Running In Cheetah Leggings: July 2020

With everything going on these days, lately I've been feeling like ... I need something else in life.

Being stuck at home is stale. Granted my state is open for most things, but I am not about to join the masses who are choosing to self sacrifice right now.

Things feel even more stale on days where it's super hot or rainy outside and I am stuck indoors. And being it's summer in Minnesota, that happens quite a lot. Not that I am complaining, I would take summer over winter right now, that's for sure!!!

After a couple of weeks of that good ol' stale feeling, in June I started looking for another creative outlet besides cross stitching (and no I don't mean self barbering - which yes I am doing for my entire family including myself). This is how I ended up challenging my sister's kids into art journaling.

Here's how it works:

(1) Each week, one of the three of us comes up with a theme word. Then, we create.

(2) Since I'm Auntie, I get to make 2 pieces (one for each kid). I've been making most of my works on textured card stock that I had left over from ... true story, making stuff for my wedding about 15 years ago (face palm). The card stock is 8.5x11", and I slice each sheet in half for a finished work size of about 5.5x8.5". Mediums used each week vary based on my mood and the theme, but mostly I use acrylic paint, watercolor, marker or colored pencils.

(3) I throw my finished works in a mailer when I know the kids are close to completing their works. I use this envelope as an inner to protect each work, and just for fun I close the inner with a wax seal. I use this envelope as the mailer. USPS confirmed that I can use 3 standard forever stamps to put this in the mail, in case you're curious.

(4) When the kids finish their works, it's time to unveil what came in the mail. Though I've been told it's quite a process opening my works, as the kids try to salvage each wax seal LOL. Once opened, each work slides into a plastic protective sheet in a mini 3 ring binder, and a printed label with the theme word is affixed to the bottom right of the plastic sleeve.

And that's it - pretty easy!

While I may not be making 100% original works, since I use Google and YouTube for inspiration, the new creative outlet has helped improve my mood and gives me something new to look forward to each week. And since I'm crafty, my investment has been minimal, as I already have a ton of art supplies in my house. So, the real win is, I can finally brush the dust off my supplies and put them to work again.

With the above explanation complete, let's get to the fun part of this post. Here's what I've made so far, with theme noted above each picture.

And before I go ... if this inspires you and you begin to do something similar, post links to your finished works in the comments below!