Supplies & Materials: Creative Arts

The Workshop runs on scrap, patience, and tools that are put back where they belong. Here is everything this course asks you to gather, and everything it gives you for free.

A note on links: Some links on this page are Amazon Associates links. As an Amazon Associate, the School of Evershade earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

Back to the Creative Arts Workshop

A Note from Professor Timberclank

Level One: The Household Road

Level One is the household road. Everything on this side of the page is a household item, a free material, or an inexpensive basic, and it is the whole course: every lesson, every build, every ticket can be earned with Level One stores alone. If you only ever shop this list, the course is complete for you.

Bench & Safety

• Work table or bench — Level One — L1
• Small set of ordinary household tools to lay out — Level One — L1
• Cloth or old towel — Level One — L1
• Apron — Level One — L19
• Safety glasses — Level One — L4, L26
• Cut-resistant glove for the holding hand — Level One — L27
• Dust mask — Level One — L15

Measuring & Marking

• Ruler — Level One — L2, L7, L9, L12, L13, S4
• Tape measure — Level One — L2
• Metal ruler or straightedge — Level One — L3, E4, E5
• Carpenter's square or try square — Level One — L2
• Spirit level — Level One — L2, L21, E2
• Plumb bob (a bunch of keys, a washer, or a fishing weight serves) — Level One — L2
• String or cord — Level One — L2, L14, L22, S1
• Water level: clear flexible tubing and a jug of water — Level One — L2
• Pencil — Level One — L1, L2, L3, L10, L23, L24, E2
• Drawing compass — Level One — E1
• Large compass or beam compass — Level One — E4
• Graph paper — Level One — L22

Cutting & Clamping

• Scissors — Level One — L12, L16
• Small sharp scissors — Level One — L12
• Craft knife with fresh blades — Level One — L3, L6
• Cutting mat — Level One — L3
• Spring clamps — Level One — L3, L5
• Bench hook — Level One — L16, L27
• Nonslip mat — Level One — L27
• Small hand saw (pull saw or junior hacksaw) — Level One — L4, L23

Piercing, Drilling & Fastening

• Awl or bradawl — Level One — L4, L9
• Hand drill and a small set of drill bits — Level One — L4
• Screws — Level One — L21, L22, L26
• Wooden pegs (short lengths of dowel) — Level One — L4
• Mallet — Level One — L4, L26
• Brass paper fasteners with washers — Level One — E1
• Cord or chain and eye screws (hanging work) — Level One — L25
• Hanging hardware rated for the finished weight — Level One — E4

Adhesives, Heat, Wax & Glass

• PVA white glue and wood glue — Level One — L5
• Glue stick — Level One — L7
• Paraffin or beeswax pellets, or a plain candle's worth of wax — Level One — L5
• Sealing wax sticks or wax beads — Level One — L17, S2
• Candle in a secure holder, or an LED candle — Level One — S2
• Practice mold: a silicone ice tray — Level One — L5
• Labels or masking tape, and a pencil — Level One — L5
• Brush, dustpan or stiff card, and a rigid container (for the breakage drill) — Level One — L5
• Glass jar and a chipped ceramic piece (examination only) — Level One — L5

Paper, Card & Board

• Printer or notebook paper — Level One — L7, L9
• Card stock — Level One — L7, L10, L11, E1, E4, E5
• Scrap paper and card — Level One — L3, L7, L17
• Long paper: a roll of craft or easel paper — Level One — L8
• Postal or storage tube — Level One — L8
• String or ribbon — Level One — L8
• Endpaper stock — Level One — L11
• Stiff card or heavy packaging board — Level One — L11
• Cotton cloth or heavy paper (case covering) — Level One — L11
• Bone folder — Level One — L7
• Heavy book (press weight) — Level One — L7
• Blotting paper — Level One — L21
• Paper envelopes — Level One — L26

