FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Experience Kits, Creative Art boxes, DIY Doodle, Classic Colours, Special Colours, Fluro, Black and White, 24 marker set- classic colours, 24 marker set Earth Colours, 24 marker set Tutti Fruity, Metallic brush pens, Vivid brush pens, Black and White brush pens, Floral brush pens, Wildflower brush and are available in acrylic paint pens, Silky Paint Stix, Gouache Stix, Watercolour brush pens, Watercolour set, Journals, Juicy Gel pens, sets of stencils, wood slices, stone slices, A4 and A5 paper pads, and rainbow washy tape.

A Double Bundle set is great for beginners, and a Super Six Bundle set is recommended for large groups and schools starting out.

We have three tip sizes; 1mm (fine), 0.5mm (fine) and 3mm (medium) Dot pen 5mm and 1mm and brush tip 0.5-0.8mm. We recommend using the fine tip or Dot pens for detailing and very fine lines. Please note that fine tip pens will splatter on rough surfaces. Brush pens and Medium tip pens are best for filling in spaces, drawing, colouring in, and filling in backgrounds.

All our bundles only allow for items to be chosen once. The reason is so that you can get a range of our pens, and so that all our customers have access to our limited stock of pens.

If your pens do not have a number on them, simply find the colour on the chart that best matches your pen colour and follow along using our colour by number guide.

Here are some tips to get you started
Swatch the colours on paper before will help you find the colours easily.

Do a double layer of paint to make your colours more opaque.

Dark colours will cover lighter colours if you make a mistake.

Blending is possible, blend colours into each other using your finger when paint is wet.

You can add extra detail on top of your colours such as dots, stars etc if you desire.

Or simply follow along with our guides below and have a blast!

It is not required however it will make the colours on the board stand out brightly.

Use a white acrylic paint or white Chalk paint for best results.

Varieties of Bundles of boards are available in sets of 2-9 boards

The Mandala Boards can be painted with a clear acrylic spray paint or more experienced crafters can use a resin to add a layer of protection to the board.

Brands such as Dulux and Rust-oleum are available from local hardware stores and will do the job perfectly.

Please follow the manufacturers directions provided on the product.

The Mandala boards are 40cm in diameter this includes the Galaxy boards, Mosaic boards and any collection marked Part one or Part two in the Mandala bundles. Different shaped boards are in the Mystical collection with diameters in height varying around 35cm and width of 15cm.The smaller boards in our collections are Love Nature, Landscape, Mini Mandal, Round Landscape, Mini Animal Friends and coasters, which range from 30cm - 10cm.

We do currently have a range of experiences on offer without pens including sets of three Mandala boards. We have a bundle of 6 Mandala boards without pens available. These offers happen occasionally and when they do we notify via emails, if you are subscribed to our email listing you will be notified of the offer.

We recommend using our 24 Acrylic Paint range as they have a bullet tip that is hardy and the pens offer a great range of colours

The size of the DIY DOODLE bags are 33cm height x 30cm length x 12cm width.

To find out more about the bags head to the website Life of Colour (lifeofcolourproducts.com) and search DIY DOODLE BAG.

Yes you can wash the DIY DOODLE bag.

Please give the bag a gentle hand wash or place on a gentle wash cycle in cold water without any harsh soap/detergent when necessary.

These bundles contain two Diy Doodle bags (one Hearts and one Wildflowers) with one set of the Acrylic Markers.

Please refer to the product page and description to see the items included in the bundle. Our product picture shows our customers an image of the box closed and the box open to display the colour range that can be found inside the box.

Follow the manufacturer instructions— Shake, burp, prime, paint, lid— before initially putting your pens to use.

Always remember to shake pens with their lids on before every use so that the ball bearings inside mix your paint well.

Our paint pens are water-based non-toxic art pens filled with acrylic paint.

Both indoor and outdoor surfaces may be painted with our acrylic paint pens and using an appropriate sealer will prolong outdoor life.

- Assorted fabrics like denim, cotton, canvas, and polyester blends.
- Glass, Perspex and plastic
- Ceramics and porcelain
- Terracotta
- Metal surfaces
- Assorted types of wood
- Stone, rocks and smooth concrete
- Polymer clay
- Paper and cardboard
- Plaster

The paint is water based and is not waterproof until the paint sets into the surface.

