Diamond Painting

Okay, this isn't really paper crafting, but is what I've done most recently.  I bought it from Amazon - NEILDEN 5D Full Drill Diamond Painting Kit, DIY Diamond Number Rhinestone Painting Kits for Adults and Children Embroidery Diamond Arts Craft Home Decor 13.7×17.7 inch.

It was fun, and turned out quite well with lots of sparkle but there were some issues with this kit, that I'll address in a moment.

One of the things I've been thinking about is if I can figure out a design that could be created with my leftover drills to make a small picture as a card focal.  I think, for instance, that a candy cane would work well (but of course I don't have that color of drills!).  Anyway, I think this could be fun to figure out.

Regarding the specific kit I bought:

They used letters & numbers & I was glad to see that they left out certain letters that would have been too close to numbers or other letters.  However, I still had real trouble distinguishing between some of them.  For instance, the #5 & #6 were very close in color and symbol & very hard to tell the difference.  Also, it was surprisingly difficult to distinguishing between the E and the F symbols.  Another thing I noticed was that the drills were not as uniform as one might like - extra resin around some, some smaller than others. However, I had plenty of drills to complete it and I really DID like the completed picture.  NOTE that despite the description, this was NOT 13.7 x 17.7 inches, it was a bit smaller at 30 cm by 40 cm - approx 11.8" x 15.7")

The rest of this post is a listing of tips I learned along the way as I checked out hints on you-tube & dealt with my own trial and error:

• While this wasn't bad, it would have been better at a higher resolution.  One you-tube video recommended that you buy canvases that are at least 50 cm x 60 cm (preferably 60 cm x 80 cm if fairly detailed) - and that you have them send you a preview so you can check for pixilation.   If having them create a design from your own picture, you might try checking the rendering with design rendering software to figure out how big you need to go for a specific picture. 
• Tiny Worlds of Wonder (link here) had quite a bit to say about using cross stitch rendering software to check out resolution for diamond painting - especially important if you want them to render one of your own pictures and need to know what size to go with. Here is a link to the cross stitch rendering web site you can use - it has a built-in setting for diamond painting: https://my.thread-bare.com/designer. A second rendering site, https://www.pixel-stitch.net/ requires conversion for diamond painting.  In regular cross stitch software, you will need to know how to convert stitches to centimeters. To do this, divide the size canvas you desire to render by .25 if you are using square drills (round drills are a bit bigger). Her example is for a 50x60 canvas: 50/.25 = 200 stitches 60/.25= 240 stitches. :)  Note that if you are using round drills, they are larger than the square beads, so you will need a larger painting to achieve the same resolution.  Square beads do take longer, however & are less forgiving.
• Before you start, if your canvas wants to roll, simply peel back the cover paper from each corner & replace it to straighten the canvas!
• For a right-handed person, it is recommended that you start in the upper right corner & work in small sections from right to left - this will help you protect the glue & the canvas as you work.  However, especially with a square drill pattern, you may want to start in the center and work out.
• I used my craft knife to lightly cut through the cover sheet to create horizontal strips, and then folded back the strip a section at a time - or simply cut a piece of the strip off with my scissors to open a new section.  My cover paper was a clear, so I found it hard to see where the section ended.  Because of this, I would often carefully (making sure not to get my hand in the glue!) work the first line or two of the left edge so I could see where to stop, before starting at the right side.
• Apply your diamonds using a checkerboard pattern where you start by applying diamonds in every other spot & then come back & fill in later.  Also, when applying your "diamonds", don't work in straight blocks (especially with the square "diamonds").  Leave an edge of "checkerboard" diamonds beyond the section you are working with to avoid obvious section lines in your work.  NOTE: When using light colors, gaps can sometimes show more easily.  To make them look best, place one at a time in a checkerboard pattern rather than using a multi-placer. And, when using a multi-placer, you can come at the beads from the side & push the drills up against the line in the tray to help ensure they are straight.
• Be sure to use a craft knife to let air out of any glue bubbles or your work will show those creases/rivers.  That will be more common with ones with the white covering over glue which are made with double-sided adhesive (the clear covers are usually glue poured on the canvas with a machine).
• Use an easel to adjust the angle of your work so you are more comfortable. 
• To help you see - especially for dark-colored squares - use a light pad at partial strength.
• After pouring your beads into the tray provided, gently shake them back and forth so they settle out and are easier to pick up.
• You need to prepare your application tool to pick up the beads - usually a red wax is supplied for this purpose.  However, instead of preparing your application tool with the red wax, you can you a small piece of blue tack (like you would use to attach posters to the wall).  This will last MUCH longer and speed up your process. Note that some tools have two ends - one to apply one bead at a time, the other to apply several at once.
• You may want to protect your work when finished by applying a clear coat to hold the beads in place in case the glue starts to break down. This will make your work a little less sparkly, but not bad if you use the right product.  Recommended for this are: DecoArt Triple Thick Brilliant Brush-On Glaze OR Mod Podge Super Gloss.  (Thanks, Studio Sam - to see her full video on this check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg3G-W41_Ug&feature=share.)