Obsessed With Pens

Hi there! So I got this really cool idea for a series of blog posts that I'll talk about at the end of this post. I'm trying to make this blog a little more focused on arts and crafts. I'm really excited about it!

If you've known me for a while you probably know me as a pretty artsy person. I doodle a lot and I have an entire wall of art in my room. There are 16 pieces of art on that wall and only 3 of them were not made by me. I haven't added to that wall in a while, but I do have quite the stash of canvases at the moment, so I hope to work with those soon...
Anyway, I've always loved pens and markers and anything that I can use to make more art. Recently this love has kind of escalated into an obsession after getting a small pack of Copic markers for my birthday. I thought I would take this post to show off my collection of pens and markers (but mostly pens). If you're a fellow lover of pens, you might like this post a lot!

Crappy picture quality, oops, but this is my pen station. The drawers on the left contain pens and the bin on the right has my markers. 

Starting with the pen drawer. These are all of my fineliners. I've had the Faber Castell pack (left) for a while. Most art pens are labeled with numbers for sizes, but Faber Castells are labelled S, M, F, B, and so on. Plus they have those nice little examples on the front of the pack. Even the smallest size isn't super tiny, so if you like having bolder lines in your drawings, Faber Castells will probably work great. 

The pens in the middle are the most recently acquired pens I have. Every time I went to Michael's I would look at these Staedtler fineliners and wonder if I should get them or not. Last time I was there I finally gave in. It was worth it. I like them a lot because they're my favorite size (0.3) and they're smooth and colorful. It took me a couple weeks to figure out how to close the case. I actually went to my friend Katie's house and her stepmom just happened to have a pack sitting out and she showed me how to close it. So thank you, Mrs. Cheryl! 

The Copic fineliners are on the left. I REALLY love these. As you can see, they don't all look the same and there's one sitting out of the case. Funny story. If you like to doodle on your skin at all, DO NOT USE COPIC PENS ON YOUR SKIN!!! It will completely destroy the pen and make it unusable. So far I believe my Faber Castells have been fine on skin, but these Copics are NOT made for that at all. I tested it out with two pens and they both crapped out on me. Sadly, they were my favorite sizes, 0.1 and 0.3. So I asked for replacements for my birthday. I won't go into all of the details, but it took a couple tries to get the right sizes and I still don't have a 0.3 Copic pen. I'll have to pick one up next time I go to Michael's. So those four silver Copic pens are a brush pen that they accidentally sent us, two 0.1 pens, and an extra 0.03. Oops. Anyway, I really do love these pens because the smallest sizes are super tiny and they're great for detail work. They're my favorite out of these three packs because of the variety of sizes and the quality of the pens. Just don't use them on your skin...

Gelly Rolls! I found out about these pens by watching Baylee Jae videos on YouTube. We have three packs of these that Tessa and I share because she bought one of the packs. We both like them a lot. I think they're great for doodling, but they all have different looks.

Metallics (Top Left): I haven't used these very much because it's the pack that Tessa bought and I'm not a huge fan of metallic things. They show up really nicely on dark and colored papers. For some reason there are two yellows in our pack, and I'm not sure what color we're missing, but I don't think it's too big of a deal. If you like shiny, you'll like metallic Gelly Rolls.

Souffle (Top Right): These were the Gelly Rolls I was really excited about getting when I saw them. They were the most expensive pack at Michael's, but they were advertised to show up on dark surfaces with a matte look to them. I LOVE anything matte, so I got them. My first test with these was really disappointing at first, because they didn't show up! They were completely invisible! It was like I'd taken a white crayon to a white piece of paper. BUT! A few minutes later I looked over at that page and there was the bright color! If you decide to get Souffle Gelly Rolls, their color won't show up on a dark surface until they dry. And don't draw over lines you've already made with these pens because it will completely mess them up even if they've already dried. Despite that, I love these pens now that I know how they work. I love drawing something in a black pen or marker and adding details over the black with these Souffles. The colors are lovely and matte and great for doodling.

Moonlight (Bottom Left): This was the first pack of Gelly Rolls that I got. They are super bright, practically neon colors that almost look like they're glowing. I don't have much to say about them, but I do like them. Again, great for doodling, as most Gelly Rolls are.

Glitter (Bottom Right): Tessa bought these pens separately from the packs because who doesn't love glitter? I like using these to add sparkly touches to my drawings. Usually a few dots is enough to add a nice amount of sparkle. 

Opaque White: More Gelly Rolls! I had been searching for some opaque white pens for another project I was working on and every one I tried just wasn't cutting it for me. They were either too sheer or just plain bad quality. I got these for my birthday and they are PERFECT! These work as well on dark surfaces as a Sharpie works on anything. They show up fantastically. If you're in need of an opaque white pen, these Gelly Rolls are probably your best option. 

The three white pens were my other opaque white attempts. The one on the left is a brand called "Recollections," and it required going over the lines a couple times to be opaque. Even then it wasn't good enough for me. The two in the middle are "Ranger" pens. I don't remember why I did't like them exactly, but they're kind of like regular gel pens. The two pens on the right are the remaining Faber Castells from my first pack. I mostly use them for outlining on paintings. 

