Watercolor Products - Review

Many times my customers will ask my opinion of products. I am always willing to do that "IF" I have used the product. I am a brand new user of the watercolor pencils and crayons that Stampin' Up! sells and thought this would be a good group of products to review.

I now have both the watercolor pencils and crayons (2 sets of colors, not all four sets of the crayons). Also have the blender pens and the aqua painter. Here's my take on them:

Pencils (Pg 152)... love them, easy to use. Stored in a lightweight metal tin. 24 commonly used colors. Works with both the blender pens & the aqua painter as well as alone. Very portable, easy to travel with. Disadvantage to them: they do not exactly match the SU colors. This was minor, but I was surprised that we didn't have exact matches.

Watercolor Wonder Crayons (Pg 152) ... these are a perfect match for Stampin' Up! exclusive colors. 4 sets of 12 color in storage tins (Bold Brights, Earth Elements, Rich Regals, Soft Subtles). 1 set of six colors (Neutrals). Works well with both the blender pens & aqua painter as well as by itself. Nice size, thick crayons. Comes in lightweight tin for storage. Disadvantage: Have to be careful that they are not left in the heat as crayons can melt.

Aqua painter (Pg 190) ... comes in pack of 2. Blends the pencils and the crayon colors nicely. You do have to fill it with water and if you squeeze too much it will leak. It needs to be emptied and air dried before storing. Was a bit messier than I would of liked.

Blender Pen (Pg 190)... Comes in packs of 3. Each pen is double ended just like our markers. It has some type of liquid already in it so no need to fill. Easily blends the colors of the pencils and the crayons. You wipe the pen on a paper towel till the tip is clean. Really easy to use. I put pencil/crayons on white paper and rubbed the pen into the color and then onto my stamped image. Worked fine. Also tried it rubbing the tip of the blender pen right on the crayon/pencil, this gave much more intense color and easy to do. When I was finished with it, I cleaned it on a paper towel then put its cap back on. Needs to be stored horizontally like our markers to keep the tips moist. Blender pen wins hands down in my book.

There are MANY great stamp sets that these will work well with. Here are just a few:

Main Catalog:
Pg 41 Crazy for Cupcakes
Pg 57 A Kind Word
Pg 89 A Flower for All Seasons
Pg 98 Seaside
Pg 99 Playful Petals
Pg 103 Under the Stars

Occasions Mini Catalog:
Pg 4 Scene in a Garden
Pg 8 Oval All (filling in with color on some of the design)
Pg 10 Wagon Full of Fun
Pg 10 Just Beachy
Pg 20 And Many Mower

Again, the list above is just a sampling of the stamp sets that will work with the watercolor pencils and crayons. I hope at some point all of you will have the opportunity to try these products. They really expand your ability to be creative and add a designer touch to your creations.