Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has recently unveiled a new creation, and it has nothing to do with clothing. He has collaborated with

I love having lots of art supplies for the kids but everything really does have to have its place. Marbrasse Upgraded Wooden Pencil Holder, Pen Organizer for Desk, Easy Assembly, Art Supply Organiz…

Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has recently unveiled a new creation, and it has nothing to do with clothing. He has collaborated with

there is nothing i love more that a pencil or charcoal sketch. i used that as inspiration for my business card. how perfect would this image be hanging as a piece of art? image

art quilts, textile art, sewing, crafts, quilts

Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has recently unveiled a new creation, and it has nothing to do with clothing. He has collaborated with

I'm always curious about other artists' favourite art supplies and how they use them, so am sharing five of my own here, with reasons why I love them.

Michael Harding Professional Watercolours are here and in this film at Jackson's Studio, Michael Harding talks about the journey he took to create them.

Probably the nicest thing about Prismacolor pencils is their widespread availability and frequent sales for entire sets. The most irritating thing about them is how easy their pencil cores can shatter rendering the whole pencil unusable. The PRISMACOLOR PREMIER LIGHTFAST COLORED PENCILS set of 24 was probably one of my worst experiences with this issue. I had to sharpen some of them almost halfway to get to a usable part to do some test swatches. Maybe that's why I do not use them much lately. Blog entry.

Iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has recently unveiled a new creation, and it has nothing to do with clothing. He has collaborated with

I love viewing journal pages other people have done sketching and painting their supplies so I thought I would give it a try in my new journal. This was not only fun but relaxing too. S&B Beta Journal Holbein: Fr Ultra, Marine Blue, Raw Sienna, Bt Sienna, Bt Umber, Rose Violet, Cobalt Blue, and Light Red W&N Scarlet Red #8 Round Dip pen and Hiro nib

I love LOVE making mini albums - I hate when after 20 people look through them the pages start tearing off the binding. There may be other solutions but this is what I've been using. I was surprised to see that Anna Rostad (If you ever want to be inspired look at her works http://www.annespapercreations.com) also uses a similar technique. I combined several videos found on YouTube on bindings techniques (combining Hidden Hinge and Stack the Deck bindings (please watch this lady's video on the how to initially make it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5cRBlfVnLo and added some reinforcing : First - get yourself one of those Tyvek mailers (or a piece of Tyvek from the hardware store) they're the ones that are hard to tear but they're a different material than paper. Tyvek /taɪˈvɛk/ is a brand of flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers, a synthetic material; the name is a registered trademark of DuPont. The material is very strong; it is difficult to tear but can easily be cut with scissors or a knife. Water vapor can pass through Tyvek (highly breathable), but not liquid water, so the material lends itself to a variety of applications: envelopes, car covers, air and water intrusion barriers (housewrap) under house siding, labels, wristbands, mycology, and graphics. (per Wikipedia) Cut the Tyvek and a piece of cardstock the same size (the color you choose will be inside your book).Cut them as tall as your mini album will be (say a 6" mini album would need a piece of cardstock and Tyvek 6" tall and a minimum of 11" long for a 5 page mini album) glue the 2 pieces together using a STRONG glue .. NO glue sticks!! I like E6000 spray but some people don't, you can use whatever you like as long as it will give a good bind without being bulky. Let dry thoroughly. If you are using the E6000 spray, remember to spray completely on one of the pieces and press hard, keep pressing occasionally and let dry COMPLETELY before moving to the next step (usually about 4-5 minutes with the E6000 spray). This is where watching the video in the first paragraph comes in handy. Leave at least 1 1/2" or more on each end. I start in the middle of my paper and work to the edges. Score in the middle (remember, if you don't have a score board you can use the little divet in a paper slicer to run a score line down paper using a stylus ). On each side of the middle, do a 1/2" score .. then a 1/4" score, then a 1/2" score, another 1/2" score, then 1/4", then 1/2", then 1/2", then 1/4" ... (if you haven't seen this before PLEASE watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5cRBlfVnLo This lady explains why this version is one of the best and how to do it. On the back side, where the Tyvek is, put a piece of ScorPal Tape .. or Terrifically Tacky tape -- You can use a strong glue if you use several clips till totally dry. This creates the bindings where you will be attaching your pages. I'm making two bindings for 2 different books at the same time -- that's why you will see two in the pictures. Fold the ridges back and forth to get them limbered-up for the turning of your pages (don't forget that little 1/4" on each end before you get to the 2" space on the very end too ... that will be the one that will hold your front and back covers. (The 2 inch unlined areas are what you attach to your front and back covers). Now for MORE reinforcing!!! ... cut another piece of Tyvek and another piece of paper the same size as your binding. Glue the Tyvek to the paper (this paper will be what everybody sees as your spine. (Don't glue the binding and the spine papers together yet -- Just the Tyvek to the spine paper. Let dry completely. If you want to emboss your spine, now's the time to do that. You only have to emboss the center you will be seeing behind the pages (I ran these through a Tim Holtz Halloween embossing folder) and then put a drip of white acrylic paint on a paper towel and lightly brushed over the embossed image. (sorry it's sideways :P ) when I fold the edges that will be under the front and back covers you can see what my book's spine will look like ... Now Glue (strong glue again or the ScorPal or Terrifically Tacky tape) the binding piece to the spinal cover piece (You will be gluing the 2 Tyvek pieces together). Make SURE you get the edges and corners glued together well. Press well and clip together or put something heavy on it till it dries completely. Make sure no glue is seeping out the edges before you clip them Finally, use a Sharpie (or other permanent marker)-- or even better, use alcohol ink (such as Tim Holtz Adirondack Inks) to fill in the white/red colors of the Tyvek that are peaking out and there you have a great reinforced binding for your custom handmade mini album. Once I finish one of these albums I'll post it up. HOPEFULLY ... I'll be done before Halloween!! HAPPY CRAFTING!

Guys with real jobs use these every day and they've been an advertising tool to those who sell to the working man for decades, but I love having these in my toolbox as a great drawing tool. I'm always on the lookout for vintage advertising pencils; they're a real throw back to the good old hardware store days. The ones above are not so vintage (except for our sadly lost New Dorp Lumber). These are usually quite inexpensive so they're easy to stock up on. (Home Depot and General's are made in the USA!) You can get a wide range of marks with this simple tool. The only drawback is it might feel a little awkward to hold the square barrel. My solution was to squeeze a jelly pencil grip around the end. I also use rubber hair scrunchies; they go on much easier and you can adjust them quickly. I'm not alone in my love for carpenter pencils, but the bane of using them was always sharpening them correctly. The two smaller sharpeners above sharpen to a point. They're quick, but you loose the full chiseled point. I found this handy item at Pencils.com. It's a two step sharpener that makes short work of the big shavings and keeps the flat graphite in tact. Afterwards, I use a razor knife to trim it down to the point that I want.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I ordered the business card size Pocket Palette from Expeditionary Arts after seeing it at a workshop in Richmond, VA. But I didn’t just get the Pocket Palette, I ordered it as part of owner Maria Cornell-Martin’s Art Toolkit.