What's In Your Toolbox?

Well, we only have a couple of days of October left - and I have about three posts to make. Things have been packed in Polyrhythm-ville, and (most of) it is full of awesome.

First off, I love university to bits. I love the facilities and space, I love how everyone is very friendly and helpful, I love how I come home from a day in the studio or from taking notes at a lecture and I feel tired - but healthily tired. I feel accomplished. And that's a pretty cool thing.

I think I'm going to start off with an introduction to my new toolbox. It'll be like one of those 'what's in your handbag?' memes (but with far less lipstick and haircare products). The one I owned during Foundation was so battered, that on the last day of cleaning up the studios I squeezed the remains of useful materials into my bag and put it with the rest of the rubbish. I was sad to see the poor thing go. *sadface*

The new one I have is a little smaller, but I think it's helping me be a little pickier about what I keep in it.

 When I first brought it home. I like the little compartments up top - an improvement from my old toolbox is that the top compartments are more varied.

The inside - that lifts up to reveal a deep compartment for chunkier things like paint-tubes and huge scissors.

And here it is getting acquainted with my collection of arty bits. One of the little compartments can fit pens into it, which is really convenient.

Right now, here's what's nestled in it:

In the top compartment:
Mainly things I'd need to grab quickly. Working pens, a few pencils, erasers, two pencil sharpeners, a mini gluestick, a little tube of black acrylic (from this morning - I kept using it).

In the middle compartment, that lifts out like a tray:
Paintbrushes, two spools of thread and a needle, some superglue, a foldable (glittery) ruler, a mini water container, a scalpel and some spare blades for said scalpel, a putty eraser, graphite sticks. A couple of gel pens have made their way into there, too. Things that are too big to fit into the top, or things I want to keep more securely.

Bottom (deep) compartment:
Mainly, all the really chunky stuff! A roll of masking tape and another of gum tape, several decent-sized tubes of acrylic, a box of large charcoal sticks, a packet of 'Wet Ones' wipes (useful for smudging and for cleaning up - I've tried other brands, but these are still the best for me), two pots of metallic varnish, a little tin that can function as a water container and as a mini-palette, and a tin of watercolour pencils.

For a small box, it fits in a lot! It was £4.00 from Wilkinsons, and although it might not be suitable for those of you wanting something heavy-duty, it does the job for the paints and pencils I need to cart about and was pretty cheap (something that's always a bonus when you're a student).