6/30/2022

6/26/2022

Heaven Dragon Pu Er Tea, 125 g

This is large box of loose leave Pu er tea. Pu er is a very strong tea, stronger than any strong black breakfast tea, so I use half of the quantity I'd use to prepare my normal tea. In fact, I can reuse the leaves twice and still get flavorsome tea. This tea not only has a strong smoky flavor but also a noticeable strong smoky smell. I take this tea with milk due to its strength; personally, I'd not have it on its own. This isn't the first time I use this variety of tea, so I can compared it against other brands I've used in the past, and the brew is as good as more expensive brands. This is an amazing value for money package as Pu er is a rare tea variety and it's usually quite expensive.

MIND = There aren't brewing instructions on the package.

Crayola 24 Pack Regular Crayons

This is a decent set of permanent (not water-soluble) crayons. I use them for mark making in my mixed media projects. The pigments are decent and noticeable. I'd say they are a cheap alternative to good quality permanent crayons if you are on a tight budget and if you want them for non-professional use, needless to say. Amazing value for money.

DOWNSIDES
> The sticks snap half easily if you exert a little bit of pressure.
> The paper labels covering each stick aren't the color of the stick but the family color they belong to.
> The choice of color isn't the best. There are too many oranges and not enough greens and not even a brown.

6/25/2022

iFeather Cat Pencil Canvas Pen Holder (Gray)

Great telescopic canvas pouch that holds tons of stuff. I put all my Ohohus inside (36 markers) and there is still room for more. Very cute design, and it can easily be stored when not needed. It stands up easily. Beware not to use the pouch when painting with acrylics as it can be easily stained. Good value for money.

Canson XL Series Watercolor Textured Paper Pad Fold Over, 140 lb/300 gsm, 9x12", 30 Sheets

Wonderful 300 gsm watercolor paper perfect for mixed media, watercolor painting and heavy collage. I've used this with acrylic paints, collage and mixed media, and it stands well multiple layers of paint, embellishments and other materials (chipboard die-cuts, burlap, fabric, other paper, etc.) as well as spray inks. It's slightly larger than A4 (see my photo). Easy to remove from the pad. It's quite smooth but it has a bit of tooth (see my photo). Best non-professional watercolor paper I've ever used. I'll buy it again.

Avanti Cheese Cloth, White

I bought this to use it in my mixed media projects, so I cannot comment on how it works for cheese making or cooking.

I have used it both to create rugged textured backgrounds and elements of decoration and I'm very pleased with the results. It needs heavy gel medium to glue it to the paper. I'd say it's not the best cloth for mixed media, but it's very good nevertheless. I've uploaded a photo of a project I'm working on, which has the background made of this cloth as well as the 'nest', tinted with different ink sprays. It absorbs inks beautifully with little amount of ink used.

For the rest, it's great value for money as this is a quite large piece of cloth.

The only downside for mixed media it is that that the gaping between threads is quite large, which makes the handling of the fabric on projects a bit annoying.

For the rest, quite happy with the product.

Liquitex Professional Heavy-Body Acrylic Paint 59 ml Tube, Turquoise Deep (561) (Series 2)

This is a beautiful semi-opaque heavy-body turquoise acrylic. It's a bit pricey but a tiny amount of product goes a long way. The color is absolutely stunning and very versatile as, depending on the quantity I use, it looks a quite dark or almost translucent. This is the first Liquitex professional heavy-body acrylic I've bought, and it's totally worth the money.

6/13/2022

English Tea Shop Gift Pack Super Goodness Collection Orange 36 Sachets, 61.5 g

The tin box caught my eye as well as the exotic blend fair-trade tea selection. The tin design is wonderful: very modern, beautiful and eye-candy. Each variety of tea has its own pocket in the cardboard inner drawer structure. This structure is removable and I now use the box as container for my stencil.s

I love that these teas are organic and fair trade, something that is really important to me.

All the flavours have in common that are light and clear, not strong or full bodied. However, they're good teas/tisanes and I've enjoyed them all. They're perfect to make a cup of tea not more. Not even a one-person teapot, as the flavours are delicate and get lost if I add more than a standard mug of water.

My favourite tea in this sat is the turmeric variety and, if I had to choose one, this would be the one I'd buy again. I found that the matcha variety is especially disappointing. The other varieties are lovely light drinks, but I prefer teas that are a bit more flavoursome and are a big stronger..

QXQAHYH Telescopic Bear Pen Holder

This is one of the larger telescopic stand-up pencil pouches I've found on Amazon. It's not only made of good sturdy quality canvas, but it's also taller than most similar pouches. This being the case, it allows me to store, comfortably, a good amount of my Tombow markers plus many pencils and shorter markers. In all honesty, if I filled the pouch with all my Tombows, it would be difficult to zip it; however, I can mix these up with other shorter pencils and markers. The upper body slides well up/ down thanks to the lateral pull on tabs. The pouch stands comfortably on the table. For the rest, the illustration and overall design of the pouch is very cute, but the colours are neutral and not overwhelming or too gender specific. I use this pouch both as storage pouch and vertical pencil container. As it's made of fabric, I would not have it around when I use acrylic paint. The average zip is, perhaps, the weakest bit.

