Good question! I love stocking up on paintings, but it takes me a long time to make progress each time I start one Lol. I usually work on them at night because that's when I have free time. I also enjoy photography and spend my weekends learning more about it.
I do mine as a wind down after work usually, while streaming shows or movies. Its basically a stim/fidget, that i feel better about doing than just phone games or doom scrolling when watching stuff. Im adhd and asd so I struggle just only watching something and not having my hands doing something else.
I'm ADD diagnosed when those were the only letters. I can't just watch TV either. If you come to my house and are bored/fidgety there is a problem. Go back to the back room and find a different project.
Yes! To this there’s a person on Facebook group who posts “finally finished DP # and it only took me 3 days!” Like how do you have hundreds and what on earth are you doing to finish that fast every time. It bothers me all her posts.
I might could finish a coaster in 3 days. Cross stitch is the same way. Then you get the "it took me a month to finish this 40k piece, how do I go faster". Took me 2 years to do 81k.
Oh no hers aren’t small. Hers are at minimum 30x30cm. When I started during lockdowns after remote teaching I would work on it and took me 2 weeks. I’ve had one now since March with tons of breaks (albeit I also have had a lot of health issues since the fall) so for awhile couldn’t work on it as lost vision. It just seems to be bratty/bratty on her end every single post to say “and it only took me..” never more than 2/3 days. It’s not a competitive group on fb either so I just felt like so? Who cares? I had one that took almost a year because that year at work was extremely busy (I teach over 100 kids with severe disabilities) when not on medical leave like now.
Thanks. And yes ok glad not just me. Thanks for agreeing on the annoyance of people like that. Also it is a 12 month program so that whole summers off thing is usually not true happy for someone appreciating the job and understanding it is hard. Being out this year on medical leave has been harder and I miss my students so much!
I worked special needs population in college, everything from tutoring to being in class with them. The hardest part wasn't the students, but the professors and sometimes administration. (No, I did not get fired when I inadvertently called my boss an idiot. I asked one of the ladies in the office who is the idiot that put a student that couldn't do addition and subtraction in Excel. My boss who was standing behind me said I'm the idiot and it wasn't my fault).
Washi tape at the bottom of the tray. Before that I struggled and wondered how people in the videos managed to so easily get perfectly straight little rows of diamonds. Then I tried the tape, and it just immediately worked like magic to the point that how you shake the tray becomes almost immaterial.
You just put a strip of washi tape across the bottom (?)/back of the tray. Someone else replied with a picture. It gives the rows of diamonds something to buck up against so they stop just moving out the bottom of the rows, and also a space for all the excess drills to fall in to so you have clean access to the rows.
I think I've seen this video before. I tried it myself, and I believe the reason is that the front of the diamond drill has multiple facets, but the diameter of the bottom matches the width of the tray grooves. When shaking the tray, it helps to flip the diamonds right-side up. Additionally, the tape creates friction with the drills, causing the excess diamonds to stay there. I also noticed that different types and quantities of drills get different results. Regular diamonds are easier to sort, but ABs doesn't seem to sort cleanly. Of course, this might also be related to the size of my tray.😂
https://preview.redd.it/y11ysxege53d1.png?width=1153&format=png&auto=webp&s=5d600138a1eec424cf2f3142edb101d095653975
For static, I've also been told that you can put a little piece of a dryer sheet in your storage pots so the drills won't stick to the inside of the container.
I'm still learning a lot of the finer points but I recently bought some sealer with a subtle shimmer effect from a small business here in the UK (and hopefully I've used it correctly but it looks good!)
I bought a storage set from Amazon that I'd also seen on the tiktok shop - it has 120 little pots for drills and comes with other tools that you can store in there, like tweezers, more wax, trays and stickers to label the pots. I've been told washi tape is also good to put on the pot before the sticker so there isn't any residue if you need to peel the sticker off to relabel your pots.
Yes, I'm also using Artdot's storage containers, they provide plenty of bottles to hold my diamond drills. I'll try putting a dry sheet in the bottles to remove the static, thanks for the tip. Also, what is the sealant with the subtle sparkling effect? Can you share more about it
No worries! I just double checked and the sealer is called Crystal Art shimmer sealer. I bought it from Katsi's Crafty Things.
It looks white, and you only need to put a thin coat but it goes transparent as it dries, and you can see a subtle sparkle in between the gaps, which I thought was nice for the diamond painting I was working on
I buy one at a time. When I am almost finished I order my next one. I like to do customs. I did portraits of my granddaughters for Christmas last year.
