Tuesday 14 July 2015

How to store pens?

After my pen ran out the other day I started to wonder how I should be storing them. In the past with ordinary felt tips (markers to Americans ;-) and roller ball pens, I have always stored them tip down as I think keeping the ink in contact with the nib stops them drying up. In fact the felt tips I use in another hobby have lasted me over twenty years.

Obviously the pigment ink liners that I am using for tangling are not going to need to be stored that long as at this rate I will use them up quickly. However I want to buy a few together and store them for a short length of time.  I notice the manufacturers pack pens tip upwards or horizontally I wondered if there was a correct way to store them? I do make sure the lid is clicked on as soon as I have finished using it. How do you store yours? I would be grateful for advice.

In the meantime I have used my other pens to make two tiles. The first is for Kristinne's Challenge to use three to five tangles beginning with the letter of the week. This week it is D for which I chose DL Nebula, Dooleedo and Drupe. 

I am keeping everything simple, open and airy for both challenges because over on another channel The Diva's Guest Blogger is asking for simplicity and space. This was harder to do than I thought. I chose airy tangles:- Seeing Stars, Festune, Ahh and Mel-Mel with a zinger tucked between them, but I really had to control myself to stop. The plan was to leave the space in the middle, but first I wanted to border the corner tangles with breadlines and then I wanted to put cyme in the centre however I resisted and as instructed I left the space alone. Oops, I seem to have overlooked the sentence that said two to three tangles maximum !

Kristinne's D challenge :-


The Diva's Guest Blogger Challenge:-


15 comments:

  1. This is beautiful, i like it.

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  2. Wonderful tiles! I love the one for the diva challenge :-)

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  3. So pretty, both of them, with a floral theme. And, both have breathing room and a simple charm to them.

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  4. when I started tangling about a year ago, it alarmed me how quickly I used up the first micron pen I had. It was size .03, and was completely gone in a couple of days. I found out through an article on tanglepatterns.com that pressing down on the pen, with the same pressure you would use for say, a ballpoint in writing a letter, is too much. So ever since then, I've trod much more lightly, so to speak. But in that article it also mentioned how to store micron pens: horizontally.

    I keep mine in an old sweets box that used to have raspberry sticks in it. It is long and narrow and fits about a dozen pens, plus a plastic eraser, two pencils (one for strings, one for shading), a sharpener, a white gelly roller pen, and a white charcoal pencil. I have another box just like it, only it is an orange sticks box, and it is packed with 31 prismacolor pencils plus a sharpener. (that's probably as many as the box can hold. I wouldn't want to try to get more than the current 31 in there) I use a rubber band around to keep the lid on when I'm carting them around.
    There. I'm sure that is oodles more information than needed.

    Now, as for your art...I just love what you've done with both of these! The Diva Challenge tile is so gardeny and sweet. The other one reminds me of something you'd find on an underwater deep sea diving expedition. Both delightful!

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to tell me about the pens. I never thought of looking on tangle patterns for info about pens. Just what I needed to know and I shall look for something to store them in to stop them rolling around. A mug is obviously not going to be the answer:-)

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  5. Hi. As I understand it, the Micron pens have a sponge inside to hold the ink. It is best to store your pens horizontally so that the ink remains constant within the barrel. If they are turned on end the end pools and the sponge dries up where there is no ink. Try storing them on their side and see if that helps. Maria was able to create over 100 tiles with one pen. I think it was over 135, but I can't remember the details anymore. I hope this helps.

    And your tiles are beautiful. I love the simplicity of both of them. With Drupe being one of my favorite tangles, you no doubt know how I feel about that tile. :)

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  6. Thank you for taking the time to let me know. That is interesting, horizontal it is then. I need a box with an inside like a honeycomb to hold them all in place :-)

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  7. Both tiles are wonderful. And the little easel you use to display the tiles is sooooo cute :)

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  8. Beautiful tiles! The first one is my favorite, I like the simplicity of it.

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  9. Beautiful! Simplicity is harder than it seems, right? :) I also love your easels!

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  10. Both of your tiles are lovely. I really like your use of white space in the Simplicity tile.

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  11. These both are very cool!! I store my pens in different ways - some up and some sideways ... great question!! Ok I read the answers - when I get home, I am going to make my pens all sideways!! :)

    ~ Diane Clancy
    http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog/2015/07/my-diva-katie-crommett-simplicity-challenge

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  12. I enjoy your response to Simplicity. And yes, pens stored horizontally last quite a long time.

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