US Art Supply: 3″ x 3″ Mini Professional Primed Stretched Canvas (1-Pack of 12-Mini Canvases) #Review #UsArtSupply

I again welcome US Art Supply to the blog and this time they sent the most adorable little canvases for me to review. I have been on an art and craft kick that seems to have no end to it, so you can see why my love for US Art Supply runs so strong.

The miniature canvases measure 3 inches by 3 inches, with a 3/8 of an inch profile. These canvases are made using acid free gesso and are triple primed, so you have a nice thick platform to create on. The canvas material is stretched by hand and over wooden “stretcher bars” that are made with kiln dried wood, which tends to not lose it’s shape. Your art remains beautifull for year to come without worry of sag or destruction to the image. If you put the work in to make something, it should reward you with years of lasting so you can enjoy it!

Retail Price Point: $11.97 for 12 mini canvases in each pack and they measure 3 x 3 in size. This is also a product that qualifies for free shipping with an Amazon Prime account.

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Verdict:
I figure it was time to make something for a bare wall that has been in our library/office. I have geodes and the such on the book shelves along with books but I wanted something that represents nature, but had a unique appearance. Something educational but also contained beauty and because I love to garden, I figured an homage to bees. These little guys not only help my citrus trees produce fruit, keep my berry bushes producing boysenberries, but they love everything from the rose garden to the hibiscus bushes we have along the wall. Always busy and buzzing, plus with the amount of bees lowering in count, I figured it was time to show appreciation for the little workers. I went with a green background to keep within nature’s colors and sketched a bee (of course with a US Art Supply pencil). I went with metal flowers to add contrast to the piece and again a different element of texture. I gathered some worker bees that seemed to have worked too hard and perished (in the pool) and put them under a glass dome and in a bottle using copper wire. I even took US Art Supply’s 3 x 4 inch canvas and used it backwards to create a honey store. These canvases can be used more than just the front-side and that is what I love about them! The material is smooth even on the backside and because US Art Supply takes care in production, the back portion is made nice enough to be usable. I fixed everything to a floral fabric and redid a vintage frame into a shadowbox frame, to provide more depth. This also allows me to use large items like glass bottles and domes. I collected everything I had on bees from charms to even earrings (bee wings) that I used for the honey bottles and the bumble bee earrings to be featured flying around the black colored rose on the fabric, just like they fly around the flowers. Simple and really just re-purposing what I had around the home because I figured a bee uses all it can in nature to keep working (or for me crafting)!

Connect with U.S. Art Supply at:

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I received the above product(s) free of charge from U.S. Art Supply. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

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US Art Supply: 3″ x 4″ Mini Professional Primed Stretched Canvas, 12-Pack Review #USArtSupply

Crafting places have become extinct like book stores. It saddens me because I still want to make crafts and create my own decor. I’m limited when it comes to places like Michael’s because they stock a little bit of everything and that means I’m usually finding 1/2 of what I need, and then trying to hunt for the rest on-line. Joanne’s is wonderful but I have one store near me that is small and limited in stock, or I’m stuck paying shipping because they play the coupon game via their on-line site. Talk about craft stores making me not want to do crafts! I have purchased at Aaron’s Brothers frames but when it comes to canvas and paints, I better catch them on one of their 3-Day deal sales or pay too much.

In comes US Art Supply, a company that puts a stop to the coupon game and has their prices reasonable 365 days a year. It’s literally a super store and if you paint, cut glass, air brush, play with fabric or even pottery…..they stock it! It’s there for you to shop 24/7 and they are with it when it comes to availability because they have an Amazon store too. They have survived the times by staying ahead and carrying their own home brands and also the popular ones we have been depending on for years. I spent over an hour just browsing US Art Supply’s website and it just perked my creativity and I realized I wanted to again create. Making crafts and art relaxes me and changes my environment. A new picture on a wall changes what you see and I was brought up that if you want something made right, you most times have to do it yourself. I have the want and now I have Us Art Supply fulfilling my artsy needs!

I was sent a pack of their 3 x 4 canvases. The pack contains 12 ready to paint stretched canvases that are primed.  The canvases are triple primed using an acid free acrylic gesso.

This is the first frame I created and then changed my mind. I went with a shadowbox and a painted burlap backing instead.

Retail Price Point: $14.96 and if you have Amazon Prime, it’s eligible for free shipping!

