​For this coming Monday's mixed-media event, we are continuing with our mindful doodling series. This time, we will be painting leaf shapes with watercolor and will doodle with a brush or pen.

Join us this coming Monday January 25th, 11 am MST for a relaxing, and creative adventure in mindfulness!
Click here to register now.

Watch this inspiring video on how to doodle with watercolors!

Join us Monday, January 18th, at 11 am for another mindful doodling experience! Last week, we created doodle borders with watercolors and tape. This Monday, we will create circular shaped doodles using watercolors, and fine tipped pens. Bring your art journals, greeting cards, or watercolor paper along with your pens, markers, and watercolors for a fun, and relaxing class. 

​Doodling can be a mindful as well as relaxing pastime. Why not make your doodles into beautiful greeting cards? Join us for Tuesday's live Doodle Art Card making class!

​Blank watercolor greeting cards or 140lb watercolor paper cut 10" x 14." If you don't have watercolor paper, just use some thick card stock, or poster board.
Masking tape or washi tape
Watercolors
Fine tipped black pen or marker.
Big round or flat watercolor brush
Flat surface to mount the paper to such as a cutting board, masonite panel, or glass.

​Prepare the paper for painting by spritzing the back with water. Lay it on a flat surface and smooth out any wrinkles. ( I used a glass cutting board)
Use masking tape to secure the paper to the surface, leaving at a one-half inch border around all four edges. Divide the card stock into equal sections using the masking tape. If you would like your cards to have a written sentiment, put masking tape on the paper where you would like it to be.
​Moisten your watercolors and let the fun begin! Pick up a generous amount of watercolor in a broad brush and randomly paint loosely across all four cards simultaneously. Let the colors mix themselves on the paper and let them dry completely. 

​Let's have some doodling fun! You will create doodles inside the watercolor cards with the masking tape still on the paper in class. We will show you some fun doodling and lettering techniques to make your cards beautiful and unique as you! See you on Tuesday!

A mixed media journal is your creative companion to document and explore the world around and within you. It can be a combination of thoughts, ideas, art, and craft and can express everyday life, hopes, and dreams. Journaling enhances creativity, sharpens visual skills, and improves eye-hand coordination. It is always evolving and is an excellent source of inspiration.
Keeping a journal is a powerful way to empower ideas, and a perfect place to create your reference for art and craft making.

The Creative Companion Journal is an ongoing weekly event where you will have the opportunity to playfully experiment with art and craft supplies, and express your creativity inside the journal's pages. We will meet every week to explore a fun, creative technique. You may write, paint, draw, doodle, and stamp in your journal. You will add mementos, dried leaves, ephemera, acrylic paints, crayons, fabrics, fibers, monoprints, and other fun visual elements as we progress in our creative adventure. You will be encouraged to create one page a day using a visual prompt or theme of the week, and we will make time for everyone to share their creative journey. The goal will be to complete the Creative Companion Journal full of ideas to keep your creative practice fresh, inspirational, and fun. All levels of experience are welcome to join!

Your journal kit can be as basic or as elaborate as you wish. Below is a suggested supply list with the journal being the most important, of course! There are many journals to choose from, but you will enjoy working in one with thicker pages that will accept lots of media. You will need some marking and coloring tools such as pencils, markers, and paints to get started, and you can always add supplies if you are inspired to do so.

The Creative Companion event begins Monday, August 31st, at 11 am MST, and creative exploration will continue every week until the pages of our journals have been filled. If aren't able to attend all of the events, that's okay! They will be available for you to view at any time on our On-Demand page. Be sure to register, and join us!

​Did you know August 2nd is National Coloring Book Day? Coloring is a relaxing activity for everyone of all ages and skill levels. You will learn some basic and creative coloring techniques using colored pencils, markers, and watercolors in Thursday's live class.

There are lot's of free printable coloring pages available on the internet, and I found some that you can print so you can color along in class. Print them out on your ink jet or laser printer, and grab your colored pencils, watercolors, and markers! The links to the pages are below:
Stay at Home Stay Creative Coloring Page
Inspiraled coloring page
Mandala
Owl Dreamcatcher
​Patterns of the Desert
Zen Birds
​To get the print to fit nicely on your page, it is suggested to download the pdf onto your computer, and print.

Doodling is the act of creating spontaneous drawings in an unconscious or unfocused manner. Doodles are repeated patterns of designs, and science has proven that the enjoyable activity of doodling has many benefits. Mindful doodling can reduce stress, improve memory, and keeps you in the present moment. 

​Watercolor is my favorite medium because it is fresh, spontaneous, and has a mind of its own! I started creating watercolor doodle birds out of color mixes, mainly blobs of two or three colors blended. I usually make color mixes on a separate sheet of paper before I start the real painting to see how the colors look after drying.
I wouldn't say I like throwing away anything, so I started to doodle on the painted blobs with a brush or pen.  The addition of a beak, wings, and legs made the most fun whimsical birds!

​Grab your supplies, and don't forget to register for the live class! If you can't make it, you can always watch the recording at a later time. Of course, it will be more fun to make doodle birds together!

​Join us in a relaxed and calming mindful art exercise today at 11 am MST.
There are many benefits of doodling and mark making! The practice of making marks is not only relaxing; it may help you with become more creative as well as focused. In the class, you will learn to use the simplest of supplies and focus on the brush, pen, ink, and paper.

"Several years ago, I developed a meditative art technique inspired by the Zentangle method developed by Rick and Maria Roberts. I loved the relaxation benefits "tangling" had to offer but had difficulty remembering the steps and sequences. I also wanted to create something that started with splashes of color. After a lot of experimenting, the Kumomi method was born! The word Kumomi comes from a combination of Japanese words meaning cloud gazing.

​When we look at random shapes such as clouds, we sometimes see familiar things. It's our brains trying to make sense out of chaos! Cloud gazing is very relaxing as we watch clouds float by and change shape as they go forming into elephants, birds, angels, and just about anything. The configuration takes form then drifts away quickly. Kumomi is the essence of cloud gazing. The shapes are painted loosely on paper using a combination of colors.  The colorful shapes are outlined with a fine-tipped pen while we look to find something familiar. The final step is to bring out detail with lines, shapes, and doodles.

For several Saturdays this summer, I'll be teaching mindful crafting techniques for relaxation, and well being. Kumomi will be in the first session so be sure to register so you can join all the relaxing fun! We will be doodling, mandala making, and other mindful art and crafts!

This Saturday, June 6th, I will introduce you to the art of Kumomi in a live event. I promise it will be fun as well as relaxing. Below is a list of items you need to get started. If you don't have everything, please feel free to watch and enjoy the process so you can try it at a later time.