Did you just get your first Diamond Painting Kit? Are you interested in purchasing one but want to know what you are getting yourself into? How to Diamond Paint for Beginners will take you step by step from opening your kit to framing your new piece of art. You will learn about unrolling your canvas to flatten it, how to use the tools that come in the kit, as well as how to place each drill on the canvas. I will also include a few tips and tricks along the way that will help you master the new crafting craze I have fallen in love with.

A Quick Primer Video

What to Expect When Opening Your New Diamond Painting

Unboxing a brand new Diamond Painting is usually the most exciting part of my day, and I hope it will be the highlight of yours. Upon opening the outer package you will find a rolled canvas, a package containing all the drills (the diamond beads), a set of premium tools, and an inventory sheet that lists how many packs of drills you should have received listed by color. It may seem overwhelming the first time, but checking you received everything is rather easy.

The first thing I do once I open my Craftibly Diamond Painting Kit is an inventory on the drills. First, you will need to locate your inventory sheet. On this sheet, you will notice a list of symbols, followed by a color code (DMC colors for those of you who stitch), and finally the number of drill bags you should receive for each. Simply pull the drill bags out, separate them by the DMC code printed on the bags, and start counting.

I usually start at the top of my inventory list, locate the bags for the first DMC Code, count how many bags I have, check to make sure it is the same number on the list, and then cross out the number of bags so that I know they have been counted. I then repeat these steps for each code that follows. If for any reason you are short on the number of bags you received, contact us for replacement drills at no additional cost. I suggest checking your inventory levels as soon as you receive your package, even if you will be waiting to work on the actual Diamond Painting.

After checking to make sure you have all the drills needed to complete your diamond painting, you can check the list of tools. This part of the kit should include a white drill tray, a clear sparkle diamond pen with comfort grip, pink pen wax, black tweezers, and clear storage baggies. Each of these plays an important part while Diamond Painting. I will explain how to use each tool you received in the next section but for now, just make sure they’re there.

The final item you need to check when unboxing your Craftibly Diamond Painting is your canvas. Make sure the canvas showed up in good condition. To check for any issues, unroll your canvas and peel back the clear plastic. Look over everything and then recover the canvas. This keeps the adhesive from drying out.

You can wait for this last step until you decide it’s time to start working on this soon-to-sparkle piece of art. I start at one corner of the canvas and peel slowly. After peeling a section I use my hand to smooth the clear cover back down and watch the canvas flatten from its rolled state. Most people peel about halfway up the canvas, flatten, and then turn to repeat on the other side. I feel like this allows you to flatten the canvas while keeping the clear cover straight and reducing the risk of getting anything on the adhesive.

Once you have all your inventory checked and canvas flattened, you are ready to Diamond Paint.

How to Place Your Diamonds

Are you ready to Diamond Paint your new Craftibly Kit? Well, let’s get started! The first items you will need to locate are the diamond pen, pink pen wax, and drill tray. To prepare the diamond pen you will need to insert the metal tip into the pink wax. This will deposit a small amount of wax into the tip of your pen. The best way to get wax is to peel back a corner of the plastic cover on one side of the wax and stab it with the pen.

After I stab it I recover the wax (keeps it clean). This wax is just sticky enough to pick up the drills and place them on the canvas, which has adhesive stronger than the wax. Make sure the wax does not overflow out of the metal tip. This means you got too carried away with stabbing the wax and small pieces of wax can get left on the drills when placing them on the canvas.

Diamond Paint For Beginners Pink Pen and Tray

The second thing you need to do is take the time to understand your canvas. On one side of your canvas you will notice a symbol and DCM Code chart similar to that on your inventory sheet. The image on the canvas will be broken down into a pattern grid containing the symbols you find on the chart. This pattern grid creates a pixelized version of your selected artwork. Pick a small area of the canvas you wish to start on and then it is time to start placing your drills!

I find it easier to complete an entire canvas by sectioning it off into smaller pieces. To do this I usually start by taking a pair of scissors and cutting down the center of the plastic covering. On smaller Diamond Painting canvases I sometimes skip this step. Next, I peel back a small section of plastic, about three to four inches, and place my drill tray on top of it to hold it down. If you prefer to move your tray along with you, use another handy object to hold back the plastic cover.

