Author: Marina

Faber-Castell PITT artist pens

I bought these sketching pens in sanguine colour about two years ago, but never managed to use them properly. They have quite a bright reddish colour when still wet, but then the colour changes to a more a matt brownish red when dry which I didn’t like that much. Also, I didn’t quite find use for the different sizes of the tips; 4 in total, from a small tip to a brush one. They caught my eyes this weekend, while I was tidying up my desk, so I decided to give them another go. I used a small sketchbook which I made out of an old diary using Fabriano Accademia watercolour paper; it hasn’t come out very well, so I normally use it for testing colours and tools….this way I don’t feel the pressure of ruining a nice sketchbook if things don’t come up very well! I drew directly in pen, my very first attempt after reading the interview of Bryn Hughes on the winter issue of UK Handmade. Did 4 sketches using each pen, I should have probably used the same subject for all, but hey! However, I’m still not convinced….I like the lines of the fine tip (S). The brush tip (B) is also fine but probably for a different type of subject, I don’t think this colour is suited for these lines. The two in the middle (F and M), nothing special I would say! I might try again in the future, maybe adding some watercolour…..

Felted Pouch




I bought a new laptop just before Christmas and was in desperate need for a nice and coloured pouch. The ones from the shops were not very stylish, and the ones online would have not arrived on time before going away. So I went to one of the local charity shops and got a wool sweater for a fiver, machine washed it, hand stitched it and voila’…my new pouch was ready to be loved by everyone!!

Pencil sketches

I started this pencil sketch back in November and still I didn’t manage to finish it. I picked the branch and the seed pods from my neighbour’s huge Goldenrain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata), which grows right in front of my bedroom window. It looses all its leaves during winter, but still holds the seed pods, regardless of all the snow we had this year. I’m hoping to get this finishide before spring when the tree gets covered in tiny yellow flowers in spring.

Interconnecting flight

It’s always good to bring a pocket size sketching kit……you never know how long your travel journey might take! After escaping the snow blizzard at Heathrow airport back in December, I landed in Rome with an almost clear sky (no signs of the snow that had paralysed the city the day before!) and 2 hours delay. Having to wait for another 4 hours for my connecting flight, I found a quite and sunny spot right behind the gate perfect for a quick sketch. I only had a tiny watercolour palette, just enough to highlight the main features.

Purl Hand Warmers

I bought the pattern and the yarn for these so cute hand warmers at the knitting and stitching fair back in October. They come from Purl, who by the way has some amazing patterns and yarns! Somehow I managed to finish them off before Christmas so they became a nice present for my boyfriend’s sister. The instructions weren’t difficult to follow, but the final stitching at the back was hard to do and the results were not extremely pleasing! Overall I liked the idea of homemade presents…will have to start quite early next year though!