Ooh, looky what I just got!

I'm really psyched about the new Zutter Bind-it-all bookbinding system, and I just got one on eBay. Now I can make my own little sketchbooks and journals, and use whatever kind of paper I like. It's not even here yet, but I'm already cutting up some Arches watercolor paper for pages. I'll post a picture when it comes! It's so cool!

I used to work in an office that had a plastic comb-binding machine, and have lusted after one ever since. That one, however, cost a lot of money and was constantly breaking, and you could only cut the holes in a few pieces of paper at a time, and even after all that tedium, those plastic combs looked pretty cheesy and couldn't be disguised too well. But this Zutter system uses handsome wire combs, and can even punch holes through chipboard, so it must be pretty sturdy despite its small size. Stay tuned. I plan to waste a great deal of time with this baby.

Speaking of wasting time, alas, I did not win the auction for mass quantities of Golden acrylic paint, which ended up going for way more than I was able to spend. Note that I said "able to spend," not "willing to spend." I admit I was willing to spend a great deal, because a recent trip to C.C. Lowell in Worcester, the only place around here that sells Golden products, confirmed my suspicions that all the paint in that auction would have retailed for well over $500.00. Good paint is mighty expensive, and all the paint in the world isn't going to help me if I don't put the time in teaching myself about color by mixing it myself. If only I were as talented at art as I am enthusiastic about eBay!

I did, however, console myself by winning a large box of Grumbacher oil paint for a very fair price, and I've made myself a promise to use it alllllll up, to paint, like Emil Gruppe advised his students on the rocky coast of Cape Ann, "like a millionaire." He observed that his students were often extremely frugal with the squeezes from their costly tubes of oil paint, so he suggested that they buy less food and use more paint: "Eat like a pauper, paint like a millionaire." Sounds like pretty good advice to me!