Nature Journal

Ellie's Homemade Nature Journal

Ellie and I took an afternoon last week, hiked and searched for treasure, and glued our finds in our nature journals! She loved this activity, especially since there were no "rules." Gluing flowers right on the paper was fine.

We brought along a mason jar with water for paints, watercolors, crayons, and glue. I brought a black, waterproof pen to write in our journals and document our finds.

I had my own spiral-bound watercolor journal, but I didn't have one for Ellie. I made her one by doing a basic bookbinding. I stacked three 9"x12" pieces of watercolor paper on top of each other, then folded them in half. Using the fold as the "spine," I used a tack (though a nail would work better) to make holes in the spine and tie yarn through the holes to hold the "book" together.

Including the cover, there are 12 pages, which ended up being plenty, as Ellie only really finished 2 pages on this one trip. We could make more books for each outing if needed, but this should get us through at least a few more hikes! It was also so nice to just sit in the grass and paint. So relaxing! Therapeutic time for Mommy too!

Five Dandelions

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to unveil the next project I've been working on besides doodle paintings! I've created a beginner-level teaching guide that is now available in our Etsy shop for print purchase (here) or digital download (here)!

This workbook is free when you attend one of our relevant workshops!

Here's an excerpt:

Five Dandelions explores five different ways to capture a dandelion on paper! Brought to you by the artists at ArtSourceVT.com, this tutorial is presented at a beginner level and encourages you to express yourself in a fun, stress-free way that captures your unique style and story.

Which is your favorite dandelion style? Are you a stickler for inking details, or do you like to splash fluffy, yellow paint?

We hope you enjoy exploring some new techniques and learn a little about yourself in the process!

Thanks for drawing with us!
The ArtSourceVT Team

Cartoon Yourself Workshop!

If you're in the Stowe area this Saturday, I'll be leading a workshop to Cartoon Yourself! Check out our Facebook Event page (here) for more information and to RSVP!

All ages are welcome, and I'm happy to create an activity for younger attendees if needed!

No drawing experience required! I'll provide traceable templates and guides. I'll demonstrate some easy techniques for adding color and shading.

Saturday, Feb. 28th
10:30-11:30am
The Art Store, Stowe, VT

Easy DIY Newsletter!

Lately, I've been trying to think up some ways to share our family photos with my grandmothers who aren't on social media! I came up with a few different options, but this one is definitely the easiest!

PicMonkey (link here) is a free photo editing site that lets you quickly drop your digital photos into a pre-designed template. You can get super creative with this, but my tutorial below offers a quick solution!

Three things to remember:

1. If you want to maximize your printable space, set the document dimensions to 1275 x 1650. These numbers are the pixel (or computer-screen) equivalent of 8.5 x 11 inches, so it'll print well to a standard-sized piece of paper.
2. Choose the highest quality option when you save ("Sean" -- a silly name that PicMonkey gives to their highest quality setting). This will mean clearer pics in your print!
3. Once you save your collage or go into Edit mode, you can't go back!

Here are some other ways you can get creative with PicMonkey:

• Experiment with color!
• Try different layouts with more or fewer photos.
• Leave some boxes blank to add more interesting journaling spaces.
• Print your collage without adding text in the blank spaces, and hand-write your notes!
• Let your little ones color in some of the blank squares
• Add stickers and stamps, doodles, a hand-lettered header, etc.!

PicMonkey Newsletter - Video Tutorial!