What I've Been Up To -- A Round-Up

I've been crafting as much as possible, but it's much, much harder being a single Mom than I expected (and I grew up with a single Mom, so I knew it was tough already!)  Also my supplies are here, there and everywhere, and that's a challenge: I have almost no craft paint--where did it all go??  But this also means I'm using and de-stashing what I do have, and that's excellent.

 

It's hard to take credit for these, because it was mainly arranging jump rings in the right way, but these are three of my jewelry pieces I completed in the last month.  These blue crystals are ones I've had since 2010!!  See what I mean about needing to de-stash?   The picture on the left is a crude attempt at wire-wrapping, which is harder than it looks, people!  The 2nd photo of a jumble using a large dark blue crystal is simply on a large jump ring with several wire-wrapped pieces I bought from other sellers, which I took apart and re-arranged.  The 3 light blue crystals are attached to a wide-link chain using jump rings, and I'm so glad to get all 5 of these crystals onto necklaces!

This is a 16x20 canvas with 2 coats of crimson acrylic paint and hearts cut out from a pad of black, gray and white patterned paper.  The shiny paint worked out well with Mod Podge Gloss, so I'm glad I didn't have to handle the sheen issue with this one.  I'm very into black and white decor right now, with red accents, so this piece became my inspiration for decorating our new place (when we get one.)  And my beloved turquoise fits in well too, which makes me happy.



As far as a sketchbook, I've just started one this past week.  I'm using a Blick 9x12 Mixed Media wirebound journal.  I have been low on inspiration, but decided to let my desire for organization and order lead the way.  When in doubt, make a color chart!  :)

I have 19 Caran D' Ache Neocolor IIs now, {but no craft paint!!  LOL!!} and I bought myself the 12-piece set of Derwent Art Bars for Christmas, and they're extremely similar so far.  I've seen where other artists greatly prefer one over the other, but I haven't done much with either, so I have no strong preference yet.  

This is an attempt at a side-by-side color comparison chart.  I wanted to see color families together, rather than going by their names.  I've written the name of each in its space, so it's a great way to see what color I need.  (The whole violet/purple/magenta thing gets me every time, and my reds go purple or my purples go red.)  

Up next features this graph which was made on one of those insomnia nights, when I just could not go to sleep.  Allowing myself to go a little insane over straight lines and perfect squares keeps my mind off the clock, so I'm more focused on the page in front of me than on "Oh man, I have to get up in ... hours!"

 These are my markers.  These are everything from Crayola markers to Faber-Castell Pitt Big Brush Artist Pens, and also some Sharpies and "Power Liner" alcohol markers from the clearance section of Hobby Lobby.  In this case, it's about the color and not the quality.  I was also able to throw many markers away that had dried up over time.

I also have a blending marker, and the alcohol inks react with it and makes a kind of watercolor pencil thing happen, and I'll be exploring that in the future.

This last craft is more fun than craft, but whatever.  My son is totally obsessed with Batman right now, and I think we own every single Imaginext Batman toy there is.  Guess who comes with almost every set?  Batman!  We were drowning in Batmen, so James asked me to paint his extras into new costumes.  The lime green paint is a free sample of Liquitex acrylic spray paint, and the dark gray was made using black acrylic mixed with a tiny bit of white.  The 3rd one got painted red, but you can only see a little of him in this photo.  

James named them Grass, Oil and Fire, but I'm not sure if they are bad guys, good guys, goons or sidekicks. 


The Liquitex spray paint is AWESOME!!  It is seriously fun to use, it's not anything like normal spray paint.  There is a depth of color, it's basically the same as their regular acrylics except in a format that is easy to use, inexpensive and I even used it on some papier-mache shapes from Michael's with a brush and it worked beautifully.  (I had no other green to use!  Ugh, I hate moving!!)  I took pictures of the cute lil' flower, but they mysteriously disappeared and I have nothing to show you, but you should try out the Liquitex Spray Paint.

Thanks for seeing what all I've been up to.  I love this last picture of the newly-painted Batmen, so let it inspire you to do something totally crazy with your art supplies!

Product Review: Paper Assortment by Shizen

Shizen Paper Assortments & Embellishments

Submitted at: Dick Blick
Item Description: Exquisite and colorful handmade paper assortments and embellishments are perfectly coordinated for easy and unique holiday card making, gift decorating, or scrapbooking.

