Product Review: Letraset AquaMarkers

After hearing some buzz about these markers on the internet community, I decided to give them a try. Having worked in water based media and they sounded very appealing to me. After a little bit of research, I found that the company that manufactures them is based in the UK.  Knowing that international shipping can be brutal on a limited budget, I decided to purchase them from Dick Blick which is a local art supply company and my markers arrived in just shy of a week.

Both sets of markers arrived in a nice hard clear plastic case.  Actually I was quite impressed with the design of this case.  Why does it matter?  It matters because you can easily see each individual marker from the outside with no package lables getting in the way.  This makes for a quick choice in color selection.  Also, the package opens up flat dividing the set in two, which provides a stable flat platform to hold them while you work.  I would most definitely recommend that you keep the package/case for storage or for travel.

Ok, now on to the markers.    Each marker's label has a representation of the actual color and the name printed on to it.  The printed name I find is a bit on the small side and I do wish they would have used  a slightly larger font. These markers have a fat and a thin pointed tip on each end, the thin tip is the pointed cap, the thick/fat tip has a blunted cap.  When I tested the markers on regular drawing paper each fat tip generously laid down a thick juicy line of color, as well as the thin tip of each.  The claim to fame with these markers is their ability to be blended, either with water or with the blender pen that comes with each set.  Here comes the big "But".  Yes these blend easier than most other waterbased markers, However, you must use them on a waterbased ground.  They did not blend at all on regular drawing paper. In fact, due to their juicy nature, they actually made the paper "pill" and tear really easy.  I suggest that you wait for each application to dry fully before going over with another color.  On watercolor paper they worked beautifully.  Each color was easily manipulated either by the blender pen or by a wet water color brush.  I do not suggest using them as a "wet on wet" technique, this seems to mess up the tips a bit.  If you wanted to use a wet on wet technique, you could use a dry brush on the tip of the marker and load up the color to be applied.   You could also lay down a section of color on a scrap piece of watercolor paper and take a damp brush to it to pick up the color.   As for the blender pen, it is basically just a colorless version of the marker and I suggest a light hand when trying to blend colors or make corrections by lifting color from  your work so as to not overwork the paper and tear through it. If you do pickup a different color on your tips,  it is super easy to remove it by simply wiping the tip off on a scrap piece of paper.

Overall thoughts?  On the right material, these markers are wonderful.  They are more versatile than others, juicy, bright, but yet have some limitations.  The packaging was well designed and worth keeping for storage and transport. They do seem a bit on the expensive side, but there really is no marker that functions like them on the market.  Two thumbs up in my book!

Shopping Advice incoming!  Research your prices.  The pricing for these beauties doesn't vary much actually, but it's the shipping that will get you.  Assuming that international shipping is more expensive I decided to visit a local Dick Blick..they did not have them in the store (the girl looked at me like I had a second head when I mentioned "watercolor markers" so make sure you know the name), I ended up ordering from them and paid a $9 shipping fee. Upon researching for this article I found that Letraset in the UK is actually offering free shipping to the US !  Also, they have a promo going on where if you buy 6 you get em for the price of 5.    With that being said, Dick Blick also came through for me when 4 of the markers arrived "dry".  They immediately shipped out replacements at no cost.  Also, ordering through Dick Blick you can put your dollars towards your favorite online community if you order through their links on the actual community site, so that they can benefit from your purchase as well.

I do hope this review answers any questions you may have about the Letraset AquaMarkers and makes your purchasing decision easier.

Here is an example of a mixed media type application of the markers.  I used them in addition to the watercolor crayons and pencil on this tin.

Networking on Etsy

Since I list my items on Etsy, I've come to the realization that networking is a BIG necessity in that type of community.  Without connecting with other artists and taking part myself in the social media they provide, I found that my traffic was greatly slowed to my Etsy site.  I took a look at all the "Teams" that Etsy hosts and found that, after just a few minutes of searching, there were thousands of Teams that I could be a part of.  I actually thought to myself, " I could totally sign up to a bunch of these and I'm set".  But after a few minutes of really digging into what these teams were, I realized that it wasn't just the act of clicking "Join Team" but the actions that follow. 

