Use watercolor pencils for a color drawing, before painting with acrylic paint

Watercolor pencils work great for making a base drawing, for when you want to paint it in with acrylics and/or watercolors. A big plus is that you can now have your base drawing be in color, making the drawing so much easier to paint in. This comes in especially handy when making a rather large and/or intricate drawing.

The watercolor pencil markings will blend right in with the acrylic and watercolor paint. Any exposed watercolor pencils markings, can be wiped off with a damp paper towel after the paint has dried (when painting on a canvas or such surface with acrylic paint,) giving your painting a nice clean and blended look when finished. No more dark pencil marks showing through or smearing in with the paint!

I've used black drawing pencils before, and it had blended in the dark of the pencil with the acrylic paint, which I then had to go back over again and touch up. Using the watercolor pencils alleviated that extra step.

If you're looking for a watercolor pencil with a good grip, I recommend The Ergosoft watercolor pencils, by Staedtler; this link goes to Amazon. These watercolor pencils have a thin rubber type coating on the outer layer of the pencil. The body of these pencils have a rounded triangular shape, which I also find pretty comfortable to hold.

I just use a regular sized pencil sharpener to sharpen them.

Cheryl Paton

Check out this idea for bringing gerbils home from the pet store

Over the years we have owned several sets of gerbils; they are such cute little pets. However, one time we purchased a pair from a local pet store that was only ten minutes away. We didn't think to bring our little plastic insect cage with us. The sales clerk placed each one in a little cardboard box.

By the time we had gotten home, the one gerbil had nearly chewed a hole big enough to get out. Luckily we all made it into the house safely. Lesson learned, bring a container that the gerbils can't chew their way out of, at least before getting home.

For one or two gerbils, an insect cage works fine for transporting them. The lids are ventilated, allowing them to breathe. The container we used was made of plastic, making it a bit harder for them to chew their way out in a short amount of time.

If you need a cage or two for bringing your gerbils home from the pet store, you can purchase them online. Here is a cute one made for small rodents that also includes a water bottle. That's a good idea as they little critters might feel more secure with being able to get a drink.

Small Animal Carrier Cage on Amazon
The small carriers also come in handy for when their larger home is being cleaned.

Enjoy your pet gerbils.

Cheryl Paton