The Little World

If you use computer programs to do art or to manipulate images you will recognise the term ” floating palette “. It is the ability to take a control panel from a fixed position on a computer and position it anywhere on the screen.This lets you access the controls that it offers without having to navigate your mouse or stylus all the way back to the side of the image.

The term occurred to me when I saw the two black trays that you see in the illustrations – they were included in aluminium cases intended for toolboxes, but as the person who bought those boxes just wanted them as storage, he offered them to me for free. I took them without really thinking how useful they would turn out to be.

I’m not the sort of person who has tools on a pegboard over outlines. I recognise it as a sign of careful organisation, but the pegboards never seem to have all their tools on them – just painted outlines. And too much organisation leads to being the sort of person who sorts sock drawers as a hobby…

The floating palettes can go wherever in the Little Workshop that I’m busy, and I don’t have to get up and  go dig in a toolbox for the commonly used things. The organisation on them is not set in concrete either…I sometimes change the pattern of tools as new ones appear or as I find that I need th do repetitive tasks with two or three things in rotation.

And at the price of free, I think I am getting good value.