Hi friends! I was doing to cleaning and reorganizing in the basement this week as it is finally getting warm enough down there to work more in my basement art area. One of the things I enjoyed about working in my tiny (but heated, yay!) office this winter was that I put a small shelf next to my desk to hold a full set of watercolor pencils, colored pencils, marker and pastels. I found I used these supplies so much simply because they were easy to get to. On the other hand in my larger section on my unfinished basement where I have space and tons of supplies these items rarely got used because I didn’t like to bother getting the tins off the shelf and I didn’t like the real estate the open tins occupied on my table. So I dug around in my “empty storage” storage (yes, since I decluttered most of my storage space is filled with boxes of empty boxes…I wonder if I am a container hoarder now, hmm…) and I found some clear acrylic gift shop displays a friend gave me a few years ago. I also moved my pastel drawers to my table.
The pastel drawers had some pastels in them but also gelatos, shallow stamps and some other odds and ends. I put the gelatos in the clear racks with a variety of other supplies I wanted handy. I put watercolor, pastels, specialty and standard colored pencils in the other rack and I unboxed some very precious soft pastels to go in the pastel drawers. I was able to clear out a cubby behind my desk and I put my pan pastel sets there because I really want to use them more so I need to make them easy to grab when I think of it because with me if I can simplify my process I will get more done and use more supplies. I am not done setting up my “within reach area” but I plan on filming a tour of it when I am done if anyone is interested, you can let me know in the comments below:)
I posted that photo on instagram the other day and many people asked me where I found the clear organizer and pastel drawers so I have some options below (may contain affiliate links)
- Pastel Drawers: I bought mine years ago from Art Supply Warehouse which is owned by the same company as Jerry’s Artarama but you can also find the 3 drawer ones like I have on Amazon for $24.47 with good reviews. *other sizes available
- Clear Acrylic storage with risers: The closest thing I can find are nail polish storage displays. Different sizes are available and some have dividers on each level and some don’t. Also check sizes before you buy as some are large and some are tiny and come with up to 7 risers. Measure your space before you order.
- The spinning cubbies are from Harbor Freight. I have tried to move this off my table but it is so convenient to have andy and I reach for something in this spinning organizer every time I work. I saw this spinning organizer for $14.99 in Amazon and it will accommodate some taller items too, there is alos and extra $2 off coupon! You can also find a metal one like I have on Amazon but I think it is overpriced. I think the one I got in store at Harbor Freight was under $20. Also if you go to harbor freight I recommend their magnetic tool strips, I keep all of my scissors and oft used tools on that on the edge on a shelf behind me and I no longer lose my scissors!
Since I have all of this crafty goodness on my table I plan on doing some mixed media today! I am not totally sure what I am going to end up using but I will either update this post later or create a new one with all the supplies I used. I am thinking I might use one of my cradled wood panels, matte acrylics, stencils and pastels but don’t hold me to anything! You can watch the live stream or reply in the player below but if you chat live with fellow painters be sure to watch on YouTube!
I did see this pretty metal bucket of flowers that I think I want to use as inspiration tho, again no promises:)
One more thing!
With all of the talk about GDPR privacy compliance going on in the EU I thought it would be a good time to have a refresher on how my blog, school and website uses your information. I want to assure you that I only use info you provide for the intent you gave me. For instance if you comment on my blog you have created an account with WordPress to do so (you can see the WordPress privacy policy here) and I can see your email address in my blogs back-end. The only time I would use your email address is to notify you if you entered and won a giveaway on my blog and I would “CC” that email to the giveaway provider, for instance the marker company who was mailing you the prize so you could give them your mailing address to have your prize shipped. I never add people to mailing lists or share your information other than if you won a prize from a sponsor and they need to contact you to ship you a prize. The only instance that I would use your email is if you asked me a question in a comment and I felt it would be better to respond privately via email instead of in a public forum. If you are receiving an email when I create a blog post you have signed up to follow my blog. You can unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email or you can switch to a weekly digest if you prefer. You can always manage your subscription if you look in the upper left hand corner of my blog (on a computer) or scroll down on your phone/mobile device and look for “Email Subscription”. I want you in charge of what stuff you get from me:) The other mailing list I have is my monthly newsletter and if you receive that you at one time opted in. If you would like to join it or unsubscribe you can do that here, or it is right under the email subscription box on my blog. As always there is an unsubscribe button at the bottom of any email you get from me. I always strive to do right by my peeps and if you have any questions about how your info is used on any of my websites you can find out more here for my blog, here for my school and here for my shop. I hope over the years I have earned your trust on these matters but it is always a good idea to do a privacy checkup with any websites you use regularly.
Enough of that boring but important stuff! I have materials to play with to get ready for today’s live stream, see you at 12:30pm ET! Happy crafting!
Filed under: art journaling, mixed media, Painting | Tagged: GDPR, mixed media, Painting, pastel, Privacy, tutorial | 12 Comments »
