If you follow me on Instagram, you might be aware of a new hobby that I got into late last year called Pixyls. This is a fairly new Canadian company founded by Rachel Curwen and it was recommended to me as an Instagram ad! I was intrigued and looked into it right away and was even more convinced to try it when I saw that Pixyls was based out of Ontario!
Essentially this is sticker by number pixel art where you get a blank canvas with tiny little squares approximately 2mm x 2mm that are numbered and a corresponding sheet of high quality, thick vinyl stickers to create your art. You will need very fine tweezers to pick up each little vinyl square sticker to place and position it on the cardboard canvas. When my husband saw me doing this, he thought this was his own personal hell and I can see that, but this is the type of stuff I love and the artwork is all original by artists who are most importantly PAID for their work!
From what I have seen, there are launches a few times each quarter so there will always be projects to work on as Pixyls makes large and small canvases, stickers, acrylic stands, bookmarks and keychains. This ornament was the first acrylic piece I did and it was a limited edition launch for the holidays.
They have recently discontinued individual stickers like these, but these are also fun to do if you don't feel like sitting down and doing a whole canvas for hours. A sticker like this takes just under an hour to do (unless your hand cramps up from the tweezers!). The little pixel stickers are on the right side so everything it just in one sheet which makes it convenient. Whenever I am done, I cut off the pixels and keep my stickers in a Pixyls stickerbook! The individual stickers ranged in price from $6-$10 CDN, but there was a discount if you bundled certain quantities.
Pixyls also does a Collectible Cards series featuring these little dolls every season coming in a set of three cards. These are all done by an artist named Neapa and they even have names and backstories that are given on high quality cardstock.
The second type of Collectible Card series are MyPixelCreatures created by an artist named Scarloxy and I have to say that the creatures are always very creative! Some of the Halloween ones are scary! LOL These cards are like mini canvases and while they take me a few hours to do, they are delightfully fun to do while sitting at my desk watching YouTube videos after a work before bed. Sometimes I get TOO motivated and end up pixyling long into the wee hours of the morning!
The newest launch this past May from Pixyls is Vexyls. This is the same idea except the stickers are not little squares, but ANY shape! They are kind of like wrapping paper in terms of the patterns and I hope that one day we can eventually do scenes instead, but so far Vexyls have been fun too! I recently completed the Ramen Noodle Bowl above and just finished the Paper Cut Flower Collage below. The canvases are $24 CDN each and if these are too large and you would rather do something smaller, the same designs are available in bookmark form for $14 CDN each.
These are themed sticker sheets which I think are my favourite to do and thought you can remove the stickers from the sheet to place on laptops, journals etc, I love leaving them on the sheet which I know is kind of silly, but I love the way the stickers are already organized! The sticker sheet are anywhere from $10-$20 CDN depending on the size and number of pixyls.
This Wizards Potions Sticker Sheet came as a pack of two and OMG it was so much fun to see the colours of the potions come to life! I submitted this to Pixyls monthly contest and it was one of the winners!
If you feel like stretching your brain a little or at least have strangers stare at you on the bus in polite curiosity, get the Pixyls Nonogram puzzle books! I had to look up the instructions, but if you like Sudoku, these is "in the same family". There are currently three books all animal themed and they are fun to do if feel like doing some thinking LOL!
I don't do a lot of Pixyl magnets so this parrot was the first one I tried and it was cute! I do prefer the stickers and canvases more though.
These two canvases are the biggest pieces I have completed and they took A LONG TIME. Like weeks to do in small sections because some days I just was not in the mood to sit down and clear the table to do these, but they look AMAZING when done!
This hobby has kind of overtaken the Lego mainly because I have so much Lego now that I can't build new things due to lack of space. At least with Pixyls, I can lay everything flat! There are a few things we want to frame though like the first photo Lover Cat which is a tiny canvas at 6in x 6in that I just completed last week. If you like diamond painting, Pixyls might be a fun new hobby to try! I like having fewer things out compared to diamond painting where you have to have all of your trays with the diamonds and be prepared to switch colours and such. Pixyls is pretty compact so I hope some of you get a chance to try out this lovely Canadian craft company! I got my sister into it too so now we both share whenever we complete something.
You can find Pixyls at www.pixyls.ca
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