Friday, April 10, 2009

More "Tools"!

OK. I had a request that I show you all the art supplies that I purchased while away at Artfest. I paid a visit to Akamai (a local art supply store in Port Townsend) and it was very lucrative for both me and the store! Here are some of the things that I purchased:
These are some lovely handmade papers. This photo doesn't really do them justice as the colors are much more rich that what is shown here.
I love Micron Pigma Pens! And in all sizes, too! They will write over acrylics (dry) and are permanent when dry, too. I love them in my journals.
I saw someone at PLAY who was using the Inktense pencils. They are pretty cool. They are soluable in water and they look kind of like ink in intensity when they are dampened with water. However, once they have been made wet, when they dry they are permanent--which is a pretty cool quality if you are wanting to work with layers in watercolor.
I don't know anything about the Graphitint other than I liked the way they went on the page and I had all the other ones so why not buy these, too, to complete my stash??!!!! Yes! I hear you cheering for me! :-)
The small box of pencils are WAY cool! I took them to the Journaling Bonfire night and let my friends use them. They agree that they go on really soft and creamy--much like Prismacolor but not as waxy. They aren't too soft or too stiff. I think they are one of the best colored pencil sets I've ever used. They are woodless so the whole barrel is pigment. Pretty awesome, huh? They are made by Koh-i-Noor and they are simply called Woodless Colour Pencils. Very simple. As you can tell, I love pens and pencils!
I also purchased and assortment of Sharpie Poster Paint Pens. I just HAD to buy the black and white jumbo pens. If nothing else they make a great conversation piece! I also purchased some of their regular paint pens (oil-based) and I like them pretty well, too. They don't really have much of an odor and I haven't used them on thinner paper to know whether they bleed through or not. I liked the gold one I used on my 140# watercolor paper over watercolor and it worked just fine.
I love the poster paint pens, too, for working in my journals. They come in all sorts of colors including flourescents. Many say they are being discontinued but I don't know for sure. I've heard both yes and no from the company. Just to be safe, I bought several of the extra-fine black and white pens so I could have a little stash. The are just about the best pen I have ever used to go over acrylic and the white is truly opaque on even the darkest of colors. Love them!
The Copic Multiliners are new for me. They say they are permanent--even if colored over with another regular Copic marker. I love the fine tips and they write in my journals well so I'll pronounce them a keeper.
It is difficult to find a REALLY fine-tipped colored pen but Prismacolor has made one. The actually come in a few different small sizes but I chose just to purchase all colors in the 0.05 mm size. The color in this photo is a little off as the pen on top is actually a light purple. There is an aqua, couple shades of brown, black, blue, red and a carmel-y orange. If you like to write small and in color this could be the pen for you.
OK. There is a lot going on in this photo. The paint bottles at the top are a VERY fluid, metallic -- almost ink consistency -- and I plan on using them to splatter highlights on my pages. I'm sure they can be painted with or written with but I'm going to use them as spatter. I got this idea from my new friend Leslie Hale.
I picked up a few little and skinny Moleskins at Borders on the way to Port Townsend. I had ordered the Jellyroll Gel Pens from jetpens.com. The tape I got from Akamai. The yellow roll is actually "ruled" up to 12 inches and then repeats. This ought to be a cool journal addition. (I love tape, too!) The little boxes are the best little pen/pencil carrying boxes I've ever used. I got them from Akamai. I had bought one last year just to try out. It is the best travel box I've ever used so I bought some more to have this year. I think I have 4 now!
Well, this should about do it for supplies! (Lisa, this post was for you!) Next I'll get around to posting some stuff I made in my classes. My teachers were awesome and I'd do it all again given the opportunity.

Spring Day

It was too nice today not to post about the great weather we are having here today. About 80 deg F, breezy, low humidity and VERY sunny! Here are some pics of the backyard and some of the driveway. I just love all the lush greens that are out everywhere.
I hope you are enjoying your day where ever you are!

Back Again...

OK. So I am not a HABITUAL poster but it is because I am traveling and so busy with other things going on in my life. I just got back from Artfest 2009 in Port Townsend, WA but more on that in another post. Before I went to Artfest, I had to do some business travel to southern Alabama. Boy, that was and experience! And no, I WON'T go into it. (Most everyone was very gracious and nice but there were a couple of on-road experiences....I digress...)
On the way back from Mobile (my last stop on my business travels) on Friday, I took a layover at a friend's "cabin" on the Suwannee River in northwestern'ish Florida.
It was a great time catching up and then on Saturday we may some art in our journals. Mine isn't much but hey, I FINISHED another set of pages! Yay! I also found that I like adding pattern tissue to pages and writing on it. I like how it looked on the page. The blue hash patterns were made with a fork!
I love the way Suki created such luscious circles on her pages.