Inside Look: Daylight's Handheld LED Magnifiers

As part of the new StarMag range, Daylight Company have brought out a handy due of LED magnifiers to make working with details and fiddly crafts much easier! The duo, consisting of a small handheld magnifier and a large handheld magnifier (sold separately) are new on the scene for crafters needing a closer look at their favourite hobbies! So let's take a look at them in more detail! 

Handheld Small LED Magnifier RRP £12.99

This little lighting solution comes with a 3.5X acrylic crystal clear lens (7.5cm/2.75") and two bright daylight LED's which will never need replacing! There is also a handy stand to allow you to position it on your table for hands-free magnification. This is the perfect craft kit essential to keep you enjoying your hobbies wherever you are, whether that's on-the-go or on your holidays! 

Handheld Large LED Magnifier RRP £16.99

This larger handheld magnifier offers the same great features including the handy pop-out stand and bright daylight LED bulbs. However, this tool offers a high quality 2.0X acrylic lens (11cm/4") with a 4.0X inset lens (2.5cm/1") - greater magnification for all your crafting needs! 

Both of these products are made from high-quality, long lasting materials along with a stylish satin silver finish! And, with them coming in for less than £30 for both, they make a great Christmas gift idea! 

Jak Heath Reviews the LED Foldi

We popped an LED Foldi in the post to Daylight Ambassador Jak Heath to see how she got on using it for all her favourite hobbies! Here's what she thought...

There are times in a crafters life that you need to pack up a work station and just take it with you which can be done so that no matter where you are going you can whip out the craft and never be bored. I have always done this on my travels but I have often hit a stumbling block in the way of good lighting. It never seams to be in the right place in hotel rooms - Daylight Company have that covered for us! Not only is this lamp a God send but it is slick and stylish too.

I knew when looking at the images of this lamp that I liked it but I hadn’t realise just how much I was going to like it until I had it in my hand.

Whether traveling to a friends house or a craft club, this little sleek beauty will fit in your handbag neatly in its very own black pouch, and it is so powerful, it gives 8 hours life from batteries or you can plug it into a USB on your computer or laptop or even buy a plug adapter for it.

this is me popping it into my handbag and showing just how sleek it is.

Click here to see this review live on Jak Heath's blog, where she is also giving all her lucky followers the chance to win one of these lovely little lamps in time for Christmas! 

Jayne Netley Mayhew tests the Studio Clip-on Lamp & Stand!

We asked one of our Daylight Ambassadors, Jayne Netley Mayhew, to test-drive the Studio Clip-on Lamp and Stand RRP £114.99, one of our most popular lighting solutions for artists! Here's what she thought...

If I had to sum up this lamp in one word only, it would be ‘superb’. I have had a few standing lamps over the years, all of which have fallen apart, joints loosen or they are unstable. This lamp sturdy, it’s adjustable and holds together well. Plus it gives you the option of adding more than one light. The light itself is good and casts not hint of yellow to what you are working on, only the true colour of your medium. As an artist and designer this is has to be one of the major points for any lamp.

The height of the stand is very good, so you can adjust placement of the light itself. Giving you the option of using it for over-all lighting or more of a spotlight. It has a clever and easy devise so that the light itself can not be knocked or slip down the stand, so simple but so effective.

I have used the lamp in my kitchen where I often sit and stitch in the evening and then moved it up to my studio over my easel to work under, I can’t make up my mind where it will stay.

Would I recommend it to someone looking for a standing lamp, a resounding ‘yes’, I really can’t find a fault with it.

Bev Rochester Joins as a New Ambassador for Daylight Company!

Crafting queen Bev Rochester joins the Daylight Ambassadors. Read below as she introduces herself and describes the difference Daylight lamps have made for her! 

Hi there, I’m Bev Rochester and have been crafting in some form for as long as I can remember.  I have done the whole tapestry to crochet to knitting to embroidery to even Faberge eggs malarkey, but my latest passion is papercrafts and rubber stamping, and has been for the last 5 years or so. I am a fuss-pot and am fanatical about getting things just right so for me having the perfect lighting is paramount.  I have used Daylight lamps since I first discovered them years ago and can honestly say with hand on heart that I could not craft without them, even on the sunniest day. 

