Storage for Leftover Diamond Dotz and a GIVEAWAY!

I'm officially obsessed with Diamond Art! In addition to the llama, the rose, and the others I've shared on the blog, I've finished three more projects and started another. I will eventually share them here, but first I wanted to show you what I did to tame my growing collection of leftover Diamond Dotz. After completing the first few projects, I used the included ziplock bags to hold my extra Dotz. That worked fine, but by the 7th or 8th project, I had a mess on my hands. It took awhile, but now I have an organization system that I LOVE. Check out the before and after!

Interested in organizing your leftover Diamond Dotz? It's so worth it! Not only is the mess contained, but it's so easy to combine the same colors from different kits. The containers are portable, flexible, and spill-proof. Here's what the container I used (affiliate link here and below) looks like from the bottom (plus my hand to provide scale):

Each box holds 24 small containers. The lid comes out entirely, or you can flip the top back to pour out a small amount of Dotz. They're basically Tic-Tac containers.

I added the labels using a P-Touch. I got it for Steve years ago and he uses it to label everything (it's been 5 years and HAREWARE still cracks me up). It's come in handy so many times and it was absolutely perfect for this organizational project.

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Astute readers probably noticed the word GIVEAWAY in the title. My friends at Leisure Arts have just introduced two fabulous new Diamond Art lines: Holiday Diamond Art and NFL Diamond Art and I get to give away the design of your choice!

  

Even better, you can choose your prize from among all of the Diamond Art kits that Leisure Arts offers! Trust me, you will have a very hard time picking just one.

For a chance to win, take a look at this photo below and tell me in the comments which Diamond Art kit it is. Then tell me which kit you'd like to win! 

You have until next Wednesday, October 2 to leave a comment. Sorry to my international friends, but the winner's shipping address must be in the continental US. 

Off to work on my nearly-completed Diamond Art... as I said, I'm obsessed!

Spread Kindness Like Confetti

"Spread kindness like confetti." What a great way to go through life! This quote jumped out at me from the new Kindness Matters Coloring Book by Leisure Arts (affiliate link here and throughout the post) and so I decided to put it on a Plaid Wood Canvas Panel.  

To make your own, start by priming the canvas with white gesso. Brush it all over with Folk Art Hologram Extreme Glitter. When the canvas is dry, tear the page from the coloring book and scribble on the back with a charcoal pencil. Regular pencil works too. 

Carefully position the coloring book page inside the canvas, then trace over the design. Peek to make sure it is transferring. 

Now it's time for color! Use paints, paint pens, or Sharpies to color in the design. 

Use a kneaded eraser to remove any pencil marks or smudges. Then punch a bunch of confetti from colored cardstock and arrange it on the canvas. 

Now pull out the stylus from a Diamond Art kit. While you're at it, gather your extra Diamond Dotz. You'll be using those! Pick up a confetti (confetto?) with the stylus, add a dot of craft glue, and replace the confetti. 

Add coordinating Diamond Dotz to each confetti, using the same technique of picking one up with the stylus, adding a dot of glue, then placing it in the glue. It's hard to capture the sparkle, but the whole thing so glittery and shiny!

But, as sparkly as it is, there's one thing it still needs... more glitter! Use Folk Art Glitterific Paint to bring it to maximum bling. I used my finger to dab on a coat of green, let that dry, then went over the top with hot pink.

I wish you could see this sparkle in the light. 

I need to find a special place to put this where it will inspire others to spread kindness like confetti. 

Be the Rainbow in Someone's Cloud

Maya Angelou said to, "Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." So simple, and such a good way to live your life. When I saw a version of this quote in a coloring book, I decided to experiment with putting it on a canvas. I don't mean the quote - I mean the actual coloring page. Could I transfer the coloring page to a canvas and still use it for its intended purpose of coloring it in? Answer: Yes! This project also answers a question I get asked ALL THE TIME: "What can I do with my extra Diamond Dotz?" Affiliate links below. 

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'Be the Rainbow in Someone's Cloud' Coloring Page Canvas

Materials: 

• 8" x 10" canvas
• Leisure Arts 'Kindness Matters' coloring book
• Folk Art paint: Licorice, Wicker White, Cardinal Red, Pure Orange, Daffodil Yellow, Classic Green, Aqua, Perfect Purple
• Plaid paintbrushes
• Matte Mod Podge
• Mod Podge Smoothing Tool
• Black Sharpie
• Folk Art Extreme Glitter
• Extra Dotz and stylus from Diamond Art
• Craft glue

Steps: 

Because this was experimental, I did some things in what turned out to be a strange order. I'll do my best to tell you how I'd go about making it now that I know what I know. 

