WIP: A wink of sparkle

It's always really wonderful to try out new craft supplies and discovering something you really like. A while back I picked up a clear Wink Of Stella brush pen by kuretake at a local retailer and I was curious about the effect it could give to my work. Chose to work with this particular stamp as it's a recent addition. I love this Sweetpea stamp a lot! How cute is this girl, those eyes and the kitty!! It's about ATC size (most of their stamps are) and fit wonderfully in a 9 pocket protector or ATC sleeve. I colored her in with pro markers on neenah classic crest paper. 

Errr... yeah I might have gone overboard with the purchase (disclosure, these were all 50% off on retail price at a holiday sale at an online store ) but one can not have too much sparkle in one's life, right? I'm also very curious to try out the spectrum noir brush pens and how they compare to wink of stella. I found a very useful review HERE by Sprinkled with Glitter if you are interested in the difference yourself. The Dina Wakely Mica Spray has been on my wishlist for a while, glad to finally have them to play with. 

So here you see her with the added sparkle. I used it to accentuate some streaks in the girl's hair and eyes and I love it! It's easy to work with and just lightly applied, so much shimmer can come off it. The brush is bouncy and smooth and the sparkle really sparkles! It's a fine glitter and it stays on the page quite well even when dry. I'm a fan! The dots are done with a white gel pen, the one I received in the ArtSnacks October box. Talking about the Artsnacks boxes, I'm like 3 months behind with a show and tell/review. Ugh, so much to do and so little time... Hope to do those eventually!

By the way, I'm sad that the SweetPea Stamp company discontinued to make stamps, so if you find any of them out there which you like, grab them up for sure!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Art Snacks November 2016 Box

It took a week longer to arrive than the last two boxes and therefore this review is up a bit later because I could not find the proper time to test it until recently. But when I did. wow this month's box  is a great one with a lot of fun items to try out!

The content of the art snacks box of november contained not 4 but 5 items. The bonus item being the Stonehenge water color paper pad you see on the left, which I am very pleased with. In fact, I am pleased with the whole box! The other items are; plumchester brush pen in black, the Molotown aqua pump softliner in brown, pentel sign pen in green and the mixed media art spray in bordeaux/burgundy. Read more about the products on the artsnacks page HERE.

My first test was just trying out the pens and spray in my Nuuna test notebook to see the colors and how the pens write. The Molotow is refillable which is nice and it is definitely a soft brush. The plumchester is an Art Snacks exclusive as they are developing their own line of art supplies. I find this brush works best on smoother paper to get even writing from it. The pentel sign pen is an oldie but goodie! I used them back in highschool, which is like ... no let's not go there, but sooo many years ago now. The spray creates a nice spatter effect and dries up a nice bordeaux color. Time to test it out on the Stonehenge paper!

I took one of my fave stencils at the moment, the  seed pods from Clarity, placed it over the paper and sprayed the mixed media ink over it. It's acrylic ink so it dried pretty quickly on the paper.

But it stayed wet enough on the plastic of the stencil for a negative print and when dried it was easily removed off the stencil with a wet baby wipe.

What I like A LOT about this Stonehenge paper size is the fact it's almost the size of an ATC/ACEO (just a bit taller) and can fit in the 9 pocket sleeves (for a pocket letter for instance) and those trading card protection sleeves! What a great size to play around with! The paper is pretty awesome too and I made the below ACEO/ATC with all the products from the november box.

The spray stays on beautifully and the molotow & pentel brush colors blend nicely together with a waterbrush. I used the white gel pen from last month's box to highlight the word "grow" which I have written with the Plumchester brush pen. 

 A note on the international subscription plan; The box is 34$ including international shipping and what is really considerate of art snacks is that they tick the box as gift so in process you won't have to pay for customs charges upon arrival! They do this without asking as an extra service for their international customers (next to tracking) and is really very thoughtful! I surely do appreciate it :)

Hope this review was useful if you are planning on an art snacks subscription, or any of the products mentioned. The december box shipped already and I am curious what I'll find in there. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

namasté

ART Snacks October 2016 Box

The above image of the super moon is made with the contents of the Artsnacks October Box (a subscription box I have joined last month after listening to the Art Supply Posse rave about it on their podcasts) and I am actually really happy with all of the products that were in this box. Yes, even after being a bit underwhelmed that the ink I got in the box was grey! But look at it, the grey has some amazing shades to it when you work with it! Let's take a closer look at all the items in the box of the month October:

