Sharpener Review

Hello everyone, I hope you are all feeling creative this year.. using all your new Christmas stash to make art. One thing that I really wanted for ages was an electric pencil sharpener, and that went on my Christmas list. 

I have tried lots of hand held sharpeners and have found the metal 2 hole ones to be the best, and of course they are the most portable. I prefer the 2 hole ones as some pencils are just too big for the 1 hole types. 

 But I wanted something robust that could stand on my desk. I tried one that has a handle to turn, but I found it did not grip well enough nor sharpen well enough. 

So onto an electric one. I chose to ask for the Swordfish 40051. You can see all their products HERE. mine was ordered from a seller through Amazon, I won't say who as their delivery time was appalling, but there are lots of art shops online that stock these machines. Look around for the best price, mine was £47.

This is how it looks in the box. The machine, with power cord attached and an instruction leaflet. The machine weighs 2lb 5oz, and measures approx 14cm x 10cm x10cm..so it is fairly substantial. It also has 4 suction cup feet, which once you press down on the machine, they keep it in place 

Here is some blurb about the machine.. 

Perfect for office or studio use, this model has a choice of pencil point options and will produce a sharp or gently contoured point. A jam eject button enables broken leads and pencil stubs to be removed with ease.

• Choice of pencil point options from rounded to sharp
• Sharpens up to 6 pencils per minute
• Automatically sharpens when a pencil is inserted and stops when it is removed
• Auto-stop when sharp to prevent oversharpening
• Safety feature cuts power when tray is removed
• Effective thermal cut-out to protect the motor
• Strong, sharp replaceable helical blade
• A jam eject button enables broken leads & pencil stubs to be removed with ease
• For standard (8mm) diameter pencils

After reading up on the machine, it appears that the wax from coloured pencils can build up on the blade, this can be cleaned with a small brush. Though it does suggest that alternating between graphite and colour will prevent the build up. The blade can be replaced,(approx £12) but so far I have not been able to find out if the motor can be repaired or replaced. 

It has 3 setting, blunt/rounded, pointed and extra pointed. 

At the front is a pull out drawer in which the shavings collect.

Here is the pencil I started with, as you can see, brand new never sharpened. 

This was done on the blunt setting. 

This is the pointy setting

and the extra pointy setting

This is the amount of shavings after just these 3 settings were tried. 

and finally I tried a coloured pencil. This is a Prisma. 

On the whole I am impressed so far, the points are really pointy, I am not sure if this comes at a cost of sharpening away more pencil that usual... I won't know this for a while, until I have used it a lot more. I guess then it will be a choice, accept that you will go through pencils quicker and enjoy the super fine point, or put up with less of a point but have your pencils last longer... a personal decision, and based upon each persons finances and the level of art they wish to achieve. 

This is not a cheap machine at all, which is why I got Santa to bring it.. but hopefully it will be a worthwhile investment. 

EDITED TO ADD OTHER PENCIL TRIALS..

Derwent Coloursoft...

Derwent Inktense...

Caran d'Ache Supracolour (watercolour) - hexagon shape

Faber Castell Polychromos

Derwent Graphitint

Derwent Academy (watercolour) hexagon shape

Derwent Metallic - hexagon shape

Cheap metallic unknown brand

Derwent Graphite hexagon shape

Staedtler graphite - hexagon shape

Darcy x

ARC August

Welcome to the Auguest meeting of ARC, the Artful Readers Club, where we read and review and get messy with our art.

This month I started reading one of the books on my original list, but totally ran out of time. It's by a great author and I want to read it properly and do it justice, so I put it aside and read a super short book for this review.

This book belonged to my son, I have no idea if he ever read it. According to the printing date inside the book, 1998, so it's been in our bookcase for aaages.

River Boy by Tim Bowler.

hmm well, this was definitely a quick read, it took just 2 days. It is an easy read, but, well it just never really gets going. there are hints of mystery about this book, and that element could have been really explored. But it just wasn't. Maybe I was expecting way too much from this book, after all it is a kids/teen book. I think my son read it when he was about 12.
 I must remember to ask him if he can remember what he thought of it. The story, such that it is, is very gentle, and flows along ok, but is never gripping. The way it is written is very 'flowery' I think that is the best word I can use. By that I mean the author seems to have written this with a thesaurus next to him, using every desriciptive word possible, just cramming them in. I am pretty sure this book could have been half the size and you still would have had the full story just without all the over the top descriptions.
It wasn't a bad book, but not sure I would recommend it to anyone.


My artwork.

I started with Adirondack sprays in Sunset orange and Wild plum, I sprayed them through a circular piece of plastic canvas.

Then I knocked the colours back using a brayer and some PaperArtsy Snowflake Freso paint.

Next I created a border using the leaf stamps from PaperArtsy HP1104 and HP1105 I sprayed some Adirondack Lettuce and Meadow into the leaves.

I added some PaperArtsy HeyPesto Fresco paint to the leaves too., and filled in the spaces with Inky Pool.

