Summer is here! I'm getting in the mood by making some Little Mermaid art. I am obviously a huge fan of Ariel. Her hair inspired mine.
Gel Pens are an interesting media. Yes, if you are covering a large area, it's a time consuming process, but it's also very cathartic to draw those lines.
US Art Supply has an awesome gel pen set. It comes with 2 sets of 60 different colors, so when you run out of a color, you have a back up! Sweet!
There is a great variety! Classic colors, neons, pastels, metallics, glitter!!! It even has some swirly colored ones, which are fun for writing. I'm having a blast using the 4 different reds for Ariel's hair.
The ink flows out of these great and it stays on the paper...I haven't had any smudges yet, on my paper or my hands. There is a good bit of ink in the pens. This picture is on 11x14" paper and I am going to town with the reds, and they are holding up great.
There is only one downside. They do not have grips. There is an indent in the pen where a grip should be. It isn't super uncomfortable, but I take breaks before my fingers start to get sore from holding the pens.
Grab some on Amazon!
These pens are awesome. The variety of colors is great and I love that it's a two pack. They will make a lot of art with me. The ink quality is great. I give them 4 out of 5 stars. If they had rubber grips to protect my fingers, they would definitely be a 5 star product for me. I would recommend them for anyone who likes to draw or write with pretty colors.
I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own.
~Crystal Vicious
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, especially my Mum!
I made my Mum a neat card this year out of a ton of mixed materials I had lying around my studio. I wanted to share how I made it in case anyone is feeling crafty and wanted a bit of a tutorial/idea for a snazzy little card.
I used a ton of stuff for this, but this list can easily be modified.
Materials:
9x12" Watercolor Paper (cut in half)
Book pages
Watercolor Pencils
Watercolor Paint
Scrapbook Embellishments
Beads
Sewing Pins
Stencil and Glue
First, I traced 3 different sized butterfly shapes onto book pages. This "Paul Simon" line just had to make it's way into the project because serendipity and all. I gave the watercolor paper an aged look by using yellow and brown watercolors and then rubbing it with a paper towel to rough up the paper.
I used various watercolor pencils to color the three butterflies. My Mum likes pink and green, so that is the color scheme I chose. I then hot glued (I could not find any of my glue sticks) the square scrapbook cutout onto the top half of the card to use as a frame for the butterfly, followed by a ribbon with a cute little embellishment underneath.
Then, I glued the 3 butterfly cutouts one by one inside the little green frame cutout. I bent the wings up to give them a cool 3D effect. I used my favorite pink glitter gel pens to write out MOM with a stencil, because my handwriting is crap.
After, I hot glued five gold beads (from a broken bracelet) down the butterflies body and I used bent sewing pins as antennae. I'm all about reusing and recycling here. Now these items have a beautiful new home that isn't a landfill.
Since my writing is awful, I found a cute quote on a piece of vellum that was with my scrapbook supplies. I glued that down on the inside of the card...but still had to write in there a little bit.
I even had a green envelope that was just the right size for this card. Be sure to slide it in there easily. I really love how this card came out. I spent a lot of time and effort making it, so I know my Mum will cherish it more than any store bought cards. She is a sucker for sentimental stuff.
Happy Mother's Day Mum! You are the most amazing mom that could ever be and I love you more than words and art could ever express. <3
Love Always,
Crystal