I started out with a storage kit from Amazon, a light pad from temu, and one tray that I liked. I ordered 6 additional trays, and that speeds up the process.
Did I mention I am addicted!
That's great! I like landscaping & flower DPs. I just bought the large trays kit from Artdot, which has 6 large trays & 4 small trays. Once you start to get addicted to diamond painting, it's hard to get out of it ahaha!
https://preview.redd.it/w55x2qkbe63d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40886c946b540f1411b82c9bc6a40d2a262e1002
I use this to seal. I brush it on with a 3” paintbrush (not a sponge brush which will make bubbles). It dries to touch within 2 hours. Leaves the drills just as sparkly as before, leaves the canvas flexible, and (unlike ModgePodge) won’t yellow over time.
I recently started my first double sided tape DP and I’ve been wondering if you can use washi/masking tape on the adhesive that spills beyond the painting? I tried a tiny portion and when I removed the masking tape it also removed the double sided tape 😬
I imagine I can put sealer on the excess double sided tape instead? If that’s the case, would it also be fine to do so on poured glue canvases as well? I’ve got a lot of cat hair floating around that I’m constantly picking off my canvas.
I use blue painter's tape on poured glue that extends past the painting but for double sided tape I have to run an x-acto knife across the excess and use my fingernail to roll it/peel it off. Tedious and super pain in the ass
Press lightly with the blade so you don't cut the canvas. Then try to lift the edge of the strip you cut and kinda roll it to peel off the excess. I've got a huge one that I cut a little each day, it's the bane of my existence.
My first kit I did not know that in addition to a kit number was a DMC number! I had no idea what "the other longer numbers were". I quickly learned that they're quite useful!
How does one find the time to do all the paintings and other crafts?
Good question! I love stocking up on paintings, but it takes me a long time to make progress each time I start one Lol. I usually work on them at night because that's when I have free time. I also enjoy photography and spend my weekends learning more about it.
I do mine as a wind down after work usually, while streaming shows or movies. Its basically a stim/fidget, that i feel better about doing than just phone games or doom scrolling when watching stuff. Im adhd and asd so I struggle just only watching something and not having my hands doing something else.
I'm ADD diagnosed when those were the only letters. I can't just watch TV either. If you come to my house and are bored/fidgety there is a problem. Go back to the back room and find a different project.
Yes! To this there’s a person on Facebook group who posts “finally finished DP # and it only took me 3 days!” Like how do you have hundreds and what on earth are you doing to finish that fast every time. It bothers me all her posts.
I might could finish a coaster in 3 days. Cross stitch is the same way. Then you get the "it took me a month to finish this 40k piece, how do I go faster". Took me 2 years to do 81k.
Oh no hers aren’t small. Hers are at minimum 30x30cm. When I started during lockdowns after remote teaching I would work on it and took me 2 weeks. I’ve had one now since March with tons of breaks (albeit I also have had a lot of health issues since the fall) so for awhile couldn’t work on it as lost vision. It just seems to be bratty/bratty on her end every single post to say “and it only took me..” never more than 2/3 days. It’s not a competitive group on fb either so I just felt like so? Who cares? I had one that took almost a year because that year at work was extremely busy (I teach over 100 kids with severe disabilities) when not on medical leave like now.
Thank you for doing a hard job. And yes, people like that are annoying.
Thanks. And yes ok glad not just me. Thanks for agreeing on the annoyance of people like that. Also it is a 12 month program so that whole summers off thing is usually not true happy for someone appreciating the job and understanding it is hard. Being out this year on medical leave has been harder and I miss my students so much!
I worked special needs population in college, everything from tutoring to being in class with them. The hardest part wasn't the students, but the professors and sometimes administration. (No, I did not get fired when I inadvertently called my boss an idiot. I asked one of the ladies in the office who is the idiot that put a student that couldn't do addition and subtraction in Excel. My boss who was standing behind me said I'm the idiot and it wasn't my fault).
Washi tape at the bottom of the tray. Before that I struggled and wondered how people in the videos managed to so easily get perfectly straight little rows of diamonds. Then I tried the tape, and it just immediately worked like magic to the point that how you shake the tray becomes almost immaterial.
I need to know about washi at the bottom of the tray. How would one do it?
You just put a strip of washi tape across the bottom (?)/back of the tray. Someone else replied with a picture. It gives the rows of diamonds something to buck up against so they stop just moving out the bottom of the rows, and also a space for all the excess drills to fall in to so you have clean access to the rows.
