Favorite Places Painted Color Quilt

Check out my painted quilt!

To understand this project, first you have to read about the state-inspired color matching challenge I described yesterday, if you haven't already. OK, caught up? After mixing from each state's color palette, I used those colors to paint a set of six squares. Here is Vermont's:

When I'd done all six states and the paint had dried, I glued the squares together on a piece of cardstock to make this:

I scanned the six-block quilt, then digitally reproduced it to make the 24-block quilt:

Why? Mostly to give you an idea of what a classroom's worth of these quilt squares might look like (adjusted for the appropriate number of students, of course). You could make a quilt alone like I did, but I created it to be a group project for a classroom. I'm imagining a project where each student digitally creates a 6-color palette from a photo of one of their favorite places, mixes those colors to match, and paints them onto a square. When the teacher posts all the squares together on a bulletin board, you have a quilt made from everyone's favorite places. 

There are dozens of ways to extend this activity or integrate this project into other curricular areas. Students could write a poem to accompany their square, focusing on descriptive language to help the reader "see" the photo that inspired it. The class could go on a photo hike and take pictures around the school, or take pictures on a field trip, then use those as their inspirational pictures. They could use the same six colors painted in different orders to see how that visually affects the finished square. (It makes a huge difference.) They could create a palette based on their own clothing, skin, hair, eyes, etc. Constructing the squares themselves gives students math practice with rulers... or with digital programs. The possibilities are endless!

Color Matching Challenge, Inspired by My Favorite States

Do you remember the graphic I made for my blog post about the best state? I used the eyedropper tool on PicMonkey to create a palette based on it and created a collage called "The Colors of California." Then I put empty boxes beneath each color in the palette so that I could practice color matching with acrylic paint. How did I do? 

I've never been especially good at color matching, but I'm actually quite pleased with how I did on this. I ended up making five more palettes. Can you guess which state inspired each of the following color palettes?

They are my favorite states! I've arranged them below in the same order they appear in the graphic above, which is the same order in my blog post. I did not make color matching swatches in this same order. It's pretty easy (for me, at least) to see when I was losing the light and settling for "matches" that aren't all that close at all. 

You are more than welcome to print my blank collages and try your own color matching. I recommend printing onto Neenah Vellum Bristol and mixing with the 18-color set of Folk Art acrylic paint (affiliate links). If you're already an experienced color mixer and want a real challenge, use just red, blue, yellow, white, and black paint. Too difficult for me!

In total, I matched 36 colors (with varying degrees of success/failure). But I didn't just paint in the swatches you see above. I used my mixed colors for a kid-friendly group project. I'll show you that tomorrow.  

48th Birthday Celebration

As I mentioned back in January, we celebrated Steve's 48th birthday in beautiful downtown Napa. We had an amazing meal followed by a fantastic time at the festival. This is the layout I made about our celebration. 

Steve's 48th Birthday (affiliate link)

Overall, I like the page but I made a giant mistake when I ordered the photos. Steve and Trevor both appear twice on this page. I'm in one picture. But I didn't consider that having a larger photo of me would make it look like it was my birthday celebration instead of Steve's birthday. Oops. That's a rookie mistake and I should have known better. 

I thought about fixing the problem with giant arrows pointing to Steve, but that ended up looking weird. So I left it. The journaling makes it clear that it's Steve's birthday, even if my photo choice does not. 

350+ Animal Crafts for Kids

I counted recently and discovered there are just over 350 animal craft tutorials on my blog. Some of them have gotten a good amount of pageviews, but others have barely been seen. I decided to make a graphic featuring my six categories of animal crafts to try to drive traffic to the posts that could use more visibility. 

The graphic I made (using PicMonkey, of course) is very much my style.

I decided to challenge myself to make a second graphic NOT in my usual style, but still something I really like. My rules: it needed to be the same size as the first (optimized for Pinterest), must have a black background like the first, and would use the same six photos. I couldn't add any additional text. 

This is what I came up with:

That was so much fun that I made another. Same rules. 

I’m curious to see which of the three performs best. If you have a favorite, let me know in the comments. Or, better yet, pin your favorite to Pinterest so others can see it. Thanks in advance!

Easter Bunny Gift Tags (What to Do with Old Business Cards)

I recently came across some outdated business cards. Rather than getting rid of them, I turned them into bunny gift tags that I can put on Easter gifts. Obviously, you can make these with plain paper, but it's fun to repurpose business cards that are no longer useful. Affiliate links below. 

Easter Bunny Gift Tags (Made from Old Business Cards)

Materials:

• old business cards (or business card blanks)
• white gesso
• Folk Art paint - pastels
• black Micron pen
• scissors
• hole punch
• pastel satin ribbon

Steps: 

Cover the printing on the business card with a thin coat of gesso. Add a second coat if the business information still shows through. 

When the gesso is dry, paint the business cards in the pastel colors of your choice. Let them dry, then paint bunnies onto the cards. I intentionally painted my bunnies in different colors and sizes. 

When the paint is dry, use the micron pen to outline the bunnies and add facial features. Again, I made each bunny unique. 

Snip off the upper corners of the business cards to create the tag shape, then punch a hole in each. Add coordinating ribbon. The back of the tags are blank, so you can add a name or a short message there. 

This is the first rabbit craft I've done in over a year since my heart was broken into a thousand pieces. Having Brayden here helps, but I miss Trouble every single day. It's less painful as time passes and I'm glad to be able to make rabbit crafts again.