For this month’s installment of My Favorite Things — we’re going old school. Rather literally.

These items were purchased in the fall of ’06 as a student at Michigan State University.

It was the beginning of the semester and I was curious about exploring downtown Lansing – so I hopped on a bus that I hoped would get me close to the capital (I had a penchant for getting lost once upon a time…) I walked those grey masonry blocks for a few hours, stopping by the river and of course the Capital building and at some point during my exploration stumbled upon Grand Art Supply.

Never one to walk past an Art Supply store – I had to poke my head in.  I emerged much later with three things that  have followed me through multiple moves, countless projects, commissions and experiments and have become tools I use nearly every single day.

Ruler.

Bone Folder.

Sharpener.

Aside from my easel and a collection of sketchbooks from my husband’s grandmother, these are probably the oldest supplies that I own and still use.

 

 

((I love that the sharpener still has the price tag. ))

I adore these guys for the memories they bring back. In the moments when I sit back from what I am working on and let my mind wander, I am greeted with fleeting images of my myself holding the same tool 9 years ago. Through some sort of silly object-based time travel I am transported back to my dorm room floor, cheap maroon carpet covered with curls of torn paper,  pencils of varying length and trails of glue (usually webbing from my fingers out over my workstation). My ruler is pressed into the paper, bone folder at the ready and sharpener full of woodsy refuse.

It’s a wonderful memory, but I am always more than happy to open my eyes and return to the present.

I love having a few tools that recall places so vividly. Especially when most of my supplies are either used up and piled in a corner (ie sketchbooks) or used up and thrown away (tubes of paint.) It’s nice to be able to use something repeatedly — and that’s why these guys are my favorite.

What about you? What’s your oldest tool still in rotation?