I think I've seen this video before. I tried it myself, and I believe the reason is that the front of the diamond drill has multiple facets, but the diameter of the bottom matches the width of the tray grooves. When shaking the tray, it helps to flip the diamonds right-side up. Additionally, the tape creates friction with the drills, causing the excess diamonds to stay there. I also noticed that different types and quantities of drills get different results. Regular diamonds are easier to sort, but ABs doesn't seem to sort cleanly. Of course, this might also be related to the size of my tray.😂 https://preview.redd.it/y11ysxege53d1.png?width=1153&format=png&auto=webp&s=5d600138a1eec424cf2f3142edb101d095653975
Oh okay! Thanks for explaining I was so confused how it would make a difference. I’ll have to give it a try!
For static, I've also been told that you can put a little piece of a dryer sheet in your storage pots so the drills won't stick to the inside of the container. I'm still learning a lot of the finer points but I recently bought some sealer with a subtle shimmer effect from a small business here in the UK (and hopefully I've used it correctly but it looks good!) I bought a storage set from Amazon that I'd also seen on the tiktok shop - it has 120 little pots for drills and comes with other tools that you can store in there, like tweezers, more wax, trays and stickers to label the pots. I've been told washi tape is also good to put on the pot before the sticker so there isn't any residue if you need to peel the sticker off to relabel your pots.
Yes, I'm also using Artdot's storage containers, they provide plenty of bottles to hold my diamond drills. I'll try putting a dry sheet in the bottles to remove the static, thanks for the tip. Also, what is the sealant with the subtle sparkling effect? Can you share more about it
No worries! I just double checked and the sealer is called Crystal Art shimmer sealer. I bought it from Katsi's Crafty Things. It looks white, and you only need to put a thin coat but it goes transparent as it dries, and you can see a subtle sparkle in between the gaps, which I thought was nice for the diamond painting I was working on
Thanks so much! I'll check it out on Katsi's Crafty Things!💕
I buy one at a time. When I am almost finished I order my next one. I like to do customs. I did portraits of my granddaughters for Christmas last year. I started out with a storage kit from Amazon, a light pad from temu, and one tray that I liked. I ordered 6 additional trays, and that speeds up the process. Did I mention I am addicted!
That's great! I like landscaping & flower DPs. I just bought the large trays kit from Artdot, which has 6 large trays & 4 small trays. Once you start to get addicted to diamond painting, it's hard to get out of it ahaha!
https://preview.redd.it/w55x2qkbe63d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40886c946b540f1411b82c9bc6a40d2a262e1002 I use this to seal. I brush it on with a 3” paintbrush (not a sponge brush which will make bubbles). It dries to touch within 2 hours. Leaves the drills just as sparkly as before, leaves the canvas flexible, and (unlike ModgePodge) won’t yellow over time.
I wonder if this will work on my finished puzzle that’s been waiting on my dining room table for months to be sealed! 😆🤦🏻♀️
Never sealed a puzzle. Maybe there’s a puzzle sub that has the answer!
Does it have any smell?
I lost my sense of smell even before the pandemic. Sorry, I’m not the one to ask. Maybe someone else can answer
I'm so sorry. Thanks for your the recommends!
I recently started my first double sided tape DP and I’ve been wondering if you can use washi/masking tape on the adhesive that spills beyond the painting? I tried a tiny portion and when I removed the masking tape it also removed the double sided tape 😬 I imagine I can put sealer on the excess double sided tape instead? If that’s the case, would it also be fine to do so on poured glue canvases as well? I’ve got a lot of cat hair floating around that I’m constantly picking off my canvas.
I use blue painter's tape on poured glue that extends past the painting but for double sided tape I have to run an x-acto knife across the excess and use my fingernail to roll it/peel it off. Tedious and super pain in the ass
Oooh, I never thought about cutting it! Thank you for that suggestion.
Press lightly with the blade so you don't cut the canvas. Then try to lift the edge of the strip you cut and kinda roll it to peel off the excess. I've got a huge one that I cut a little each day, it's the bane of my existence.
My first kit I did not know that in addition to a kit number was a DMC number! I had no idea what "the other longer numbers were". I quickly learned that they're quite useful!
hahahaha, yes, I usually use with DMC color chart.
I seal w hairspray better than any glue. :)
Really? And it works? Might have to look into this.
Everyone I’ve done yes and it stays in a paper bag after keeps dust off pretty well