Giveaway! + Chalkola Acrylic Paint (32 Colour) Set Review

Painting is something I'm passionate about but really struggle to find time for, particularly with a 15 month old running around! So when Chalkola very kindly gifted me their 32 colour acrylic paint set for review it was both an exciting opportunity and excuse to get creative.

My first impression was sheer joy at the range of colours - anybody who's into stationary and art supplies knows the excitement of having plenty of choice. There are four trays, each containing eight paints, divided into colour groups. My first impression was that I was very excited to see there were two white paints (crucial!) and the packaging is modern with easily identifiable paint colours which are a close match to the packaging colours (something that very often misses the mark.) There are a few metallic colours too, something I love for small details. The paint tube sizes are really generous too.

I remember at university we were very much encouraged to premix colours, using them straight from the tube was kind of a no-no, but personally I think this depends on what you're making. I love having these colours premixed and at their optimum vibrancy for craft projects. Whereas when painting and illustrating I prefer to create my own palette, but having so many options to play with definitely makes mixing easier and quicker than when using more basic or primary colours.

I'm working on a painting for Eden's room with these which I'll share later as everything takes a little while with a babe. But in the mean time I wanted to share a nature mobile we made using pine cones we collected on a walk. Eden has her own little patch of "faerie garden" and we're slowly filling it with beautiful things. I plan to use these Chalkola acrylic paints to create faerie doors, painted stones, and painted flowerpots to add some more colour to her patch of garden. But something I really enjoyed doing was using them to decorate the pine cones for the nature mobile, each one with an individual colour scheme and tipped with some metallic accents, they catch the light beautifully when hanging and spinning in the garden. It's such a simple and easy but pretty thing to make.

I think the pigmentation of these paints is fantastic. The paints are a good thickness, I thinned them out with water to give them some slip while painting, which makes them go much further. They blend well and dry smoothly. They're non toxic (I'll be keeping them away from Eden, but still that's useful to know!) and versatile: I can see myself using these for all kinds of projects, which I'll be sharing on my Instagram.

Head over to my Instagram, @littlepackofvegans, for a little Chalkola giveaway! And you can get 10% off at Chalkola using the code HANNAHM10, or CHALKOLA10 at the Chalkola Amazon store.