I started with a canvas that already had paint on it (a project I started and never finished - you can see the pinks and yellows on the edges in the first two photographs below). If you're starting with a new canvas, I'd apply a base coat of grey (which I mixed myself with black and white). Let it dry completely.

Trim the coloring page to remove the copyright info and to even up the margins. Add an even layer of Mod Podge to the canvas and center the coloring page on top of it. Use the smoothing tool to make it perfectly flat. Add a second coat of Mod Podge on top of the coloring page and smooth it down. Let it dry completely. 

Mix equal parts Mod Podge and grey paint and put a thin coat on top of the coloring page. You should still be able to see the lines on the coloring page. Let it dry completely. 

Use the Sharpie to trace the lines of the design. 

Dry brush some blue horizontally onto the top of the canvas. Paint the cloud white. Fill in the rainbow with paint. 

Add a second coat of white on the cloud, touch up the rainbow as needed, and paint the edges of the canvas black. 

I traced the letters with Sharpie a second time, then filled them in with paint. This was unnecessary. If you have a steady hand, just paint the letters.

Add a coat of Extreme Glitter to each color of the rainbow. When that is dry, paint black dividing lines between the colors in the rainbow. 

Place dots of craft glue along the red band of the rainbow. Use the stylus that comes with Diamond Art kits to place red Dotz on the glue. 

Repeat the process with the other colors of the rainbow. 

Now display your canvas where you will be inspired. 

Now that I know how easy it is to put coloring pages onto canvases and paint over them, I'm definitely going to do this again. And I love how much the sparkly Dotz add to the finished design. 

Sparkly Patriotic Photo Frame

For those who don't know, June 14 is Flag Day. Back in my teaching days, when June 14 fell on a weekday, we'd do a flag-inspired craft. Today’s craft is perhaps too time-consuming for school, but it's perfect for camp or home. Affiliate links below. 

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Sparkly Patriotic Photo Frame

Materials:

• unfinished wood frame
• Folk Art paint (Lipstick Red, Titanium White, True Blue)
• paintbrush
• strong craft glue (must dry clear)
• sequins, gems, and rhinestones (red, white, and blue)
• pearl trim
• leftover Diamond Dotz (red, white, and blue)
• Diamond Art stylus

Steps: 

Paint upper left corner of the frame blue. Paint stripes down the right side, alternating red and white. There will be 13 stripes in all (7 red, 6 white). Paint the left side of the frame so that it matches the stripe pattern on the right. 

I didn't do any measuring, but if I were teaching this project to kids, I would have them use a pencil and ruler to plan out their stripes. Divide the height of your frame by 13 to get the approximate width for each stripe. It doesn't need to be exact, as should be obvious by the fact that I just eyeballed it. 

To apply the bling, work on one small section at a time. I divided the blue into three areas. Apply a generous amount of craft glue and then add gems, sequins, and other bling. Don’t overlap the materials and don’t worry about small gaps. Using the stylus makes this much easier than picking up the little pieces and trying to place them perfectly. 

When you finish a section that borders a white stripe, cut a length of pearl trim to fit the spot. Add a line of glue and put the pearl trim in place. Then continue with the next color. 

When you have filled in every section as well as you can with rhinestones, sequins, and gems, it’s time to fill in the tiny spaces with Diamond Dotz. Add a dots of glue, then place the Dotz.

Allow the glue to dry completely. Your sparkly frame is ready to fill with your favorite photo!

Obviously, this craft is perfect for any patriotic occasion. It makes a wonderful gift for a veteran or active-duty service member, too!

Rose Diamond Art and a Queen Bee

Have you gotten into Diamond Art yet? I absolutely love it. I find it so relaxing. And despite my aging eyes, my awesome magnifying lamp means I can see actually see what I'm doing, day or night! I recently finished Leisure Arts' gorgeous Rose Diamond Art. I cut away the background and temporarily set the rose down onto a piece of blue cardstock to get an idea of how it would look for a project I'm considering. 

I love the rose against the sky blue and will probably proceed with the project I have in mind. But in the meantime, the rose makes the perfect accessory for my latest kids' craft, a Queen Bee. 

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Queen Bee

Materials: 

• construction paper (yellow, black, pink)
• silver cardstock
• wax paper
• microtip scissors
• black Sharpie
• craft glue

Steps: 

Use the scissors to cut the following pieces, as shown in the picture:

• large yellow body
• small yellow head
• pointy black stinger
• thin pink wand
• small silver star
• silver crown
• 2 wax paper wings

Set aside the pink and the black scraps. You'll need them later.