Next I used  some Grunge paste through a Crafters workshop stencil, TCW309S I added the paste leaves over the top of the stamped leaves, and once the paste was dry I painted them with several coats of Fresco paint. 

I added about 6-7 colours to the grunge paste leaves..

Each time I changed colour I dabbed it on in a different place on the leaves, making them multicoloured and multi layered.  

Then i took a piece of sandpaper and sanded back the grunge paste leaves. This removes only the highest parts, and reveals different colours on each leaf. 

At this point I was really happy, just love this as a background. I intended it to look like it was framing the view beyond. 

I then wanted to add the river,waterfall and boy from the book. I started with some light grey Fresco paint, and loosely painted in the rocks, before adding 2-3 darker shades. 

Then I added the water, starting with blue, then lighter blue, then light grey, then white. I also added a small silhoutte of the boy, sitting on a rock. 

Here is the whole page at this point..

All I needed was a title, i painted a piece of card with Honeydew Fresco paint, and once dry I popped it through the printer. 

I then cut it out, added some French Roast to the edges and glued it to the page.  i am so pleased with this page. Considering the book was a little boring...

Here is where you link up if you are playing along with ARC..

ARC July 2013

Welcome to the July meeting of ARC, the Artful Readers Club.

It's been a crazy month for me with so many projects to get finished. if you haven't seen my PaperArtsy projects then  please scroll down and take a look.

Go to the PAPERARTSY BLOG... and leave a comment with a name suggestion in that post and you could win a huge box of goodies from PaperArtsy.

So onto this months book review..

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

I bought this book mainly because of the odd title, and the cheap price. I had no clue what it was about.

It is not just an odd title, but an odd little book. A little sad, a little frustrating and a little funny. It is about a 15yr old boy who has Aspergers. The story takes us on a quest to find the killer of a local dog, though this quickly becomes a back story to the everyday trials and tribulations of living with this syndrome. The bulk of the book focusses on the quite intense behavioural quirks and problems of this boy. Written in a diary style by the boy, the details are a little overwhelming, that is to say the reader is bombarded with information,much of it mathematical. I guess the intention is to give the reader an idea of how even ordinary situations and occurrences are extremely difficult for someone with Aspergers. We are taken through the minutiae of how he deals with anything 'different', mostly this involves doing mathematical equations, all of which are in the book..and I have to say I skipped all of them. Maths holds no interest for me.

The death of the dog is a shocking start to the book, but it is then a little more light-hearted. At this point I imagined it to be an easy to read, but quirky detective story. However it turns darker as the boy's world is turned upside down, and he is thrown into unfamiliar situations. His fear and anxiety is all too apparent on the page. There is no 'happy' ending, and not really any good conclusion to the book, though we do find out who killed the dog.

I am not entirely sure I enjoyed the book, it was certainly a quick read with only 268 pages of large text. I have known people with Aspergers and Autism and recognised so many of the traits, but it was still an insight into the enormous effort needed by the boy just to get through each day.

More than anything I think this book is informative, not in a text book way but certainly enough to introduce you to this syndrome.

So onto my journal page. 

The next pages in my book already had leftover paint on them, so I sponged on some white acrylic to knock back the colours. This gave me a good base to work on with faint traces of a layer underneath.

The boy in my book likes to count red cars, so that was my starting point. Then i added random numbers, as he uses Maths an awful lot. 

On the right side i added some translucent blue paint, and then added stars in white paint. 

and then I completely forgot to take photos...

So my steps were this..

1. I decided the white starts weren't enough so I stamped lots of starts in black, and coloured some of them white. 

2.I drew,cut out and painted a childs rocket, I left  hinge on one side so the rocket would open.

3. I added a key die cut

4. i used a lid to make circles of paint and added facial expressions in each one, this is also in the book.

On the left side, I stamped a rodent all around the edge, as the boy has a pet rat. I then stamped more number for the centre. He carries red paper clips so they went on there too. then I added some silhouette images from the book. A railway sign, an underground sign and Sherlock Holmes.

I  then printed out my review and tucked it into the back of the rocket. 

finally I added the title, which is a quote from the book. Not my best page ever but i kind of like it. I wanted it to have a child-like/primary colours theme going on and I think i achieved that. 

here is where you link up if you are taking part in ARC. leave a link to your review and artwork. 

ARC June

Welcome to the June meeting of Arc, the Artful Readers Club. If you have never been here before then you can read all about the club HERE.....

so onto this months book. A few years ago i was looking for a set of books to buy for my Mum for her birthday. She loves to read, and does so everyday. I had no idea which authors or sets she had already gone through, so I looked for something totally different that I reckoned she wouldn't have bought for herself. When searching for fantasy books I came across Tom Holt, he sounded kind of odd, and so I bought 4 of his books for her. Move forward a couple of years and she was having a clear out of books she had read, and gave me the 4 back so that i could read them too. Meanwhile i had heard great things about tom Holt and had bought some of his other books.

So the point of this challenge is to read books that have been sitting in the bookcase for ages, and I now have about 7-8 of these Tom Holt books, and have not read any of them...till now

I loved this book and can't wait to read the others.

Here is my review.

