Emma Lefebvre Craftamo Box 1 Review

This is a review of Emma Lefebvre x Craftamo subscription box 1 for January 2023. It finally arrived yesterday, and I had a chance to paint with the supplies in the box. The price for this box is CAD$70 + $13 shipping. Is it worth it? Let’s get to it!

Packaging

I am so heartbroken. My box arrived very damaged. The box for the palette has the same depth as the subscription box, which is probably why the whole thing was crushed.

What a shame!

However, only box 1 comes with the palette/tin, so subsequent boxes should not have this problem.

Contents of Emma Lefebvre x Craftamo Box 1

What’s inside:

• Emma Lefebvre x Craftamo 48-pan palette (case)
• 4 Watercolour half-pans in Chinese White, Mauve, Ultramarine and Burnt Umber (all have lightfast rating of *** and single pigment)
• 5 sheets of 100% cotton paper (8.25″x 11.75″), cold pressed, acid free, 300 GSM
• 2 Emma Lefebvre x Craftamo brushes in 3/4″ flat and 8 round
• 1 Reference photo

First Impressions

The damaged box really bummed me out. However, the contents presented well. The boxes were beautifully printed with Emma Lefebvre’s loose watercolour florals. I am a huge fan of hers and I have enjoyed learning so much from her on Youtube. I am very happy to support her and own this collection.

I swatched the paints on the cheapest student grade watercolour paper for my own reference. The paint doesn’t streak like that on good paper so please excuse the burnt umber swatch.

The Palette

The watercolour half-pans are slightly smaller than regular half pans, so they do slide around inside the palette very easily. The good thing is that you won’t have too hard a time popping them out; however, until you fill each row, you will have to put up with the sliding. Not a deal breaker by any means, but I do want to point that out in this review.

Palette Comparisons: Paul Rubens v. Emma Lefebvre x Craftamo

The palette is pink and reminds me of Paul Rubens! I photographed these on a typical dark January day in Canada, so please excuse the less than pink appearance.

I put the two palettes side by side. It may not be obvious but the Paul Rubens’ half pans are slightly bigger than Craftamo’s.

Winter Snow Painting

On the back of the reference photo there is a link to the video tutorial, where you can watch and learn how to do the painting of Winter Snow. One thing I love about Emma is how easy it is to learn from her. Since this is geared toward beginners, you will learn how to mix colours and how to use the brushes.

I did two paintings. The bottom one had some wonky shadows that I didn’t like, so I did the second one, though I liked the bottom one’s skies better.

How The Brushes, Paint and Paper Performed

I must say I was most impressed by the paper in this box. I usually use Arches, and I find Craftamo’s 100% cotton paper is almost as good. It may not be gelatin-sized like Arches paper, but it does stay wet longer than cellulose paper.

The brushes are also very nice and more my style than the Lindsay Weirich set that I have. Lindsay’s set is a bit softer and holds more water, while Emma’s brushes have more snap. I generally prefer a bit more snap as well. My absolute favourite go-to brushes are Princeton Aqua Elite, and I find that the Emma brushes are very close to those.

As for the paints, they work beautifully as well. They are single pigments so they remain clean when you mix them.

Box Comparisons: Craftamo v. Let’s Make Art

If I compare this to Let’s Make Art watercolour subscription boxes, this one is more geared toward the supplies, whereas LMA contains 4 projects and no brushes. LMA’s paints are dye-based and not lightfast, by the way. Craftamo’s paper is also nicer to paint with than LMA’s cellulose paper.

In Canadian dollars after shipping, Craftamo is less expensive. In a perfect world you would love to have both, but if you have to pick one, you will need to consider what you need more–supplies, or instructions/variety of projects.

Worth it?

In case you are wondering, the price of the subsequent boxes are cheaper**. I was charged $70 (plus $13 for shipping) for the first box, but the second box cost $50** (plus $13 for shipping). The price difference may be due to the first box containing the 48-pan palette, which you will not get in subsequent boxes.

I think the box is worth it. It is a fantastic gift for beginners especially if you don’t have a lot of supplies. I have a lot of brushes and paints, but I still like it, and I cannot wait to get the next box. Fingers crossed the next box won’t arrive damaged!

**UPDATE:
Craftamo cancelled my second box, likely due to the error in price. I contacted them and they charged CAD$84 (including shipping) for Box 2, which is almost the same price as my first box. I have yet to receive a refund for the $63 I already paid and am currently going back and forth with them to sort this out. So each box will likely cost CAD$84 going forward, even though only the first box contains the empty palette. Quite expensive, in my opinion, but worth it if you are a collector/Emma fan like me.

***UPDATE 2:
Refund received! I will be skipping the March and April boxes due to travel plans. Please note that you have to contact Craftamo to skip, pause or cancel your subscription. The buttons in your account don’t work.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Craftamo. This box was purchased with my own money and I did not receive any compensation for the review. My opinions are 100% my own.