Instagram Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my Big Instagram Giveaway! In two weeks, Made By Marzipan gained 700 followers… and I’ve loved getting to know you better! We have a winner… Congratulations to Instagram follower @stlanders! I can’t wait to ship off all these goodies. Thank you again to the sponsors who contributed these generous gifts!

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Big Instagram Giveaway

Hello crafters! Well, my videos have almost 45,000 subscribers, and more than 6 million views! Thank you so much for watching! But I’d love to get to know you better. That’s why I recently made my Instagram account public. It’s a great way for me to share what I’m working on, get your feedback, and swap ideas.

To celebrate, I’m hosting a huge giveaway with lots of amazing prizes from my sponsors! These are some of my favorite products, and one lucky person will win it all! Just take a look at what you could win!

Sakura is giving away a set of 6 Pigma Micron pens in black, as well as a second set in color! These are my favorite pens for professional hand lettering projects. Additionally, you can win a Sumo Grip mechanical pencil, which is what I use for hand lettering sketches.

You’ll also get a set of 2 white Gelly Roll pens, as well as a set of 10 Gelly Roll Moonlight pens. These pens show up beautifully on dark paper. And, they’ll give you a super cute zipper pouch to store all your new goodies in!

The winner will also receive a pad of artist grade drawing paper, made by Strathmore, and a translucent ruler.

This is everything you need to start hand lettering!

But that’s not all! Take a look at what Grafix is giving away! You can win Ink Jet Shrink Film, which goes right in your printer! I love to make jewelry and charms with this.

There’s also a pack of Cling Vinyl, a material that sticks to any smooth surface without glues. Try making your own masks and stencils with it!

Plus, they’re giving away a package of Rub-Onz! Design your own rub-ons by stamping or printing.

Oh, and we can’t forget the calligraphy goodies! If you’ve watched my videos on dipping pen calligraphy and have been dying to try it, now’s your chance. I’m giving away a Speedball dipping pen set, as well as Speedball India Ink. Speedball nibs are my favorite for script calligraphy, and I know you’ll love this set.

And, for you fabric lovers, I’m throwing in yards from my fabric stash. These include prints from Joann.com and FatQuarterShop.com, from designers like Amy Butler, Robert Kaufman, and Michael Miller.

So, here’s how to enter. Like I said, this will be my first Instagram giveaway! Just follow @MadeByMarzipan on Instagram, and post or comment on Instagram using the hashtag #madebymarzipan.

One entry per day per person, open only to contiguous United States residents. A random Instagram follower will be chosen Wednesday, November 19. Thanks again to my incredible sponsors and my amazing followers, for allowing me to do what I love and create everyday. Good luck!

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Calligraphy Ink Reviews

I’ve spent a lot of time playing around with different calligraphy inks for my dipping pen. There are still more that I want to try, but I thought I’d post some calligraphy ink reviews to help you choose the best ink for your project. I’ll keep adding to this post as I test out more brands.

Black Inks

The first ink I tried was Higgins Waterproof India Ink. It comes in a bottle with an eyedropper, which actually just got in my way. The dropper didn’t work well with my nibs, so I had to find a spot to put the lid since it’s rounded and won’t stand up on its own. The ink itself is rich and smooth and I liked it a lot.

I also tested Winsor & Newton Black Indian Ink. This was very similar to Higgins. I liked it and would use it again.

White Inks

I thought I would also love Higgins Super White Pigmented Drawing Ink. But it was disappointing. It was thin and watery. Even after going over it twice, it still looked grayish on black cardstock.

So I moved on to Winsor & Newton Drawing Ink Bottle, White. It beat Higgins, but not by much. It was slightly more opaque, but I was hoping for more.

Next I tried Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. This ink is very thick, much to thick to write with straight out of the bottle. You dilute a small amount with a bit of water. Although it’s a bit more time consuming, I appreciated the ability to make the ink just the consistency I wanted. Because of that, I had a much more opaque ink compared to the previous ones I tried. It was also the most expensive.

Colored Inks

I tested out Winsor & Newton Colored Drawing Inks. This ink has an interesting consistency… it looks slightly gel-like in the bottle, but is pretty runny on paper. These had an effect that looked a lot like Crayola marker. So while I might use them to color in accents, I wouldn’t recommend it for lettering.

I also played around with watercolor paints. The trick is to use tube watercolors so you can make the paint a bit thicker. Try changing the paint color mid-word for an interesting ombre effect. Watercolor paint is really forgiving to letter with and is an inexpensive alternative to calligraphy ink. I used Sakura Koi Assorted Water Color Tube Set.

What’s your favorite brand of ink? What kind should I try next?

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