So this week I’m coming to you with two things that I bought myself for my birthday! These are two items that I really wanted to have/try, and since they were both going to be limited releases I just spent some of my own birthday money on each one! I feel extremely fortunate to have the ability to do this and I’m super glad that I did!
I’m going to walk through the info about each of these two things and then tell you my thoughts and feeling after using each one.
EmJxCraftamo Brush Set
Let me start by saying that if you don’t watch Emma Lefevbre on YouTube you need to stop reading this RIGHT NOW and go subscribe to her. She is absolutely one of my favorite artists online and I’ve learned so much from her! I went into this purchase with a good vibe, because I know that if Emma put her name on these that they are going to be a great product (she does not endorse stuff often or lightly!)
As a watercolor hobbyist, I’ve tried a TON of round brushes. I usually tend to prefer something that is somewhere in between super stiff and super soft. I can work with either thing, but that’s my preference. I was very interested in this set of bamboo brushes because they looked to have amazing points, hold a lot of water, but still to be a little bit softer than your typical synthetic brush. I was intrigued. I also LOVED the size choices of the set - a Round 2, Round, 6, Round 12 and ¾ Mop.
Right away, I noticed that these brushes DO hold a ton of water for their short bristles! This was exciting, but they also provided me with great control. The brushes are well made and felt great in my hands. I’ve been using them for several weeks now and the pointed tips are still as good as new. The mop brush will work for large pages, and holds a ton of water. The box they came in was beautiful, and the extra piece of Emma artwork was a wonderful bonus! All in all, these are a wonderful, versatile set of brushes that I will use for a long time! They are almost sold out, but if you want a set you can snag them here:
https://www.craftamo.com/products/emma-lefebvre-x-craftamo
Etchr Lab Signature Series Perfect Sketchbook - B5
Etchr is another company that I absolutely trust to put out high quality items. Their mixed media cold pressed sketchbooks are absolutely wonderful and work double sided more beautifully than any other watercolor sketchbook I have tried. When Etchr said they were doing a limited release run of their Perfect Sketchbook I knew I wanted to grab one to use for my more flushed out art pieces.
This sketchbook is 300 gsm cold pressed Fabriano Artistico paper. It has 52 pages and has beautifully deckled edges. It is a portrait sketchbook with a sewn in bookmark and a vegan leather cover. It is absolutely beautiful and feels incredible in your hands.
Working on this sketchbook was overall really great, but it did have a few learning curves. I enjoy doing wet on wet watercolor pieces, and I found myself wishing I had clipped down the pages instead of just having taped off the edges. The paper really bowed up when I was working on it, but returned to size and shape once dry. In the future I think using a clip will work wonders. I also find it interesting that the “fabriano artistico” stamp is visible in several pages of my sketchbook. I painted on one of these pages to see if it would be visible in the final piece, and I think it’s still kind of obvious? Can you still see it in the piece?
These are TINY minor things though, and overall I really REALLY love this sketchbook. I can’t wait to take my time and put some amazing artwork in here over the next several years!!! These are still available on the EtchrLab website, and you can snag this one here:
https://etchrlab.com/collections/sketchbooks/products/sigseriescp21
Full disclaimer: Both of these products are pricey. These were luxury items I picked up for myself and probably won’t buy stuff like this again for awhile. But I think that once in awhile it’s nice to treat yourself if you can, and even nicer to see that someone else that spent money on the product enjoys it. I bought both of these with my own money and my opinions are mine alone. If you’ve read the blog before, you know that I don’t sugar coat it if I think something isn’t great.
Did you buy either of these items? What was your favorite “Treat Yo Self” purchase you made in 2021? Let me know in the comments below!!!
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