The paper doesn’t cost much, but the ink, unfortunately does.
A friend recently told us about HP Ink. $2.99 for 50 pages payable monthly. $1 per every 10 extra pages over the 50.
We were spending $43 for two cartridges – 1 black, 1 color – for our old HP printer…times two printers…total $86. Every time we went to the cash register to pay for them, we squeaked. It was painful to fork over that much money on tiny little printer cartridges.
It didn’t take a pair of rocket scientists to figure out which was the better deal…and we weren’t rocket scientists.
To qualify for the program, we had to purchase an HP printer that was compatible. That was easy. Go to Walmart, spend $25, take home a new printer and set it up. We bought two, one for hubby’s office and one for mine. We bought the same model printer and did one $2.99 monthly ink subscription.
Would you like to have a complete, good-quality coloring kit that won’t cost an arm, leg, kidney or plasma, but don’t know where to start?
Here are my quick, cheap recommendations, followed by the longer, more expensive versions, all of which I have, use and highly recommend.
Crayola is my go-to brand because I’m a mom and have kids who like to raid my art supplies, all while I’m working on professional art projects, lol, so it keeps them from destroying my expensive stuff.
Artists can and do produce good artwork using Crayola products, believe it or not!
Give them your email, and sign up for their newsletter.
You’ll get an immediate 10% coupon, as well as 15% and 20% coupons from time to time, and free shipping.
Before I buy, I compare prices on Crayola.com, Walmart.com, eBay, and Amazon, then I buy the cheapest.
If you want to get started but have a very, very limited budget:
DOLLAR STORE SHOPPING LIST
White printer paper, 8.5 s 11”
Clipboard
Pacon Art pad, white, 50 sheets
Correction fluid
Eraser
Paint brush pens
Markers, set, 24-36
Colored pencils, set of 24-36
Set of paint brushes
Paint palette
Sharpener
Gel pens, set, glitter, neocon, metallic
Permanent markers
TOTAL $15, plus or minus
If you have a bit more to spend….
BASIC COLORING SUPPLY LIST FOR ADULT COLORING AND STAMPING
Watercolor pencils, 24-36 count, $7
good sharpener, Kum, $3
erasers – regular (pink), gum, white, eraser pencil fine point for tiny areas, $5
water brush pen set, Arteza or OOKU, etc., 6 tip sizes, $10
markers, 36 count or more, water soluble, brush tip are best, $15
mixed media art pad , #98 or higher, Canson, $6
clipboard, $2
white printer paper, 8.5×11”, $4
#110 white cardstock, 8.5×11”, $5
white gel pen, $3
Sharpies, ultra fine point, black, grey, brown, tan, $5
TOTAL $70, plus or minus
You can take a trip to your nearest Walmart and get almost everything you need.
This is where I regularly purchase…
Canson mixed media pads
Canson watercolor pads
Canson sketch pads
Neenah white cardstock
Neenah black cardstock
Neenah kraft cardstock
Hammer mills #110 cardstock
White printer paper
Crayola Colored pencils sets – 50, 100
Gel pens set of 24, 36 – Scribble Stuff – best, smoothest ink flow of any gel pen ever!
Crayola Supertips Markers sets – 20, 50, 100
Crayola Paint Brush Pens
Oil pastels
Paint brush sets
Erasers
Sharpeners
Clipboard
USE WHAT YOU HAVE
baby oil
petroleum jelly
mineral spirits
eye shadow
Qtips
cotton balls
paper towels
old cloths
paint brushes, fine, flat, round, medium, large
old plate or lid to mix colors
cup for water
Use baby oil, petroleum jelly, rubbing alcohol, gamsol, or mineral spirits to create a wash or blend regular colored pencils with QTips, cotton balls, paper towel, rags.
