How I store my Promarker Collection

I store my pens in a kind of cardboard box with mini dividers inside. This is what it looks like empty:

The inspiration behind the dividers comes from Enkore, a makeup guru on Youtube. I used the pattern he uses to make his lipstick holders, and made 3 of them. I made 3 boxes for each set of dividers, and then fixed all three together in a row before covering it all in black card. 

Having it divided it into 3 compartments stops it from warping too much. You can see even with the dividers its still a little distorted from the bulkiness of the pens.

This is how it looks with all my Promarkers inside (I keep the 6 duplicate colours I accidentally bought elsewhere as backup). I just store this on my desk so its easy to just reach for a colour whilst I'm working.

When I purchased my Letraset wallet, I also bought a pack of 'end dot colour labels' to label the end of the pens so its easier to see what I have. These cost just under £2, and I think worth the money. There are blank back-up labels in the pack too, should you lose a pen or accidentally (ahem) buy a colour you already had.

DIY Mannequin....Attempt 1

I know I promised a post documenting my DIY mannequin of myself with instructions on how to make it.... BUT my first attempt all went a bit pair shaped... So I've decided this is how NOT to make your own mannequin!

-It started off well, I had all of the necessary tools:

-Cling Film

-Mod Rock

-Bowl of water

-Newspaper

Then it all went down-hill from there....

My one roll of Mod Rock

Ensure you have enough mod rock: I would say get more than you think you'll need as it's better to be safe than sorry. You need to do about 2 coats of mod rock to make the structure strong enough, and as you can see from the photo's, 1 roll wasn't even enough for one layer!

Posture is everything: As it takes a while to dry, there's a big temptation to slouch while you wait. Try and make it in front of a mirror so you can see if you're standing properly. Or you'll end up with a distorted shape like below!

Attention to detail: Pay attention to the bust. Unless you are making a mannequin to make lingerie from, do not attempt to get the 'cleavage' part of the bust.
-You should also ensure you wear a bra (unless you never wear one). This is because when you're fully dressed you will most likely be wearing a bra, so you want your bust to sit in the right place on the mannequin for when you're drafting up a clothes pattern.
-Concentrate on the contours of the waist and the small of the back.

Protect your skin: Before covering yourself in mod rock you will need to protect your skin. I wrapped myself in cling-film first. BUT I did not use it to protect my neck. Yet I still applied the mod rock there, so by the time it had dried it had completely stuck to my skin. This made it very difficult and painful to remove, and I'm not going to lie - there were a few tears!

I will be attempting another one, hopefully soon. And hopefully this once will go right, especially after this one went so drastically wrong!

And I will 100% be doing a 'how-to' post on it.