As a scrapbooker and journaling fan I've used Sakura's Gelly Roll pens for years. The Glaze pens are similar in feel to the Gelly Roll pens, but they have a wonderful new kind of ink. The Glaze pens use a thicker ink to create a raised line, perfect for creating texture on a craft or paper project. Glaze can be used on many different non-porous surfaces such as ceramics, glass, or CDs. They are also good for rubberstampers who like to emboss items.

My daughter and I used the Glaze pens to create gift bags for friends and relatives, along with personalized wrappers for the hand-made soap we were giving them. The Glaze pens didn't work as well on the brown paper sacks we were using for gift bags, as the bags absorbed too much of the ink. They worked fine on less porous things like vellum though. After experimenting with the bags, our labels (created on much thicker paper and vellum) turned out nicely. I also used the Glaze pens to create several layouts for my scrapbooks. One I particularly loved was the black Glaze ink on silver vellum. My husband is an avid motorcyclist and his club escorted the local "Toys for Tots" delivery. The black Glaze ink on the silver vellum matched the colors of the chrome and black paint and leathers and made for a sleek, professional looking layout. I also used the Glaze pens on regular cardstock in a fall layout and really liked how shiny the ink was.

It took me a little while to get used to the amount of ink that was flying out of the pens. As a user I am used to a very fine point from Sakura. Once I got the hang of it, I was very pleased with the new Glaze pen set. The only problem left with the pens once you get used to them is that you can't do as much in tiny etails. I would suggest using a letter template and soft pencil to do small lettering on projects first, then tracing over it with the Glaze pens. Otherwise you'll have ink smearing all over the letter area you're working with. If you are a current Gelly Roll user, just remember to go slow. Give the Glaze ink time to dry before adding other embellishments. It's tempting to run your finger over the writing or drawing right away because it does look (and feel!) so neat. I loved the look I was able to create with the new pens but smeared a lot at the beginning because I couldn't be patient enough. Rubberstampers used to working with embossing ink will probably be better at this than I was!

I will definitely get a lot of use out of my Sakura Glaze products now that I've gotten a good taste of how to use them effectively. I loved the look of the ink on vellum in all the layouts I did; I see myself using black and the metallic colors the most. This product will be a great addition to any crafter's toolbox and would be great for educational units like learning about Braille, hands-on letters, etc.



--Product Review by: Melonie Murray, Market Development Manager, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine