DIY Pencil Holder

Keeping the Pencils Organized

Do you have a lot of pens, pencils, markers? 

When you have a lot of art supplies, you need a system for keeping them organized. I have a lot of colored pencils. When I draw with my colored pencils, it is very important to know where I can find certain colors when I need them. I shared my system of keeping them organized a few years ago (here), but I thought I would share it again and offer a few of my tips.

Here is a photo of my colored pencils organized by colors in my handmade pencil holder.

I use my holder for my colored pencils, my Prismacolor Colored Pencils and I have a lot of them.  But this holder could be used for pencils, pens, markers, or paintbrushes, or a mixture of all of these. I should probably even make another holder to hold all of these items.

DIY Pencil Holder

Whatever your pencil or pen obsession is, you may face the same problem that I do.
How to keep them organized and easy to use.
A few years ago, I needed some way to keep my growing colored pencil collection organized. I had gone to a colored pencil workshop where the Instructor had made a holder for her colored pencils. I liked her idea, so I took her concept and made my version of it. Actually, I made two of them.


Small Pencil Holder
The art instructor's version is smaller than the one I made. Hers is great for individual projects, but I wanted mine to hold my entire collection of colored pencils. Or at least the ones that have been sharpened. Yes, I have that many pencils. She used smaller PVC pipe and a thinner, more lightweight, base piece of wood.

Her pencil holder would be great for keeping your pencils for one or two current projects organized. (If you use colored pencils, you probably understand that you may use 20 or 30 colors in one project.)
The smaller version could also be used to keep a variety of drawing tools.

The Large Pencil Holder DIY

Supplies for the Large Version

Cutting Tool - We used a table saw.

3 Inch PVC Pipe -  We bought 2 pieces and cut into five 4" pieces with an extra 2 1/2" piece.
Tip #1: Cut them short enough that the pencils will stick out of the top and tall enough to hold the pencils upright. I had one shorter extra piece that I placed on the end to hold short pencils.
Tip #2: Thanks to a reader tip, I have learned that the printed letters on the PVC pipe can be removed with fingernail polish!

One 8 ft. piece of 1x4 Lumber -  Cut into two pieces to the length that you want your holder to be.
Tip: You may want to place the cut pieces of pipe onto the board to see how many will fit then cut. I cut 2 pieces that fit on top of a bookshelf.  (I painted the board white to match the PVC pipe) You can cut as many strips as you need for your supplies.

E6000 Glue - Clear
Use the E6000 tube of glue to attach the pieces of pipe onto the pre-painted board.
Tip: I made sure the letters that are printed on the pipe was facing another pipe so it would not be so obvious.
Let the glue dry and it will be ready to use!

For more how to details, check out my previous post. You can find it here: Pencil Organizer

Now go make your pencil/pen/supply holder! Hope this inspires you!

Until next time!

Beth♥

Studio Update 2017

Studio Tour
It has been awhile since I've shown my studio. To be honest, it hasn't been 'comfortably functional' in a while. I say that because I have been very productive in the studio but, it had become overcrowded in there.

Desk Work Space
It is rare to see the top of my desk! This space is used every day so it has a lot of things on it. I am still trying to figure out the best way to get everything up off the desk but still within reach. This arrangement may change up again soon.

When we moved into our house, the studio space was big enough. Over the last 2 years, every square inch has become more and more filled with 'necessities'. Okay, maybe everything is not a necessity, but artists, by nature, tend to keep supplies until they are needed. So those things become 'necessities.

Organized Chaos
As you can see in this 'natural state' collage of the studio, every inch is well used! Especially when I am very busy!

Time to Rearrange

When you trip over cords and you have to move one stack to get to another stack, it is time to reevaluate what needs to stay or go and rearrange the furniture. Also...the cords! What to do with the cords? I've tripped over these many times when in a rush. I will be looking for a solution to this problem.


Work Stations
Because I work with Clay and draw and paint, I need 3 separate spaces that are easy to transition from one to another. Before I rearranged, I had part of my work space in an L shape. In that space, I worked with my wet clay and glazing the fired pieces of clay. But that space became too crowded. So I straightened the work bench and stretched it across the wall with the windows. Storage shelves are easier to get to and the floor space is opened up and I am tripping much less!

Staying Organized
I am not naturally an organized person. I have to work at it. I have to make myself take the time to get organized. I tend to get easily distracted by other things while I am getting organized. But I cannot work when things are unorganized. So I rearrange a lot.
I am also a list maker. I keep lists on this whiteboard that hangs in the studio, along with the notepads that are scattered around the studio. Hanging on the wall beside the whiteboard is my Order Clipboard. This is where I keep track of Etsy Orders. At the end of each month, the completed files go into my business binder.

My organization process is a work in progress. I hope to get my process perfected one of these days. But that is another whole blog post. I would love to hear about ways you get and stay organized. Leave a message below if you have any tips!

Small Spaces
I am thankful to have an extra bedroom that can be used as my studio. This room is small, but it is fine as long as the 'stuff' doesn't take over. I even have a decent size closet in here. It houses even more supplies.

Sometimes I think I want a bigger studio space, but I am sure it would also become filled with 'necessities' too. I will make the most of what I have.

