Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Time for new art supplies, old dresses and autumn resolutions

Today was the first time I bought something other than food or newspapers in weeks. After a long lazy summer my financial situation was rather dire, and I am fond of the idea of living simply (I'm trying to implement it). I also tend to get panicky in shops. But I do treat myself regularly. To books, CDs, clothes, ...and of course art supplies. The back-to-school vibes at this time of the year are contagious, so I decided it was time to stock up on a few things...I started small, though. With
Coloured pencils
While I will never tire of using pencil and charcoal and the like, I also love drawing with coloured pencils. I have a soft spot for the Faber Castell Polychromos range - they're oil-based with high-density pigments, so smooth, and they come in great colours. Today I got these four:

The colours are much nicer in real life! Left to right: Helio Turquoise, Burnt Carmine, Cinnamon (perfect name!), Pompeian Red. I could eat them! Hopefully they will be put to use soon.

I also thrifted this dress, which I thought was a skirt and cost 5 euros.


The bit sticking out on the right is the strap of the vest I couldn't be bothered to take off and not some weird anatomy!
I try to buy at least 90% of my clothes second-hand, as there is way too much stuff being produced, and the throw-away mentality is so scarily prevalent. We should try to recycle and reuse as much as possible. I don't meant to come across all preachy; I am not a green goddess - I mean, I drive a car, for one thing. But I try to be mindful of how my life affects the planet and make positive changes where I can.

I made a new resolution recently (I make resolutions throughout the year, mainly because I never keep them): To stop buying bread and instead make my own (or buy it in the market). I had attempted that numerous times before, but fate must have been against my humble wish, as in the past year my oven broke three times. I now have a new oven, and we seem to get on so far... I find baking very relaxing, and it doesn't take up much time at all. Unless something goes wrong. Which it does quite often, but that doesn't deter me :-).

Para los espanoles entre vosotros (= la mayoría): gracias por visitar! Habrá algo espanol aquí pronto, pero temo que mi espanol sea demasiado malo.. A lo mejor voy a hacer este blog bilingüe. Qué pensáis? O poner algo en espanol regularmente. A ver.
Marina x

10 comments:

  1. It does my heart good to see that you care about the planet. I, too, try to be as green as possible and firmly believe in thrift shops. Are there very many in Ireland or do you have to travel far to get to one?

    Your dress is just beautiful, Marina.

    One day I would like to take up art again myself, so I enjoy seeing what you are doing.

    blessings and hugs,

    marcy

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  2. We should have a conscience bigger envelope the planet, all. I agree on all that you say.
    As for your blogs and the opinion that he/she wakes up among the Spaniards, we should respect your language, to the margin of your followers... I say that he/she makes that he/she makes it will be the correct thing.
    A million kisses and hugs.

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  3. Deberiamos tener una consciencia mayor sobre el planeta, todos. Estoy de acuerdo en todo lo que dices.
    En cuanto a tu blogs y la opinion que despierta entre los españoles, debemos respetar tu idioma, al margen de tus seguidores... Yo opino que haga lo que haga sera lo correcto.
    Un millon de besos y abrazos.

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  4. Parece que se está imponiendo el ambiente bilingüe en este blog. Bueno, el próximo e-mail te lo escribo en español y ahora te dejo comentarios en inglés. Por lo que he visto últimamente, tu español (escrito, al menos), sigue siendo perfecto. Quizás tú sientas que al hablar tienes dificultades, pero eso es normal en una lengua que normalmente hablas muy poco. It's my English what it seems to be getting worse at times.

    No sabes la ilusión que me hace ver tu blog todos los días y saber cómo estás y ver todas las cosas fantásticas que haces. Entraré y te dejaré comentarios siempre que pueda.

    Art supplies can be so expensive sometimes. Well, as they generally last for quite long they're actually worth the price. The secret is not to fall into temptation when you're at the art shops.

    Yesterday I bought a kind of propelling pencil with a broad lead to make stetches.

    As for the books, I have not many financial problems, because my brother opened me a 30€/month credit account at Librería Cervantes some years ago (thanks,bro). So I can buy two to four books every month. But, in spite of having the upper floor of my house in Grado devoted only to host a large reading room, I wouldn't like to be devoured by books. So I'm only buying art books, poetry, dictionaries, technical manuals and books in foreing languages. I'm doing this because I can take novels and non-fiction books from the library and read them in a month.

    I used to download a lot of music, but now I also copy cds from the library.

    But I've changed my way of buying. Now I always ask to myself: Do I REALLY need this?

    You keep amazing me. You can bake bread too!. When it was found out that my mother is a celiac, my parents bought a bread-baking machine to make corn flour bread. Tiresome and useless. I can't wait to taste a loaf of your fresh-made bread.

    The word "cinnamon" ("canela") is frequently used is Spanish to describe the color of animal fur. For instance, you can say you have "un perro color canela" and also that you've just seen "un caballo canela". Nowadays it's not very in vogue, but some owners called their dogs "Canelo".

    Ilove the naming of colours. When I was a kid my father's family had a hardware store and there were several posters with the range of painting avaible. I would spent a lot of time looking at them and trying to learn the names of the different hues. Plus, my mother is a bit picky when it comes to words and colors and insists a lot on the proper denomination of each hue.

    ¡Sí, es rojo Pompeya de verdad! Si te fijas en las paredes de las casa pompeyanas, es el mismo rojo anaranjado.

    I use Faber-Castell too!

    You're so inspiring. You do that kind of things that the rest of us think it would be nice to do but we eventually never do. Bah, no sé, me encanta como eres, de verdad. Todo lo que haces. Esa preocupación por el medio ambiente me parece que viene por toda la bondad que tienes hacia todas las criaturas.

    El vestido es muy bonito. Simple y elegante. :-)

    Bueno, que todavía tengo que responderte al email!!

    Un beso!

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  5. Jasmine is my favourite green tea too.
    For the black variety I prefer a spicy Chai of a simple but tasteful Ceylon. But as for green teas, I favour jasmine and then "té moruno" (hinese Gunpowder with peppermint leaves, served Moroccan-style)

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  6. Podemos dividir como hizo el rey Salomon !!!!
    Crea un blog para las personas que hablan ingles ... o lo contrario crea un blog para españoles !!!

    Besos bella Marina.

    Dan mantenme informado ...

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  7. De eso nada!!!!

    Aqui español esperarme que voy a buscar Arena para que vote la enmienda!!!!

    Besos Marina te veo siempre muy bella!!!

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  8. Marcy -thank you so much; I really appreciate that. There are several thrift shops in my town, so it's great. Why, do you have to travel far to get to one where you are?

    Fete- muchas gracias, and you're very good to translate your comment! I think I'll go for the bilingual edition.

    Dan -thank you so much for your thoughtful comment.
    Re the monthly account: that is such a great idea!
    I collect books, and if I had my own house and lots of space, I would have even more, but you're right about novels -unless it's one I loved so much I might reread it, I give them away (or get them in the library instead of buying them). I like the idea of passing books on.

    Narciso y Khánicas - jaja... a ver... lo voy a pensar. Stay tuned! A mí me gusta que hay tanto espanol aquí. Y todo empezó con Fete (gracias, Fete!).

    Marina x

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  9. I like how you think and how you put your ideas in actions. I hope a lot more people have the same mentality as you, someone who is very conscious about what's going on in our environment and how the little things that we do such as our purchase of art supplies, etc. impact the environment.

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  10. Abbey -thank you for your comment. I had a look at Christina's Crafts and love it; I hadn't heard of it before - will add it to my favourites, and I'll be sure to order there!
    Marina x

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