I have a hallway that was itching for a picture because the walls were bare. I have always had a love with frames, doorways, walls and just anything architecture and the sort. I could print up pictures from around the world of doors but I wanted something more my own, so I made my own mini doors. I purchased a shadowbox frame for $15 and the rest was made at home. I also used Us Art Supply’s acrylic paints and I absolutely love them. They are vibrant and dry the same way with shine and intensity. I made 6 doors and incorporated wood, nails, metal to even copper wire to create a more dimensional piece, plus different materials incorporated tend to make a nice blended look that creates a nice flow to the piece. The canvases are a dream to work with. The primer stays on and helps the pigment in the paints pop. No grainy finish and no matter how much I painted, aged with a patina, water washes, and I even used oil paints, the primer never peeled or wrinkled. Smooth and a perfect canvas to create on that never gave me any problems no matter how much I tended to change my mind while I created. I love that kind of freedom because my ideas can only become reality if the materials I use allow them to. The price is more than fair and I compared. For the quality, the quantity of canvases, you just can’t go wrong with Us Art Supply! I can also order at 2 AM and Amazon has spooked us by delivering that evening or the following day in the morning. Yup, less than 24 hours from ordering and I’m making art happen. You just can’t get that anywhere else!

Painted Burlap backing and I printed out gate images and adhered them to wood. I then made doors with the Us Art Supply canvases.

Connect with Us Art Supply and be ready to get lost in Art at:

• On-line
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• #UsArtSupply

I received the above product(s) free of charge from US Art Supply.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

FSL Xylem In-Ear Monitors

 

So I’ve had quite a few headphones I’ve reviewed on here. Most are completely adequate, with passable sound and mostly work with all my devices with minimal hiccups. I was ready to lump Future Sound Lab’s wooden in-ear monitors with them; All sizzle and very little steak. I was wrong. FSL earbuds are the goods. Let me share why.

FSL uses a solid piece of eco-friendly wood for each ear, which is sonically superior to plastic and metal. It’s drivers deliver solid, quality sound with good bass response and sharp, clear highs. I would say they easily have superior sound than earbuds I’ve paid twice as much for. The wire is thin, but not so prone to tangles as some products out there. The microphone pics up voices well and does a decent job of filtering out ambient noise. The gold-plated 3.5mm connector snaps in solidly to all my devices, from laptops to tablets to phones to MP3 players. The controls work with every mobile device I own, which is a first. FSL even includes 3 different sizes of silicone tips to accommodate pretty much every ear size.

The hits don’t stop there, though. FSL includes a neat self-closing neoprene case to carry my earbuds everywhere, and keep them shmutz free. Because let’s be honest, nothing is nastier than sticking earbuds in your ear with all manner of crud stuck to the silicone tips. But wait, there’s more! FSL believes so much in the quality of their in-ear monitors, the back them with a 3-year warranty and lifetime support for customers. Now that is impressive. Good luck getting anything more than 90 days of warranty from most consumer electronics. For under $13, you are seriously getting more than your money’s worth. I can’t tell you how many earbuds I’ve tried in this price range and been horribly disappointed more times than I can count. These are the best ones in this price range I’ve tried, and better than sets costing twice as much. I’m glad I got to try them, and I recommend them highly.

Connect with FSL:

• Online
• On Amazon

I received the above product(s) free of charge from FSL.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

 

Ander Blake Company’s Color Gallery Acrylic Paint Set

If I’m being honest, I hadn’t picked up a paint brush since high school. I used to paint often, and enjoyed creating things. Then, life, work, and family started taking up nearly all of my time, and my creative side took a back seat to my other responsibilities. So when I got a chance from the Ander Blake Company to dip my toes back into that creative pool, I was more than a little excited.

My experience had been heretofore been primarily oil paints, like the kind you had to buy for art class. And I tended to use mainly primary colors, so this set was not that hard to adapt to. It was smooth, spread easily, and mixed well. A big plus to these is that they thin with water, not the linseed oil I used to have to use for my old oils. Which also means that they can be sprayed through an airbrush. Painting on canvas or wood produced the same bright, vibrant colors, too.

The tops seal well, so you don’t have to worry about them drying out, and the package they came in has dividers so storage is a breeze. All twelve tubes are .4 fl oz. each, which combined with their rich pigments and ability to thin so easily, means these paints should last you a good long while. Ander Blake says these paints are good for ceramics and fabrics as well, so the only limit to what you can create is your own imagination. If I had to pick one thing I didn’t truly love about these, it’s that the “forrest green” is not a very true, deep green, as you can see from my pictures. thankfully the blues and yellows were sufficient to make a very good, true green. At under $14 for the set of 12 paints, you could do much worse. A word of caution: These paints have a lot of pigment, which means that should you get it on something you didn’t intend (Like, say, a husband and his t-shirt), it will probably stain, most likely permanently. They do have also have a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, so you can buy with confidence.  Overall I liked them and would definitely recommend them to beginners or craftspeople alike.

Connect with Ander Blake Company:

• On the web
• On Facebook
• On Twitter
• On Google+
• On Intsagram
• On Pinterest
• On Youtube

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Ander Blake Company.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.