Smart Art Subscription Box Review + Coupon – November 2015

Smart Art is a fine arts subscription service that sends a new project every month and all the supplies needed to complete it. My husband and I are both artists, so we were very happy to have the opportunity to try this box out!

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Smart Art

The Cost: $49.99 per month with free shipping

COUPON: Use code MSA20 to save 20% off your first box

The Products: A fine arts project, complete with instructions and supplies

Ships to: US only

Good to know: It’s a different project in a different media every month, using different techniques!

This month’s project was creating a handpainted Spanish Fan! Yes! It’s totally time for me to bring back the hand fan to The South! This is the booklet that Smart Art sends every month. It includes art history related to the project, a list of the included supplies, project pointers, and instructions.

Subscribers can upload a picture of their finished project to Smart Art’s Facebook page for a chance to win a free box! That’s really cool! On the other hand, our projects usually take forever, so we always seem to miss the boat on this contest.

This is the inside of the booklet. On the left is the art history and project pointers, and on the right there’s some info on different fabric paints and inks plus the supply list.

The instructions are printed on the back of the booklet. They are easy enough to follow, but not so specific that they crush one’s creativity.

Here are the supplies that were included for this month’s project.

Jacquard Tee Juice Fabric Markers (5 pack) – Value $10.73

Creative Mark Scrubber Watercolor Brush Size 8 – Value $6 (on sale at Jerry’s for $3.19)

Ivory White Silk Hand Fan – Value $1.50

Foliage Angular Watercolor Brush – Value $11.79 (on sale at Jerry’s for 8.29)

Jacquard Lumiere Acrylics 2.25 oz – Value $3

Ta-da! Here’s my completed fan. I took some inspiration from the butterfly bush outside my window.

The Verdict: My husband and I are both huge fans of Smart Art! Having said that, I had a really hard time with this project. The fan is very flimsy, so it was even harder to draw on, and I didn’t dare use the scrubber or I would have definitely torn or broken it. Also, the marker colors were supposed to blend if you layered them, but they didn’t really. I also wasn’t a big fan of the color they provided for the background (citrine). Also the value of the included supplies this month was lower than usual at about $33. The value of the supplies usually at least approaches the cost of the box ($50). The fan is cute, though, and I’m definitely keeping it. I’m currently scoping Etsy to see if I can find a case for it. I can’t wait until I get the opportunity to flip it open next spring!

What do you think of Smart Art?