My box arrived within 2 weeks after shipping, the same as last time, so not too shabby! Hopefully that means I can keep anticipating my boxes to arrive around the 14th of each month :) The star of this box, was the anticipated Liquitex Ink! from the muted collection line which was a hint from the teaser email earlier last month. I was really hoping to get a turquoise color in the box, which, as you might have guessed, is is my fave color. Alas! Would that it were so simple as you can't really know which color you are going to get and with the luck of the draw, I got the grey one instead. BUT it did suit the other items in the box quite nicely! These were the products from the October box (blurb on the products taken from the artsnacks website)

Special Release Muted Collection: Liquitex Professional INK!

Liquitex is only releasing a limited supply of its Special Release Muted Collection: Liquitex Professional INK!, and as an ArtSnacks subscriber, you’re one of the first to get it. This water-resistant ink is extremely fluid, so it’s easy to use with both brushes and dip pens. It’s also fast-drying, so it won’t slow you down when you want to try layering techniques. There are five colors in this exclusive collection. Which one did you get? 

Uni-Ball Signo White Gel Pen

The Uni-Ball Signo White Gel Pen provides a silky flow of highly opaque ink. This pen will perform especially well on tinted or black paper. Try layering it over other inks, once they have dried. You’ll find that this ink does not fade as it dries, so you won’t be drawing over and over on the same lines to get a strong white highlight. 

Copic Gasenfude Brush Pen

The Copic Gasenfude Brush Pen was created with Sumi-e (East Asian brush painting) artists in mind. It’s also great for calligraphy and cartooning. Filled with water-based pigment ink, this pen features a super-fine point that makes this tool even more flexible. If you have Copic markers in your collection, you can use this brush pen with them – the ink is compatible, so the colors will not bleed. 

Lauren Series 4350 Watercolor Brush by Princeton Brush

Princeton Brush is known for its quality and affordability. Their experts have developed a variety of high-performing synthetic fibers for use with specific types of paint. Your new Lauren Series 4350 Watercolor Brush was handmade from synthetic materials and is designed for use with watercolor paints. We think you’ll like the way this brush handles your new Liquitex Professional INK!

I honestly did LOVE how the Lauren brush worked with the Liquitex INK! It held the ink and water mixture (I watered down the ink a bit in a mixing tray) really well, bounced back into shape quickly and dispersed the liquid well on the page. I also like how the Copic Brush and Uniball white gel pen look so well together. I hand lettered the quote and then drew the moon over it with the liquitex ink. The water based pigment ink in the copic marker dries water resistant on the page. The gel pen however does fade a bit when you use a liquid ink over it though, so I did have to trace the outer white lining again. Maybe I didn't wait long enough for the gel pen to dry, but in my test, it did fade and I had to reapply to get the strong highlight. Hmm... maybe it means in the blurb that you just have to apply it once after you've done all your inking, then you get a solid white line which stands out. Because that is indeed true. I've worked with pentel and sakura white gel pens, but the uni ball has by far the strongest/brightest while line. See more on white gel pen comparison here on the Jet pens blog. Working with the Liquitex muted grey ink got me curious about the other colors in the series, so when I was in the neighborhood of Van Der Linde I picked them up.

Sigh... thanks for enabling Art Snacks! The Van Der Linde store still has a few of these in stock (not on their website unfortunately) and when your order is over 35€ in the store, you will get a 20% discount on your total which is basically a free INK! as they retail for 7,05€! Yeah, you're welcome - just paying the enabling game forward ;) Looking forward to play with these INKS! over the weekend. 

The october box is still available in the Artsnacks shop. Still no international shipping options at this time, sadly :( Though the subscription still has an international plan.
Hope this review was useful for you. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

namasté

Art Snacks September 2016 Box

I might have mentioned it before, but the ladies at Art Supply Posse sure are high class enablers ;) Their goal is to get you to use your supplies (which you already have...ideally) more and think about art making in different ways. Which is wonderful and all, but due to my inquisitive nature, it also evokes the "Oh, I really must try that!" feeling like it did with the Faber Castell Polychromos.  And thus I have also joined the Art Snacks subscription boxes ("A CURATED BOX OF UNIQUE, HIGH-QUALITY ART SUPPLIES (4-5 items) DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR EVERY MONTH."), because "I must try that!" ... sigh! I wanted to try a one-off box through the Art Snacks shop, but sadly at this point they do not offer international shipping through the shop. So I had to go for a subscription to satisfy my curiosity. Well at least I do support the podcast though my subscription and they also have a coupon code for 10% off your first box. Hard to say no to that right?