Fiber, Thread & Stitching

• Sewing needles (sharps, assorted sizes) — Level One — L12
• Needle with an eye large enough for your thread — Level One — L9
• Cotton sewing thread — Level One — L12
• Practice cloth: two or three pieces of plain cotton — Level One — L12
• Thimble — Level One — L12
• Pincushion — Level One — L12
• Scrap cloth for the practice pouch (an old cotton sheet serves) — Level One — L13
• Bodkin or a large safety pin — Level One — L13
• Drawstring (a shoelace serves) — Level One — L13
• Yarn or cord in two or three colors — Level One — L14
• Twine for whipping and binding — Level One — L14
• Stiff card or a simple frame (strip loom) — Level One — L14
• Dried plant material — Level One — L14

Pigments, Paint, Print & Seals

• Nontoxic watercolor or gouache paints — Level One — L15
• Heavy watercolor paper or card stock (color charts) — Level One — L15
• Small jars with lids for mixed paint — Level One — L15
• Mortar and pestle (kept for pigment work only) — Level One — L15
• Smooth tile (palette) — Level One — L15
• Gum arabic solution, or plain water — Level One — L15
• Craft foam sheets or large soft erasers (stamp blocks) — Level One — L16
• Flat tray or tile for rolling out ink — Level One — L16
• Water-based stamp pad or washable block-printing ink — Level One — L16
• The back of a spoon (burnishing) — Level One — L16
• Label stock: card offcuts — Level One — L16
• Modeling clay or plasticine (test impressions) — Level One — L17
• Small boards or thick card rectangles (tablet forms) — Level One — L17
• Large eraser — Level One — L17
• Student pigments or quality poster and acrylic paints — Level One — E4

Paint brushes, assorted sizes — Level One — L15

Clay & Modeling

• Air-dry clay or earthenware clay — Level One — L19, L20
• Small pot of water — Level One — L19
• Smooth board — Level One — L19
• Table knife or clay wire — Level One — L19
• Wooden guide sticks or dowels of even thickness — Level One — L19
• Slab base board — Level One — L20
• A simple bowl or cup shape (press mold form) — Level One — L20
• Labels and a notebook (tile records) — Level One — L20
• Stamps and texture tools — Level One — L20
• Water-based paint (name panel) — Level One — L20

Clay carving tools — Level One — L19, L20

Wood & Carving

• Scrap wood and offcuts — Level One — L4, L23, S1
• Block plane — Level One — L23
• Rasp and a file suitable for wood — Level One — L23
• Sandpaper in a sequence of grits — Level One — L23, L26
• Beeswax finish or boiled linseed oil — Level One — L23
• Counting board materials: pebbles, a plank offcut, a squared stick or dowel — Level One — L24
• Board stock for boxes: offcuts — Level One — L26
• Saw — Level One — L26
• Basswood offcut or carving blank — Level One — L27
• Beginner's carving knife or a small gouge — Level One — L27
• Large bar of plain soap (first carving practice) — Level One — L27
• Piece of soapstone or soft carving stone — Level One — L28
• Squared board (plaque) — Level One — L28
• Red ochre or earth pigment — Level One — L28

Garden & Outdoor

• Hand trowel and one other garden hand tool — Level One — L18
• Bypass secateurs — Level One — L18
• Bucket of water, a stiff brush, old cloths, and a little soap — Level One — L18
• Household disinfectant or rubbing alcohol — Level One — L18
• Light household oil (camellia oil if you have it) — Level One — L18
• Trug or basket — Level One — L18
• Pruned scrap stems and dead branches — Level One — L18
• Matching flat boards or ready lattice frames (plant press) — Level One — L21
• Corrugated cardboard cut to size — Level One — L21
• Straps with buckles, or sash cord (press straps) — Level One — L21
• Thin wood strips — Level One — L22
• Notched prop stick — Level One — L22
• Mini cold frame materials: card or thin wood for the box — Level One — L22
• Twine or string for lashings, and small screws — Level One — L22
• Food-safe mesh: stainless or food-safe plastic screen material — Level One — L25
• Frame stock: lath — Level One — L25
• Funnel and a vessel from your own set — Level One — L25

Metal & Wire

• Craft wire in an easy gauge — Level One — L29
• Tooling foil or heavy craft foil — Level One — L29
• Small file or emery board (finishing ends) — Level One — L29
• Tinplate frame and strip (lantern work) — Level One — S2