I love American Crafts Chalk Markers! I got my first pack of them when I was first introduced to hand lettering. The four pens on the right are the oldest (I used up a couple from that pack) and the 5 on the left were birthday presents. I'm not sure where the white one in the very middle came from. I haven't gotten a chance to use those birthday presents yet but I did test them out when I got them and the metallic colors are really nice. The white chalk markers really look like chalk on dark paper and they stand out nicely.

These are Koi Coloring Brush Pens. I don't use them much anymore but they were basically my replacements for Copics when I wanted Copics but didn't want to buy them and didn't have a birthday or Christmas coming up. I do like them because there's such a wide variety of colors in this one pack and I don't recall them being overly expensive. The one thing I don't like is that they're brush pens. And they're those really loose brush pens. I don't know how else to put it. You don't get a lot of control over brush pens like this, but they're nice for coloring because the colors are bright and smooth. And there are so many colors! 

I'm finishing this long, rambly post about pens and markers with my lovely Copic Markers! I was very happy to get these for my birthday this year. Every artist knows that Copic markers are the best markers out there. There are hundreds of colors and different types and if you mix a black copic marker and a yellow copic marker on paper, the yellow one doesn't get gross! And you can blend colors all you want without messing up the tips. And the colors are so bright and they have wonderful quality. I feel like I don't have to explain them too much because they're so popular. Plus this post has been long enough.

So there's my extensive collection of pens! 

Now here's my next blog series project! Everyone who uses Pinterest knows this feeling. Most of us have boards filled with hundreds of DIY projects that we'd like to do someday. Unfortunately, "someday" gets put off over and over again while more and more projects pile up in that DIY board. I'm on a mission to complete the projects I've pinned and document how they turn out on this blog. I have 602 pins in my DIY board, so I highly doubt I'll do them all, but the ones I do manage to complete will be shared here. I plan to make at least one project every month. Once I finish a project, I'll move it from my DIY Board into the new Pinterest Projects (Completed DIY's) board. There's nothing there yet, but there will be soon! Follow one or both of those boards to keep up with my progress in this endeavor. 

Graduation!

I'm really happy that I got to go to James' high school graduation! I was so scared that morning that I wouldn't feel well enough to go, but I was feeling better by then and got to watch James and a long list of other friends graduate. It was exciting to see so many people I know walk across the stage. I'm so proud of them all!

I was surprised how small this group was compared to mine last year. This was the first class of students that didn't have the option to go to the new school or stay here, so that definitely shrunk the size of the group. Last year and years before the seating went much farther back. I was happy that we got close seats so I could see people and make faces at James whenever he looked up at his family and me. Mostly huge smiles because I was extremely excited. 

My mom was watching the live stream of the graduation at home and got this picture of James getting his diploma from the principal. Yay James! 

I was taking a video when the caps were supposed to be thrown but NO ONE THREW THEIR CAPS!!! What the heck guys, I was waiting for it! How did that not happen? I saw one, ONE, hat go flying super high into the air. You all have four years to practice getting that right for the next one. Or two if you're joining me at Calhoun. It's okay, that's plenty of time. 

Look how cute! After graduation and picture taking, we all went to some restaurant that I didn't know existed and got a huge order of chicken wings to share. 

It was lots of fun and I'm really glad I got to be there to see my boyfriend and so many of my friends from drama, tech, art class, etc. graduate from high school. I hope you all have a wonderful summer before starting your next chapter in life! I hope whatever path you choose to take after high school leads you towards success and happiness and wonderful new adventures. 

Tessa's 13th Dance Recital

I was going to use this post to talk about all the events of this weekend, but I have so much to say about both events that it would just be better to separate them.
Friday and Saturday were long, exhausting, but exciting days. Friday was dance rehearsal, which always goes on forever, and Saturday was the recital. I didn't HAVE to go to the rehearsal, but I always go to help with the costumes and pictures and reminding Mom when Tessa's dance is up next so she can get the camcorder out. Also I like being able to see the dances twice. We didn't get home from rehearsal until 1:00 in the morning and our dancer had to be at the VBC at 9:00!
Despite the lack of sleep and such, Tessa did a wonderful job all day. She was in the opening number for the first time!

I don't have pictures from all of her dances because I just stole these from some other dance moms on facebook. Pictures never turn out well for us so we just left the camera at home this year and relied on other people. Tessa danced a total of 12 times on Saturday, 3 of which were opening number and 2 were her competition dance. She had 3 dances in the Matinee, and the one that wasn't a repeated dance was "World War Z." 

Yep, zombie Tessa. If you haven't heard the title before, the dance was based off of the zombie movie "World War Z" and used the theme music. This was her lyrical dance.

The other 6 dances were in the Evening show. I believe the only dances I couldn't find pictures of were her Ballet, Jazz, and her Tap dances (which is really disappointing because the Tap dance was excellent).

