The Case for Art

A few months ago I decided to purchase a set of watercolor pencils for art and nature study. After a bad experience with Loew Cornell pencils a few years back, I'd all but given up on watercolor pencils. But a Faber-Castell kit I found on clearance changed my mind! The pencils drew beautifully, and the watercolor feature actually worked. With only 10 colors, though, artistic options were limited. Eventually, I realized that pencils would be easier to transport (and far less messy!) than regular paints, so I bought a set of 48 Faber-Castell pencils and an inexpensive set of water brushes. 

But if transportation was going to be easy, I needed a good way to store our new pencils. I wanted something compact that would allow us to see all of the colors (i.e., not a regular pencil pouch). I discovered standing pencil pouches, and finally found a free pattern -- in Korean! Between the photos and video, I was able to figure it out. 

I didn't enjoy the sewing process much, due to how fiddly the construction could be -- I certainly made good use of my seam ripper... But it seemed foolish to purchase a case when I had all of the needed supplies on hand! I used some Birch Organics Tree Stripes in "Sun" (leftover from Rosa's Christmas PJs), a spare zipper, and scraps of heavy interfacing. 

And happily, it turned out in the end! I did make it a bit larger than the case in the tutorial, and in hindsight that was unnecessary. But it functions well, and our pencils are now accessible and tidy.   

We're studying birds in our Zoology curriculum this year, so we purchased a used copy of Drawing Cute Birds in Colored Pencil by Ai Akikusa -- it's excellent! We've only tried sparrows so far, but I'm quite impressed by the ease of the instructions. We have the companion Drawing Cute Animals book, too.

It's lovely to have our art supplies ready to go at a moment's notice -- better accessibility means more time and opportunities for making art!

The Gallery

After a brief stint of industriously assembling a gallery of my blog projects, I realized that it was taking far too much time and effort! Finding each post and obtaining a picture and a link for the gallery page (plus arranging them) was a bit of a drag. And thus, I sought an easier option -- namely, Pinterest.

Thoughts and Thimbles Project Gallery

Now, if you click on the Gallery tab on my blog, you'll be directed to the Thoughts and Thimbles Project Gallery, which will hopefully be easier to navigate (and easy to maintain!). I'm actually enjoying having a condensed visual representation of my projects. It's interesting to see how my style has altered over the past few years, and how life changes (marriage, kids, etc.) have affected my crafting habits.

 By the by, those of you who follow me on Pinterest should be eternally grateful to me for starting the gallery as a secret board until it was complete, thereby sparing your feeds from the 145 pins I added to the board in the space of a few hours. You're welcome. *wink*

Progress

Little by little, our craft/computer room is coming to order -- despite having the closet entirely to myself, my fabric and craft supplies were still in a general state of disarray over the entire room. Even worse, without any table or countertop, most of my paper-cutting projects were delegated to the floor; not a situation to promote organization and cleanliness! More storage was a must -- but even the cheapest storage unit with doors at Walmart was $50. For cheap particle wood? I don't think so.



But there has been Progress. After a seemingly endless search on Craigslist, I found exactly what I was looking for -- a little antique Belgian washstand at just the right price. A new coat of paint in "Chantilly" (which sounds delightful, whether referring to the cream or the lace ), two new knobs, and almost entire tube of wood filler later, it was ready to take on my organizational nightmare.



I didn't realize when I purchased it just how perfect it would be -- the drawers seem designed to hold my essential craft supplies; the little shelf is just right for a row of jars to hold everything from paintbrushes to antique lace; the counter area holds my large cutting mat with room to spare; and the cabinet -- well, take a look!



A shelf at exactly the right height, and enough room for two rows of fabric ("stash" pieces in the back, more useful pieces in the front) on each level -- could I ask for anything more?

There are still a few finishing touches for the room -- some wall shelves for baskets and books, and some final organizing and decorating (the vertical blinds are ready to go!). But already the whole room is looking better, and I'm feeling inspired to finish it up.

It's amazing what one little washstand can do!

How to Store a Rainbow

Step 1: Find a rainbow




Step 2: Find a goblet



Step 3: Combine