I have now been Diamond painting for 4 months this year, and so far I’ve been pretty happy and very successful as far as I can see from the looks of my diamond paintings. But the one thing that I’ve been doing that is probably not as successful as some people might think is that I’ve been using a stainless steel grid that will help me to make sure that all of the diamond drills are completely straight every single time. However, that time has come to an end because I am getting a little fed up with the quirks of the grid.

I place the grid on top of the canvas so that I can see the letters, numbers, or symbols on the canvas and the grid sticks to the canvas with the glue, and then you run the brayer over it to make sure it stays on the canvas, and then you start putting your diamond drills inside of the little holes in the grid. Well, that works out most of the time, but there is a thing that happens occasionally that kind of destroys the grid. As you’re popping the diamond drills into the metal, it will sometimes make a snapping sound which could either break the diamond drills or the actual grid because I have come across so many times that my grid is falling apart and the metal pieces are poking me in the finger and it hurts and it has made me bleed and it makes it impossible to use the grid in those spots.

What ends up happening is that the pieces of metal start curling upward and then you have to just cut them off, or sometimes they end up twisting off themselves and they get embedded into your skin and it hurts. But mostly I just end up taking them off the diamond painting and then eventually throw them away.

I have bought several of these, and every single one has broken except for the one that I have now that I’ve only had for a few days, and then I have one that’s still on its way to me from China. I bought a grid on Amazon from the same exact retailer I’ve bought from before, and for some reason it is coming from China instead of America. So I got tired of waiting because it’s been like 3 weeks and so I bought another one and they sent it and I got it in 2 days, but yet I’m still waiting for the one from China which will be here on Monday. I’m positive I’m going to end up having to pay three times the amount in tariffs, which I am not at all happy about considering I’ve already given up on the idea of using them.

I think I did a pretty good job considering I did this whole section without using the grid. I put all of the diamond drills in the circle and then occasionally they would come out of the circle and they would start looking crooked, so I would have to use my straightening tool on one of my stylus pens and it would straighten everything out again. That’s the thing that takes a little longer and it’s constantly making sure everything is aligned perfectly. I am a perfectionist and it is frustrating to have something not perfect.

The diamond paintings from different companies are different. The Michael’s Make Market diamond paintings, all of the images have a square with the color and then a circle with a lighter color on the inside with a letter, number, or symbol inside the circle. Every time I used the grid, it would cover the square, so I couldn’t really see what color it was, but I could see the symbol. Every now and then the symbol might look like another symbol. Like for example, the 6 might look exactly like an 8 and then I wouldn’t know unless I looked at the color around the outside edges of the circle, which means I would have to remove the grid just to see the color. So that is actually a huge disadvantage to using a grid. Other Diamond paintings that I’ve made have a different way of doing things where there’s no circle at all, it’s just a square with a number, letter, or symbol inside of it. There have also been some that I’ve made that have no squares and no circles, but just a printed pattern with letters, numbers, or symbols written all over it. Those I actually find more frustrating.

If I’m being honest, I prefer the Michael’s Make Market diamond paintings because it’s easier to make with the symbols on the canvas and the fabric is much better than the ones that I’ve gotten from Amazon and Temu. The Make Market brand canvas is polyester and it feels like the one from Amazon and Temu are made from plastic covered paper. I also enjoy the diamond paintings from Michaels Make Market brand that come with their own frames because then I don’t have to worry about buying frames. I have bought several of their summer Diamond paintings and they all have frames around them.

I have many more of these summer Diamond paintings and I have put them in my Etsy shop for sale. Two of them have already been sold and the two little 5×7 ones with the rainbow umbrella and the Adirondack chairs we’re given away as gifts for a thank you for purchasing my diamond paintings along with other things in a very big order. I still have the two that I’m working on now and then I have four more summer diamond paintings to add to my Etsy shop. These are the ones that I have coming. The two on the left are the ones that I’m currently working on. I work on one in the living room from when I wake up until about 5:00 p.m., and then at 5:00 p.m. I come into the bedroom and work on the other one until bedtime. The one with the pineapple drink is my daytime and the one with the sun fruits is my night time. After I’m finished with those two, I’ll go to the next two and then the next two, and then I’ll be finished with the summer ones I have from Michael’s. To be honest, I did want to sell the one on the far right with the beach. I love that one.

I have made 2 of the larger Michael’s Make Market diamond paintings that are 18 inches x 24 inches and 1 that is 16 inches x 20 inches. I don’t want to sell those. I actually gave the Sunflower Bouquet one to someone who lives in Idaho, the Lake Forest one is hanging in our living room, and the Mushroom is waiting for it’s frame which will be here on Monday. I have a second Sunflower Bouquet diamond painting that I intend to make again for myself.

I never really thought of myself as a person who cares about art that hangs on the walls. It’s never really been an interest for me until I realized how many of those diamond drills are left over that I could use in my other crafts. Now all of a sudden all I care about are diamond paintings because I can make them. Buying them in a shop is not interesting to me, but making a painting is a whole other trip for me. It’s like all I can think about now is Diamond painting and how beautiful they are when they’re finished and how I can’t wait to see them everyday on the walls in my home.

And now that I’m learning how to make these Diamond paintings without using a stainless steel grid, it makes it feel even more special when I can make them and they still look good after I finish a square or whatever section I do.

Well, wish me luck on making the rest of my diamond paintings without using my grid LOL.