Extensions, Specials & Instrument Extras

• Dowels for arbors, gear blanks of plywood, and a crank handle — Level One — E3
• Sundial set: a hardwood board or thick slate tile (dial plate) and a gnomon of hardwood or thick card, sealed against weather — Level One — E2
• Relief set: board and frame stock, a contour source, and card or brass for the scale plate — Level One — E5
• Weather station set: a straight-sided jar (rain gauge), plywood or sheet offcuts (vane figure), and fixed directionals — Level One — S4
• Seed compost or sifted soil — Level One — S3
• Newspaper or recycled paper sheets (paper pots) — Level One — S3
• Piercing tool for drainage holes — Level One — S3
• Slab offcuts of clay (garden markers) — Level One — S3
• Notched vent pegs cut from offcuts — Level One — S3
• Fallen leaves (keeping trials) — Level One — S1
• Lidded box (the keeping box) — Level One — S1
• Twine and rubber bands, and a line or rack to hang bundles from — Level One — S1
• Clean offcuts and scrap board (bird feeder) — Level One — S2

What Evershade Provides

These come with the course. You never need to buy them.

• The complete lesson packets: illustrated lesson text, Workshop Lexicon handout, and assignment packet with exercises, reflection questions, and scholar's checklist
• Templates, patterns, and drill sheets printed within the lessons
• Build log pages and the label station's starter sheets

Level Two: The Historical Road

Level Two is the historical road: specialty purchases and historically closer materials for scholars who want the older way of making the same piece. Hide glue instead of the bottle, hand-cut joinery instead of screws, reed and clay instead of plastic. Nothing on this side is required, and no lesson will ever ask for it before its Level One version has been taught. It is the same course, on an older road, gathered slowly.

Bench & Safety

• Wooden crate or storage box for tools and stock — Level Two — L1

Measuring & Marking

• Mason's line and line pins — Level Two — L2
• Wooden cubit rod or wooden meter rule — Level Two — L2
• Proper plumb bob of brass or turned wood — Level Two — L2
• A-frame level materials: three straight sticks or laths — Level Two — L2

Cutting & Clamping

• Traditional penknife or fixed-blade craft knife — Level Two — L3
• Wooden hand-screw clamp, or cord for a twisted-cord clamp — Level Two — L3
• Leather offcuts (thicker cutting stock) — Level Two — L3

Piercing, Drilling & Fastening

• Brace and bits — Level Two — L4
• Beeswax (for fasteners and thread) — Level Two — L4, L12
• Hardwood practice stock — Level Two — L4, L23
• Rivets — Level Two — E1

Adhesives, Heat, Wax & Glass

• Hide glue granules or pearls — Level Two — L5
• Fish glue or liquid hide glue — Level Two — L5
• Beeswax cakes — Level Two — L5
• Thermometer for the water bath — Level Two — L5
• True sealing wax, the resinous kind — Level Two — L17
• Sealing wax compounded at the bench — Level Two — S2

Paper, Card & Board

• Handmade or cotton-rag paper — Level Two — L7, L8, L9
• Sheets to paste together into your own pasteboard — Level Two — L7
• Paste paper or marbled paper — Level Two — L9
• Waxed linen thread — Level Two — L9, L12
• Binder's board (Davey board) — Level Two — L11
• Book cloth or leather (case covering) — Level Two — L8, L11
• Spine lining of linen or cambric — Level Two — L11
• Leather for a Solander box — Level Two — L11
• Silk or cloth wrap for a case — Level Two — L8

Fiber, Thread & Stitching

• Leather palm guard or leather thimble — Level Two — L12
• Practice cloth of natural fiber throughout (linen or wool) — Level Two — L12
• Heavier canvas or leather (tool roll outer) — Level Two — L13
• Linen or wool cloth (pouch body) — Level Two — L13
• Leather thong or braided cord (drawstring) — Level Two — L13
• Weaving tablets (card or thin wood) — Level Two — L14
• Wool yarn in plant-dyed or undyed colors — Level Two — L14
• Backstrap arrangement — Level Two — L14

