I know you're out there!

March is the month I start remembering what I planted last fall. I put spring on layaway and it's a pleasant surprise to know they'll soon be here. This year I should have new white tulips and some allium.

I'm also taking a new watercolor class so I'm experimenting with this new (to me) medium.

Making a mess in Madison

We spent the weekend visiting my sister's family in Madison, Wisconsin. On Saturday morning we explored the Madison Children's Museum. It's a really fabulous children's museum with all the hands on fun you'd expect at a children's museum, but one highlight for our three kid was the art studio space. A bright sunny room was packed with crayons, a weaving station, natural materials, glass windows to paint on, collage supplies, and a whole corner of recycled materials for art projects. It was what my house would look like if the kids were given free reign: scraps of paper all over the floor, things hanging from the ceiling, paint on the windows, and all the TAPE you could ever hope for. Now that we've dedicated some space in our unfinished basement for a kids' play area I'm also trying to carve out some room for art making. Surprisingly, the older they get the messier more creative they get. I saw this post on a DIY Recycling Center for Kids on Handmade Charlotte which my kids would also love. I do try to hang on to things I think they'd like to make something with (a friend of mine even "gifts" old boxes and cardboard scraps to my daughter Olivia), but I get frustrated with the space needed to keep all this stuff. One of my continuing struggles as a parent: balancing their creative spirit and the mess it sometimes creates. They're already asking if they can paint on the windows at home.

New spring patterns

It's wishful thinking time around here. Where we pretend that spring is right around the corner and not, in actuality, more like 2 months away. So I have spring on the brain and doodled out some patterns with rain boots and tulips. I'm going to try to mess around with them some more and combine them into one pattern. We'll see how that goes.

Flying collage

Today I spent some time working on a collage piece. Made with cardboard, pen, watercolor, and gouache. Not sure I'm done with it yet, but a fun experiment.

Weekly Sketches

This week's sketches inspired by the mini Boden catalog. I'm not sure why I get this catalog, but it's full of cute clothes and cute kids!

Arctic snowball fight

Here's an illustration I've been working on. Still finding my way around Photoshop. It's really fun, but I keep getting hand cramps from using a stylus!

Valentine's Day Bookmark Printable

I wanted to design a Valentine for my kids to use at school this year. After seeing this post by illustrator Abigail Halpin (I love her work), I thought this bookmark would be a fun way to go. I've put them together here so you can print both bookmarks at the same time. Simply cut along the black lines (including the line on the inside of the arms) and the bookmarks will slide over the top of a page, peeking out over the top. If you'd like a fun project to do with your kids, follow Abigail's tutorial and make your own!

Note: This is sized as a half sheet of paper (if you fiddle with your printer settings you can print 2 at once). Best results when printed on cardstock. For personal use only, please. 

Download here.