Pens, Pens...

...and MORE pens.

As regular visitors will know, I have a "thing" for pens.

Many folk would call it an addiction - 'My name's Toni and I'm a pen addict' - but it isn't as if I just collect them...I do use them. Although I will admit that some get used more than others.

Here is a collection that doesn't see the light of day that often...

...it consists of my Flexmarkers and Promarkers. The problem here is probably the storage. I bought a DJ's media case from Maplins (the electrical people) when they had them on offer. I had seen this idea used by a few folk in cyberspace and thought it would be the perfect solution to the Letraset wallet situation that simply wasn't working for me. The media case is great - it holds both sets of pens safely & securely and it is easy to see all the colours at a glance - but it is bulky. It has quite a large 'footprint' so takes up a lot of space on the desk when working and because of the lid it isn't ideal for uneven surfaces such as the sofa as the lid has a habit of slamming shut (a few bruised fingers soon put paid to that as a location for using this). The other problem with this case is that it gets buried under piles of stash and then it becomes too much of a chore to dig them out so I reach for a different set of pens.

The Spectrum Noirs live in their purpose made stacking storage and my original set sit on the desk by the PC so they are always 'to hand' for a quick bit of colouring. The newer set are a permanent occupant of my crop tote so that I always have a set of pens with me.

My Distress markers live in the tubs that they came in, except for the contents of the smaller tub - the 12 colours that came in there...festive berries, iced spruce, mowed lawn etc...were placed in a Letraset folder for safety so that I could use the smaller tub and I've obviously put them away for safe keeping. However, that has meant this year's new colours have had a place to live LOL The tubs are quite handy for carrying the pens as they are quite compact and will fit easily into a bag along with some bits for colouring - great if you want to take your colouring out & about with you.

My Copics live in their wallets. The complete set of Copic Ciao pens fits into 2 and a half wallets which means there is some space for holding a few spares of the colours I use the most...

...and it is surprising how compact the 3 wallets are for transporting about.

 

Storage of my pens has proved to be the reason why some pens get used more than others. If I can't easily get to my pens, they don't get used. If the storage isn't portable, the pens don't get used.

 

I've been looking at some of the newer pens that have hit the market and I think I've finally learnt from experience and one of my considerations as to whether these pens will find a home with me is - how will I store them?

 

The new pens from the Tonic Novo range look fab because of their shape (I still think these would be good for when the old arfa-ritis is playing up) but I'm not sure how I would be able to store them so that they are easily usable. Trimcraft have a range of pens out too but I've only seen ads in magazines so I'm not sure what would be the best storage for these. The Chameleon pens are quite long because of the 'mixing chamber' so this would probably affect how they can be stored (unless the complete set was bought in one go so that they are in their ready made storage box).

 

One thing I do know is that I can't work with everything chucked in a plastic container - my pens have to be in colour order and easily accessible (I know my distress markers are in their tubs but I can see the colours at a glance - so no problem).

 

So if you have pens that are not getting used - is it because you don't 'get on' with them or is the storage causing you problems?

 

Perhaps a different method of storage will have you reaching for your pens more often. Speaking of which - I wonder where that Letraset wallet with the Diestrss markers could possibly be..............................................................