Two similar greens ended up mixed on my living room rug on a Tuesday evening, and I spent the rest of that night sorting tiny squares by hand with my reading glasses pushed up on my nose. That was the end of ziplock bags in a shoebox for me. I have kept my drills in the ARTDOT 60 slot storage container for about eighteen months now, and I sort every new kit into it before I place a single drill. The difference is not dramatic. It is just quieter, and I am not dreading the start of a project anymore.
Here is what I mean by sorted. A new kit arrives with dozens of shades that look identical under a ceiling light. In the old system those went into bags, the bags went into a shoebox, and I dug through them every evening. Now the kit comes out of the mail, gets labeled into containers, and lives in one case that closes. Ten things changed for the better, and a couple of things did not change at all.
Sixty colors, one open case, no more digging
Sixty containers in a foam base, sixty-four labels, four pens with 3, 6 and 9 drill placers, and a foldable funnel. That is the whole sorting setup in a case that measures 11.61 by 7.68 by 2.95 inches.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →Sixty containers means the whole kit is sorted before you sit down
Most kits separate a shade into a bag the size of a postage stamp. Sixty containers in one case means I can empty every bag onto the folding table, fill a container per color, and put the project away sorted in a single sitting. I do this the week a kit arrives, not the night I want to start. When I finally sit down to drill, there is nothing left to hunt for.
The foam base is what stands between you and a night on the rug
Each container sits down in a foam base, so a case that tips on the table spills far less than a shoebox full of open bags. I know the cost of the alternative better than I would like. Two greens went across my rug and I picked them apart by hand for the rest of an evening. I have not repeated that in eighteen months, and I still close the lid before I move the case.
Ten grams a container holds around 2,000 drills, more than most kits send
Each container takes about 10 grams, which the listing puts at roughly 2,000 drills. That is more than most kits send of any one shade, so I have never had to split a color across two containers or leave a half-empty bag taped to the table. When a project runs long, the leftovers go back into the same container and wait. Nothing gets poured into a mixed jar to be sorted later.
Sixty-four labels let you write the number once and forget it
The set comes with sixty-four labels, a few more than the containers themselves. I write the number on a label the week the kit arrives and it stays readable for the whole project. My own handwriting on a bag used to fade and smear. Printed labels plus my reading glasses mean I am not squinting at a baggie trying to decide between two greys at nine in the evening.
Four ARTDOT pens with three placer tips live in the same case
The set includes four pens with 3, 6 and 9 drill placers, so the tool I want sits with the drills instead of in a drawer across the room. I reach for the 3 placer when a section is lettering or a face, and the 6 when a background is mostly one color and I want to move. Pen, tip and shade in one open case is the difference between a smooth evening and twenty trips across the craft corner.
The foldable silicone funnel refills a container without a paper crease
Pouring from one of those tiny bags into a container is where I used to lose drills to the table. The foldable silicone funnel in the ARTDOT set seats in the top of a container and takes a whole bag in one go, with no paper crease to hold the drills back. It folds flat afterward and goes back in the case. I have not chased a runaway drill across the table since I started using it.
The little brush handles the strays so they do not reach the floor
A small brush comes in the box and I use it more than I expected. Drills that come loose on the lid or work their way up out of the foam get swept back into the right container instead of wiped onto the carpet with my hand. It also gets into the corners of a container when a shade is nearly finished. Small thing, and it is why the table is still usable between sessions.
11.61 by 7.68 by 2.95 inches sits beside the canvas, not on top of it
The closed case measures 11.61 by 7.68 by 2.95 inches. That fits beside a 14 inch canvas on my folding table with room left for the tray, and it still leaves space when I move to the kitchen table for something bigger. It is a medium case, not a rolling cart, and that is exactly what my craft corner can take.
It carries like a book, so the hobby actually travels
The case closes and carries like a book, which matters more than I thought it would. It goes to my daughter's place when I visit, and it goes into the car without a bag of loose containers sliding around the back seat. The build holds up to regular use, and the foam insert keeps the containers where I put them. I have not had one come out of its slot in transit.
One open case replaced a shoebox of bags and made sorting faster
For about two and a half years my whole system was ziplock bags in a shoebox, and every session opened with five minutes of digging. A single case with sixty labeled containers changed the routine: sort on arrival, drill from the case, leftovers back where they belong. My right thumb does better too, since I am not fighting with bag seals while it is acting up.
What I'd Skip
If you work one small kit at a time and a handful of bags has never bothered you, sixty containers is more case than you need. This earns its place when you keep two or three projects going or you buy kits regularly, because that is when sorting turns into a chore. I would also skip it if you are looking for something to store finished canvases, since this holds drills and tools, not artwork. It is a sorting and storage case, and it does that one job well.
Sixty containers, sixty-four labels, four pens. I sort a new kit in one sitting now, and I have not mixed two greens since.
My drills live in one case now, not a shoebox
Eighteen months of weekly use on the ARTDOT 60 slot case. If your kit bags are still piled on the table, this is the first thing I would fix.
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