ArtSkills Brush Markers

 

So for my birthday I received this dual-tipped marker set by ArtSkills. ☄

Like the name suggests, one side has a soft brush like tip, and the other a harder felt tip. The set comes with 50 different colors. If you get these from Sam's club, they cost about $15 usd, which is a steal for this many markers! I swatched each one and was very satisfied with the way both sides wrote and the vibrancy of each color.

Now when I first opened the box, I thought I had been given doubles of a lot of colors because the caps looked the same. Also, none of these markers have names written on them. There is no way of knowing exactly which hue of a color you're getting until you use it. Now, this didn't fly with me. I gotta know exactly which color i'm picking up. 

So, what did I do? 

I bought these labels. I swatched each marker on a label, and stuck it to the corresponding marker. ⤵

Now I will know exactly which color i'm picking up! ♡♡♡

I pride myself with how organized I am. Everything must have it's place. Only then can I really relax. 

So, to conclude, if you're looking for a nice set of brush markers that won't break the bank, I can definitely recommend these. I keep all my brush markers in a nice pastel bin that I found at Target awhile ago. I found keeping my supplies easily accessible helps to keep them in use more often, and helps me to stay creative! ☼

Below is a video I made opening and swatching each marker. Enjoy and take care! ❤

The Dahle 155 ❦

welcome back to my blog! ☼

Today I will be discussing my favorite pencil sharpener, the Dahle 155 professional.  

I've had this pencil sharpener for a few years now, and it has never let me down. It sharpens all sorts of pencils (even eraser pencils) to a nice, crisp point. It can be a little confusing at first if you've never used one of these before, so I made a quick little video showing how! ♥

You can also adjust the point sharpness in the back, but I just keep mine on the sharpest one.

The only negative thing that may bother some, is this thing has teeth. Not really, but it has metal clamps that really grip your pencil in place, and in doing so, create little teeth marks on your pencil:

Now I really don't mind this at all, because it only affects the pencil's 'aesthetic', but just something to be aware of! 

Now most people probably don't like their pencil sharpener as much as I do. I just love how quaint it is, how it sits idly by on my desk until needed. I just love it. So much so that i've already painted two portraits of it ↷

So yeah, that's my little review of the Dahle 155. You can buy this little guy several places online. It goes for around $24 usd, which is a small price to pay for something that will reliably sharpen your pencils like never before. Sounds like I work for them right?? I swear I don't, though!

Hope you guys enjoyed this, and let me know if you get one of your own! Take care! ☺

Opening yet another stationary package

 

Everything in this parcel came from my favorite online stationary store: www.jetpens.com  ✄

I added some random stuff to my cart to get free shipping ♡ So let's see what I got! 

Rohrer & Klingner sketchINK Thea Fountain Pen Ink

This is the main reason I placed an order. I saw Teoh Yi Chie recommend this ink on his YouTube channel. It's waterproof fountain pen ink!

I've been wanting to try my hand with a fountain pen, so I ordered the Platinum Preppy 03. It comes with a cartridge of yellow ink and a fine nib. 

If you want to add you own ink, you can purchase an ink converter.

Here's a quick video I made using the converter  ⤵

And here is a quick sketch I did to get a better look at the color ⤵

As you can see, this ink is a dark grey, with lovely brown undertones. The pen draws and writes smoothly, and is most impressive for only being $4.50! Definitely worth it if you're wanting to try fountain pens out for the first time, like I was! ✿

I needed to throw a couple more items to my cart for free shipping, so I chose these cute frog & cat stamps! ♡ 

Well that's all I got for now folks! I hope you enjoyed this post and consider widening your horizons and trying new things! Who knows what you might just fall in love with! ♡ 

Till next time!  

 

All my gouache & watercolor

So these are all the gouache & watercolor paint I own! 

I keep my tube gouache in a fancy Louis Vuitton box. 

These are the swatches I made for all the tube gouache I have. It's important to make swatches any time you get new paint so that you can look to them later for reference. I make swatches of everything. It's also important to note the brand you buy each color from, because each company produces it's own version of a color with their own pigments. So for example, Winsor & Newton's Yellow Ochre might be slightly different from the M.Graham version or Holbein. 

Something I need to mention based on my experiences with M.Graham gouache: I don't like them. Gouache paint typically has gum arabic as a binder, but they add honey. Which I didn't think anything about, until I noticed only these two colors were growing mold in my palette box. And the white I will need to replace as well, because whenever I squeeze it out of the tube it's runny and has this brownish liquid that just ends up yellowing the paint. Not something you want in white. 

These are the Holbein colors I have. Aren't they pretty? ♡ 

So all the colors in those swatches I made above are Winsor & Newton's designer gouache, except the 5 colors shown above. (Oh, and the Green Apatite Genuine is Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor. I just really liked that shade of green...)

MOVING ON~ 

This is the Himi Miya gouache set, available here

And these are color swatches I made. The set comes with two whites, and they are slightly different, but not that noticeably. The consistency of this paint is really nice and creamy! The colors are very pigmented and opaque. I removed the palette that it came with because it touches the tops of the paint and gets messy. If they dry up on you, just add a little bit of distilled water (helps prevent mold), mix them up and you're good to go. 

And last but not least, my very old Van Gogh watercolor set

And the swatches I made

This is the only watercolor set I have experience with, but I am satisfied with it. The colors are nice and pigmented. (Hard to tell my photos, I know.) I'll be getting some waterproof ink in the mail today from jetpens (only the best stationary store online), which i'll be able to enjoy coloring over with some nice washes! 

Well I hope you made it to the end of this long as heck post and maybe even learned something! Remember to make time to be creative! ❤ Take care till next time! 

Fun with glass dip pens

 I've gotten into drawing with glass dip pens recently. I'm really enjoying it, it's quite therapeutic! Dipping the pen into small little glass jars of vibrant colored ink. 

I got these glass pens from Amazon

I got the inks on Amazon as well. These are the three I chose, but you can see the swatches of all the colors on youtube here. These inks are NOT waterproof, nor are they water resistant. But they are beautiful and work splendidly with my glass dip pens. They are just lovely for drawing loose studies. You just swash your nib around in water to wash the ink off, and a microfiber clothe works perfectly to wipe off any excess ink. 

Waterproof inks tend to need a little bit more than just water to clean off completely. Yeah they sell special calligraphy pen cleaner, but it's just overpriced windex. I put cheap diluted window cleaner in a re-closable jar and padded the bottom with foam so the fragile tips wouldn't chip or anything. 

My sweet husband added clay to the bottom so it would stay weighted down and not tip over.

   You gotta be careful with these pens because yeah, they're fragile, but they really have opened up a whole new world of fun for me!

 

The forbidden strawberry milk

 Interrupting your normal viewing programs for this important picture of :

♡THE FORBIDDEN STRAWBERRY MILK♡

That's it. Have a good Saturday.  

Comfortable studio feels - life update - but not really

 

Hey all ❦

Been a hot minute since i've been on here. 

Since last i've posted, I got a job at a nearby school. Pay isn't the best, but i'm happy and it's pretty stress free, so there's that. 

Everything in life is going good though, not too much to update. 

Still happily married, still got my two cats. 

My birthday is next week! I'll be 32. Heck man, that's cool, isn't it? 

I used to get sad about getting older, but to grow old is nothing but a blessing, and i'm pretty happy about where I am in life right now. 

Well that's all I got for now, hope ya'll are enjoying the summer.