From time to time i like showing you snippets of my home and some of my home treasures.
Today, i want to share with you a rather special one. To be honest, i cannot remember the exact year i received this gift but think it was around 1996. It’s not often one gets such great presents but it’s rare to get a present that hit the spot and will be treasured and stay and with me forever.
Being particular when it comes to giving and receiving presents, as blogged about here, i’m of the belief that giving presents is an intimate affair and requires certain consideration and thought. It’s not just because we live in an age of austerity, it’s more because i like being discerning about what enters my home in the knowledge that i treasure everything i own. With that in mind i’m a great fan of birthday lists or simply telling friends and family what i’m wishing for. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Look at this rather genius idea. Surely this must be the way forward!
Back to my home treasure. This actually was a surprise, fancy that, and what a great one too. Here it is in it’s full glory! A faber-castell alexander vethers collection limited edition case.
Yep, i have number 586 out of 1000 limited edition cases. The plaque wit the drawing of the knights is in rosewood porcelain.
Some of you might now go: ‘oh, those don’t look like faber-castell pastels’. To be honest, right from the beginning i started to tailor-make the content according to my needs. You’re correct. The majority here are wonderful hand-made unison soft pastels. There are 400 colours in the range. It’s a family run business and if you’re geeky like me, watch this keynote speech by the wife of the founder. It moved me to tears!
Below the unison pastels you’ll find some sennelier oil pastels. As oil pastels go, these are the biz!
Sliding out the front draw. Here i filled it with stabilo carbothello pastel pencils and cretacolor aqua monolith pencils. Both great artist supplies.
The mechanism of the case is wonderful and satisfying to use. It’s beautifully manufactured. Look at the draws on the right. These ones are actually full of faber-castell coloured pencils.
And there’s more in the left draws.
And this is the beauty in full bloom, well sort of….
The left and right draws tilt so it’s easy to have them rest on a table.
If i had a bigger space or a dedicated studio i would have the entire case open like this all the time. Bet i would draw more!
Unfortunately this case is no longer available but fret not! For their 250th anniversary in 2011, faber-castell brought out the art & graphic jubilee cabinet, combining the best from a couple of centuries of experience in developing and producing exclusive artists’ products. There are 1761 limited edition cases (the year of the start of the business). Ha. Good old amazon is selling it for nearly half price. Why not watch this short clip.
I will show you more art materials in future posts. Do you own many art supplies? Why not get them out and doodle a little. Have a great weekend x