For years I’ve been trying to bridge the gap between crafting and home décor with my painting. You know, painted crafts can look . . . well, ‘crafty’ and a bit too homespun. And too often decorative painting in home décor looks too challenging for a novice painter. I’ve used acrylic craft paint for years for nearly all of my artwork and murals so when I do a painting tutorial, it’s always done with craft paint.
But I realize a few tutorials here and there are not going to change the marketplace. I’m not manufacturer. And I don’t have a TV show.
Plaid Crafts is a manufacturer, however, and they’ve partnered with Martha (Martha Stewart if you haven’t been on earth for the past 15 years) to create an incredible line of decorative paints and tools.
I got a box from Plaid yesterday filled to the brim with tons of goodies. I can’t begin to tell you how impressed I am with the new line. You know, I was a display/floral designer for a large California-based craft store for years. It was my job to sample new product lines, create a variety of projects and write tutorials that would sell the new line, hopefully.
Saying that I’m a bit picky when it comes to crafting tools and supplies is an understatement. I’m just sayin . . .
Let’s start with the tools. Stencil brushes, foam stencil daubers, striping brushes, which are pretty ingenious, I have to admit. What caught my attention are the sets with plastic bottles. Rollers, foam brushes, and fine tips. You can pour a little paint into the plastic bottle if you want, but you can also just screw a 2 oz. paint bottle onto the tip. Love that.
Ok – this is for all of us spray paint lovers. How many times do you search the aisles looking for a particular color in a specific shade only to buy something that’s “close enough.” No more! See the box in the lower left hand corner of the pic? Plaid & Martha have created a spray gizmo that’ll hold 12 oz. of paint + medium so you can choose from 160 colors. How cool is that?
Let’s talk about the paint. Great colors, of course. But that’s not the selling point. These paints are for any surface – wood, metal, glass, canvas, paper.
Hello?!? No more mediums. No more buying an entire line of specialty paints for glass.
Yes, I made this little color chart. Why? Have you ever picked up a plastic bottle of craft paint and wonder what shade it actually is? I mean, you wouldn’t unscrew the top in the store and to check the color of the actual paint, would you? Nah, me neither. Who would do something like that!?!
ahem. I like to know which color is which. So I mark the plastic tops with paint.
You didn’t believe me, did you? I store all my paints in drawers . . .
. . . well, not all of the paints, but I like to just look at the tops of the bottles and grab the color I want when I want it.
Except when I’ve been asked to review a new line of projects.
By Martha Stewart.
She gets her own shelf.
I’m telling you, I was so excited when I got this stuff yesterday I gave myself a headache. Out of all the blogging perks I’ve received, this one really made me giddy! Just in time for my Fall tutorials and Santa’s Workshop. (yes, please ask me what Santa’s Workshop is!)
Up ‘til now the only place you could get Martha’s Crafts by Plaid was on HSN. What I love about HSN is you can watch video presentations on each product. Kinda fun.
Tomorrow, August 15, Michael’s Crafts will be the exclusive retailer to carry the products.
Friends, I am in heaven, let me tell you. New paints. New paint tools. Even stencils! Yeah, I told them I didn’t need any stencils (trying to be nice and not let them know that I’m actually stencil-impaired) but they sent some anyway. Trust me, if I can get a good result from these stencils, I’m gonna shout it from the rooftops.
Or maybe I’ll just write a post.
I didn’t get paid to write this post. I did receive products to create a project for which I will be compensated, however.
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