The Portable Door by Tom Holt … 

I loved this book. I was so sad for it to end.

This tale is a love story, a who-dunnit, a fantasy,a comedy...

As I started reading this book I just thought it was plain weird, and wasn't sure at all that I would enjoy it, but I was soon drawn completely into the story and found it to be really,really cleverly written.

Basically, a young man gets what he thinks is a boring office job. He falls hopelessly in love with the girl at the next desk...that's the love story. There are mysterious happenings, missing people and people presumed dead...thats the who dunnit part.

It turns out the office building is owned and run by magicians,witches and goblins! Yes really!

One of the goblins falls for the young man and chaos ensues.

Scary things happen, but it is never a scary/horror story. If you are into mischievous comedy, light hearted fantasy and a bit of romance then you will love this really quirky book.  

Now for my art journal page. Boy was this difficult. I couldn't understand why when I had loved the book and had so many ideas, but i guess that's just the way it goes sometimes. 

I started with acrylic inks  and a hand cut stencil of a sorcerer. 

Then I added a map of Australia, some red eyes looking through a letterbox, and some claw marks.  Random I know, but all these things appear in the book. 

I stamped a little text..and stencilled some cogs around the edge using a metallic wax. 

I found some old peel off strips in a drawer and used them to add the 'portable' door. 

Then I drew the goblins.. I left them uncoloured, apart from the eyes. On the right is the review, rolled up and held in place with 2 loops. 

Here is where you link up if you are joining in with the ARC..

Add your name and link to your blog post that contains your review and artwork. 

Glue Gun Review

Years and years ago, I am thinking around 20 yrs... I bought a hot glue gun. I thought it was the bees knees, it was small and light , got hot really quick and the glue sticks were cheap. I glued everything in sight. Over the years I used it less, but i was always happy to know it was there for those jobs where only hot glue will do. Definitely a staple in anyone's craft cupboard. 

Sadly last week I was using my relic of a tool, the glue wasn't running, the trigger was getting stiff and the project i was working on was an epic fail. I feared the worst, the poor old thing was giving up on me...and then kaput, it gave up and went to the great glue gun party in the sky. 

For something that I didn't use that much it was actually quite sad to see it go. I started looking around for a new one. There are so many, and so many prices and sizes and types of glue and even ...get this..COLOURS.. of glue. I had no idea you could get coloured glue. 

So after lamenting my loss I was super lucky to be offered a new glue gun by the lovely people at PaperArtsy. It arrived at 7 am this morning. It's not often I get out of bed for anything at that time of the day, but so glad I did. 

This glue gun is awesome.

However before I got to the awesomeness I had a full on fit of laughter at the size of the glue sticks. They are mahoosive, who knew they came so big. They actually had me chuckling all morning. 

Here is the gun as it arrived..

and just look at these glue sticks, they are a hefty 12mm in diameter and 285mm long. that's enough glue to keep you going for ages. 

So, what did i think of the glue gun...back to the awesomeness, because it really is. The gun itself , although billed as industrial, is in fact very light. The trigger is more than double the size of the trigger on my old gun, this makes it very easy to use. 

..on my old gun the trigger was pulled by only one finger, this new one has a trigger big enough to comfortably fit 4 fingers, giving you much more control. ideal for anyone with joint problems in their fingers..

You can see in the photo that the gun slips onto a stand, I found it very stiff to remove at first, but after a few times it slid into place and back off without too much effort. Though to be fair, the whole thing is still so light even while attached to the stand, that i would probably use it with the stand still on. I wouldn't recommend taking the stand off and discarding it, as the gun gets very hot and if you were to lay it down on your table it could cause damage. The stand is very useful.... and something that my old gun did not have at all. 

It didn't take long to heat up, the instruction leaflet suggests waiting 5-7 minutes and I would say that is about right. I kept a close watch on the gun, waiting to see the moment when the glue starting to drip out...

 It didn't!

Marvellous, no annoying drippage all over my craft mat, and no wastage of glue. 

The glue once pulled through is very runny, and stays runny long enough for placement and adjustment. 

So how can you get one of these guns???

They are not currently on the PaperArtsy site... but you can ring them direct to order..

44 (0)1277 212911

As of today they only have 3 in stock, so  if this is a purchase that you are thinking of making then ring them soon. They do however have lots of gluesticks in stock. 

So what did I make... Well, i didn't have any projects that needed 'sticking together', so I thought I would make some embellishments. 

When the glue was good and hot, I let it flow into some silicone moulds. 

Leave the glue to set fully..

flex the mould and the glue embellishment will just pop out. 

Now take your favourite colours of TREASURE GOLD and brush it on, once dry add a highlight shade. 

It does take a bit of practice to get the moulds full without too many airbubbles, as you can see I  got air bubbles in the face, but in my opinion that just gives them more character. 

I did the same with these flower/button moulds.. sometimes there is a little excess glue on the edges, this is trimmed off easily with scissors. 

Just look how the Treasure gold picks out all the details, that the glue has perfectly captured. 

I hope you found this useful, go on treat yourself to a glue gun and have a play.