Woot! Episode 5 of Art Supply Posse is live and we are getting better. Heather got it edited and posted by noon today!
This week is part two in our on-going series on markers. We discuss brush pens — the whys, the types and the what-fors — plus Heather gets her first “big girl” pan watercolor set and we try to figure out the difference between pigment, dye and ink.
Enjoy! And now you can leave comments on the Art Supply Posse site too! Don’t forget to jam out to our new theme song.
Pens:
Inks:
Pencils:
Paper and Notebooks:
Planners & Organizers:
Other Interesting Things:
This year, I’ve decided to try the One Book July challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to use one book for planning, journaling or whatever for the entire month of July. I heard about the challenge last year but it was well after July so I put it on my calendar for this year. I wanted a chance to pick one book and focus on my system rather than the book for a change. Originally, it was set up to be a one book and one pen challenge but, in watching the videos and following along, the challenge is flexible to challenge yourself to find way to simplify your personal planning system, journaling or whatever will help you to personally find a way to streamline.
In order to make this work, I wanted to find a book that was clean and simple but with good paper so I chose the Midori MD with blank pages. I knew it had good quality paper but was won over by the complete lack of ornamentation. The cover of the book is plain ivory cardstock that matches the thick, smooth ivory paper inside. I printed out guide sheets in both grid and lined to use with it and decided I’d try the Bullet Journal system that would let me plan, list, journal or do whatever — all in one book. I’ve never really figured out how to use the Bullet Journal system before so this has been a bit of an adventure for me and I’ve done a lot of research to figure out how to best utilize it for myself. Basically, I ended up having to watch Ryder Carroll’s video about ten times and then just jumping in with both feet and hoping for the best. I’m using the book for my planning, notetaking and as my logbook.
The only thing this book can’t handle is a lot of water media like watercolor so it wasn’t up to doubling as a full-blown sketchbook. Since I also want to participate in the World Watercolor Month project, I’m allowing myself a second book — one sketchbook to use specifically for this project. I haven’t chosen which specific sketchbook I’ll use but I have a couple more days to decide.
For me, my biggest issue was to stop carrying around FIVE or SIX notebooks and planners at one time and reduce down to just two books is a huge reduction. Along with this, I pared down my daily carry to a smaller zipper pouch, carrying a reduced selection of colored pencils, a mechanical pencil, a few felt tip pen, a brush pen, a couple fountain pens and a small set of watercolors and a travel brush plus a back-up waterbrush, which is considerable downsizing from the 100 Pen Case.
The goal of this project is to focus more on making this month with what I have rather than wasting time trying to decide which tool I should use. I’m looking forward to spending a month focusing on content and filling notebooks.
For more information about One Book July, check out the videos posted by Rhomany and Carie Harling, two of the hosts for the online challenge this year.
Note: This challenge will not affect product reviews. I will continue to review notebooks, pens and other products throughout the month but my personal planning and notetaking will all take place in the Midori MD. I will try to do a couple updates throughout the month to update how I’m doing in the challenge as well.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Judith asks:
Will you be attending the DC Pen Show in August?
Judith, I’m delighted to say that YES! I will be attending the DC SuperShow in August. I’ve already purchased my plane tickets and Lisa from Vanness Pens has graciously offered to let me help out in their booth again after Chicago so I guess I did okay. So, if you are looking for me, I’ll be the pink hair behind the Vanness table during the day and the exhausted pink-haired girl at the bar after hours.
Samantha asks:
Any leads on where to find stylish, high-quality customized pencils?
Is that leads or leads? Was the pun intentional? I suspect it was… Anyway…I was under the impression that Pencils.com offered custom Blackwings but I could not find a link on their site. They do have a section of custom pencils but do not provide much information to the overall quality of these pencils though I am sure you can email to ask about options.
Dixon also has a promotional section on their site for custom Ticonderogas and the like. These aren’t the best pencils but better than completely no-name options.
Finally, CW Pencil Enterprise offers a very simple, gold foil stamped Musgrave pencil created by hand on their vintage Kingsley Hoil Foil Machine. Only one font choice but its pretty nice. There’s no minimum order and there’s more details about costing on their site.
Depending on quantity, the possibility exists that someone somewhere would be willing to work with you. Does anyone else have recommendations for good quality custom pencils?
Berta asks the baffling question:
Do the holes on an A5 sheet match up with the holes on a Franklin Covey Classic sheet? AKA, will A5 inserts fit in a Franklin Covey Classic planner?
If I read your question correctly, I have some unfortunate news. The A5 Sheets used in a traditional Filofax have only 6 holes while the larger Franklin Covey sheets have 7 holes. And they do not align at all.
Philofaxy did a great post with a photo to show how much the holes do not align.
Charles warns:
Oh No Ana, you have made my craving into a full blown addiction! What am I to? And here I thought it was just an innocent little twinge of ” ooh, I want that, and that, and if I get this I must have that.” Is there any hope? I may have to seek professional help.
You have many links. Do you have one that can help me?PS : this has been a joke! Had it been an actual plea, you would have been redirected to…
Where? There’s a cure? If so, I need it too!
Do you have a pressing pen, ink or paper question for The Desk? Use the link in the header “Ask the Desk” and send me a question and I’ll try to find an answer for you and post it in the next edition of Ask The Desk.
Thanks to everyone who entered to win one of the three Baron Fig Vanguard notebook sets that I have to giveaway. Here are the winners as selected by the handy-dandy Random Number Generator:
Anissa called the Dot Grid so it seems like fate. Carla and Ida get to choose between the Flagship Ruled and the Pocket Blank. I’ll email you all to arrange shipping and see what they chose. Thanks again to everyone who entered and a big thanks to Baron Fig for providing the products for this giveaway.
This weekend is all Arduinos and robots, steampunk and makers of all kinds as we head out for the Kansas City Maker Faire. So I decided to keep with the theme for Fashionable Friday this week and include things that were either aesthetically maker-y or made by small shops. Some stuff is tech-y and some are small batch. There was so much to choose from that I could have gone on all day. I hope you enjoy my selections this week.
*Check out the video that Pen Boutique put together that shows all the Slim edition Retro 51s they currently have in stock. (And a sneak peek of Trista’s cool tattoo!)
This week we cover a fair bit of follow-up, our first #askasp questions, and the first part of our multi-part series on markers, starting with fineliners. And we got a theme song!
Listen and download the whole episode at ArtSupplyPosse subscribe to the podcast via iTunes (or your favorite podcast catcher) Be sure to leave a review on iTunes as it helps other people find it.
Post your questions to #askASP on Twitter or send your questions and comments to hello@artsupplyposse.com.
