Review Post: crafting with Posca Pens

I was delighted when Posca got in touch and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing their paint marker pens. A packet of their water-based pens arrived in the post a couple of weeks ago and we've been having fun creating with them.

Posca Pens are designed to write on a multitude of surfaces, such as:
* Fabric
* Glass
* Metal
* Paper
* Card
* Wood
* Stone

The pens come in a large range of colours, are water resistant and fade resistant. When I first opened the packet I thought there would be a solvent smell when using the pens. But they are odour free and I felt completely comfortable with my daughter using them.

We decided to put the Posca Pens through their paces and gathered together various materials, which included:
* A plastic yogurt pot
* A selection of stones collected from the beach
* A wooden drinks coaster
* A glass jar

Before you start getting creative, the brand new pens need to be prepped. Each pen needs a vigourous shake to move the ball inside the barrel. I then grabbed a test sheet of paper and pressed the tip down several times to start the paint flowing. Once you've done that with each pen, you're good to go. Remember to replace the cap firmly after using them or the pens will dry out.

First up we decided to decorate three stones we had collected from the beach. Magoo created a bright geometric pattern using a variety of colours. I think it looks fab for a first attempt using the pens.

I doodled a Summer inspired design featuring sunshine, lettering and swirls. We both loved how easy it was to use the pens on the stones. The colours were vibrant and we had more control than with paintbrushes.

Here is our finished group of stones. We have often painted stones in the past, but Posca Pens help to create designs with finer details. There are plenty of examples of Posca painted stones on the internet, including these fun Totem Pebbles. I think we'll have a go at making the Totems next time we gather some stones together.

Next up, the wooden coaster. Magoo set to work creating a floral pattern onto the wood surface. Again the colours were bright and went onto the surface smoothly. I would like to experiment further with wooden surfaces and create some plant markers for our allotment using Posca Pens.

I was keen to try out a bit of doodling on the plastic yogurt pot. I thought this might be the toughest surface test for the Posca Pens. Most felt tip pens do not work well on plastic...this is not the case with Posca Pens. Again the ink glides onto the plastic, looks bright and dries quickly. There aren't many ink pens that team up with plastic in quite the same way.

We then moved along to doodling on a glass jar. Magoo was keen to create a 'dream jar' as we had just seen the BFG film. She covered the jar with lots of swirls, loops and stars. We're going to add a label and create a lid to keep the dream contained within the jar.

Magoo fell in love with drawing onto glass with the pens. I must admit, using Posca Pens on glass is amazing, again the ink glides onto the surface, dries quickly and looks really vibrant.

I spotted a number of images on Posca's Instagram account of artists creating window art for various shops using Posca Pens. The window displays look fantastic, so I decided to let Magoo loose on our patio doors. I had already tested a small area of our windows to see if the pens wiped off easily and I can confirm they do. So Magoo set to work...

I think her Posca Pen drawings look fab on the glass. Using the pens on the windows was a big hit with Magoo and a great way to get creative in the Summer holidays.

As you can see Posca Pens can handle many surfaces. It's easy to see why artists are using these pens to draw onto walls, windows, skateboards, surfboards and just about any other surface you can think of. Posca also hosted a "doodle wall" at the recent Upfest Street Art Festival in Bristol. If you take a look at the Posca Instagram account you can get inspired by the multitude of applications for their pens.

I have to say I'm a Posca Pen convert and will definitely be using them in future crafting projects. Magoo loves them too, in fact she refers to them as 'the special pens'. We didn't try them out on fabric, so that's next up on my crafting 'to do' list. I think we'd also like to use them to colour some creations made with air dried clay. So many possibilities!

Keep your eyes peeled for September's "Crafting is my Therapy", we will be holding a Posca Pen giveaway. Link up with your crafty blog posts to be in with a chance of winning a set of these amazing pens.
Disclaimer: these Posca Pens were sent to me for the purpose of this review. All views are honest and are my own.
This week I am linking up with these lovely blogs:
"Naturally Crafty" over on growingfamily.co.uk
"The List" over on youbabymemummy.com
"Blogger Club UK" over on www.cuddlefairy.com

Book Buddies Review: Around the World We Go!

Around the World We Go!

Written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Christine Tappin

This book couldn't have arrived at a better time for us. We are due to go on our first foreign holiday with our daughter in June. We're off to France for a week & I've been talking to my daughter about other languages & countries. We've been discussing how French people say 'bonjour' for hello & my daughter has been absorbing all this with great interest.

When "Around the World We Go!" arrived delivered from Parragon Books, I was pleased to have a book with which I could continue our discussions about other countries and languages. Very young children need the solid base of home and the family unit and they don't need or want to look much further than that. I think as children get older, they begin to realise there is a world out there to be discovered. My daughter is at the age where she loves to look at maps & books about the world. She is also interested in space, planets and rockets.

"Around the World We Go!" is a charming, easy to read book with beautiful illustrations. My daughter's knowledge of the wider world is growing, but some of the concepts can be hard to grasp, books like "Around the World We Go!" offer a gentle introduction to this subject. The repetition and gentle sing-song nature of the book will appeal to pre-school readers. The concept of difference and similarity between different races and countries across the globe is dealt with in a clear and direct way. It offers a good starting point for discussing these issues further with your child.

My daughter likes looking at images of the Earth, so the page with the globe, a rocket & a satellite is a particular favourite of hers. She created her own copy of that page & she often goes back to the book, lays it out on floor & draws the image of our planet. "Around the World We Go!" has struck a cord with her and often that is the sign of a good illustrated children's book. Her final image has a few extra additions, like Father Christmas & Rudolf (because he flies over the Earth), but her imagination has been fired up by Tappin's wonderful illustrations. Anything that inspires a child to be creative is good news to me!

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Parragon Books in order to write the Book Buddies review. All views expressed here are my own.

www.parragon.com