The plan was simple: purchase the pens and colored pencils I pined for. Grab tons of bags. Make those bags beautiful. Sneak them back into the bag supply. Watch the fun. Here’s how it all went down.


What started as a little prank to all my Bookmans’ peeps morphed into a pretty sweet test drive of our various art media. Bookmans stores supply a healthy dose of colored pencils, fluorescent gel pens, and scented markers. And I have always wanted to try them. So, when my blog post came up a bit sooner than expected and I wasn’t sure what to write about… my mischievous side kicked in.
As a long believer that Bookmans recycled paper bags are the BEST bags, I’ve long teased that one day I’d take some home, design them, then sneak them back into the bag supply as a kind of prank. A very sweet prank. It was time.
Following “the plan,” I bought the Ooly Yummy Yummy Scented Glitter gel pens, the Ooly Modern Metallics metallic-colored pencils, and the Color Lustre Brush Tip metallic markers by International Arrivals.  A bit of a shiny theme, I must say.
I was expecting a pretty big game from the Ooly brand as the pencils and pens look bright and pigmented. Not to mention, if a company is going to double down on the “yummy,” then it had better deliver. I wasn’t expecting much from the Color Lustre since it’s a bit understated and only had 6 colors. Boy, was I blown away (and wrong about that Lustre)!
I picked up a bag full of bags and went to work. Right away I could see how amazing the Yummy Yummy gel pens are. Since our bags are brown, it’s a fantastic test of the medias pigment. Will it show up bright or muddy? The gel pens worked well on the bags, though their color did become a bit muddy. The bright orange turned pinkish, but the ink still covered nicely and the glitter shows up very well. The colored pencils, however, didn’t fare so great. Their color was muted and washed out so much. I blame the brown paper base more than the pencils. I used them as a faint guideline for my designs.
The surprising star of the show, however, was the Color Lustre brush tip markers. These are beasts. They are highly pigmented with a great metallic shine. The ink flows extremely well, and two paper bags and a coloring page later, the tip shows no sign of fraying. I’d recommend these for ANY artist, serious art projects, or just easy fun. Though they don’t appear to be washable, so maybe the little artists should wait a few more years for these.
After designing three paper bags I realized it might take me longer than anticipated to see the end payout of my prank. I also wanted to give the metallic pencils a chance at redemption. I switched from the test of the paper bags to a mermaid coloring book with bright white pages. I’d say the Yummy Yummy Scented gel pens definitely shine on white paper. Their pigments are extra bright and bold and the glitter held strong.
The Metallic pencils…. well… they’re a bit tricky. Coming in a set of 12, the choices start out a bit limited, and I quickly realized it was difficult to do any shading or grab any tonality from them. I was about to give up on them when I realized their greatest strength is in working with other colors or mixed media. When I combined the pencils with the gel pens, magic happened. They highlight each other very nicely and even work great with the brush tip markers. They are also beautiful as a palate on a single subject. You can see this in Mermaid 1 versus Mermaid 2 pics.
I think most artists would be happy to add these to their collection.
The coloring books were another little surprise. I had honestly forgotten how fun and relaxing it is to just color. I really love the selection of mermaids in my Creative Haven Mermaids book. The designs are cool and feel different from page to page. I’m happy I decided to grab one and look forward to some more chill moments. I highly recommend picking one up. There is a wide selection for any interest, and the paper held up against the ink of the markers with no bleed through or disintegration.
I hope the pictures show you just how great our little art supply collection is. I totally recommend the Yummy Yummy Scented gel pens, Color Lustre Brush Tip markers, and our coloring books. As for the Metallic colored pencils, I give them 4 out of 5 stars simply because shading with them is really difficult. However, I suspect anyone wanting to use these colors will be looking for saturation in their project and shading won’t be an issue.
I’m still designing my bags for my big prank, but I hope to release them into the wild soon. Who knows, maybe in a week or two, you’ll get a Desi original!
Oh, and yes, the scented gel pens really are scented and really do smell yummy. I know that’s the most important part of this blog. Haha! Until next time, adventurers!