Use the Sharpie to draw vertical stripes on the body. Curve them as shown. 

Assemble the bee by gluing the head in front of the right side of the body. Glue the stinger behind the left side of the body. Glue one wing to the front of the body, pointing toward the back. The other wing goes behind the body, pointing toward the front. Attach the crown to the head and the star to the end of the wand. 

Draw eyes, eyelashes, and a smile on the bee's face. 

Cut six very skinny legs from the black cardstock scraps and glue them to the body. Three go in front (the bee's right side) and three go in back (the bee's left side). I positioned the right legs to match up with the black stripes. 

Cut 3 tiny diamonds from the pink cardstock. Cut one in half vertically, then add these 'jewels' to the crown. Cut an even tinier heart to make the queen's lips. 

Note that I temporarily added black paper behind the wings in order to get them to show in the photo. In real life, they are just wax paper and look good, but they simply wouldn't photograph or scan well. 

Another project for my Invertebrates page!

Using Leftover Diamond Dotz: Luggage Tag with Monogram

New luggage means a new luggage tag. It took less than 10 minutes to pull together cardstock scraps and extra Diamond Dotz to make a tag that perfectly matches my awesome new, inexplicably-inexpensive, purple suitcase. Make your own luggage tag! Affiliate links below.

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Luggage Tag with Diamond Dotz Monogram

Materials:

• clear plastic tag holder
• cardstock (purple and white)
• texture plate
• scalloped circle punch
• circle punch
• leftover Diamond Dotz and stylus from a kit
• craft glue

Steps:

Cut a rectangle of purple cardstock the same size as your tag holder. Cut a piece of white cardstock so that it is slightly smaller and run it through an embossing machine to add texture. Punch a scalloped circle from purple and a regular circle from white. Glue all the layers together.

Use the craft glue to write the letter of your monogram. Add Diamond Dotz along the glue line to make the letter. Then dot glue along each of the scallops and add Dotz. 

Write your contact info on the back (or attach a business card), then slide it into the tag holder. You're ready to travel!

Using Leftover Diamond Dotz: Flower Necklace

Yesterday I went over the similarities and differences between diamond art kits. One more thing the brands all have in common is that they come with plenty of extra Dotz. Should you keep those leftover Dotz when you finish the kit? Absolutely! I'm going to be sharing lots of craft ideas for using your extra Diamond Dotz, starting with a simple (and very inexpensive) Flower Necklace. Affiliate links below. 

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Diamond Dotz Flower Necklace

Materials: 

• leftover Diamond Dotz and stylus
• round or heart-shaped jewelry bail
• Supertite glue
• toothpick

Steps: 

Use the toothpick to spread a THIN layer of Supertite glue on the front of the bail. With the stylus, position 6 Diamond Dotz around the edges and a 1 of a contrasting color in the center. Gently nudge them until they're perfectly aligned. 

While you have the supplies out, make more than one. Each costs just pennies to make! 

 Let the glue dry completely. Then thread the bail onto a chain and your necklace is ready to wear!

Diamond Art Comparisons

I first discovered diamond art in January 2017 when Needleart World debuted Diamond Dotz at the Creativation show. I've made a few Diamond Dotz projects since then and love everything about it. At the 2019 show, there were other companies besides Needleart World showing diamond art. I came home with kits from Wizardi and Leisure Arts. Now that I've worked with kits from three different companies and had friends over to test the products, I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison for you. This post contains affiliate links. 

I want to clarify that I'm not reviewing the designs themselves, as each company has many different images in a variety of sizes. Instead, I want to compare the gems/Dotz themselves, as well as the adhesive and the substrate, the tools, the instructions, and everything else that contributes to the crafting experience. I'm including my own thoughts as well as those of my friends who worked on the projects with me. 

Gems / Dotz

Diamond Dotz and Leisure Arts both use identical diamonds, called Dotz. They are round, made of epoxy resin, and have 13 facets. They sparkle beautifully in the light, just like a diamond. The round shape is very forgiving when you place the Dotz; there is no need to orient them a particular direction, as they have infinite symmetry. You can see a very small amount of the background at the 'corners' where two Dotz meet. 

Wizardi's gems are square. Their sparkle is more directional than the round Dotz and you have to be a lot more careful with how you place them so that they line up. Anything that isn't placed precisely is noticeable. When lined up perfectly, which is difficult to do, the square gems completely cover the background. The different colors of gems have very different amounts of sparkle; the white has no sparkle at all.  