So my first Art Snack box arrived in the mail, which is the September box. It was shipped on september first and arrived in 2 weeks, which was not too shabby. Though I was getting a bit impatient because I have seen people do the un-boxing and participate in the artsnacks challenge. And when the wait was finally over, I got to unpack the cute rectangular box filled with the goodies above. A description from the items taken from the art snacks site:

Alvin + ArtSnacks .5mm Draft-Matic Mechanical Pencil

The Alvin .5mm Draft-Matic Mechanical Pencil was engineered for comfort, with a stainless steel finger grip, and comes stocked with HB graphite. Hidden under the steel cap you’ll find a cute little eraser. We collaborated with Alvin to produce this limited edition version in ArtSnacks teal, a color that is exclusive to our customers, and will never be available anywhere else! 

Alumicolor Hollow Triangular Drafting Scale

The Alumicolor Hollow Triangular Drafting Scale is a precision instrument great for artists because it stays in place better than a standard flat ruler. If you don’t want to measure in inches, flip it over and try the five other units of measure! Your shiny new drafting scale is about the length of a pen, so it’s easy to pack up and carry with your other art supplies. 

Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush

The Kuretake Clean Color Real Brush pen features water-based ink, so it’s perfect for blending. Try laying down a layer of ink and then using another brush to add water, creating a wash effect. You can also blend with another marker if it’s not alcohol-based – just touch the tips together. The flexible bristle tip makes it possible to blend a variety of water-based ink colors without staining the tip. 

Kurecolor Twin S Marker

Durable, vibrant, and professional. All strong words to describe the Kurecolor Twin S Marker. For aspiring designers everywhere, these markers will bring your artwork to life, whether you are drawing on glass, acetate, metal, or photo paper.

And you also got a cute little sticker and candy snack! Super excited to have the LE Alvin mechanical pencil which was made esp. for the art snack subscribers! It's in my fave color too! While I have used an alcohol marker and a brush like product before, these other supplies were new to me and could not wait to try them out. I was esp. curious about the Clean Color Brush because I have heard so many people saying good things about them.

So I took my dot grid Nuuna notebook to sketch something in it using all the tools. Something to note with the Art Snacks box is that the colors of each item may vary from box to box. I got a Kurecolor Twin Marker in pale green (much like the tissue wrapping they used for this box!) and the Kuretaker Clean Color Real Brush in light carmine. Those two color combo screamed "flower" to me more than anything else. With the mechanical pencil and drafting scale I drew the abstract flower and colored it in. What I noticed right away, the notebook I used was not the right paper for either of these products. You can blend the Clean Color brush with a water brush which I tried with a few of the flower petals, but it just didn't blend well enough. I checked my stash for a suitable surface paper and I decided on smooth glossy sticker paper to see how that would work.

And that worked a whole lot better! I took one of my flowers stencils, drew it on the with mechanical pencil and colored them in. I knew the alcohol marker would perform well on the glossy sticker paper as I had tried that before with another brand, but what was surprising to me was how well the clean brush color stuck to the paper and blended! I took a pentel waterbrush to blend the colors between the lines and gave a nice shade of pale pink. When dried it's a nice subtle soft blend. Very pleasantly surprised! Now I need to try out if Tombows react the same way on this paper :)

A note on the drafting scale: though it doesn't fully specifies it on the scale itself, it's in inches and the comment that you can "flip it over and try the five other units of measure" means the five units of measure is a variation on inches (1/2 an inch, 1/4 inch, 3/4 inch etc) At least that is what I have figured out by comparing the measurements to the metric centimeters (which is what in the EU is commonly used). So I can't really rely on the scales to measure out centimeters for me, but then again I won't be making architectural designs in exact scale either! More information on how to read an architectural scale you can find HERE and HERE. In the end I gave the scale to my husband whom makes map designs for Fantasy RPG lands, so I am sure he will find a better use for it then I would!

