A Few of My Favorite Things
When working in my studio there are some simple products I just can’t live without. These are the ones that never fail me. The reality is finding out what my favorite things are is not different from making art. Both require a fair amount of trial, error and perseverance. Occasionally, I luck out and the first or second thing I try is perfect and I never look back. More often it takes many, many tries until I am happy.
Pentel Clickable Pencil
Hard to believe, but I didn’t settle on my favorite pencil until about a year ago. I discovered it when I started drawing every week. I love the grip, how easy it is to click for more lead, no sharpening required and because I never need to buy another pencil, just lead refills, it suits my green mentality. Note the clean, smooth line I was able to trace with this paragon of a pencil.
Fons and Porter Chalk Pencil
When it comes to marking fabric the choices are endless. However, for something to become a favorite of mine, it must glide along the fabric, be visible when I need to see it and disappear easily. I’m not sure when I learned about the Fons and Porter chalk pencil. I’ve had the same one for more than a decade. Its only downside is that chalk only comes in white. So, when I need to mark very light or white fabric it is useless. I did use it to mark the grid lines on the background fabric. These lines were used for placement of the orange peel appliqués.
Uniball Vision Elite Pen
Nothing frustrates me more than a ball point pen. They are the bane of lefties like me. Why? Because the ink smudges and gets on my hand. This is because we write from left to right. So, when you are left-handed your hand drags across the freshly placed ink. Disaster. Love, love, LOVE Uniball Eye or Vision Elite pens because the ink doesn’t smudge or smear for this leftie. I use these for all my writing, but especially when journaling first thing in the morning. This when many of ideas, for what to work on or how to solve a technical problem that has been plaguing me, come to me. If I was distracted by ink smudges I doubt I would be able to tap into my stream of consciousness the way I do.
Zig 2 Way Glue
See how the quilting motif paper is stuck in place? This image was taken in our photography studio (basement) on a foam core wall, so it is vertical. Yet that flimsy paper stays just where I put it. How? The magic of Zig 2 Way glue. I got my first Zig pen because another quilting friend discovered it and gifted me with one. The glue is archival, so no worries about using it on my quilts. When the glue is wet it adheres permanently, but, wait for it, if you let the glue dry on the paper before positioning it, the glue becomes like the glue on Post It Notes.
What are some of your favorite must haves?
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays and TGIFF.
