Spotlight on Sakura

ETA: There's still time left for the Doodle Transformation contest!! 5 days left! :)
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Hiiii :)
I'm back from "Christmas" with family! Had so much fun--I'll chat bout that later though. Right now I want to share a review I've compiled of many pen products produced by Sakura of America--you know...the popular Gelly Roller pens!

You may have heard about some of their newest inventions such as the Glaze and Souffle but this manufacturer has many MANY more incredible pens worth mentioning. I was able to experiment with many of them and I'd have to say I think my favorite were the Stardust pens followed by the Quickie Glue.

Now I just want you all to know that when I do these reviews I'm not going to sugar coat it. I'm going to tell you exactly how I feel...exactly what I experienced. If there was a problem I will mention it :)

Sakura Stardust pens--these even exist??? yes. yes they do :)
Imagine having a pen where the ink is replaced with glitter...super fine glitter. Colored glitter. One that is even transparent! I wish I could give you an example through the computer so you can see their brilliance in person but these above examples will have to do. They are really awesome people!!!! To top it off...they don't skip--this means when you are using it the ink-glitter rolls out of the pen very smoothly. The only downside--they aren't permanent so you can only use them on pourous materials like paper. They are however archival quality :)

Sakura Glaze and Souffle pens-- These are the new kids on the block. They are advertised by Sakura as a one-of-a-kind inventions. Do I believe it? Yup-I sure do. After using them (especially the glaze) I cannot believe that I didn't know of them until now! Starting with the Glaze pens-these do not skip! That is one major concern I have with pens is that they always promise these outrageous things but what use is it if the ink doesn't come out smoothly? These Glaze pens do exactly what you would expect. In fact, you can use the glaze on any kind of surface!!--but they are not opaque so it is best to use them on lighter materials to get the vibrant colors. The clear Glaze is really awesome too because it can enhance and give dimension to little embellishments...you can even use it as a way to adhere fine glitter!

I have also used the Souffle pens here in the Love, Elsie patterned paper. You can see the before and after. Souffle pens are INSANE! And I mean that in a good way :) You thought the white Signo was cool???--you will freak over these! They are totally opaque and just like all the other pens are smooth--you can expect no skipping of these! The only problem I experienced was with the lime green souffle which wasn't coming out right but the other ones were perfect. They do add a bit of dimension that you can see in the example but nothing too extreme. I'm sure if you did a couple of layers on top of each other you can aquire hightened dimension through these. When you first use these they come out of the pen looking transparent--this may be confusing since they are opaque pens--don't worry though...they dry opaque. And they dry relatively quickly as well. And yes...you really DO get a solid color on dark cardstock in one stroke of the pens!

Quickie Glue is another one of my favorites! Just like the Glaze and Souffle, this pen puts out a nice smooth line of glue. Whats really neat about this is that you can add a very fine line of glue on something such as chipboard letters or fabric flowers. I've personally been using it as a fine glue to add glitter on things and it's been so much fun!! In fact, I even did the title "let" with the Quickie Glue pen and added glitter...this is something you just simply cannot achieve with another adhesive.

Sakura Permopaques--these pens are exactly what they are titled as :) Permanent Opaque pens. They are archival safe and can be used on virtually any surface. As you can see there are several colors to choose from. The pen is similar to that of a crayola marker (the tip), and can draw a very fine line. Over time and depending on how often you use them the tip may expand to a thicker line but all in all should still draw intricately. My experience with these were pleasent as well. One thing I noticed with a lot of opaque pens is that it is very hard to use them on top of something I painted with acrylics. Surprisingly enough, these pens drew on my acrylic painted "Zlik" with absolutely no problems whatsoever! The only drawback I had noticed was that some colors needed extra coatings to get that "solid" color such as the white. Definitely a good buy though.

Other pens available that I have taken a liking to (but don't have examples yet) are the Sakura Silver and Gold shadows--these are pretty remarkable and fun to use! They really DO look like what you would expect from the advertisements and just like all the other pens--don't skip.

