Are You "Gel"lin?  

Janice Badger

I've played with gel pens a few times in the 10 or so years I've been scrapping.  I was generally unhappy with the results: the pen would write for an inch or so, then get really faint, thin and scratchy looking, and then no ink would be flowing.  Suddenly "PFFFT!" and I'd get an explosion of ink, splattering everywhere and ruining the piece I was working on.  After several experiences like that, the gel pens were tossed in the trash and I gave up on that medium.

And then a box of Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pens arrived.  (We got the dark colors, but pastels are also available.) Here's what Sakura's website has to say about the pens: 

Reminiscent of the pearlized colors of polished hot rods, Gelly Roll Metallic delivers a reflective sheen that is distinct and adds an energetic zest to any writing, drawing or doodle. Enjoy the smooth flowing comfort and well-defined line of a rollerball gel ink pen.

And I took a deep breath, and pulled out scrap papers in a variety of colors to play with the pens.  And had a blast doodling with a smooth pen that had no gaps in the ink stream, no thin or scratchy-looking spots, and easily adn completely filled in the areas to be colored.  And they shimmer in the light, discreetly attracting your eye to them.  (In fact, they reflect the light so nicely that it was hard for us to get pictures that the camera's flash didn't cause glare and make the pen colors hard to see!)

As you will see in the layouts below and on the following pages, the whole team had fun working with these pens. 

I used the Sakura pens to add sheen and interest to parts of my layout.  I covered the inside of the title letters with the Metallic ink to make them pop.  The flower on the photo corner was white, which didn't match my color scheme, so I colored it in with the pen to make it purple.  I also added texture to my plain paper by stamping with Versamark and then tracing some of the lines with the Sakura pen.  They don't call this pen a "Smooth" roller for nothing! 

I really loved these Sakura Dark Metallic pens! The package says "Ice cream smooth" and that is exactly what it is. Never skipped, never had to scribble before I wrote, it was just a pleasure to work with these incredibly easy pens. They are very reasonably priced, making them great stocking stuffers for your favorite scrapper! I think I'm going to ask for the pastel colors in my stocking!

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