If you are interested in seeing the studio story from the beginning, you can find the links here:
Studio Tour - Part 1
Studio Tour - Part 2
Studio Tour - Part 3 

Until next time!

Beth♥

New Studio Space - Part 2

We have Progress!

We started moving in over two weeks ago and I can finally go into the new studio and not find a box to unpack! Yes, I do have more organizing to do. I will continue to rearrange things as I get back to work. I have come to realize that I have too many things. Too many supplies and not enough time to use them all. I may have to have a supply sale in the near future. I need to get back to work and start using them up, which I plan to do this week.

Now that all of the boxes are out, I can see the floor space and I am pretty excited about it! I have 2 work spaces. One, at the desk where I can draw, compute, dream, and maybe a little paperwork. The other is for clay work and painting.

My Inspiration Wall

Above my desk, I have hung things that make me feel good or have special memories to me. All of which inspire me. Here is a close up of those things. I have numbered them so I can identify the item, the reason it is special, and the creators/artists of the things that I did not make.

1. "Stars, Stripes, and Stitches"  by Me.
This is one of my favorite colored pencil drawings. It is one of those drawings that I put a high price on it, just so it will NOT sell!

2. The little clay 'Follow Your Heart' piece was created by Karen Fincannon. She was very nice and helpful to me when I started doing art shows in Georgia. The message is very inspiring to me.

3. The first Go Hogs Ornament that I made. Go Hogs! (I'm working on more using a slightly different design this year.)

4. A Dream Catcher that a long time, good friend of mine, Cindy, gave me. Catching some dreams!

5. The gum wrapper chain is a part of a very, very long chain that my good friend and I made back in junior high school.  A few years ago, after reconnecting again, she gave me part of the chain. This chain brings back many good memories! Cindy and I spent many hours hanging out and talking and laughing back then!

6. 'Mrs. Macre' sign from my classroom door at Blytheville High School. So many memories!

7. ACEO size drawing of Me, by my Artist friend, Tim Hunter.  He titled it "Blonde in a Turtleneck". It was/is not unusual to see me in a turtleneck and with my reading glasses on my head. He did a good job of representing me!

8. Owl wall hanging by Karen Fincannon from Georgia. We traded a few things at the Georgia shows that I went to. I love this owl!

9. Another little owl. But this one is done by another artist friend, Joy Elizabeth. I also met her in Georgia, at an art festival.  But now she lives nearby and I can visit with her in person!

10.  The little ACEO size quilted painting on fabric was given to me by my sweet artist friend, Fannie, from Hawaii.  She is a very sweet, talented, and special woman. An inspiration.

11,  The little shot glass, with colored pencils in it, is from Paris. I bought it on the trip to France in 2008.  It definitely brings back special memories of the trip I took with Becky, the French teacher, and 12 wonderful students!

Part I of the New Studio can be found here: The New Studio - Part 1 if you want to see the space before.
I will post pictures of the other work space and storage in the room. And eventually I will post a cleaned up and decluttered space.   Update: Studio Tour - Part 3

Update Studio Tour 2017  - Part 4

Until next time!

Beth♥

New Art Studio Space - Part I

Moving In


We recently moved to a new (new to us) house. In our previous temporary place, we only had 2 bedrooms, so my art space was very cramped! But we found a house that was just what we were looking for! I was so excited to get moved and have that extra bedroom space for my art studio again.

I don't have a huge space, but it is a room dedicated just to my studio.  We only started moving in two weeks ago, so I am still emptying boxes and looking for things that I need and deciding how I am going to organize my work space.

Now if I can just find the clamp for my lighted magnifier!

It still has a ways to go, but here is my new space. I just need to get all of my supplies out and organized so I can get back to work! I will post updates as I do a little decorating...paint, fabric, maybe a rug.

In my next post I will have pictures of the new space, hopefully more organized and ready to use. Check back for updates on my progress.
Studio Tour Update: Part 2
Studio Tour Update: Part 3
Studio Tour Update 2017: Part 4

Beth♥

On THE Move

Putting the Sign in the Yard!

I've been talking about wanting to sell our house and move closer to my family for several years now. Although I've been wanting to move for awhile, the timing wasn't quite right...until now! We put our house up for sale in January, in the middle of a rough winter, for us anyway, thinking that I would have several months to get ready for THE Move.

Packing the art supplies! 

At first, things were slow and I thought it may not happen now either. But after one month of being on the market, the right people came along and wanted to buy our house! Yay! Great, but they had to sell their house first. Okay, that gives us a little more time to get ready, start planning and packing. But less than 2 weeks later, they had sold their house and were wanting to close on ours by the end of March! Oh my! That was fast! So...fast forward to the end of March...we have moved across the State, to Northwest Arkansas, and closed on our home of 18 years. It has been a hectic month! We have been unpacking for over a week now and still have a lot of boxes to go through, but it is beginning to look and feel more like home everyday. So, I feel like this was one of those life changes that happened when it was supposed to happen. So I'm looking forward to seeing where this Chapter in our lives takes us.

My goal this week is to unpack and organize the rest of my studio.

Packing the truck!

Unpacking the art supplies!