Sakura also manufactures the widely popular Pigment pens which are used by professional artists worldwide.

And lastly, another favorite of mine are the Moonlight pens which are also opaque and don't skip. These can be compared to the same quality of the Signo but are available in a range of beautiful colors!

So there you have it :) Sakura just rocks...and believe me, I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if I truly didn't believe it. I'm telling you that you would not be dissapointed with ANY of their products...and that is truly how I feel :) (and also I'm typically VERY picky too haha).

ok so onto other things (for those of you crazy enough to still be reading! lol)

I'm back home from spending "Christmas" with family. They are going to be in Germany during Christmas so we celebrated early. This picture is the gifts I brought. It was so exciting watching them open everything! I got my uncle a bunch of toys from My Plastic Heart, my aunt a Zutter machine with some starter materials, my cousin some small things and a set of supplies to make her own crystals, and gave my grandmother some memory foam inserts for her shoes, some travel accesories and some pictures of us framed :)  My grandmother made our traditional German feast (sooooooo GOOD!) and we drove around to see the christmas lights (another tradition).

And guessss what I got for Christmas???????

YUP YUP!!! woot woot!!!! My aunt and uncle gave me a Holga camera!!!!!!!
**swoon**
I'm in love. I haven't been able to really use it yet but after reading the book it is SOOOO EXCITING to start!!! In fact, I just may do some today and get it developed one hour! hehe.
Here's some shots from the book:

Can you see why I'm so excited??? :D
and my grandma gave me a BUNCH of memory cards for my camera, I think I have over 2GB now!! Which is really cool because now I don't have to keep going in and deleting photos to add more! and a pretty card filled with good ol' cash hehe (she knows hahahahha) and 4 packages of top of the line photo paper!

Welp, I better get some sleep! :)
hugs, Adrienne

Comments

[Sharon]

I know this is an old post but I had to respond.I meant to buy the Sakura Stardust pens after reading your review because I trust your opinion. I have been so disappointed in the past with glitter pens ! I finally bought these and they are totally amazing.I hope they never stop making them. I am having so much fun playing with them !!!! Thanks for the review.
Sharon

[Carol Assad]

Adrienne, YOU ROCKS! I´m a huge brazilian fan! I can´t wait to buy your book!
Best,
Carol

[jessica summers]

i am a HUGE HUGE HUGE gelly roll fan. every layout uses one or two or three...you get the point. :D

xoxo

[Caroline Ikeji]

i have a bunch of those pens lying around soemewhere...you make me want to dig them out and play with them!

[mikascrap]

The pens look great, do you know if I can buy them in Europe? Mika

[Fauve]

wow you got spoiled SIS!Luv that camera,it looks so great :) And i so need some of those fabby pens now,thanks girl!

[Linda Sloterdijk]

Lucky girl that your get a new camera. Wel you deserved it. In holland you have a lot of trouble becouse of the memory card so now your able to make tons of pictures;-)

[Juli]

Oooooh one of the customers was talking about these pens at the store(Treasured Memories). I will have to get Chantel to order them in!

We can't wait for your book to be released we are all really excited!

[Nancy]

wow, thanks for the review. I am on the brink of giving up on finding a non-skipping white pen, but you've given me hope.

[Sunray]

Be sure to play with 35mm film in the holga! You'll get something fun like this http://itshmesunny.livejournal.com/?skip=9. Find the tutorial here. http://shop.lomography.com/holga-backup/35.html
Have fun! =)

[jodie]

wow awesoeme reviews, thanks for taking the time to do that!!
i gotta try some of those glitter ones, and glue ones, wow how awesome.

ive used the soufle one for well forever and its one of my faves i have to say, i love the raised texture!!

xxx

[Mimi73]

It's true! These pens are wonderful!

Always fun to work with!!!!!!

Have a nice week Adrienne...Love your Blog and all the ideas!!!!!!!!!

Mimi