Remember the sprial bound watercolor pad I showed previously? I loved that pad of watercolor paper more than I thought I would! The paper was relatively smooth for cold pressed watercolor paper so my pens work great on it. And as watercolor paper should be, the paper was nice and thick. Add in the sprial binding and I officially love it! The only bummer is that there are not that many papers in each pad. Only 12 sheets per pad. So when I realized how great they were, I went back for more. They are not cheap and I found they come in a several different sizes so I just grabbed one more 7" x 10" and a 9" x 12". I have a feeling I will go through them pretty quickly but I can always go back for more. 
A wonderful friend of mine gave me a travel watercolor set years ago. Maybe 8 years ago? And it was so cute and so nice, I did not dare use it. I am terrible! I have finally given myself permission to use it. And I think that paid off in more ways than one. I got an email out of the blue from my friend, Lois, only two weeks after making that decision. We havent chatted in years! Anyway...exciting on all kinds of levels :) 
If you look closely at the pictures, you will see my newly found watercolor pads are the same exact brand as the travel watercolor set I was given years ago! They are practically a set! Cute, isnt it?! It is about 4" x 5" when closed and has a strong white case.
It has a ton of pallette space and it came with a compact brush. I think I am going to use a water brush but it is very nice to have the back up brush. The water brush will be shown in a later post. I dont want to over excite you all. But the travel set is a bit too nice for me to just play with. Dont get me wrong, I will eventually play with it. I promise! No more horading it! It will be perfect to take to work with me so I can do a little arting during my 'lunch'.
But that is where this set comes in. Remember this medium set I mentioned some time back? It is made by Paperchase and I got it at Borders with a coupon. It was only a little over $2.00. It too came with a brush but I still want to use that water brush. 
But then I stumbled upon this set at Michaels last weekend. It was the only one left. It is just an Artists' Loft brand set so Im not sure how great the quality will be but look at the colors!! I signed up for a new online workshop today and the artist uses a set that looks very sikilar to this one. And ofcourse I had a coupon so it was about $6.00. And it is huge! It does not matter what kind of paint I am using, I do not enjoy mixing my own colors so the more colors the better for me.
Come on! Look at these colors! I have done a little playing already but I will save that for another post. I thought I would introduce you to the supplies first and THEN bore you with my attempts at watercolor painting.
Each of the books above were less than a$1! I had to do some scouring but I found some great gems. A paper play family kit for my niece from MoMA as well as a doodle book I had wanted to get her. The other two books are for me :) And because I had a coupon and a borders membership card, I got the Paperchase watercolor set I had been eyeing. The brush that comes with it is crap but for just over $2, I could not pass up the gorgeous colors.I also had a rare coupon to Boutilliers Art Center (thanks, Mom!) and since I was already on Church Street, I picked up a portable watercolor pad. So the fun little pairing you see below only cost me a little over $8 and will provide me with hours of lunch time distraction at the day job as well as (possibly) 12 pieces of artwork!
