Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and The Emotional Roller Coaster of Getting Them

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I'm going to do something a little bit different. I don't have a card for you. That's right. Today I'm doing a product spotlight. It's my first one, so please, be kind. Also, it's a lot longer than I usually post, because a lot happened in the process.

Brush Tips

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. We've all seen them, some of have had them for a while, some are brand new to them (like me) and some may be sitting on the fence. Hopefully this will tip you off, in either direction, depending on which way you were already leaning.

First I'm going to start with some backstory. I have been eyeing these for quite some time. But isn't that the way it goes with all new things. It's all shiny, then we get it and we never touch it because we forgot what we were going to do with it in the first place, or we are so overwhelmed that we have no idea where to start.




I'm in Canada, and these are not the easiest markers to find. Nor are they something that we can say was an "impulse buy".

I hit the internet. I found various US vendors that would sell them, but with the exchange right now, they were ridiculously priced. Enter Amazon - Canada edition.

January 24th 2016: Placed the order through Amazon for the 36 pack through a Japanese distributor. I received confirmation of my shipment the next day, and was told to expect delivery between February 19 - March 11. -- Sad face! But considering what I thought to be an wicked deal, I figured I could wait.

Markers

February 19 - March 11 2016: I'm still waiting. There is nothing in the mail, no notices of delivery. I'm getting sadder and sadder all the time.

March 23 2016: I email the seller and advise that it has been 12 days since the lapse of my expected delivery window and I still don't have my package. They email back the next day, asking me to wait an additional 10 days because it is their busy season. Also, they tell me that because they shipped it standard, there is no tracking information available.

(Side note: Who sends anything overseas without tracking information? Honestly!)

April 3 2016: Still nothing. I email again, saying I have waited as they requested and I still have no package. I'm asked to wait. Again.

April 11 2016: I email again, saying that it is now a month past my delivery window and I believe the package has been lost, to please cancel my order, I'll buy them elsewhere. They emailed me back, saying that they "now also feel the package has been lost. Will send repayment today. [And that] they hope to see another order from me soon." uhhh no.

I call local art stores here in Calgary, AB and find that one of them does carry the markers. They have them in open stock, packs of 24. 36, and 48. I asked the price of the packs. It was at this point I nearly swallow my own tongue. I politely decline his offer to order a pack in for me.

April 16 2016: I hit Amazon again. I find another Japanese company that sells the markers for an even better deal than the first, but the product is supplied by Amazon. These markers are already in Canada! I place my order and they are shipped the next day. With tracking information.

April 21 2016: The markers arrive and I am so happy!

In my home, the day I received them!

Colour Swatches

I attempted to print out the colour swatches by Jennifer McGuire, but sadly my printer hates watercolour paper and I had to make them by hand. I realized after I took this photo I was so excited about finally having them that I didn't even finish trimming them down.

Colour-coded caps

Creating the colour codes for the caps took a bit longer. I learned that using a hole punch by hand on 140lb watercolour paper is difficult, but I wasn't about to stop. I covered them with glossy accents and I couldn't be happier.

So there it is, the emotional roller coaster that I went through to get my hands on these markers. They are a little difficult to get used to after using other products, because of the brush tips, but I can't believe the precision and detail I can achieve. You can definitely look forward to seeing lots of posts using these markers.

I highly recommend them. If you can find a good deal, get the pack and save yourself some time and money. If you are uncertain, get a couple and try them out. They are an amazing product, the colours are vibrant and there is a huge range in the 60 pack. So far (after a only a couple days) I can't think of any additional colours I would want and there are certainly a few that I will likely not use very often, if at all.

(In the event that I ever actually receive the lost package, I'll let you know. But I'm not holding my breath.)