If the surface is porous like material it will set into the fabric -to make non porous surfaces waterproof and weatherproof you can seal them with a paint sealer.

- Fabrics can be ironed on the reverse side
- Glass, ceramics and pottery can be cured in a low heat oven or kiln.
- Stone, wood, metal, concrete, and plastic surfaces can be sprayed with a water based sealant or coated with varnish or resin.

If drying time is sufficient (48 hours or more depending on the weather in your location) the pens will not bleed any colour.

Thin material causes bleeding, so rather use thicker material like cotton, denim and canvas.

Yes, we recommend turning painted fabrics inside out and wash on a gentle cycle.

The paint is non-toxic but not suitable for use on skin.

Yes the acrylic paint pens can be used for window art and generally can be removed with a damp cloth. If left for an extensive amount of time, remove with gumption, eucalyptus oil or a razor.

Wax-coated surfaces prevent the paint affixing. Scrape off wax and use sandpaper to create a porous surface, paint and spray with a sealer to finish.

Priming rocks with a white base coat for brighter colours or clear coat for darker shades of colour.

To preserve your pens. Priming evens out the surface of the rock, which helps with the application of the paint.

New nibs for your paint pens can be purchased from Life of Colour.

Yes— once paint is dry you can paint over the top with another layer or colour.

By using an ultraviolet light or torch to shine onto the art completed with our Fluro pens.

Because these tips are Fibre style and not Valve style (using steel ball) the nibs/brushes have to have a lot of paint absorbed in them in order to work. What can happen if the pen is stood up straight for a long time then all the ink goes to the plug side of the pen and the nib doesn't carry enough paint to work. You need to shake it holding the nib down and see if you can get the paint to come up into the nib. Give it a few really good shakes down facing to get that nib really wet and the paint should flow.

It is recommended to allow paint to dry in between layers which is around 10 minutes and up to 48 hours before using spray sealers to avoid reactivating the paint.

Paint pens are a stand alone product and do not require any other specific equipment to paint with. You can add brushes and other craft equipment if you like.

Landscaping suppliers, nurseries and Bunnings. Buy raw rocks only— no polished or wax coated stones.

Paint pens should be laid flat. Assorted storage ideas include:
- Pencil case
- Clear storage container
- Shoe boxes
- Recycled and repurposed plastic containers
- Paint pen storage cases

Pens can leak when they have had the pump valve over pumped, are dirty or not screwed down properly.

Gel pens can occasionally be effected from the air freight shipping and they will also only work on completely dry surfaces as they will pick up the paint off the surface.

You can revive a gel pen by: Soaking the gel cartridge in warm water

Shaking the pen

Remove obstructions with a safety pin

Blow out any obstructions

Soak in rubbing alcohol or acetone

Steps on how to fix a gel pens The easiest way to revive a gel pen that is not working is by putting the pen in hot water, just before boiling point. Hot water will help liquify any dried up gel that may be causing an issue.

Other ways to fix a gel pen include shaking, removing the obstruction, and using alcohol or acetone on the tip.

You should try to revive your gel pen if you see the pen skipping or not flowing.

Shake the pen - The easiest way to reactivate a gel pen that has started to dry out is simply to shake the pen vigorously. This works well when you’re dealing with gel pens that have begun to dry out from air getting inside of the cartridge.

Dip the Tip in Alcohol or Acetone. If you really have to ramp things up to the next level you might need to dip the tip of your pen inside of a bit of rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is a fantastic solvent but it also has the ability to evaporate in a hurry as well. A quick soak (maybe 30 seconds or so) will usually be enough to free any of the obstructions. Feel free to keep the tip soaking overnight if you can’t remove the obstruction. Even more powerful than rubbing alcohol is acetone or nail polish remover. Acetone will certainly free up any of the dried up gel. However, don’t keep the pen in acetone for a long time or you might damage the pen.

The brush pens can be complex tools and do require care, to reactivate the pen and paint flow please gently dip the tip in water, replace the lid and shake well.

Repeat this process until the paint flows freely again

Yes, soak the nibs in hot water, pat them dry, and reinsert. Doing this should reactivate the nibs.

If you have any doubts about this process, please read the Troubleshooting article we put together in our blog.