Pigments, Paint, Print & Seals

• Egg yolk for true tempera — Level Two — L15
• Glass muller and ground-glass or stone slab — Level Two — L15
• Shell for a palette — Level Two — L15
• Linseed oil (a small quantity, for comparison) — Level Two — L15
• Manufactured historical-style color — Level Two — L15
• Lino block, lino gouges, and a bench hook — Level Two — L16
• Oil-based or water-washable relief ink — Level Two — L16
• Hand press — Level Two — L16
• Plank of soft wood (woodblock-style exercise) — Level Two — L16
• Pearwood block — Level Two — L17
• Darkened wax for the tablet — Level Two — L17
• Wooden boards for a diptych — Level Two — L17
• Pigments ground and mulled by hand — Level Two — E4
• Gilding substitute or bronze paint — Level Two — E4

Clay & Modeling

• Earthenware clay, dug or bought as a dry body and slaked down — Level Two — L19
• Cord-wrapped paddle and a rounded river stone (anvil) — Level Two — L19
• Reed or cut quill, and a wedge-ended stick — Level Two — L19
• Carved wooden stamp or brick-form — Level Two — L20
• Plaster or bisque press mold — Level Two — L20
• Parchment or a leather circle, and cord — Level Two — L20
• Terracotta firing for the clay pots — Level Two — S3

Wood & Carving

• Frame saw or bow saw — Level Two — L23
• Raw linseed oil and shellac flakes with their solvent — Level Two — L23
• Loose sand and a leather pad or block — Level Two — L23
• Hardwood practice stock of decent quality (joinery layout) — Level Two — L23
• Dovetail saw or fine saw — Level Two — L26
• Hardwood stock for the dovetailed seed box — Level Two — L26
• Traditional hinges, or a fully wooden lid fitting — Level Two — L26
• Set of carving gouges and a mallet of wood or rawhide — Level Two — L27
• Proper bench stop and a strop — Level Two — L27
• Piece of steatite (soapstone) and a riffler or small rasp — Level Two — L27
• Ochre pigment and a flat stone — Level Two — L27
• Mallet and lettering chisels for stone work — Level Two — L28
• Flatter — Level Two — L28
• Squared hardwood stick — Level Two — L28
• Genuine ochre and charcoal black pigments — Level Two — L28

Garden & Outdoor

• Linseed oil for wooden handles — Level Two — L18
• Whetstone or fine file (edge work) — Level Two — L18
• Leather tool roll or wooden tool box — Level Two — L18
• Pruning hook or billhook pattern tool (to examine) — Level Two — L18
• Hardwood lath for true lattice frames — Level Two — L21
• Leather straps with roller buckles — Level Two — L21
• Wing-nut and threaded-rod fittings (board press) — Level Two — L21
• Pressed specimen folder, herbarium sheet size — Level Two — L21
• Hazel or willow rods and proper garden twine — Level Two — L22
• Wooden pegs and notched joints (a support built without metal) — Level Two — L22
• Ready-cut glass pane for one frame lid — Level Two — L22
• Hardwood frame lights for the cold frame — Level Two — S3
• True glass bell cloche — Level Two — S3
• Working hotbed materials — Level Two — S3

Metal & Wire

• Brass or copper sheet in a workable gauge — Level Two — L29
• Gravers and small punches (cutting the matrix) — Level Two — L29
• Drawplate — Level Two — L29
• Finer drawn wire and a second mandrel size — Level Two — L29
• Horn panes (lantern) — Level Two — S2
• Brass sheet hood and shutter (lantern) — Level Two — S2

Extensions, Specials & Instrument Extras

• Brass sheet and tube for gears and arbors — Level Two — E3
• Brass bushings (finer bearings) — Level Two — E3
• Clockwork movement or weight drive — Level Two — E3
• Turned finials — Level Two — E3
• Stone slab, sighting stones, and brass strip or lead for inlay — Level Two — E2
• Gnomon cut in stone or cast in brass — Level Two — E2
• Plaster or gesso surfacing — Level Two — E5
• Solid wood layers or a carved wooden base relief — Level Two — E5
• Engraved brass scale plate and a glazed frame — Level Two — E5
• Silk — Level Two — E5

Every lesson names exactly what to gather before the work begins, and practice is done on scrap and sampler stock first, so nothing on this page has to be bought in a hurry. Build your stores the way the course builds your tickets: one lesson at a time.

PROFESSOR COGBRANCH TIMBERCLANK
Creative Arts Workshop
Master Artisan, Head of House Occidens