Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts

Delightful Mary wrote a comment to ask if I had used the Karisma pencil yet. I hadn’t, but I am happy to report that Mary’s comment got that pencil out of its package. I believe the write-up in Quiltmania magazine indicated that, poof, like magic, this pencil’s marks would just, poof, disappear when water was applied. Poof.

Welllll, I’m not so sure how they applied their water. It certainly didn’t just disappear when I dabbed it with a soppy cloth. When I scrubbed it with a soppy cloth, it did a little better. I also made some marks with the Karisma pencil and used the eraser. The eraser was a little better–it is soft and seems like a gum eraser.

I tried my trusty Papermate Titanium mechanical pencil against it. Um, it pretty much behaved the same as the Karisma. Mind you, the Papermate has regular .5 mm refills in it–you know, the ones you can get at Target, office supplies, etc., etc. I don’t know. I wasn’t wowed by the Karisma. It is also a .9 mm “lead.” This seems a little thick to me, but you can get a finer line if you hold it at an angle. The “lead” is made from the same kinds of minerals from which mineral make-up is made. For some reason, this gave me hope that the Karisma marks would, poof, disappear. If you happen to see one for sale in the country in which you reside, maybe at a quilt show or something, give it a try. But I don’t think I would order it from France to ship to the US with the crazy shipping rates. It didn’t rock my quilting world.
Oh, but if you find a Papermate Titanium mechanical pencil–buy it! I highly recommend them as a mechanical pencil with some heft.