Some teams just seem so dormant..stagnant..or just holding groups for Etsy vendors with no direction.  That wouldn't work for me, I needed something "more".  Thinking on what would work for me with the resources I had,  I had come to realize that I had totally forgotten about my membership to a team I had already belonged to.  I had been with them for years,  first as a vendor but then later as a fan.  The Fantasy Artists of Etsy (FAE ) has a stellar group of artists I had admired for a long time.  So, I made the decision to be an active part of the FAE Team once again and not just a silent watcher from the distance.  With this decision came the first step of taking part in their current exibition of work.  The Midnight Dark and Dreary Exibition was taking calls for work and I decided to answer that call.  I submitted two pictures of my work.  It took a few tweeks to the images, but finally they were accepted for display.

So whats the lesson I learned?  That in order for you to have an active Etsy site, you need to be active yourself.  You can't just sit back and let your "tags" do the work for you.  Altho, they do drive traffic to your site to a certain extent, you need to do a bit more than that to be successful.  That also holds true for Etsy Teams.  You need to make sure you pick a team that fits your site, your style and your product(s).  Without this "fit" you can't comfortably participate in discussions or other team activities..and no participation, means that your team suffers as well your site.

So, when the FAE Team asked me to promote the exhibition I was more than happy to participate.  I encourage you all to take a stop by the Fantasy Artists of Esty site to view the current exhibition titled "Midnight Dark and Dreary", which is very appropriate for the upcoming Halloween holiday.  Click on those listings that speak most to you. You know those listings, the ones that make you go "Oh Cool!", those are the ones you need to click on and see how they're made or find out the story behind them. But don't stop there,  tweet them or even post them on Facebook... it's free, but it also helps out the artist involved, and it only takes a few seconds, plus you just might make an artist smile.

Fall is here!

With the season change, I felt inspired to whip up some images via Gimp.  Made Grandmother Witch and Witch Baby Otto..the latest relative to the two is Aunt Batty.  She is very proper in her attire and always stirs her cauldron with pinky up of course..as you can see by her stiff posture and wonderfully kept hair.

I decided to show you the before and after photos so you get a feel as to what was changed and what wasn't. Aunt Batty is quite a smart lady. You see with a snap of her fingers she can change from her "muggle" form to her true image. In all these years I don't think anyone suspected a thing about her. 

And of course this image, as well as the others, are available on my etsy shop for purchase for your Halloween Holiday scrapbooking/mixed media needs.

Change of Seasons brings...well change.

After doing the bills and getting totally depressed again.  I decided to distract myself and rummage through my craft room.  After a few moments of "straightening and organizing" it has dawned on me that I really need to start listing some more items up on my shop.  Unfortunately this means I also have to part with my favorites.  One is my mixed media painting of "The Littlest Bear".  She's oh so gosh darn cute, I'll be sad to see her go..but like every artist I need to let go of my babies...it's what we do.  So, without further delay she's now up on my Etsy site looking for a good home."The Littlest Bear"

Spring Has Sprung !

And so has my creativity.  :)


 I decided to break out the old bear making materials again..dusted off the old sewing machine, organized my fabrics, rounded up my needles and took stock of my supplies.  After rummaging around the closet, I pulled out my patterns and found a few nice pieces of mohair I had forgotten about.  As I pulled out the short nap blonde fat yard of mohair..a ziplock bag of fluff fell out.  Pink and lavendar fluff to be specific.  "Whats this?" I thought to myself.. "An unfinished bear! Shut up!"..I unzipped the bag and lo and behold..sure enough..it was a hand dyed bear set..all the pieces were there...arms legs..head pieces.. It just needed to be assembled.

Now..having the flu certainly puts a damper on your crafting abilities, but I was ready to get well and decided to work on that bear..piece by piece and hand sewed most of it.  I finished the head first to get a feel of what it would look like as a whole..then it struck me..I wanted to do something different for the nose..something completely different.  Cotton string would not do this time.  I again went thru my supplies..and found my stash of felting needles "hmm..better put these where they belong before I loose them again"...**Ding ding ding** ~insert bright idea light-bulb here~   Yup, you guessed it...I needle felted a nose.  I had some non-carded wool roving and found a nice minty teal color.  After a while it actually started to look like a nose.  But something was missing.  The nose was too big..hmm..  I looking thru my roving again...this time I dug to the bottom of the container...and guess what folks..I had a bunch of  roving that matched the backing of the mohair "EXACTLY".   Four broken felting needles and a handful of wool later..."ta da".   A bear is born..