Wizardi's gems come in ziptop bags, while Diamond Dotz and Leisure Arts package their Dotz in strips that need to be cut/torn apart. They include separate ziptop bags in the package to store the extra Dotz. 

Leisure Arts and Wizardi label the bags with a number or number-letter combination that is unique for each color across different kits. Diamond Dotz uses a sequential numbering system, starting at A01. This means that A01 in one kit is not the same color as A01 in a different kit. 

Adhesive and Substrate

Diamond Dotz and Leisure Arts both use a strong woven fabric, designed to resist fold marks and to hold the weight of the Dotz. The adhesive comes pre-applied to the canvas (covered with reversible plastic sheeting) and is very strong. The Dotz feel very secure. The fabric is printed with symbols and colors to tell you where to put the Dotz. I'm aware of one difference between the two companies: with Leisure Arts, the background colors always match the Dotz, which means the tiny small amount of the fabric that shows through matches. 

Diamond Dotz matches most of the background to the colors of the Dotz, but a few areas are colored differently to make it easier to tell the difference between shades as you work. If you look closely at the box vs. the blank canvas next to it, you can see that there is a blue color printed on the cat's hat that is not present in the finished design as shown on the box. 

The Wizardi has a wood base, described on their packaging as "plywood" and "wooden panels." The adhesive is not pre-applied; the crafter applies it and needs to make sure it is lined up correctly. The printing is all black, so you need to check the patterns to know what color to apply. 

Tools

The kits from all three companies come with a stylus, a tray, wax, and instructions. The Diamond Dotz and Leisure Arts' styli have a comfort grip, while Wizardi's does not. The Wizardi tray is slightly wider than those of the others. Diamond Dotz' wax comes in a little jar with a lid while the other two come as sheets covered with plastic. All three companies' instructions are adequate, though Wizardi desperately needs an English-speaking editor (and a proofreader in general - the company name is spelled Wizzardi twice). 

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So what's the final analysis? All things considered, I prefer Leisure Arts Diamond Art. Their kits are essentially the same as Diamond Dotz in many ways, but the fact that the Dotz are labeled with unique color numbers means that I can easily combine extras from different kits and use them for other projects (which I've been doing but can't share with you for a couple of months, which is so frustrating). But I would happily do more kits from either company. I found the Wizardi kit frustrating. I hated having to line up the squares, which for me took away the relaxation element of diamond art. There was no consensus among my friends; different people preferred different brands, though it mostly boiled down to a round vs. square debate. 

There is no question that there will be more Leisure Arts Diamond Art in my future. The tough part is deciding which one to do next. If you have a suggestion of which one I should do, please let me know! 

Come back tomorrow when I'll be sharing the first of many ideas I have for using leftover Diamond Dotz.

Diamond Dotz

This post contains affiliate links. 

One of the coolest things about being a craft blogger is that random craft supplies occasionally show up at my house unexpectedly. Such was the case with the 'Christmas Kitten Glow' Diamond Dotz kit. 

I wasn't crazy about the cat design (we're rabbit people), but I was really excited to try a larger Diamond Dotz kit. You may recall that I blogged about their starter kit back in February, after discovering Diamond Dotz at the Creativation show. It's a neat product and lots of fun. 

The kit came with the printed design, a stylus, a wax caddy, a tray, and twenty packages of Diamond Dotz, each labeled with a number. There were also zip-top baggies to hold any extra Dotz.

Creating the design is just a matter of looking at the key and putting the appropriate color of Diamond Dotz on the canvas. We worked one color at a time. The stylus works like a charm to pick up the Dotz. You simply touch it to the canvas and the strong adhesive holds it in place. So easy!

We set up the project on a card table in our family room. Whenever we had a few minutes, we'd add Dotz to the canvas. Almost everyone who visited our house over a 2-week span gave it a try. Boys and girls, kids and adults - the consensus was that Diamond Dotz is an addictive craft, fun, and so easy. 

  

Like I said, it took about two weeks of working on it a few minutes at a time before we completed the design. I popped it in a gold 8" x 10" frame for photos. 

Unfortunately, photos do not do it justice. The whole thing sparkles and shines from every angle. As you walk by it, hundreds of little points of light catch your eye. This was the best I could do to try to capture that in a photo.

So would I recommend Diamond Dotz? Absolutely! This is a great product for adults, but it is equally excellent for kids around 8 and up. It's easy and fun and the finished product looks amazing. Like I said, I don't love the cat design, but there are some other designs that I absolutely love. Check these out:

  

 

Aren't they gorgeous? I can't decide which one I like the best. I want them all. Happy Dotting!