I bought these handmade paints by KJ Design by Karen from Etsy.
This is not a glowing review of the seller, tho’ the paints are okay.
Unboxing, the paints were not wrapped individually;
bits of colors had transferred onto other colors (see image above).

They were sticking to a topper, so likely they were not cured when sent.  I’ve never had small maker paints be sent sticky, even MGraham, another small house here in Portland and they also makes theirs with honey. She says they may not fully harden but I’ve not had issues with MG being sticky. A lot of the paint stuck to the topper. I could not really grab it off the topper.

Magnets were pre-installed, which is nice.
I never buy half-pans, but they were out of full pans.
Again, okay with me now, as I was saved $$$ in the long run.

Full disclosure to give context, I have bought several other hand-made paints:
Greenleaf & Blueberry, JazperStardust, PfeifferArt, and MatteoGrilliArt paints,
so I am not new to trying small brand paints.

My second beef is the paint colors in this batch were not what was shown.
The purple I received is a dark red purple, see below center right) whereas the color in the images for her selling is blue-purple, like a darker version of the lilac.
The two reds I received (Red and Peach-Red) are nearly identical in color, whereas the sale image shows a distinction of a pale red and a very nice coral color.
That was disappointing, as I had looked a long time to find the colors I liked.

Many of the paints were disappointing, though I tried to give them a juicy wash.
Aztec, Bronze-Gold (which is green), Sea and Blue continued to be streaky.
Golden Orange, Red, Lilac, Jade Green, and Cool (blue) are the better quality paint colors.

After wetting, I created these two pages to see the paints,
and this ALONE dropped the paint levels quickly with those small uses.
I have a good amount of Greenleaf & Blueberry paints left after four years of use.
Ditto Jazper, though I bought a half-pan of his colors.
The paints themselves seemed to disappear just in the testing — meaning that they were being used up very quickly.  Not being a paint-maker, I can’t tell you why.  The paints from others I’ve used a lot and they are not disappearing fast.  I don’t know what to make of that…

BTW, Shimmering paints don’t shine to their fullest in a sketchbook like the Nostalgie, above.  This is why I try them out on black, below.

So, bottom line, what do I think?

I will use them up (rather quickly) as touches of brilliance in a painting on the carousel horses, for instance, rather than a wall of gold.  For a wall of gold, I will move to Schminke (left) and leave behind the hand-made brands.  I don’t know if you can see the depth in Schminke vs KJ’s, but it is striking.  Solid pigmentation.

I wouldn’t buy from her again.  Why?
Because when I told her all this — especially the parts about the wrong colors from her images — she said she was basically sorry I was unhappy.
YOU know that kind of apology, a non-apology apology…
As in, I am sorry you are irritating me, and this not my problem.
Oh well, ho-hum, move on.

She offered a full refund AFTER messages back and forth,
IF I would send them back in good condition…
BUT SHE KNEW I HAD USED THEM.  Not possible.
She did not offer any possible solution — replacements for two paints,
a discount coupon on further paint, etc.
So, I’d not buy from her again even if the paints were worth the trouble..

Also, her public comment was that she offered me a full refund and I declined.
Further, when I told Etsy the actual story they would not remove that one comment,
making it seem like she was so reasonable and she was NOT.

Ganesha and Matteo Grilli’s Paints

Gratitude Journal: Greenleaf and Blueberry Handmade Paints

Hahnemühle Post Cards, 16, Jazper Stardust Hearts

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