Thursday, April 7, 2011

A little help please...

In the spirit of Shimelle's prompt for day 14, I would like to ask for some opinions and/or options for pen and marker storage.  It seems as though mine always run dry without being barely used.  I have read that instead of storing them vertically tip up that you should store them horizontally flat, but unless you put them in a drawer of some sort how do you keep them in their place?  Is it ok to store them vertically tip down?  Does anyone have any great pen storage ideas?


Copic Ciao markers
Photo by Sometimesong

9 comments:

Tracy said...

I have no idea about your question, but wanted to say your copics look so pretty! I store my promarkers in a big lunchbox and they seem to last, they are all jumbled up though.

shimelle said...

I have much better luck with keeping them horizontal. I have a cutlery divider in my desk drawer and it works just perfectly. :) I even have a cutlery box with a handle for workshops so it's easy to carry! :)

Melissa said...

I don't know if it's the "correct" method, but I store all my pens tip down in a carousel type holder on my craft table.

Jimjams said...

I'd say flat is best - I have some ancient embossing pens (I'm talking 10 years old) that still work fine. They're flat is a drawer, but have an elastic band around them to allow other things to be stored nearby. I've had to replace the band a couple of times as it has perished mind you!

Anonymous said...

I store mine horizontally in those plastic pencil boxes that you can find at Target (think Walmart also has them) around back to school time. I have had some for al ong time and they still work perfectly. :)

Stephanie Medley-Rath said...

They should be stored horizontal. That is why most stores that sell pens individually store them that way. (I used to work in a LSS). Anyway, I use these containers from JoAnn's http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3267&PRODID=prd45975 . Zig Writers do not fit in them but all of my other pens do (Fiskars, Bic, Microns). I can sort them by color with these containers.

Catherine said...

Check out Jennifer McGuire
http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2010/02/copics.html
She has tons of great information on her blog about Copics. The link I gave you is to her storage system for Copics. : )
Catherine
http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2010/02/copics.html

Margie S (xnomads) said...

I also store my pens in a drawer horizontally. They aren't sorted well except those that are in a set and I keep still in their box. Many of mine do dry out rather quickly but I'm wondering about two factors 1) I buy them in the States and bring them on a 12 hour plane ride which might possibly start the drying process with the recycled air on the plane? 2) Winters here in Beijing are super dry so perhaps that speeds the drying process? My brown sugar is rock hard, my icing gels seem to dry out sooner than when I lived in Calif. Maybe weather has something to do with it?

Emily Leiphart said...

Copic makes storage containers that are both relatively horizontal and vertical so there's no right or wrong. I personally try to keep them as horizontal as possible. If they are running dry, make sure they're closed tightly. I find that if I'm using a certain colour often, I have to keep refilling it after a few uses. I hope that helps!