Look at this section of the canvas to decide which color drill you would like to start with. Once you choose the starting symbol, use the chart on the side of your canvas to identify the DMC Code. Now, locate the drill bag labeled with that number, cut or tear the edge of the package, empty some drills into the tray, and let’s get those suckers onto the canvas.

At this point, you will want to gently shake your drill tray in order to flip, separate, and straighten your drills. This will make it easier to pick them up using the diamond pen. Gently place the tip of the pen on the top of a drill. The drill should stick to the tip almost as if it is floating. Firmly press the drill to the corresponding symbol on the pattern grid.

Repeat these steps until you have placed a drill on all the corresponding symbols in that section. Add drills to the tray as needed. At the end of this process, you will have an open bag of drills as well as a few spare drills in the tray. You will want to use one of the clear baggies or a storage container to hold these until you need them again.

I began investing in storage containers after doing a few Diamond Paintings, but the clear baggies are great to use as a beginner. Labeling the baggies helps me to stay organized. I use a permanent marker to write the DMC Code on the outside of the baggie, but if you can still clearly see the code on the open drill package, that will be visible through the clear baggie. Then, just pick your next color and repeat the same actions.

Repeat this step for all the sections of your canvas until it is complete. It will be looking really good before long. and if you really want to amaze yourself, take it outside in the sunlight once you’re done :-).

Why Work in Sections?

Working on your Diamond Painting in sections has a number of benefits, the most important of which is that it keeps the canvas from collecting dust as you work on it. When you remove a large section of the clear covering, you expose that area or adhesive to all the possible dust or debris in the air. Working in sections eliminates the amount of canvas exposed at a time.

A few other advantages to working on your Diamond Painting in sections include straighter lines and keeping the protective cover on. From my personal experience, when I work in small sections, I am able to keep my drills in nice tight lines. This is due to me paying better attention to each detail as I go followed by a sense of accomplishment at how good it looks when that section is complete. I have also found that if I go through and complete all of one color at a time, when I get a majority of the canvas complete, I am unable to stick the plastic cover back on top because there’s diamonds everywhere.

More than anything, I feel as though Diamond Painting is my new addiction and sections help keep me grounded. I could work on a canvas until the sun rises if I don’t take a break. I find it helps to limit the amount of time I spend a night by sectioning off the amount I feel I have time to complete. Once I get into the zone and my stress melts away, I find myself enjoying the relaxation of Diamond Painting. It’s easy to loose track of time. I still sometimes get carried away and work on a canvas all night now and again.

Diamond Paint for Beginners Seal and Frame

Placing the last few drills on a Diamond Painting brings a huge sense of accomplishment. I also am filled with a sense of pride. The final step is to decide how you want to display this new dazzling piece of art. Diamond Painters around the world use different techniques to seal and frame their Diamond Paintings.

Sealing a diamond painting can be done by a finishing spray or using a clear glue with a paintbrush. Don’t feel like you have to seal your end product but it is recommended. Just be careful since different sealers will react differently to the drills. I find that sprays are lighter and therefore do not take away from the MaxLuster 5D Drills at Craftibly. Glues and other like materials can sometimes diminish the sparkle.

Framing your Diamond Painting is considered a must for myself and most of our customers. Choosing the frame style is up to you, but pay attention to the dimensions of your canvas when choosing the size. The inch or centimeter dimensions that determine the size you order indicates the size of your image. The actual canvas is larger than that and often times they can be some weird sizes. When selecting a frame use the ordered dimensions. If you are unable to order the exact size, go slighter larger rather than slightly smaller. You can use craft tape to frame the white area of the canvas that contains writing or even trim it off some too.

Now that you have framed your Craftibly Diamond Painting, take a picture with it and share it online, to our Facebook group, or tag us in it on Instagram. Then hang it or gift it to someone you love. I hope that Diamond Paint for Beginners walked you through every step to complete your canvas. Dazzle people with a piece of art that sparkles and is sure to be the topic of conversation!

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September 15, 2019 — Amy Rasor

Comments

Cheree said:

At first looking at all the pieces of my kit, I freaked out. There were too many drills and diamond holders plus all the diamonds and how to place them, well it was all too much and my anxiety went through the roof.
You explained what each item was for and how to use them plus ideas of how its made simply for you.
All of this made my art fun and relaxing to do. I thank you for your simple ways of accomplishing my new found craft that I plan on doing alot of.
Thank you,
Cheree Walters

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