I have discovered the new, very affordable, high quality alcohol pens....Spectrum Noir pens from Crafter's Companion. I have been a crafter for years and like many other crafters, I am always on the look out for the newest craft tool; the Spectrum Noir pens allowed me the ablity to expand my collection of stamping mediums at a very affordable price. I must admit that I have been bitten by the Copic bug too, however, I just can't see myself investing a lot of money into a product that cost 3x's more than any other craft product doing the same job.
The SN pens come in a set of 72, which include 6 shades of your basic color families along with the essential colors and the blender pen (similar to the Colorless blender). In addition to this, there are 4 sets of 24 pens that are classified as Brights, Darks, Lights, and Pastels, these pens are used as supplements to the original 72. I have found them to blend as well as the Copics and the best alternative to the Copic markers. I know a lot of people would disagree with me, but hey, that's OK everyone in entitled to their own opinion. If you haven't decided on which one to go with, I suggest you spend the same amount of money and buy both, then try them out for yourself. I am not a DT member, nor do I have a huge following to give my suggestions to, but I will advise any new crafter who would like to get a bigger bang for their buck to try the Spectrum Noir pens. In addition, the Momento inks are recommended for use with these pens. Lastly, you can also find a lot of tutorials on Youtube on how to use them, you may want to check out Christina1716, rodakowski, and of course the crafters companion channels.
Happy crafting!
Lena
