For the techies

iPad Pro and Apple Pencil

iPad Pro with Apple Pencil

Oh, how I love my iPad Pro + Apple Pencil. Despite being in a creative profession, I resisted buying tablets for the longest time, because I didn’t think they were powerful enough for ‘real’ work, and, well, I didn’t want more distraction toys in my life. As for work, I never took well to Wacoms as there was a disconnect between hand and screen. The only other option I knew of, Cintiq, with which you could draw directly on the screen, was far too pricey.

Enter the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. These are excellent for fine artists, illustrators, as well as designers. Numerous blogs have written fantastic, well-deserved reviews about the pair, and in my own circle, there’s plenty of raving about how workflows have sped up thanks to these. Some of the sketching apps I’m experimenting with right now are ProCreate and Astropad.

$599–799 for iPad Pro

$99 for Apple Pencil

Apple provides discounts for members from design organizations such as AIGA. You’ll likely have to buy in-store to get this kind of discount.

Bitcoin

2016 has been a good year for Bitcoin. Cyptocurrencies are becoming better known and more widely-accepted with shops such as Overstock and Gyft accepting Bitcoin. The understanding is that there are a finite number of Bitcoins in the world, and due to the limited supply, they will only increase in value. As such, they could be decent investments for the future. Here are some ideas on how to gift Bitcoin to others.

p.s. I’m not a financial advisor. Cyptocurrencies can be unstable, just like the stock market, and you should only risk what you’d feel comfortable losing. If you don’t know anything about Bitcoin, start here.

Amazon fire tablet

A decent basic tablet with excellent parental controls. And, at this price, it isn’t the end of the world if the little artist spills paint on it.

$50, on sale for $39.99

Amazon Echo

Voice meets smart home.

$50, on sale for $39.99

Bose Quiet Comfort Noise Cancelling Headphones

These headphones have the stellar reputation of being the best noise-cancelling headphones on the market.

$349

Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones

White noise machine

Drown out the neighbors. Concentrate for longer. Sleep more soundly. I use this simple and pretty affordable white noise machine. It has 20 settings for different fan and droning noises. There are other white noise machines available on Amazon if you’d like more fancy options such as rainforest or coffee shop sounds.

$49