Do not soak the whole pen. You can use pliers to pull apart the pen and soak the whole top of the pen, except the pumping mechanism which you can rinse. Pat dry all pieces of the pen before putting back together.

If you have any doubts about this process, please read the Troubleshooting article we put together in our blog.

Room temperature, away from direct sunlight (do not want them in hot or cold conditions).

You should give your pens (especially the 1mm) a wipe with a damp cloth around the nib when you have finished use.

Our Juicy Gel pens range in nib size from 0.5-0.8mm in nib size.

The Juicy Gel pens come in two different packs - the 48 and 24 pack.

The 48 Juicy Gel pens includes 5 colour palettes – Pastels, Neons, Metallics, Glitter and Classics.

The 24 Juicy Gel pens includes the Metallics and the Glitter pens (the same colours as the 48 pack)

Yes you can - make sure that the surface is completely dry to avoid clogging the pen.

We recommend using smooth surfaces such as paper and experience boards that are not coated with anything like plastic or acrylic.

White paper is optimal and Black paper will also show the colours and sheen of the pens successfully.

The Life of colour Colouring Book couples well with the gel pens.

- Quality artists paper
- Watercolour paper (cold press, hot press, rough finish)
- Papyrus
- Handmade paper
- Bond paper
- Calligraphy paper

The watercolour brush pens are non-toxic, and filled with watercolour pigment.

The brush tip is made of soft, fine nylon bristles.

Watercolour brush pens can be used on mat white base coated surfaces. Sealing the watercolour will reactivate the paint and cause running.

Available in the Watercolour brush set is a refillable water brush you can use for blending and creating watercolour effects. You need to unscrew the top and fill the water brush with water before using it.

Yes, by using gentle controlled brush strokes. Minimal pressure on the tip for fine lines and thicker strokes, holding the pen at around 30 degrees.

Blend colours by laying one shade on top of another. Work from light to dark tones.

You can touch or rub two marker tips together to create gradient or ombre effects.

If you have been blending colours together or you notice discolouration on the brush tip, you should clean it.

Dip them in water and lay strokes on a scrap piece of paper until the brush tips go back to their original colour.

Yes, it sure is! We use packaging bags from The Better Packaging Co. These bags are made from plants and can even be composted at home - just simply put it in your compost bin.

Yes, it is too. We use eco-friendly, oxo-degradable bubble wrap from eBPak.

Surprisingly...yes! Officeworks runs a recycling program which allows you to recycle all your Life of Colour pens. To find out more, check out: https://www.officeworks.com.au/information/about-us/sustainability/environment/recycling

We are an environmentally friendly company that wishes to reduce the Carbon Footprint of waste packaging and we send out orders combined together to reduce this waste.

Yes, we sell our paint pens in bundles, with your choice of 2-8 packs in a bundle. We also sell some of our other products in bundles. Please browse our ‘Bundles’ page on our website to see your options. 

If you are a first time customer you can get a 15% discount by signing up to our website.

Regular promotions and discounts will be advertised on email or social media.

We send out Thank you cards with a 15% discount code.

We have wholesale discount for approved applications for a 50% discount off selected items ( there is a minimum purchase threshold )

Once you have added all your desired items to your cart, go to checkout and there will be a prompt to add your ‘Gift card or discount code’. Make sure to click ‘Apply’ so that the discount is added to your total cost. Some codes can only be used once and may attract a minimum purchase spend threshold.

Free shipping is available Australia-wide on orders over $120, with regular shipping $11.95 for orders below $120 and express shipping starting at $14.95.

Shipping for New Zealand orders is $14.95 for orders under 1kg, rising to $20.95 for larger orders. NZ express delivery starts at $18.95.

Life of Colour has also launched a special service to ship to the US from our Sydney warehouse. Free shipping is available for orders over $US100 and typically take 6-9 working days. Our US shipping leverages top-tier international couriers and USPS.

We also ship to other countries starting at $20. If you are ordering internationally and our site won’t let you order from us, please reach out to hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com and we will help you out.

You may have noticed that our shipping prices have gone up. This is due to our postage costs increasing by 20% for an average package in 2023.