Each pack contains: Ten each of 3 sizes of patterned paper and two packs of sparkling embellishments. Paper sizes are (in inches) 4x4, 4x5 and 4x6. Price: $3.98/each

Currently available assortments are:

• Cocoa/Moss/Coffee
• Hot Purple/Hot Pink
• Lilac/Lavender/Purple
• Natural/Moss/Brown
• Red/Orange/Yellow

My opinion:

I bought 2 packs of these: the Natural/Moss/Brown and the Beige/White/Ivory that was on clearance for a little less. I love these paper assortments! They're perfect for mixed media collage and are very useful for those "I'm bored, let's try something new" moods.

There are glitter and embossed pages, all perfectly sized for Art Journaling. I don't have an art background, nor was I an avid scrapbooker when I discovered Art Journaling, so I've enjoyed using these special-effect papers for the first time. Having only spent $4 for the entire pack, I had the freedom to go with my "crazy ideas" that sometimes end up in the trashcan. No guilt--just try something else next time :)

I'm happy with my purchase and plan on buying more in the future.

This product’s quality compared to similar, competitive alternatives is : Really nice

The price of this product compared to similar, competitive alternatives is : A fantastic deal

I have not been paid or reimbursed for this review. I paid for these as part of an order of art supplies, and my review is not prompted by any company, organization or affiliation.

Product Review: Sakura Identi-Pen Dual-Point Marking Pen

Submitted at: Dick Blick

Item Description:

The Sakura Identi-Pen has a fine-point marker on one end and an extra-fine tip on the other.  This pen will write on virtually anything. Use it on fabric, metal, glass, ceramics, rubber, leather, photographs, etc. It is permanent on most surfaces, as well as fade-resistant and waterproof. Available in Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Purple, Red and Yellow.

My Opinions:
The "extra fine" tip is the same as the Pitt Pens Medium tip or the 05 Pigma Microns; their "fine" point is slightly larger than the Pitt Pen Brush and about the same as the Sharpie Metallic Fine Point Marker.

I was really surprised at how wide their "fine" point is; it really writes more like a marker. No bleed-thru though, and since these are only $1.56 and dual-tipped, they are an excellent addition to my collection and in particular to my "grab and go" drawing kit. Both tips are reliable, with no skipping or smearing of the ink.

Oh! As a unique bonus: this was the ONLY pen that could write on the very glossy pages of my altered book art journal--it was a lonely children's book with excellent illustrations, so I'm keeping most of the art and I've been painting the "backgrounds" with flat acrylic craft paint so far so that my other supplies have something with "teeth" to keep them from rolling off the paper. I made the mistake of using gloss craft paint and it was the same slippery surface, but this pen worked very well even on that.

Overall, this may not be my favorite pen, but it's worth the money just to have more room for more art supplies in my kit. I'll be buying more!

This product’s quality compared to similar, competitive alternatives is:

Really nice

The price of this product compared to similar, competitive alternatives is:

A fantastic deal

I have not been paid or reimbursed for this review.  I paid for these as part of an order of art supplies, and my review is not prompted by any company, organization or affiliation.

Product Review: Niji Pearlescent Watercolor Pan Set

I thought I would begin to post my reviews from other sites here as well.  ( I have around 90 book reviews on Paperbackswap.com!) 

First up is a brand new favorite—I’ve been into “pearl” colors lately, as opposed to glitter, satin or gloss.  I got these in the mail yesterday from Blick online.  I love these!!  And for $3...even better!

 

Submitted at: Dick Blick

Pearl and Opaque

This is a set of beautiful pearl watercolors, and at $2.99, it's a great value as well. The range of colors is surprising, and while the colors can be translucent, they are also easily layered and were opaque within 2-3 layers. Either way, the shine on these is perfectly amazing in the light. I've used these on gesso, on plain paper in my sketchbook ("heavy weight" 117 gsm) as well as on 90lb watercolor paper—and the colors and shine were consistent on all 3.

I'm also able to write on these once they're dry; I experimented with a Pitt Pen, a metallic Sharpie and a Big Brush Pen ("marker,") and all 3 were visible even on the most opaque sections. Use a light touch if you want to preserve anything under these.

The only drawback to this set is that there isn't a "real" black; the closest is a dark silver-gray. (It's beautiful though, very similar to "black pearls!")

I highly recommend this purchase! At such a low price, even if you use these watercolors just once, they're worth the money.

This product’s quality compared to similar, competitive alternatives is:

Best in its category

The price of this product compared to similar, competitive alternatives is:

A fantastic deal

I have not been paid or reimbursed for this review.  I paid for these as part of an order of art supplies, and my review is not prompted by any company, organization or affiliation.