While these might not have been the colors I would have chosen personally, I am glad I got to try these products out! The alcohol marker performs similarly to a copic or promarker so I know I would not have to buy these as I have similar products I am happy with. The Brush pen does feel like a REAL brush and bounces back pretty quickly! I also did a water test, dipped the tip in water to blend a few petals and after a minute or two the color comes rushing back in. It's very flexible and does feel like it's able to withstand some pressure when you're doing lettering work. It feels different than a tombow marker and I might get a couple of these to see how they blend together.

In conclusion: This was definitely a nice selection of goodies I received in the mail for 30$ including shipping overseas. (The subscription plan changed the month after I joined it is now 34$) I am stoked I got the LE mechanical pencil, since it is something I do use on a regular basis. The scale will find better use with my husband and I finally got to try out the Clean Color brush and dang it now I want more of those! Thanks again for enabling, Ana and Heather, my wallet is a little less happy though ;) 

Hope this review was useful to you if you're planning on subscribing to an international plan at Art Snacks. Remember that you can get 10% off on your first subscription box using a code you can find HERE at Artsupply Posse (while supplies last...) 

I can't wait to see what the October box will bring!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

namasté

A strong case of duality

There are a lot of brush pens out there, but these Tombow dual brush pens have been around for a long time. I had tried them last year december at a workshop given by Miranda Degenaars in Posthumus Store in Amsterdam (where you can also buy them). It was great working with them, esp. since they blend nicely with water. I was trying to find an alternative for coloring to my Letraset and copic markers, which are not water soluble. I finally decided to get a few (ehrm... maybe a "few" is an understatement...) and did a couple projects with them already which wanted to share them with you here.

So I have been noticing the hand/brush lettering rage on the social media networks. There are a lot of tutorials on you tube on how to use these tombows for hand lettering projects. I watched a lot of them and found them very useful and illuminating! Thanks to everyone whom has taken the time to do videos and uploading them, they are very helpful! I found the blog ByDawnNicole very useful! Tombow also have their own channel and blog with tips and tricks on how to use the pens. Traditionally they are used to color with and you can create a lot of fun background and lettering effects with the blending tool and some water. By the way, the light bulb brain stamp is from The Stempelwinkel and it's one of my favorites :) 

The following projects I used a resist technique. 

On white card stock I stamped the tree image with versamark ink and wrote 'hallo' with the embossing dual pen. I used Wow Bright white embossing powder and heat set it. The embossed parts will resist the inks. You can see the colors I used on top of the card. I used the brush tip to color directly on the paper, used water and a flat brush to create smooth, non streaky layers. Then with the blending brush I blended the transitions in colors, also added some more color and water here and there until I was satisfied with the result. I wiped away any residual ink that was left on the embossed parts with a paper towel. Then I masked the tree and word and stamped the Carmen's Veranda birds in flight stamp on the sky with Staz -on Stone Grey. Beautiful simple and effective result!

At Art specially I also bought some Winsor and Newton Masking Fluid which I always wanted to try out. The base is a light blue card stock and I used a dip pen to write down "hartelijke groet" (translated "with kind regards" in English) on it. It dried up clear and then I colored the around and over the words. Spritzed it with water and used a flat brush to blend the colors a bit. I dried it with my heat tool, stamped the star stamp with Brilliance lavender on top and bottom of the words. I rubbed off the masking fluid, and the light blue words are showing clearly through the colored background. It surprised me that it stuck so well to the paper! Such a fun effect! I ripped the edges off and matted it on a black note card which make the colors pop out even more.

I am completely loving these brush pens and eventually (after long internal debate) got the full set of 96 colors (found a great deal on the set through Marktplaats otherwise yeah they are pretty costly to get!) with the desk stand. My little Meesha was helping me organize the colors in the numerical range which I then placed in the desk stand. 

They definitely do look awesome standing all together, don't you think? I'm looking forward to use these in more projects which I'll definitely be sharing with you here.

I have them standing on my desk now, which would, I hope, prompt me to use them often.  

What are favorite pens to color with? 

Have you tried these brush pens? 

Oh and If you don't follow me on instagram yet, you might like to know I am hosting a giveaway for a calligraphy pen

Giveaway I am hosting is still open until April 30th! Repost this picture with #MT2800giveaway and the CM calligraphy pen could be yours! #giveawayalert #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpennetwork #fountainpen #instagram #funtainpen #calligraphypen #giveaway #winwinwin

Een foto die is geplaatst door cheetarah (@missthundercat) op 23 Apr 2016 om 1:33 PDT

You can still enter until tomorrow :) 

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful creative weekend.

namasté