Thin Stix Creativity Pack ~ A Crew Review

What do you do when you are feeling the urge to be creative, but you do not have a lot of time? Try using the new Thin Stix Creativity Pack from The Pencil Grip, Inc.! We have used the Original Thin Stix before, but wanted to try a wider array of colors, so we were thrilled to be selected to review this 24 pack of colors which includes neons and metallics for the Homeschool Review Crew.

Once again we found that the Thin Stix offer a simple way to use tempera paint in your art projects without all the mess of traditional paints. Just uncap the color you desire, paint, and then put the cap back on. This version of tempera paint dries in 90 seconds, the ease of use still amazes me since I grew up with powdered tempera paint that the art teacher mixed for us.

Arlene used these for several projects during the review period, and then we worked together on some early Christmas cards. We both noticed that the metallic color Thin Stix are a little softer than the traditional colors, and thus they leave a thinner layer of paint. The terrific part is, with only a 90 second dry time, it is easy to go back and layer the colors for a more intense look. We had needed to do this with the black in the original Thin Stix, and found it worked well for both the metallic and neon colors in the Creativity Pack.

While trying the new colors the first time, Arlene did some layering of the metallic and neon colors over the original colors in a simple picture of flowers around a trellis. It is difficult to see in this picture, but she layered gold over the brown and the metallic red/violet over the flowers. It gave a nice effect to her painting.

Then she decided to make some price signs for her upcoming Artisan Fair. We both agreed that for painting words and numbers, the original colors that are slightly thicker work better than the metallics, and the neon ones just were not intense enough to use by themselves. That's ok, she has price signs, and the Thin Stix were quick and easy to use, even the ones that needed multiple layers.

One day I came home and Arlene said "You need to see my frog!" I was wondering what she meant until she showed me her lovely frog painting based upon the frog on the cover of her biology book. :)

Our most recent project using the Thin Stix Creativity Pack was making some early Christmas cards. We gathered up our supplies and the box of Thin Stix and got to work. If you are planning to use yours for cards on colored paper, remember the layering technique I mentioned earlier. I wanted my snow to be white, so I layered the snowflakes with white two layers thick, and the snowdrifts with silver under the white to give it a little sparkle.

Overall we were both happy with the versatility offered by the Thin Stix Creativity Pack and the assortment of 24 colors. I made us a color palette reference chart on a canvas board we had left from when we reviewed the Thin Stix 6pk of Classic Colors.  If you love to do art, but don't love cleaning up the mess, Thin Stix would make a great option. They paint on a wide variety of surfaces, and I can imagine them being great for painting Christmas tree ornaments with the children in your life. 

If you remember to re-cap your Kwik Stix each and every time you use them, they will last a long time. We were recently visiting family, and I noticed my nephew still had his Kwik Stix 12 pack we got him for Christmas a year ago. 

Arlene and I especially enjoyed the wide range of colors available in the 24 pack, including the white and orange in the original colors, and the way the metallic and neon colors layered well over the original colors. Just take your time layering, because if you push too hard on the metallic Thin Stix, you sometimes get little tiny paint balls on your project.

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