I am on several design teams and have a blog with lots of inspiration, tutorials and videos (and yes, Daylight lamps have helped me out so much when shooting videos, especially in the depths of winter as they give true daylight – essential for colouring videos). I don’t have the best eyesight (old age and all that!) so good light is essential especially as I work fulltime so when I craft at night after a full day at work I don’t want to have to suffer eye strain.

Watch this space for some more reviews! 

New Daylight Ambassador, Ruth Singer!

Textile artist, writer and tutor Ruth Singer is our newest Daylight Ambassador! Below she gives us a taster of what she has to bring to the panel!

I'm a textile artist, historian, writer and tutor, based in a wonderful old hosiery factory in Leicester. I work mainly by hand, exploring traditional and invented textile techniques such as fabric manipulation, appliqué and embroidery. Good lighting is vital to my work, making it easier to see the stitches I am making whatever the colour of cloth and helping avoid eye strain, particularly when working into the evening on deadlines, when Daylight lighting is essential. I think Daylight Lamps will make a big impact on my work and I hope to share a review with you soon! 

Michelle Fallon - Swan Floor Lamp Review

Until I had my Daylight Lamp I struggled to balance my business and my hobbies, but then the Swan Floor Lamp entered my life and equilibrium was restored.  I just LOVE this lamp.  First of all it’s on wheels so I no longer need several lamps in different locations, I just wheel my lamp into whichever room I am in (this works as I live in a cottage but could be a bit cumbersome if you had to carry it upstairs as it’s quite heavy). 

The other thing I love about this lamp is that it has a bendy stem (I think the correct word is neck?) which means you can bend it down as close to you or as far away as you want.  This is perfect because, especially when I am on the sofa, normal floor lamps are just that little bit too far away and they always seem to shine in the wrong direction whereas the daylight lamp allows you to adjust the position of the light without having to move the lamp or furniture around. 

The bulb itself is white and not yellow and most importantly not hot!  I don’t find my eyes getting tired when working with it, as they would with a standard light.  Obviously if I have been working 12 hours they are tired but you get my drift, don’t you?   The other thing I love is that there’s no glare from the light.  It just lights up the area you are working in a comfortable way. 

What else can I say?  Oh yes, there’s also a handy magnifying attachment that comes with this lamp.  Personally I don’t tend to use this as I don’t wear glasses but my mum loves it!  She finds it perfect for reading in bed for all the reasons above, i.e. no glare and it’s easy to adjust the light and magnifying glass to the position you want.  However I do think this would be invaluable for intrinsic sewing such as fine embroidery or beading work.

Overall I have to say my Daylight lamp has not only saved my money as it’s a one for all rooms lamp, but I am pretty sure it has saved my eye sight too as most of my sewing is done at night with artificial light.  I highly recommend it to any crafters or bedtime readers!

Product Review: Jak Heath Road Tests the Triple Bright Lamp

Over the last few weeks I have been using the Triple Light Daylight lamp from the Daylight Company  to craft under. 

The image above was took in full daylight 12:00 noon in my home, you can see the difference it makes to my work area even at day time.

I first used it clamped onto my table top the I got the floor stand which is amazing, the structure of the legs are cast iron so it is really sturdy.

When I first thought about the triple light I was thinking triple the brightness comparing it to my original desk lamp and magnifier but what I hadn’t banked on was the fact that it would have triple the spread of light, this for me as a crafter is the most amazing part of the lamp.

The image above shows the lighted area that this lamp gives to me.

I often have what you could say is a dumping ground on my desk, I tend to gather things that I would like to use in making a card and plonk them on the desk what the lamp does to help is give me no shadows so that colours are true and it is easy to map out the card with matching items before gluing them in place.

I’m so happy with the productiveness of this lamp, over all a big 10 out of 10 I’d give this one.

You can also find this review on Jak Heaths Blog. The Triple Bright Lamp is one of the brightest daylight lamps, available for £139.99 with a range of additional accessories sold separately. To view the full range of Daylight Lamps click here.