Supplies Reorganisation (Apartment Decoration) : Chocolate Container

One year my friend Jonny bought a plastic container filled with chocolates for all of our friends at school for Valentine's Day. 

It was packaged something like the pic on the right. All I remember was that it was very delicious and I loved the bottle/jar that the chocolate came in.

So I stole it from him when it was done. It would have gone in the trash otherwise! (and that would have been horrible! :O )

I thought I would find something cool to do with it instantly but a year later it still remained on the top of my bookshelf collecting dust. (I may have forgotten about it)

Then one day before I started a new semester, it came to me. I was cleaning out my apartment and sorting all my supplies. I was having trouble keeping all my colour pencils, markers and highlighters in order and I just knew I finally found a use for the jar.

As you can see below, here is the jar. I decided to spruce it up a bit by tying a bow with some pretty cloth ribbon that was attached to a floral arrangement I got for my birthday. (Recycling Ftw!)

The rest is simple. 

I used rubber bands to organise all my tools, so that they would be easy to retrieve and look ordered in the clear container.

The next step was to fill up the jar :) I found all my implements stood up nice and straight in the jar with the rubber bands. Especially since I was not filling the jar to capacity right away.

Also if you look carefully there is a little raised bump in the middle. It helped me organise all the stuff in a nice circle and put shorter drawing implements in the middle for a little height. It also of course meant I had to make smaller bundles of instruments. For instance, as seen below, my pack of 12 colour pencils had to be split into smaller bundles of 6.

All filled up!

Here's a look at the final product!

 Here is it in its natural habitat, i.e. on my desk.

I really loved this craft solution, because it was simple and easy to do. It was an innovative solution to my disorganised drawing implements. I just adore jars shaped like that one for aesthetics. Plus its practical, and it is so much easier now to find what I want when I want it. Yay for cute and practical :D

If I had another, I must say I definitely would use it as a memory jar. What would you use yours for?

Also, do you have any easy but cute storage solutions for apartment living? Let me know in the comments below.

As always thank you for visiting my blog. I hope that you continue reading :)

Of Birthday Parties, Matting and Leopard Print Boxes

Lighting Star-lights from the birthday candles. Photography by Hailz

Thursday was my roomie's birthday. However being a medical student, it was just her luck that she had call on her birthday and would not be finished til 10 in the night. To make up for that, we decided to throw her a surprise birthday party to start her day right. Operation: Surprise Midnight Birthday Party was a success! We had old friends who rarely see each other except for occasions (e.g. the return of the Canadian scholar to the island) and yummy egg-less mocha cake :D Also some balloon contraption made out of garbage bags to release balloons when she walked out of the door. I think we did good, and her call was not bad. She got to deliver two babies on her birthday. How awesome is that?

Pre- cut Matting from Fine Arts

I got her print of my painting (Eze, France) framed with some dark purple pre-cut matting from Fine Arts. Apparently, the entire process with glass, etc takes about a week (which I did not have time for). Another surprise- Fine Arts is cheaper than Horizons?

I was also an idiot who forgot to carry the print with me when I went to the art store. I ended up buying a few other options because I could not figure out what would go with the piece the most. Plus I loved the other colours and I know that I have some old pieces that could use some matting. (My name is Shazanna Khan and yes, I have a problem when it comes to art supplies.)

Leopard Print Box perched on my room mate's laptop

This week also, I cleaned my apartment. I wanted some prettier containers for some of my stationery than an old cardboard box. So I went the primary school art & craft route, and brought out the gift paper. To the left is one of my creations.

This Leopard Print Box was once half of a box that once packaged printer ink. My bro, who once lived at my apartment, used it for paper clips.

I thought it needed some sprucing up so I wrapped it in a Leopard-print paper bag from some jewellery purchase. The bag was too pretty to throw away and I knew one day I would find a use for it.

Ribbon bow came from a hairclip that I broke accidentally. Who ever knew that you can't sit on them ? The entire thing was held together by my new spray glue (I was itching to try it out) and some clear tape. It was a great way to reuse old materials.

New use for my Leopard Print Box? Well, you will have to ask my roomie that question. She was studying next to me while I was making it and fell in love with the print and box. It was instantly added as one of her birthday presents.

Art Supply Haul (Things I Love #2)

I finally purchased some new Art supplies! I made a much needed trip to Fine Arts in San Fernando on Friday and Superpharm, in Price Plaza a few days before.

My new supplies: 1. Acrylic Paper; 2. Watercolour Paper; 3. Pre-cut Matting; 4.  Dewert Inktense Pencils; 5. W&N Cotman Round Brush #2; 6. Black Ink Pen; 7. Palette; 8. Gold Acrylic Paint; 9. Liquid Glue; 10. Spray Adhesive Glue.

I got 2 sheets each of Acrylic and Watercolour paper, to replace the ones I used in recent paintings. I always like to have a few sheets handy, so I would not have to run to the store whenever I catch a whim to draw or paint or more importantly have time to do it. Acrylic paper is more textured and thicker than the watercolour paper and I love how coloured pencils or watercolour pencils look on it.

Fine Arts also has a big selection of pre-cut matting and frames for anyone who wants to make their photos/paintings look extra-professional without the professional price tag. I think I am going to use mine to do either a study of native flowers in watercolour or a landscape of some sort.

I originally went into Fine Arts to purchase Watercolour Pencils, but these Dewert Inktense Pencils caught my eye instead. They are watersoluble ink pencils and according to the packaging they are supposed to combine the intensity of pen and ink with the versatility of line and wash. You can wash them over with water for an ink-like effect and when its dry, the wash is permanent so you can continue work over it with different media. I really wanted a set with more colours, but this was all Fine Arts had and I was really excited to try them out.

I bought also a new brush to replace one of my old ones, black ink pen for my pen & ink endeavors, and a new palette for watercolours as most of my existing palettes were covered with acrylic paint. The gold acrylic paint and the glue were for my scrap-booking needs, but I would like to try a mix media piece with some sort of découpage or textured paper.

Blue-Grey Forest

I am pleased to say that my purchases came in handy today. I was able to supply my brother with materials for his abstract painting to decorate his new room. I worked on a new piece (pictures to come soon) while he did his, based on the colour scheme he picked- blue-grey, grey, brown and black. I am impressed. He did quite a good job on it.

My Father's House

Additionally, I finished the piece that I was working on, which you can see in previous blog posts, entitled, "My Father's House." Picture of the finished piece to follow soon.

Sometimes I wished I owned an art store just for the infinite amount of supplies that they have. I cannot wait to have my own home so I can have a room dedicated to being my work and storage space. Until then, a girl can dream :D

As you can see, I cannot do without some good quality paper to paint on. In my opinion it really makes a difference in the finish of a piece. So that brings me to this question, "What is/are your favourite art supply/supplies that you cannot do without?" Also how do you use it? This question also applies to your own special talent (e.g. writing, football, etc)

Thank you for reading. :)