Blog
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Need an Easy Countdown for Christmas? Use Mini Cards!
November starts the holiday season for me, blending two holidays into one long season of memories, togetherness, and blessing. Sometimes, I even refer to them as Thanksmas and Christgiving. (Added practical bonus: celebrating all December helps me remember to be prepared rather than gifting in a panic at the last minute.) One way we celebrate Christmas is with an advent calendar to count down the days until the 25th. It helps build anticipation while giving something special every day of December. Our countdowns have looked many different ways. We've had paper chains, cups made from painted muffin tins, and mini stockings strung with lights and filled with treats. Our countdowns…
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(At Least) Five Simple Ideas for Thank you Gifts
Maybe I’m old fashioned or sentimental or just like giving presents, but when I’m invited away and someone else does all the preparation, I like to say Thank you with a simple gift. Do I always remember? No. Does it have to be expensive? No. Do I always have great ideas on hand? No again. Actually, that’s why I need this list. Now, when I want to put together a Thank you gift, I don’t have to scramble for ideas while I pack for a weekend away. That's something especially helpful during high travel times, like holiday season. If you ever find yourself wanting to give something but blank, here…
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How to Use your Apple Drawings for a Card
The fall flavors continue … and will continue (for me, at least) as the weather gets chillier, the leaves begin to change, and all things cozy become normal again. I love summer and warm weather, and I want it to last forever. There is a part of me that gets sad as the days shorten into winter. But another cozy part of me loves fall just as much with its crisp temperatures and comforting flavors. I just can’t dwell too much on winter coming. Winter can get very long. As I think about fall coziness, I’m also combing my brain for new fall designs. Some will be cards this year,…
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Eight Simple Drawing Ideas to Try This Fall
If you're like me, sometimes, you don't want to hunt for all of those drawing ideas. You just want to flip through them now to see which one you feel like working on. With that in mind, I compiled several drawing ideas from past tutorials. Some of them are from blog beginnings, so they may not have videos. The ideas are just as fun. I've divided them even further into categories: focus on watercolor backgrounds, for the love of drawing pumpkins, a bit of fun with loose watercolor, and drawing with lazy stippling. What are you waiting for? Explore!
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How to Draw an Apple 6 Ways
Fall is on the way. Here, the first sign of fall isn’t the colors, return to school, or the pumpkins. It happens before that, but it’s just as sweet. Apples! We live just down the road from an orchard and tend a few apple and pear trees of our own. Starting in the middle of August, those fall fruits start getting pink cheeks. The first variety doesn’t turn completely red, so we have to keep checking for ripeness. Our MacIntosh apples are ripe now, but we have to wait for our Fuji and Empire apples. To celebrate the beginning of fall and all of the comforting apple deliciousness on the…
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How to Draw an Island with a Palm Tree (or Two)
Continuing with the tropical theme, let’s draw an island with a palm tree or two. And a sunrise. And a hammock. Castaways Welcome. If you’ve ever wanted to quit your job and run to a remote, tropical place to find some peace and quiet, this island is for you. We’ll even throw in a hammock for naps. I can’t promise delivered meals or coconut drinks, but anything can happen on an island like this one. Did you know that painting, drawing, and getting artistically visual helps you calm down, destress, and rejuvenate? (I enjoyed reading this article about it.) Maybe that remote island isn’t as far away as you think.…
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How to Choose Drawing and Painting Paper
Paper can make all the difference when writing, drawing or painting, especially when working with watercolor and ink. To help you choose, we’ll look at a few of the papers I use for practice and professional artwork involving watercolor and ink. I’ll name the papers I use, what I use them for, why I choose them, and even show you a couple I refuse to use. We’ll break them down between drawing and watercolor and even show you the difference between thick and thin inks. When I talk about drawing paper, I’ll include lettering and calligraphy work because I use the same tools to draw as I do when working…
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How to Draw a Surfboard to Celebrate Christmas in July
After deciding on this tutorial, I realized that Christmas in July has an actual date, July 25, rather than celebrating the whole month. Makes sense. The 'real' Christmas has an actual date, too, but ... I still celebrate it all month long. So, even though I missed the actual date, the tutorial stands. If you'd rather use it to celebrate something else, like a birthday, it will work for that too. I'm all for celebrating whenever we can, so the idea of an extra holiday in July totally works for me, minus snow. I can't do snow. Though I look for holidays all over the place, seasons are to be…
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How to Draw a Pineapple
For me, seasons tend to carry themes. Maybe it has to do with temperatures where I live. We get a good dose of each season … frigid temperatures and snows in winter, hot and sticky summers, blooming springs, and breezy falls. As each season passes, one or two ideas grow into many ideas until they threaten to spill over into the next year. Right now, we’re in the middle of summery ninety-some-odd degree days when the pool invites and everyone looks for ways to “chill.” Maybe that’s why I’m dreaming of the tropics lately and summery, tropical drawings keep coming to mind. Why don’t we just go with that theme?…
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How to Make a Beach Time Clock Drawing
Most of the year, I keep pretty busy in among a slurry of artwork, sports schedules, gardening and the neverending homemade menu. But when I’m on vacation, everything is peaceful and relaxed. All time melts into a calm, very flexible plan. We rarely have to be anywhere at a given time. I mean, who cares if we eat at set times? Sure … we have time for another walk on the beach. Ice cream instead of lunch? Let’s do it! Sit on the balcony and stare at the waves for hours? Soak it up. In fact, on this year’s vacation, I realized just how stressed I operate the rest of…