I loved her hip hop dance. I only found one picture from it:

She had two contemporary dances. The pictures from "Homeward Bound" aren't centered on her because the mom was focusing on her daughter and Tessa just happened to be behind her most of the time. But it's something! 

That dance was really super pretty. I found a LOT of pictures from her other contemporary dance. I was so excited for this one because it's to "Run To You" by Pentatonix which is such a beautiful song. Tessa kept a special part of this dance a secret from us.

She did solo turns!!!! Quite a few people in the house cheered for her (especially me). When mom and I saw it at rehearsal we were so surprised and excited. 

I just think this one is gorgeous. I don't know if this was post-solo turn or just another part of the dance but I love how graceful she looks.

This was her ending pose. So pretty. I'm really glad these dance moms got such great pictures of her, especially that one of her mid-spin. 

Like I said, I don't have any pictures of her tap dance, but it deserves a spot in this post.

When I danced, I was the tapper. I didn't enjoy anything but tap. I tested out ballet and jazz a couple times but they were too slow and quiet for me. Last year Tessa's tap dance was super cute, and this year it was absolutely fantastic. At rehearsal, I watched the whole thing with my hands covering my mouth which was wide open in amazement. It was so fast and upbeat and Tessa kept up with the speed with no problem. When the dance was over, I looked over at Mom and just as she shut off the camcorder she started crying. We were so so so impressed and blown away by Tessa's tap dancing. It didn't even occur to me until Mom mentioned that she was with "The Best," meaning the dance class was composed of a group of some of the company's best dancers. I had never even moved my eyes from Tessa. I'm so excited that she's decided to specialize in tap. Us tall people have difficulties getting up off the floor quickly, and I've never seen a tap dance that involves rolling around on the floor. Plus, you know, she's freaking awesome at tap. 

Between the Matinee and Evening show on recital day, we went outside and took some nice family pictures:

And some exhausted family pictures:

I got to see Claire dance too! My lil sister from another mister:

She did a fabulous job as well!

I managed to convince James to make an appearance at the Evening show. I think he liked it. He said he'd come back for the next one so that's a good sign!

Pardon my goofy face. I thought he was making a goofy face too but he tricked me and decided to be cute instead. 

So there you go! 13 recitals down, 1 more to go. Okay, I shouldn't have said that, now I'm trying not to cry. I'm so proud of Tessa and it makes me happy that she's so dedicated to dance. Every year she gets even better and even though I don't get to see her very often because of dance classes, seeing how much her hard work is paying off at recital makes that okay. It's not like I never see her, she did teach me how to ride a bike in April, but sometimes I see her so little that it feels like she's the one off at college! Anyway, the dance recital was wonderful and I can't wait to watch the DVD and watch some of the dances over and over again. 

Freshman Year Complete!

A week ago today I finished my first year of college! Yaaaaayyyyy!!! I meant to post something about it that day or the next, but the rest of that week was pretty busy. I'll talk about that in my next blog post.
Anyway, I can't believe how fast it went by. It got pretty slow near the end because I had to wait a week after I was done with the rest of my classes to take my history final. But now that's all out of the way! I'm officially completely done with history classes, basic English classes, and math classes! I never even had to take a math final! If you don't follow me on facebook, instagram, or twitter, you probably don't know that, yes, I did indeed ace out of my Pre-Calculus final. I ended the class with a 90.2 after my last chapter test. I ended English probably with an A or a high B. I ended astronomy with a C just because I don't care for sciences. And I don't know what my grade was in history at any point in time. Could be an A. Could be a D. Could be a B. I'm completely clueless because my teacher was 70 years old and didn't know how to work a computer.
Overall I had a pretty great semester. I had my math and English teachers for both semesters, so it'll be really weird to not see them every day anymore. I gave them both little flowers and I wrote my math teacher a nice thank-you note.
I checked Blackboard this morning and found my summer American Literature class is already up there. I looked at the syllabus and I'm super excited! I'll be missing a week for Tessa's dance competition but a week is really only two days of class, so that's no huge deal. We're even going to have an Edgar Allan Poe section which makes me even more excited because Poe is my fave. I'll also be taking a physical science class online which hopefully I'll be able to complete early. I don't have any information on that class yet but something should be posted soon. I'm being sneaky with my science classes and taking them all online so I don't have to actually spend an extra hour on campus for labs. Once I'm done with physical science, I'll have all my science credits!
I'm really glad that I decided to go to a community college and get my basic classes out of the way. It just makes me even more excited to transfer to UAH and start taking all the classes I'm interested in. And I'm only 3 semesters away! Wow. It's going really fast and I just hope these next 3 semesters are fast as well. I can't wait to go to a school where I actually have friends and where I'll actually learn things that apply to my major and minor. It feels like I'm just in college limbo and waiting until I can get to the good stuff, but it'll probably be worth the wait.
So yep! That's where I am school-wise. I'll make another post tomorrow or the next day about this awesome/long/exhausting/great weekend I just had.