Hi Everyone!
I love watching videos of people showing what they take with them to do crops, art classes, and travel planning and art on the go. And while I was reading posts in a FB group I am a part of; I saw a post asking for photos of what various people in the group, kept in their planner bags. Since I have 5 (?) bags that I keep various things in for art and planning; I posted a photo with them lined up along with what I call my “Omni Journal”, sitting in the front. I thought it may be nice to see what I keep in each one, and why I broke them up into the bags that I did, what I use them each for, et cetera.
First off: My Omni Journal itself. I keep a lot of little flat things inside my Traveler’s Notebook style journal, that I use. The exact items fluctuate but usually include: Stickers, sticker paper, Sticker stamped images (that I make using a xyron), images stamped onto tissue paper, a ruler, stencils, several different kinds of washi tape, postie notes, paper clips, a shijaki (Japanese writing board. I made my own along with the ‘card’ my washi tapes are on), and even small coloring projects (a gift for my Mother-in-Law. Shh.). I usually keep my pen clipped on the elastic closure, and I’ll be adding some white notepaper and lint free wipes too.
Second would be that bright skinny bag called a Journal Girdle. It has an elastic band to go around the book and holds a lot more than you would think! This one I usually keep my current favorite pen, my multi pens, a pencil (I can switch out colors for a pencil and eraser for, in my multi pen, but I love the rainbow!), and my water-brush if I think I’m going to use it. Probably the least amount of things I’ll carry once I get the Peerless watercolors, will all fit into this bag. Cause who knows when you’ll want to do some water-coloring in a restaurant or something, right?!
Third, would be my iridescent bag. This is a cute little bag I can fit all my mermaid markers into, if I get the urge to take them somewhere. And that was the original intention. Buuuut, I’ve moved to wanting the Peerless Watercolors in my journal. SO, that means I have a bag for my fountain pens now! Yay!
I go through seasons, where I want to do almost nothing but journal for 5 pages a day (or more). So, having this will be handy. Plus, I’m kind of paranoid about my fountain pens leaking in a cloth bag (Except my Twsbi). So, this ‘wet’ bag works great and keeps them from moving around inside there. This means that when I get that urge to journal a TON of pages; I can make them pretty with the different nibs and ink colors!
Bag number 4! My pink mesh bag with the key chain clip.
This bag keeps my random stuff that I grab all day. Sort of like a basics bag. Which funnily enough, is the brand! LOL! It usually holds my scissors, lip balm, tape runner or travel red tape, mini correction tape, and binder clips to hold my book open to the page I’m working on. I’ve been known to stuff more pens in it when the girdle bag isn’t quite big enough and I want the other stuff too. I really like using my Twsbi to journal with when I get the urge to write for extended periods of time, and it has waterproof-ish fountain pen ink in it. Also, this is the vacuum sealed version. So, it shouldn’t leak at all. The water-brush will probably be a main staple of any current bag that goes with me.
Bag #5. I call this my “Sparkle Bag”. The quote on the front says “I don’t sweat, I Sparkle.”
I would put the items from the pink bag, into this one (with or without the bag itself). This is for when I travel and stay out of town. I consider it to be my ‘dry’ bag for travel, and it holds my tools and pens. I will just fit what I can into it, from large to small. I haven’t traveled with my new sticker maker yet, or the date stamp, but those are considered essentials for me right now. So, those will go first. One of the adhesives will be put in, along with my wite-out, scissors, binder clips, a sheet or two of each paper, the pencil sharpener (IF I’m bringing my Tiffany bag along), and one of the art or painter’s, masking tapes on a bobbin. If you are having trouble seeing those in the photo: they are by the pencil sharpener, inside the roll of masking tape. The pens would be added after everything else is inside. They are: a twist erase pencil, 2 Coleto multi pens with 10 colors of ink total, 2 Frixion multi pens with 7 colors total, a bullet tip Pitt pen, 2 Copic multiliners in sizes 0.7 and 0.3 (I would put one extra cartridge and an extra nib for each pen- if I had them), my black Pentel sign pen, my white linen Dylusions paint pen, and the red and blue Uni-ball Signo 307 pens. I almost forgot the short green stylus that is right above the binder clips in the photo. The back side of the stylus is really useful as a rub on tool when I make stickers. I forgot to include the roll of Tim Holtz tissue wrap, in the photo, but when I run out: I’ll be using tissue paper.
Bag#6 is a cushy makeup bag. This one holds my phone and laptop cords, zip printer, white paper, soap dish with my zip paper refills, and any extra washi tape (sometimes I keep it in a tin instead of just clipping it together). I may also toss in my neosporin kit (has band-aids in it too) or my nail kit if I need them. This bag isn’t always used since I can sometimes fit these items elsewhere.
Bag # 7! This is my ‘wet’ bag. It was made to hold a wet swimsuit. So, I figure it is safer than most other bags when I need to hold items that may leak or be damp. This bag has my extra water, in a bottle. I use distilled water in my water-brush. We have extremely hard water, and I don’t want to toss a good brush just because I couldn’t clear out the feed.
I also keep the bulldog clips (that I use with my rotating design board), a wash cloth for cleaning my water-brushes, a pair of tweezers, my alcohol ink blending pen, and the mini blending solution bottle, in this bag. This bag is mainly for when I want to do watercolor painting or coloring with alcohol ink (instead of markers I have a palette that you will see with the next bag).
Bag # 8! This is my Tiffany bag, or “Tiff” for short. I keep my Inktense pencils in the slots and it has a strip of paper that you can feed through the clear plastic. It can be colored in and then you have an example of the true colors of the pencils. I really like this bag. It stands up into an easel form and when it is folded away: it has a handle to carry it, the pencil tips are covered by plastic, and it has a clear pocket on the back That fits the rotating design board perfectly. So that is where I keep my design board and my alcohol ink palette too! All my colors in one place. Water activated ink (inktense) and alcohol ink that I can pick up with my alcohol blending marker. This bag will probably stay at home now. Unless I go to open studio and can’t decide what medium to use!
I do have one last bag that I completely forgot about until now…
Bag # 9: My Acrylics bag. I don’t like to travel with acrylics or sprays any more, but there may be a time I need to take them to open studio. So, I have a bag for that! LOL If I wanted to bring them, I would use my wet bag for the brushes, a small drop cloth, and extra foamies for my blender tool. I only use Golden brand fluid acrylics. I am allergic to every other acrylic media I have used. Yes, they are expensive, but I rarely use them and ‘a little dab will do ya’. The blender tool and wash cloth (to wipe my hands) are sitting in the lid to keep it open.
You can see that I fit some mini misters in there along with two different sized bottles, along with some smaller sized tubes and bottles of various media. I also added a small bottle of brush soap. This bag is an old makeup bag, and I love that it is clear. When I have colored media I like to see everything I have, all at once. I like miniatures and travel ready products. I’m constantly shifting things about in my room and taking my art on the go.
I like to have clearly defined areas in my Studio, and the same for my travel supplies.
I hope this was helpful for you all.
Please leave a comment down below. I would love to talk to you!
EmpressSyren 