I sometimes see female bloggers disclosing what's inside their purses and makeup bags. I have nothing interesting in my makeup bag, maybe except for an
Ebony pencil that I use to draw my eyebrows. But I thought perhaps I could show what's inside my bag that I carry around wherever I go to teach. People often ask me where I get my materials, and there are some special items that I always recommend. So here it is...
This is my big purse, made by
Ellington, a local handbag company. It has many pockets inside and out. I love it. I use it not only for my teaching excursions but also for other trips. It's so versatile. I have a friend with the same bag in another fabric as a diaper bag. She loves it too.
In this bag, there is always this tin box for all my origami papers, which keeps them wrinkle free. It was originally a gift box for Japanese cookies. Depending on the lesson I'm giving that day, I switch which kinds of papers to put inside, but typically I have a big economy origami package purchased in Japan. They are so much cheaper to get over there, so I stock up on them whenever I go back home. But when I'm in a pinch for origami papers, I buy at
Anzen,
Uwajimaya or
Kinokuniya. They have the best selections of origami papers I've found in Portland area.
I also carry around this stuffed animal... no, it's a pen case! Isn't he so adorable? A lot of children become envious of my doggie pen case. It was a gift from a Japanese boy I used to tutor, and I think his mom got it in Japan. I know, so many cute things are from Japan.
Inside this doggie, you will find a
Signo Uniball 0.28mm pen, permanent markers (bold and thin tip ones), a Japanese calligraphy brush pen, metallic colored gel pens, a glue stick, a bone folder, a Hello Kitty mechanical pencil and an eraser, lead refills, a small snap blade utility knife, a metal bookmark, and
self adhesive photo squares. Obviously, not everything in here is for origami artwork, and some are for manga drawing and card making.
My favorite items among these are the Signo pen, the utility knife, and the self adhesive photo squares. This pen writes really well, and the point is extremely fine. It makes a good manga drawing pen too. As for the utility knife, I don't even remember where I got it. But this
Stanley Snap Off Knife 9mm might be similar to mine. I find it easier to use than an X-acto knife. I also like that it's smaller than a regular utility knife for household chores. I often cut a piece of paper after folding it, putting the blade between the folds and sliding it across. I also use this utility knife to make straight cuts, by putting the bookmark next to the blade. The self adhesive photo squares are great to use when I need to glue papers together but am afraid that glue might make it messy. They stick much better than regular double-sided tapes.
Questions on any items? Do you have any materials that you recommend for origami art? Please
e-mail me!