Of presents and other stuff

[ganimede]

Well, that's the Christmas/Chanuka celebrations over and done with for another year. My best presents were a laptop chill mat from my mother and a vanishing TARDIS mug from my sister. The chill mat is brilliant. It has two fans so it plugs into a USB port and that helps disperse the heat from the laptop. I hoped that the fans wouldn't be too

Comments

[polkadotsquared]

I got my calligraphy ink in Hobbycraft (to go with my dip pen) and I am completely sure it was about £3 for about 30ml and it has to dry quick cause I'm a lefty and when I forget to hover with my hand I smudge terribly. Obviously it's not as pigmented as Indian ink, but if it's just for practice...

Oh and my A3 folder came from Staples, they had plenty of choice but I went for a cheap (<£2) what is essentially a zip-lock bag type as it's just to store archival photocopies in.

The laptop fan is a really clever idea, at uni I use one of my textbooks as a laptop balancing stand so the air circulates, it doesn't really help.

[ganimede]

The ink won't just be for practice, it will be for my college work too. Apparently you can dilute the Windsor & Newton stuff but it has to be with distilled water. Fussy lot they are! I did look at the calligraphy ink because I did that for years, but I'm not sure what it would be like for drawing with.

I had a look at Staples but they didn't have anything that was A3 sized. I need a decent folder because it will be carrying a lot of stuff, including my layout pad. I was thinking of something like this one.

The laptop chill mat is awesome. My laptop pumps out a hell of a lot of heat and the mat really does make a difference. And it's currently half price!

[polkadotsquared]

Ah, well I've never tried drawing but it's good enough for writing :) Distilled water is easy enough to find, or I'm pretty sure you can make some with the right chemicals cause our school Chem dept made their own.

I have an A4 sized one like that, and it's pretty sturdy and a good make. I also have an A1 (or 2 maybe?) size containing my architectural board display from work experience back when I was 16, bit cracked in the corners from wear and tear but still doing the job.

I think I need to open it up and clean the fan of dust, the last time I had the back off was Dec 2010 when I changed some of the upper plastics. Although the chill mat might be a purchase for later in the month when the uni continues to boil us...

[ganimede]

Distilled water is actually really hard to find! I looked everywhere for it, and in the end I had to get some deionised water from Tescos. It's not exactly the same thing but it's close enough.

[polkadotsquared]

I thought I'd seen it in Halfords or B&Q or something. Hmm, deionised should be close enough.