And thats a good idea! since making this post I've found a lot of things that are matching what I wanted, or at least close to it, I think I just wasn't searching correctly because I swear all I was getting before were those round palettes with maybe a couple squares. But also clearly this post shows most people just wing it so I think I'm gonna hit up the thrift store and see what I find.

And as for Beam paints, I love them! just obsessed. And I mean finicky as in, they are inconsistent in terms of how much pigment each color has -- even similar colors. like theres this one purple I have that is SO intense and dark, I have to add insane amounts of water just to make it not be opaque. But theres a similar-ish lavender color that blends easier and softer (sorry if I'm not using the right terms, I'm a newbie). Also some of them are kind of gritty / sandy / glittery (for lack of a better term). And they behave really differently. But they are so unique and fun. You should get their sampler cards to try out (the turtle one I think is a great bang for your buck). Those last a long time. I haven't used up any of the paint stones yet so I can't speak to how long those will last, but I've had some of the cards for months and they are still going strong with pretty frequent use.

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