Anyone heard of 5d diamond painting?

[Spanger]

I just heard of this, and was wondering if anyone else knows about or has tried-.looking for any tips or info you might want to share.

From what I gather, you can buy kits with everything you need...  You are basically sticking teeny tiny plastic gems onto an adhesive sheet to make a picture.  It reminds me of cross stitch but with gems instead of stitches...  You can get kits that have the grid with symbols pre-printed onto the canvas, or you can get blank canvas and follow a pattern from a seperate sheet (like doing a counted cross stitch.)

Prices Im seeing for kits on Amazon range anywhere from $5-$40 range, but it's really hard to get a feeling for which brands will be nicer quality, how big the projects are, etc.  (I usually like buying craft stuff in person.). So if anyone has any experience with 5d diamond painting, I'd appreciate advice!

[Spanger]

Hey folks!  I ended up ordering a kit and trying it out, thought I'd share my experiences.

It was really fun to do, and I can't wait to get another kit and try again.  The first one ordered was coming from China and took almost a month to arrive, so I'd definitely try looking for a seller that ships from usa (or your own respective home country).  I also finished my project more quickly than I thought- probably about 8 hours total over a weekend- so next time I'll either find a bigger project or maybe get a couple projects in the same order.

One downside- the company I ordered from said the size of the painting would be 20x30 cm, and the entire canvas is *almost* that big, but has a 3 cm border around the whole thing, and size of the actual project area is more like 13x22 cm.  I've since noticed that many Amazon sellers list both dimensions, for canvas size and project size.  So be aware that if only one set of sizes is listed, it might be the canvas size, and your finished project might be smaller.  (I was kinda disappointed, b/c the kit was kind of expensive for a 20x30 kit, but not ridiculously so, however it IS ridiculously pricey compared to other similair sized (15x20) kits, so I feel kinda ripped off there.

My project was a realistic tree/woods scene and TBH, final project is totally hideous and pixelated- really hard to figure out what it's supposed to be.  I still loved it for the process of doing it though- kinda like a jigsaw puzzle or what have you, putting it together is fun but it doesn't feel like you made something You want to keep looking at by the end.

I also liked that it kinda has a good ending point- most other craft projects (say a drawing or painting) I never "know" when it feels finished- I always think maybe I'll just add one more detail.  Diamond dots, there's no second guessing, lol.  I'm not sure what I'll do with all these little paintings I'm making, but it's really relaxing and fun for now!

Id give this craft project a thumbs up overall!

[catlady]

I’ve never heard of these, but they sound interesting. Can you share a photo?  

[Spanger]

Here is a picture of how the whole project turned out

and I'll try to spoiler these other ones for mobile users, but sorry if I mess I up!

this one is a little closer up to show the texture of the "gems"

Spoiler

And this is a picture of all the supplies right after I opened the package and before I started working:

Spoiler

 

[Chickenbutt]

Is the adhesive backing paper or fabric? It looks very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Spanger]

The backing is on canvas, at least for this project, but I think that's the norm for most of the kits.

I had been talking about diamond dots and sending pics to an IRL friend as I was working... She ended up ordering a kit on Saturday thru Amazon prime and got it yesterday!  I was so jealous!  The pics she sent me of her kit it looks like it was closer to the size I was expecting mine to be too.

Anyway, I don't think she'd watched any instruction videos on YouTube or anything, she just went for it.  She pulled the protector sheet off the entire picture in one go.  Then she set the instruction sheet on top of the picture.  Then she went in the kitchen to grab a pop, and when she came back, her cat was sitting on the instruction sheet.  She shooed him off, and he left behind a giant chunk of butt fur, and also completely glued the instruction sheet down where he was sitting.  She tried peeling it off, but it wouldn't come off, it just shredded into little bits, and the fur just kept spreading itself more... It's totally ruined.  I felt so bad for her!

So, lessons learned- don't pull off the whole cover sheet at once- do a little section at a time and finish all the dots before you move to the next one.  And, be careful doing these around curious pets, especially if your pets like to be the center of attention when you are trying to do a project (which my cats do, for sure!). 

[CTRLZero]

On 4/30/2018 at 1:14 PM, Spanger said:

it kinda has a good ending point- most other craft projects (say a drawing or painting) I never "know" when it feels finished- I always think maybe I'll just add one more detail.

Love your latest project!  I just started learning to paint with acrylics, and wanted to chime in and agree that it is so hard to leave a painting alone.  After hanging up a "finished" project, my eye is drawn to just one more little item that might be better.  It comes back down off the wall, and next thing I know, it's become a whole 'nother painting. 

[CrazyLurkerLady]

This is kind of an old post, but I wanted to pop in because I got a couple of these kits recently. I got two kits for $20, including shipping. They look about the same size as the one pictured above, but the jewels in mine are smaller and square instead of round. I've only done one tiny corner so far (this is going to take FOREVER!) but I think it's going to look great. And if not, my kids will love it anyway and I'm only out $20.

[Chickenbutt]

Well, I ordered a kit yesterday. Should be here tomorrow. I have developed trigger finger and have to stop crocheting for a bit to let it heal. Thought this would give me something to do in the meantime. Wish me luck.