6/07/2022

PinRui Silicone Baking Mat,60 x 40cm

This is the third product I buy to use as craft mat on my table and I finally got what I was looking for. As my craft is painting and collage, I need something that can protect my table and it's easy to clean from any painting, medium, gesso or craft paste so that it doesn't look crappy when I'm not working on it. This mat fits the bill.

This silicone mat has a velvety touchy surface, it is super easy to clean with a simple antibacterial or household wipe, and it can be removed or folded when not needed. It doesn't bend, slide or wrinkle when I work on it. I placed my laptop on it just to see how the silicone reacts to the heat, and the surface wasn't affected. The black colour makes it perfect for my studio minimalist decor and neutral tones.

This mat comes with a carry bag perfect to fold it and put it away when necessary. For the sizing, see the mat against my cutting mat. As I use it very often, I might update this review if I find any noticeable downfall. So far, I'm very pleased.

FOME Self-Healing Cutting Mat A2 Size

I bought this mat as it was described and advertised as a craft mat when I purchased it. However, my craft is art journaling and mixed media and this is just the wrong product for that.

GOOD THINGS
> Perfect for measuring and cutting on it, or just to use as a computer mat and protect the table from coffee drips, food etc.
> It is very large.
> Sturdy material.
> It looks great on the table.
> One side has inches and the other centimeters.
> The measurements are clearly marked in white colour so it is very easy to use for measuring and cutting.

BAD THINGS
> I would have wished that inches and cms were side by side on both sides of the mat.
> Not a flexible or foldable material.
> Heavy.
> Not easy to store.
> Gets dirty very easily as it is difficult to clean from any painting-related stuff (paint, paste, gesso, etc.) and not even acetone will clean it. See an example of how it looks now on my table despite me having scratched it to no avail. That being the case it usually looks disgusting, even though I have scratched it and cleaned it thoroughly.

3-Pack Heat Resistant Teflon Craft Mat

I bought this mat as it was described and advertised (and still is) as a craft mat. However, my craft is art journaling and mixed media and this is just the wrong product for that. My review relates to my experience with this as craft mat as this is why I bought it for and not for barbecuing.

The parcel came with 3 large mats made of a light material that it's flexible to fold and roll and, therefore, easy to store and put away. It makes a good shelf liner.

This isn't a mat I want for mixed media, as any liquid or semi-liquid product that falls on goes through the sheet and stains what's underneath. It gets dirty easily and, what's more, isn't easy to clean unless I use acetone or other chemical products. That being the case, it doesn't protect my table from anything and it is useless as craft mat for me. I have re-purposed the mats for other uses in my home.

6/04/2022

Uni-Posca PC-7M Art Paint Marker

Posca markers are my fav acrylic markers because of the quality of the ink, container pen and nib. This is one of the larger Posca markers and has a round nib. The marker has a beautiful black matte colour and glides easily on watercolour paper (180, 200 and 300 gsm are the ones I usually use them with) without bleeding. I use it for dotting, creating bold marks in my artwork, and to fill small tricky spots in paintings. Ink is water-based so I give it a minute or two to dry off before applying any medium or any other paint on top because it smudges. It prefer to use it when the artwork is almost finished just to contour, fill in gaps and add extra marks. The nib is removable and washable. The only thing that annoys me about the nib is the fact that, when you first get the marker, you have to pump it for an eternity for the ink to come out. The nib gets easily ruined if used on wet painted surfaces, and, although it can be washed, sometimes the damage is not repairable. For the rest, this is one of my art supplies staples.

6/03/2022

English Tea Shop Gift Pack The Ultimate Tea Collection, 36 Sachets

The design of the tin, branding, and teabag sachets is wonderfully modern and appealing to the eye. It is wonderfully designed and has an inner cardboard structure that holds each tea specialty in specific drawers or pockets. This structure is removable and I now use the box as container for some crafty stuff of mine.

I love that these teas are organic and fair trade, something that is really important to me. All the flavours have in common that are light and clear, not strong or full bodied. However, they're good teas/tisanes and I've enjoyed them all.

> Chai is my fav of the lot, as it is still flavoursome but the mix of spices is balanced and not too strong or too weak so I can have it without sugar on its own, without milk. It is still good with a drop of milk.

> English breakfast is good, clear and flavoursome, but delicate not full-bodied, which is my fav breakfast tea.

> Camomile & Lavender is lovely and very soothing to my stomach. Yet, the lavender is barely noticeable to the palate despite making 30% of the tea content. I had it first as my stomach was slightly upset and the discomfort went away. I've had it before going to bed as is caffeine free drink and warms my belly before going to sleep.

> Ginger & Citrus is perhaps the weakest link as I only notice the ginger and little of it. I like it overall, but is not as flavoursome as I expected to be, and the citrus notes aren't noticeable to my palate.

> Berries is again a very subtle but flavoursome tisane and I can only say that it tastes like many other berries tea.

Overall a great selection of delicate teas in a wonderful box.