We ship from Sydney and aim to ship your order as soon as we receive it. Depending on where you live within Australia, it usually takes 3-7 business days to get delivered to you. For peak shopping periods and mystery boxes, please allow extra time for dispatch and delivery. If your order is urgent, we suggest you take out express delivery.

For US shipping, you will get your orders within 6 to 9 business days from the point of us processing orders (locations such as California may attract a longer shipping period) of your order. Tracking will be

No, because we are an online store only. If you need a product immediately, please check out our stockists to see if there is a store near you. Otherwise, consider choosing express shipping to get it delivered to you quicker.

Yes. As soon as we dispatch your package, you will receive an email with a tracking number and link for your order. Please check this link to check that if you missed the delivery, whether the package is waiting for you at your local post office.

If your order has not yet been dispatched, please give us a call or email us on hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com ASAP so we can change the details. If it has been dispatched, you will need to contact Australia Post or USPS to see if they can redirect the package.

If your order status (on the tracking link) has not been updated for a week (allow extra time for a US order), or the status says ‘Delivered’ and it has not been, please reach out to us immediately on hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com. We will lodge an enquiry with Australia Post or USPS to investigate the situation and then go from there.

If your order has been left uncollected at a Post Office or storage location and subsequently returned to Life of Colour, we will refund you order, less a $15.00 return to sender and administration fee.  If you want your unclaimed order to be shipped out again, you will have to pay for the additional shipping fee to have the order re-sent.

30 days from the time of your purchase, after that unfortunately we can’t offer you a refund or exchange. The item must be unused, in original packaging and condition, with a receipt.

- Pens with obvious signs of use
- Any item not in its original condition, is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to our error
- Any item that is returned more than 30 days after delivery

Unfortunately sale items cannot be refunded.

Please reach out to us at hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com to explain the issue you have with your pens, along with necessary photos or videos. We will then assist you in troubleshooting and determine whether the product is actually faulty or just needs a little extra care. If the product is found to be faulty by Life of Colour, we will happily offer you a replacement product or a refund.

We only replace items if they are defective or damaged.

We cannot replace an item that has been misused by t5he purchaser.

If the item was marked as a gift when purchased and shipped directly to you, you’ll receive a gift credit for the value of your return. Items not marked as a gift will require refund to go through the gift purchaser.

To return your product, you should use tracking and mail your product to: Life of Colour, PO Box 2033, Rose Bay North, 2030, NSW, Australia.

Shipping costs for returning orders due to order error are to be paid for by the customer.

If there has been a packing error with your order a return shipping slip may be emailed out to the customer.

If you are happy with your purchases then the highest review rating to give is five stars.

Reviews are welcomed via our online store. Simply go to the page of the product you purchased, scroll down to the review section, and click “write a review”.

We reward our loyalty customers 800 colours (points) for writing a review. Please ensure you have logged into your account before you write a review so that our system can reward you with the colours.

Why not? It’s free and it’s super easy to earn colours that you spend on subsequent orders. If you think about it, you can eventually get free Life of Colour products!

Simply go to our website, click on the “Earn Colour Points!” button at the bottom left of the screen, and “Join Now”. Btw, ‘colours’ are the points that you earn :)

There are several ways to earn colours:
- By simply signing up, you receive 600 colours.
- For every $1 (excl. GST) you spend at our store, you earn 10 colours. 
- Writing a review rewards you with 800 colours.
- When you celebrate a birthday, we will gift you 400 colours. (sign up 30 days prior to your birthday to qualify) - Follow our Life of Colour Instagram account and we will gift you 200 colours.

You can redeem your colours by purchasing coupons to use at our store. 800 colours will get you an 10% off coupon, 1500 colours will get you a 15% off coupon, 2500 colours will get you a 25% off coupon and 5000 colours will get a free set of Pastel Dreams Paint pens.

You sure can! Simply log in to your account and click on the “Earn Colour Points!” button. Share the unique URL to give your friends a 20% off coupon. Once they spend it in our store, we will send you a gift of 2500 colours.

Log in to your account and click on the “Earn Colour Points!” button. It will show you how many colours you currently have and how close you are to your next coupon.

The Life of Colour community is a group of people that celebrate creative expression. We offer instruction and guidance via our blog, Facebook community group, and customer service portals, so that our customers feel inspired and supported when using our tools and accessories. 

