. Ever bought something and had a niggling feeling as you unpacked the box that it was maybe not entirely new? So it was Christmas morning this year when my daughter opened her "brand new" Artista Pottery Wheel. The first clue it might not be:
1) It had dried clay stuck on the side.
2) More dried clay stuck on the power cord.
3) A chipped edge on the splash pan.
4) A crack in the side of the mud bucket that sent water leaking all over the table.
On a happier note, there is nothing more heartbreakingly life-affirmingly joyous than watching a six-year-old artist-in-training hunker down at her Christmas pottery wheel, huge grin on her face, hands covered in goop, making her very first bowl. (It looks like a bagel and she will paint it blue).
Truly, it hardly dimmed the fun knowing we had been sent a used item. And I might have kept it, out of sentiment, cracks and chips be damned, and said nothing at all had I not noticed today that everyone else on the planet apparently is selling the Artista for $350. That's $350 w/ lots of free goodies included as a starter package -- free tools, free clay, how-to DVDs, etc. The very same wheel I bought on Amazon from TCP Global for $460 (delivered used). This was the deal-breaker. A hundred dollar markup. For what?
Don't get me wrong. I love Amazon, the "Get It Tomorrow" button has gotten me through some rough times. I just wish they would cull the herd of sellers that take advantage of their customers. This is as much of a community as Facebook. Let's kick TCP Global off the island, can we? Along with all the heartless cynics on here selling LEGOs at twice the original price.
p.s. The Artista itself is a nice entry-level machine. Portable but solid-feeling. We have reordered it from elsewhere. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Scissors work well enough, but the stand is not particularly sturdy. The scissors are nicely rounded on all non-cutting edges and comfortable to hold. They cut through paper fairly easily. The Microban may or may not help since the rest of the classroom items will be shared and touched by the kids (but at least the scissors will be less germy). You can see the small screw that holds the scissors at the joint, so 1) if it gets loose it's easy to tighten 2) if the scissors are too tight, you can loosen them, 3) the screw might come out and the scissors will then be useless until you find the small screw.
The stand is of decent quality for home use, but for classroom I, I would've preferred a thicker weightier base and thicker cups. Maybe put this set out for an older crowd of kids? The cups are removable, so you can mix and match colors as you please. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
Stopped working after first use of about 5 minutes. Returned item, would not recommend. Too small of a glue gun (and glue of course) for my projects, I used my other one for outdoor stuff - such as attaching outdoor solar lights to patios and backyard etc. After first use of this gun, it stopped working after about 5 minutes - glue won't come out, trigger doesn't seem to be working. previous item I had lasted for many years with no problem (and also used the bigger glue sticks) Very disappointed, and read a lot of reviews before buying, lots of good reviews here, but I think the product is the worst I've ever used. Unless by chance I received a defective one, I am not sure. Sending back for a refund and buying a better one that also uses the larger glue sticks. | arts-crafts-and-sewing_crafting |
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