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Mary G
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 12:28pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
I like the Stone crayons better and so do my children. They are a bit softer so the color goes on more brilliantly. That said, I think they'll wear a tad bit more quickly. They really are great crayons.  |
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Well, that works as the Stone are about $1 cheaper!
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MaryG
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my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 1:00pm | IP Logged
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I think some kind of crayon wrap is a very good idea. The beeswax crayons are soft and the colors rub off on each other if they touch each other (kind of like pastels). I'm not sure that the pouch Lori posted here will work with the Stockmar or the Stone as they are wider than Crayolas. I don't see myself making mine until after the conference but I can perhaps measure the one we have and post some measurements in that thread. Then you could tweak the plans Lori posted.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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donnalynn
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Thanks Elizabeth for pointing out this interesting thread.
If you don't want to make or buy some kind of crayon wrap you can clean the stockmar and lyra crayons and I imagine the Stone ones too (I haven't tried these).
A bit of oil and a cloth cleans up the crayons nicely if they have bumped up against other colors. I usually use a smooth cotton cloth and a bit of apricot oil (it's what I have) but I think a mineral oil or a baby oil would work too.
Or if the crayons get in really bad shape and this has happened on occasion on in my house  you can gently scrape the crayons with a paring knife. I usually collect the bits on a piece of paper or wax paper and you can either fold the regular paper and rub it and see what kind of picture comes out or with wax paper - you can make a kind of window catcher - like when you press leaves in wax paper.
I have quite the assortment now - so I keep like colors together in an old wooden tray that has some dividers.
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: Aug 02 2007 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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I didn't know oil would clean them!  Thanks Donna--that' much simpler. I've been scraping the Stockmar ones. We do have a nice collection of shavings to use for fall wax paper leaves though...
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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MaryM
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| Posted: Aug 09 2007 at 6:59pm | IP Logged
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My curiousity got the better of me and I had to try it so I bought one today (love those 40% off coupons - I can justify anything!) Anyway it really is a very nice sharpener. It does a great job on the Prismacolor. It is smooth. I did the sharpening in a shorter amount of time - less fatigue to my wrist.
As was mentioned earlier the Prismacolors should be sharpened with a high quality hand-held sharpener. That makes a ton of differnece in the problems that were mentioned. Hand crank ones (like in schools) not good and some high quality electrics some people say are okay. Ours stinks and I don't ever do the colored pencils in it.
So back to the Prismacolor sharpener - it will make a difference. Funny thing is though, it is just packaged as Prismacolor. The actual sharpener is KUM. When you look at the sharpener inside the Prismacolor casing it is a KUM magnesium one hole sharpener so you don't have to buy the Prismacolor one to get the same thing. There really doesn't seem to be a difference in price either way - they are around $3.50-4.00 (before coupon  )
This site will explain why there is a difference in sharpener quality.
So now my curiosity is satisfied.
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Mary G
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| Posted: Aug 09 2007 at 7:44pm | IP Logged
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To follow on what MaryM said, I think the colored pencils will also trash electric sharpeners -- so not only are your pencils breaking faster, your sharpener is also  . The electric sharpeners are GREAT for regular pencils but any kind of colored (even cheap ones ) jam and dull the blade with their increased level of wax in the actual lead ...
Don't even ask how I know this!
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MaryG
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doris
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| Posted: Sept 05 2007 at 4:58pm | IP Logged
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Just a brief postscript to this thread to say THANK YOU! After reading about everyone's experiences, I decided to invest in some Stockmar crayons and Lyra pencils. They are soooo worth it! The dc have gone art-crazy the past couple of days -- even my reluctant little boy. It's really miraculous!
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Home educating in London, UK with dd (2000) ds (2002), dd (2004), ds (2008) and dd (2011).
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Quality or Quantity
