Do you have any specific products that you like to create with?
I have so many that I am all over the place with this. I switch from project to project, method to method whenever a new idea strikes.
DECO MESH: I was VERY into making wreaths out of that mesh that was EVERYWHERE on the internet for awhile. I still enjoy working with it. I don’t really find it that hard to use, and I love the results. There is a house in my neighborhood that has a GIANT one they put up on the peak of their attached garage at Christmas. I would think that one was custom made since you have to use a wire frame so the mesh has something to hook on to. I’ve made a bunch of these for myself, as well as a bunch that I’ve sold. I made a really fun one for my friend for last summer, after she saw the one I made for myself. Mine was yellow and orange, I made hers in yellow and red.
Another one that I really enjoyed making was a sunflower wreath (from this same mesh). This one was a little more time consuming. I made it at a request from another friend, and have vowed to make myself one (although it has not happened yet). I DID manage to make myself a tiny version of it as a poinsettia, for Christmas. I put it up for sale, and sadly, it did not sell. So I’ll probably keep it for myself.
If anyone is interested, I can post step by step directions on how I made mine. Small or big. That would actually give me some motivation on making myself another one. So, let me know! I would kind of like to make a daisy one, in white and yellow.
PAINT: I absolutely love acrylic paint. There are so many different possibilities with this medium. You can water it down to mimic watercolor paints, or put it on thick to simulate oil paints. I’ve never really been able to figure out watercolors, and in my opinion oil paint takes way too long to dry. But I’m impatient like that.
I’ve always stuck with Liquitex brand acrylic paints. From the Basic colors to the more advanced colors, this is the brand I like. I’ve tried the little folk art paints in the craft sections, and while they may be good for certain projects, I find that you just can’t go wrong with the Liquitex. I have a good working knowledge of colors, and how they relate to each other, so when my funds are limited, I’ll just purchase red, yellow, blue, white and black and make whatever I need from there. I found a big set of small tubes on Amazon one year, with 36 or 48 different colors (don’t remember) and I got it as a Christmas gift. Now, I don’t mind mixing my own colors, but to have them premixed and able to just use variations on a color with out mixing is absolutely fantastic. They also have such a wide selection of artist mediums. I’ve honestly not explored these too much, but I have used the gesso frequently. I have also used a textile medium from one of those craft brands to turn my acrylics into a flexible paint for fabric.
Most recently, I’ve been using these in a mixed media type of way. 
I have also recently discovered Pebeo paints. I found these completely by accident as I was wandering Michael’s one day. I love to just wander that store and see all the different art supplies they have. So I was looking at the spray paints and acrylic paints and happened across these. Not knowing really what they were, and having a 40% off coupon (!!!!) I bought one of the starter sets because it looked really fun. I was not disappointed! These are so much fun, but they definitely are tricky and take some getting used to. They are essentially glass paints, so they dry quickly ( if you paint them on thin) and if you paint them on thick, they run and take forever to dry. A big thing people do with these paints is to just paint them on and let them run together. I took a bit of a different approach, actually, I’ve tried a few different techniques with them. The more I play with these paints, the more fun I have.
The biggest trick is to make sure that your painting surface is level! Otherwise your paint will FOR SURE run and blend and if that’s not the look you’re going for, you’ll be very upset.
PENCILS: I have recently dug out my old colored pencils. Now, I don’t know what the current school of thought on brands for these are, but I have always used Prismacolor Premier colored pencils. Their range of colors and soft lead are perfect for blending. I just added a set of 72 and a set of 132 to my wish list on Amazon. I thought I had saved a printable color chart (to fill in) from Pinterest, but when I tried to print it, it didn’t work. So I need to find another one. I need to see what colors and duplicates I already own. Plus, I need to see if this is something I’m going to keep using for a while, or if it’s just another phase of mine.
I’ve made a coloring page, and colored in the entire picture. I am going to list this as a printable finished art piece eventually.
I’ve also tried my hand at a galaxy art piece. It’s very very close to being completed, but it’s just not done yet. I’m very please with how it’s turned out so far. This is actually my second attempt, the first one I didn’t like so much, so I tried some different things on this one.
PENS: I have recently rediscovered my love for Micron pens. I used these way back when I was in art school, and they have pretty much just sat on the shelf and dried up since. Well, Michael’s had a 3 pack on sale before Christmas for $5.00, and knowing what a good price it was, I purchased a set for my son, and as an afterthought, one for myself as well. I am so glad that I did. I’ve been using them to go over my pencil line art (since my goal is to make some hand drawn printable art to sell) and they are doing EXACTLY what I want them too. So much better than a Sharpie. I do love a brand new Sharpie though. Those are for a completely different type of piece than I need right now.
Such nice and crisp lines, right?! Oops on the pencil lines still in this drawing!
I have also just bought myself a white gel pen. I have never worked with gel pens, let alone white ink, so I was a little hesitant on this. Let me say, I could not be more pleased with the results. My son is using one in his cartoons for highlights, I wanted one to make stars on the colored pencil galaxy art I was working on. Hoping it would work on top of the waxy finish that colored pencils have. I read a few different reviews online and finally decided that the only real way to find out was to buy one and try it. If it didn’t work, I was going to have to go the white paint and tiny brush route, and the pen just seemed so much easier.
It did exactly what I wanted it to! I ended up buying a set of 3 Uni-Ball Signo Broad Point white gel pens.
Well, this is the art and craft supplies that I have been really into for the past year or so. What are your current favorites or go-to’s? I’d love to hear!
Freckles N Flowers Art 