Dollar Tree Art Supplies!

Hello Everyone!
こんにちは、皆さん!

Today I have some things I have found at Dollar Tree, which I use as art supplies. 

Unless you are doing something professional, like an art commission where you need to ensure things have light-fastness or something like that, you do not need to always use expensive art supplies. 

Even then, there are ways to stay economical as much as possible. 

I went to Dollar Tree for some other items and found these things which help me in my artwork! 

The best thing is, everything is $1 at Dollar Tree! 

Small Containers

These containers are about an inch wide and about two inches long. You can get ten of these in a pack! They are in with the kitchen stuff at the store I went to, I use these for storing all of the small pieces of my action figures, my pen nibs, and other small items. You can stack them as well! 

http://shrsl.com/x90i

Receipt and Sales Order Books 

I have two different receipt books, which I use for any art commissions I get. These are each only $1 and they contain 50 sheets. They make one copy. These are very useful and a lot less expensive than the ones at office supply stores! 

Pencil Grips

Dollar Tree has various kinds of pencils grips! I like these foam ones because they fit many kinds of pencils and are comfortable for long hours of coloring and drawing. 

Gel Pens

These gel pens are really nice! I have not had any problems with them skipping or anything. You get four in a package. They are a very glittery water based ink. They do take a bit to dry, They contain a lot of ink in them and are very vibrant in color. 

http://shrsl.com/x8zu

10 Color Pen

This pen is really nice! You get ten colors in one pen! I have seen the four and six color versions, but a ten color one caught my eye. There is quite a variety of colors and they are fun to use. Some of the colors are really light, but overall this is a nice pen too! If you want to change colors, press down the button at the top. This is a little stiff at first, but once you get it to go through all of the pens, it will work fine. 

I will continue to look for useful things at Dollar Tree, so if you love Dollar Tree, keep watching this post from time to time as it will be updated! 

I am now an affiliate of Dollar Tree. By using these links and making a purchase, you can support the blog! Thank you for your support! 

Music is so Beautiful! What am I listening to right now? Part 1

Hello Everyone!


Today, I wanted to talk about music. I am a musician and composer as well as being creative in other ways. I want to encourage you to be creative in whatever way you can be creative. Whether that be music, drawing, sculpting, writing or some other art form I did not name, I encourage you to use your gifts to glorify the Lord. He gave you those gifts.

Therefore, I wanted to talk about some of my favorite music. I like music in just about every genre and these are by no means my only favorite songs. My personal music tastes are quite extensive and vast. From time to time I might post links to videos and things I enjoy listening to. Perhaps you will discover something new as well!

Lately, I have been studying Japanese and therefore have been discovering a lot of Japanese Music. Along with that, I discovered a couple of K-pop groups who sometimes sing in Japanese, but mostly in Korean. Their music is beautiful as well.

In case some people are unaware and to properly respect one of the bands on this list and the people who sing in it, I want to say that Kim Jonghyun was a beautiful singer and composer of SHINee, he will always be remembered and greatly missed. Even though I did not know of their music very long before he passed away, it still affected me. I have a lot of respect for the remaining living members of SHINee who each decided and then as a group to continue on and bring us all four beautiful concerts in Japan in February. Thank you, SHINee, I can only imagine how difficult that was and is for you to do.

Japanese Music

Wagakki Band




One Ok Rock



K-Pop 

SHINee




Jonghyun




B.A.P.


I hope you enjoyed this playlist of music and find something which inspires you in some way.

Gift ideas for Artists

Hello everyone!

I watched a few YouTube videos of some of my favorite artists and a few others the last few days about gift ideas for artists.

Thank you to Zoe Hong, for allowing me to share this video with you all. 

They were very helpful and informative, so I thought I would share a couple of those as well as share a few gift ideas myself.

I have linked a public gift guide on Amazon, should you be interested in possibly getting me something I would like to try and I will review it on the blog as well. If you have other ideas, I am open to those as well.

Below are some of my personal suggestions for artists.

For Beginner Artists

Often, people suggest you get these art sets for these people. While some of them can be really good, a lot of these, unfortunately, have poor quality art supplies. While beginners do not need professional grade things, nor am I suggesting that, they should at least have something decent to play around with.

A few brands I suggest looking for in  sets might be Crayola, General's, Daler Rowney Simply series, and Royal & Langnickel. Some of the art sets at Micheal's and Hobby Lobby might be okay, but I've read very mixed reviews. Therefore, these are a hit or miss. I personally haven't tried them, however.

For Intermediate Artists

These are people who are still discovering different mediums they like, they are likely in middle School to high school, perhaps college age, but they consider art a hobby. I suggest you find out what they like to use, whether they like drawing, painting, or whatever and go from there.

For these people, if it's a high quality set, it might be worth getting. Otherwise, I would pick up something specific.

A few sets I could recommend are General's, Prismacolor, Marco Raffine, and possibly Derwent.

Unless you know exactly what they like, especially if they're picky, I would stay away from sketchbooks and paints as these vary greatly in quality and price. If you really want to do that, get them a set of paints from well known brands like Holbien, Ulbrecht, etc... Sketchbooks I would recommend Canson Mixed media paper. Strathmore is also a good company.

For Advanced and Professional Artists

These artists are going to be very particular. Unless you're an artist yourself, it will be very difficult to get them something.

A gift card or certificate to their favorite art store, might be a good idea. Make sure it's for a decent amount. Art supplies can get very expensive, especially for the advanced and professional artist.

Professional grade brands include; Faber Castell, Derwent, Caran D'arche, Tombow, and the like.

If you wish to get them something specific, I would get to know them and what they like and use. You cannot go wrong with something you know they use a lot of. With all this being said, many artists including myself, love to be surprised with something unique, which we can try out. It's the thought that counts, ultimately. I just hope this helps you in not wasting money and resources on something that the artist in your life will maybe use once, if at all.

Link to my personal gift guide (if you would like to support the blog and other things I would like to do in the future). 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3FYMYRHERBHI9

I hope that this adds to all the helpful guides out there and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and safe holiday season!