MY GO-TO COLORING KIT
Crayola Super Tip Markers, 100, $15
Crayola Watercolor Pencils, 24, $7
Crayola Color and Blend Pencils in tin, 50, $15, OR Crayola color pencils, 120, $15
Crayola water soluble oil pastels in tin, $15
Crayola pearlescent water soluble crayons in tin, $20
Sakura Gelly Roll pens – white for adding highlights, corrections, $4
Blending pen (water-based, not alcohol), $4
Blending pencils, $4
Eraser pencils for fine details to get in corners and create highlights, $4
Arteza, OOKU, etc., waterpen brush set of 6 tips, set, $10
Canson mixed media pads – small, medium, large, $6-$10
Clipboard, regular or larger size for art, $2-$6
White printer paper, pack, $4
Cardstock, #110 pound, white, $5
Cardstock, black, $5
Cardstock, Kraft paper, $5
TOTAL $200, plus or minus
Note: Walmart doesn’t carry Crayola Tri-tone pencils, oil pastels, pearlescent pastels, watercolor pencils, fine-tip markers, Color and Blend pencils or product lines, or gel pens. However, Walmart.com does. I purchased mine at Crayola.com, EBay, and Amazon.
These are my go-to coloring supplies when I’m not creating on the IPad. I also have the more expensive stuff, but I’m afraid to use it, lol.
DUAL PURPOSE PRODUCT
These Crayola products are all watersoluble and can be used as paint, as well as pencil, markers, pens and pastels, so each one is dual-purpose!
Draw a line, use the waterbrush pen or a paintbrush dipped in water and it becomes a painted line!
I recommend the largest sets of colors in the markers and pencils because you need the full range of tones for skin tones for portraits – pets and people – as well as for shading.
Otherwise, a basic set of 36 colors is a good set to start with, and these colors can be blended to create new shades.
Scribble a marker or pastel on a plastic lid or plate, dip a wet paint brush in the color, use it as watercolor paint on mixed media or #110 cardstock.
DO YOU REALLY NEED EXPENSIVE ART SUPPLIES?
It’s not the product you use, it’s your ability to use it. I can draw with a burned matchstick, and it looks as if I had used a piece of charcoal produced by a well-known art company.
Expensive art supplies DO have better pigmentation, lay down, ease of use, etc., but it really depends on the skill of the user.
Crayola products are so solid in terms of quality, color, vibrancy, ease of use, lay down and cost that it’s a great product for beginning and intermediate colorists.
SAVE MONEY ON PRINTER INK
And while you’re at it, sign up with HP Ink to save money on printing off coloring pages and stamps! $2.99 per month!
Purchasing an HP ink cartridge for our printer runs about $45 for the black and white and color.
For $25, you can buy a new HP printer at Walmart, then sign up at HP.com for their amazing ink savings deal: $2.99 per month for 50 pages. And if you need to print more than that for some reason, it will cost you only $1 per every 10 pages over that.
The following sites are great resources for digitally downloadable and printable resources for FREE scrapbook layouts, images, vector, embellishments, papers, fonts and more! They aren’t just for digital scrapbooking, but are wonderful to find images and parts and pieces to print out for all of your creative projects and physical scrapbooks!
*Please check each site’s policy on how the images may be used, especially if you intend to use them on a blog, website, or on products for resale.
More FREE St. Patrick’s Day Resources
For MORE free public domain (copyright free) images to use in your St. Patrick’s Day projects – scrapbooking, papercrafting, greeting cards, mini albums, journaling, bible journaling, bullet journals, stickers, gift tags, wrapping paper and more – please see the previous blog post.
St. Paddy’s Day is almost here! Time to get your Irish on with some thrifty fun.
Crafting is pricey. And I’m guessing that if you are reading this, you probably have a veritable dragon’s lair, and horde, of arting and crafting supplies of all types, shapes and sizes…definitely enough to make a dragon jealous.
So, for those of us who are insatiable crafters and seem to always be putting out large sums of money on new supplies, it’s always nice to be able to get our crafty hands on freebies to help give our favorite projects just the right touch. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a handy-dandy all-in-one list of sites where you can find FREE public domain images for use in your St. Paddy’s projects.
This list includes vintage images, photographs, line art, book illustrations and more. Any and every subject and holiday you can possible imagine is there just waiting for you to dive in and explore! On your mark, get set, GO!
Be sure to read the policy of the site you get your images from. Some sites have a limitation on how many images which can be reused from their site and how. This is important.
Don’t forget about old books, magazines, postcards and other paper ephemera that can be purchased on sites like eBay! These can be scanned in, saved, digitally manipulated, cleaned up and printed off for favorite projects, too! If you plan on reselling something with one of these images on it, make sure to read up on copyright laws. Anything pre-1923 in the U.S. is generally safe to use, but copyright law is tricky, so please read and research carefully to be sure.
HAPPY ART FOR A HAPPY HEART! 