It is a safe and colourful space for you to share your art and your children's art. A fun and non-judgemental place to share, learn, inspire and be inspired.

Simply search the ‘Life of Colour Art Group’ on Facebook and ask to be added.

Afterpay, Zip, PayPal, Visa, AM EX, MasterCard and Applepay are all accessible options to pay for your purchases.

Please carefully check that your addresses are up to date on these platforms as they will override our stored information for you and your orders.

Enquiries can be completed through our online store or by sending us an email at:
hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com.

Feel free to call our customer service number on (02) 9337 2189.

For international calls add the Australian Exit code (+61)

Life of Colour Products are in the following stores;
- Art Shop @ Rose Bay (NSW)
- Opus Design (NSW)
- Kinokuniya (NSW)
- Art on King (NSW)
- Laugh and Learn (NSW)
- The Art Shop Mona Vale (NSW)
- Mac & Milly Educational Toys and Supplies (Victoria)
- Edartsupplies - Educational Art Supplies for Schools and Home (WA)
- Jase's Books (South Australia)
- The Gift Shack (Wellington, New Zealand)

We’d love to hear from you! Please send us an email at hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com to tell us about yourselves.

If you use Life of Colour products, post regularly on social media, Youtube or Blogs, and have a decent sized following, apply to be an Ambassador to discuss what discounts are available for you and the occasional free product or product testers (at our discretion).

- Post weekly on at least one channel of choice using Life of Colour products and tagging us in the picture and comments
- Post in any other related groups and forums you are on using Life of Colour products
- Post weekly in the Life of colour Facebook group
- Be an active participant in the Facebook group and page by commenting and liking and answering questions

Yes! Although we do not offer our own recycling service, there is a Pens recycling box at any Office Works store in the country. If you do not live near an Office Works and want to recycle your pens, please send them back to us when they are completely empty, and we will recycle them for you. PO Box 2033. Rose Bay North. 2030. NSW

No, currently they are not, but we are working on a more eco-friendly range right now.

The pen barrels are very tight to open, and you will probably need pliers to do so. You can refill them with a watered down acrylic paint, although we do not sell that type of paint ourselves. You will have to mix it up yourself.

Absolutely not, you simply need to clean your nibs in warm water and bring your pen back to life. If the nibs do not come clean, you can purchase clean ones from our website.

- All of our orders are shipped in a fully compostable mailer. We have always shipped our parcels in this packaging.

- We have removed plastic wrapping from 98% of our pens and are on our way to removing them from the last remaining pens that come wrapped in plastic.

- We only used recycled boxes to send out large or wholesale orders. If your box arrives and looks used, it is because it is, please try to re-use it again or send it for recycling.

- We donate financially or with products regularly to charities or NGO's that are aligned with our brand and who benefit from our products or community. Every year we have one large donation to a charity of our choice, and every month we give away to organisations who require our
assistance.

Please speak to us about a charity close to your heart that may need help

Your NSW Back to School Voucher can be used as store credit across any of our products, however we have curated some great $50 bundles for the program. Normal shipping threshholds still apply.

Once you redeem your voucher, your order will automatically receive a $50 discount per voucher. You can add more vouchers for your discount.

How to apply the voucher:

• Go to the CART page (you won't be able to input your voucher in the floating mini-cart)
• Input your voucher codes (one at a time) in the box labelled with NSW Back to School Vouchers' icon to validate it on NSW's database.
• If your vouchers are valid, we will prompt you with a pink "Redeem vouchers" button.
• A discount code for the amount of the vouchers will be applied to your order (you will see this discount reflected once you click "Checkout").
• Use the "Cancel redemption" button if you made a mistake or wish to void your redemption.
• Click "Checkout" to complete your order.

Yes! We can now accept NSW Back to School vouchers on our site. You can either enter vouchers directly on our website or call the office on (02) 9337 2189

Use the "Cancel redemption" button if you made a mistake or wish to void your redemption.

Please note if you don't void your voucher redemption on our site within two hours, we may be unable to reactivate your voucher and cannot be liable for a refund. Your discount code will remain valid on our site for any vouchers you have redeemed.

Life of Colour is no longer a Creative Kids Provider. Providers who deliver art supplies as part of their program are no longer eligible for 2022.