WHAT ARE THEY?

Zen Pens are essentially acrylic paint and can be used as such, but they have an additional creative attraction. They add DIMENSION to your work. When applied through the inbuilt applicator, instead of using a brush, the paint dries raised in small round dots. European manufacture, ensures it is a quality product.

Dot painting in the art world, is traditionally done using acrylic paint and ball modelling tools. This is soooo much better as it adds dimension, not achievable with ordinary acrylic paint. Plus there’s no loading paint on the dotting tool.

With Zen Pens, you will experience creativity and relaxation at the same – it‘s easy! That is why they are named Zen Pens. Apply Zen Pens freehand or for a structured pattern, by using stencils or drawn your own patterns in pencil! You can even brush it on for a background colour, like the white circles pictured below.

ARE YOU THINKING, WHY WOULD I BUY THEM?

• Who doesn’t need Zen time to focus on calming the inner self, zone out, and create without the stress or fear of failure.
• They work on many surfaces, including polymer and air dried clay.
• They make a perfect gift!
• Great for paper crafts. Make your own gift cards with dot patterns on the front, or decorate scrap books and journals.
• Need something crafty to do with kids? These are perfect – inexpensive (you can start with one pen, or one of our colour co-ordinated 2, 3 or 4 pen sets). Or for extra value, the Creative Break Set. A small investment in happiness – pens, stencils and card!
• Zen pens are suitable for a large range of ages. At 3 years old, grandchildren enjoy using them alongside older grandchildren, their mothers and grandmothers, of course!
• Zen Pens are a perfect activity for children’s parties. They get to take home a mini canvas or decorated stones, as an inside or garden decoration or to hide in the park, for someone else to find.
• We have had Zen Pen decorated stones in a bowl outside on a table for several years. Visitor’s enjoy examining them over coffee and a chat. Children are fascinated by them.
• Therapy through art! Increase concentration with the stencils modelled after classic Mandala patterns.
• They work on most materials, including polymer clay.
• The dimensional decoration looks amazing under a resin coating on jewellery or trinket bowls. They can appear to float in the resin if applied between 2 layers.

INSTRUCTIONS: HOW TO USE ZEN PENS

Patterns Using a Stencil:

1. Place the stencil on your project and transfer the design with a pencil.
2. Apply the dots with the Zen Pens.
3. Apply the colours, dot by dot, directly from the pen. The dots will round themselves. Vary the size of the dots by applying pressure to the pen for larger dots.
4. Want more details, then go for it! Go back and fill in between the dots.. It will then be unique to you.

Tips for success:

Shake the pens well before use, then leave them standing upright. A Pen holder (called a Butler) is not essential but a great accessory to have. It stores the pens standing upright with the applicator point down, ready to go. Why do you store them upright? Good question! It is to prevent air bubbles on the applicator end, which splatter the paint as they erupt from the pen. Storing them upright also prevents paint drying in the applicator if not used for some time.

• Hold the pen as you would a regular pen or pencil.
• Position the Zen Pen just above the surface to be decorated.
• Using the thumb and finger on the tube, lightly squeeze to expell the paint.
• Lift the pen straight up or your dot will not be nicely rounded.
• For smaller dots, lightly touch the pen to the surface. Or, for smaller dots, Fine Applicator Tips that fit on the pen are available for separate purchase. (See image above.)
• Don’t release the pressure on the pen, when you are doing a section of dots.
• Practice on paper first. This will also get the paint flowing smoothly from the pen.
• Apply dots to the design from the centre first, because you will smudge the dots with your hand if applied to the outside first, especially on large pieces.
• Place the piece you are decorating on a piece of paper so that you can easily turn it.
• Keep the pen tip clean as you work by wiping with paper towel.
• Applied a dot in the wrong place, or a wonky one? Easily fixed! Before it dries, scrape it off with a craft knife. Remove any smears of paint with a cotton bud moistened with Isopropyl alcohol.
• Leave for 24 hours to set and dry completely.

Using Zen Pens on Polymer Clay:

Use them before or after baking your polymer clay pieces. I prefer to add them after baking as the dots have a more rounded appearance.

Either way they adhere well to polymer clay.

Zen pens applied over blocks of colour, appear to be floating in the resin. It’s a little difficult to capture the effect in a photograph.

This image shows the Zen Pen dots applied over Lumiere Luster Flakes. They also adhere well to Mica Powder. These ones just might be my favourites, after I finish the edges and add findings!

Red Zen Pen dots add extra interest, placed around the outside of these earring components. Lifting them from the realms of boring!

The colours in this set were very muted as they were Pan Pastel / pigments applied through a silkscreen. The addition of Zen Pen dots gave them the lift they needed. They will be finished with resin before assembling.

This project may not make it to completion! But I included it to show how the addition of pearly drops of decoration can rescue a boring project. Maybe no rescue for this prototype though!