DIY Coloring Page Gallery Wall

DIY Coloring Page Gallery Wall

Thursday, September 29, 2016

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One of the things we have at my library, no matter what, is a wall full of coloring pages. We always keep a few pages out with a bucket of crayons, and instead of taking their masterpieces home kids will often bring them to us at the front desk. We would then unceremoniously hang these lovely works of art on a wall by the circulation desk. While it did mean the work was admired, it also had the tendency to look a bit cluttered. 

We recently freed up a wall in the kids area, and I jumped on the opportunity to create a project I'd been dreaming about for a while: a changeable art gallery. I took the time to create a few frame templates, and I'm going to share them at the end of this post!

For this DIY you'll need a printer that can print on 11x17 paper, some tape, and plastic sheet covers. It really might be the simplest DIY ever.  Just print out the frames, cut them out, and tape them to the plastic sheet covers. You might have to cut of sides with binder holes off, and make sure not to tape up the top!

Each frame template comes with three colors and a black and white version that you can color yourself.

Download the Frame Template PDF here.

So far our wall has had good reviews. We've changed out a few pieces already, and kids really love being able to see their work on display. I've had a few kids that have never finished a sheet diligently color one and give it to us. It warms up this artist/librarian's heart!

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Sketchbook: Vol. 1

Sketchbook: Vol. 1

Friday, September 23, 2016

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I realized it has been a while since I've just shown what I've been working on, so I thought I'd give you a round up of sketches that I've worked on recently-ish (within this year, that is recent... kinda).

I've been focusing on characters, anatomy, and studies. I'm trying to get back to the basics, because I'm working on building up my portfolio for the Next Big Goal. I've also been working though a few concepts, so you're going to see a lot of fantasy and sci-fi based stuff.

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Happenings: New Orleans

Happenings: New Orleans

Saturday, September 17, 2016

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So we've been trying to really go with the flow for this trip. We didn't really have much planned... okay, maybe nothing. We had a hotel booked, and a car rented, and that's about it. It's one of those things that is relaxing to the right people. but straight up so stressful for others, haha.

We've already visited so many beautiful places, and I am absolutely smitten with how lovely our hotel is. It's right next to this great bar/arcade, where we found this wonderfully horrible game called Revolution X. It's a rail shooter about a society that doesn't allow music, and it's up to you and Areosmith to save the day. Yeah, see? Wonderful.

We still have a few days left of vacation, hopefully we will be able to check out a few art galleries, and of course more sight seeing.

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DIY Passion Tea and Lemon Infused Vodka + Printable Labels

DIY Passion Tea and Lemon Infused Vodka + Printable Labels

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

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A few weeks ago I was inspired by this post on DESIGNLOVEFEST to make some infused vodka. Except... I didn't really want rose flavored stuff, nor did I know where to get those fancy looking flowers. But recently I've been very into passion fruit tea so I decided to play around with a recipe for a drink based on that. It'd still be pink and pretty, but I could use ingredients I had around the house. Thus, Lemon and Passion Tea Vodka was born.

To make the infusions:

1: Start with some decent vodka. All the stuff I read said to use something that's "middle shelf" quality. A little better than Smirnoff, but you don't have to spend an arm and a leg. Split it into two seal-able containers.

2: For the Passion Fruit Tea Vodka: I used 3 Tazo Passion Herbal Tea tea bags. You dip them into the vodka and basically let them "steep" for a few hours (to taste). When they're done just pull out the tea bags. You can use this as a mixer alone, or do the next few steps to give it a little extra kick.

3: For the Lemon Vodka: this recipe takes a bit more patience. Cut up a few lemons into eighths and then dump them into your vodka. Let soak for a week, making sure to shake your container about once a day. When it's done infusing, strain the vodka to get rid of seeds and pulp. (Again, you can totally use this as a mixer all by itself.)

4: Add both of the infused vodkas into one adorable bottle. I used the KORKEN bottle from IKEA.

5: Print out your labels (link at the bottom of the page), fill them out (the sloppier the handwriting the better it looks- think doctor level sloppy), and attach them to your bottles. I left a band that can wrap around, or you can just cut out the label and tape it on.

And there you have it! How does it taste? I've tried it with ginger ale, and a little goes a long way. It's more of an earthy flavor, but it defiantly has that kick. And the color makes for a very pretty cocktail! If you want to see a more epic shot of the color, take a look at my Instagram post here.

There are a ton of recipes for vodka infusion on the internet, so if lemon and passion fruit isn't your jam go make your own mix up! I've left the labels blank, so you can use them for whatever crazy concoction you come up with.

Download the pdf for the labels here.

Cheers!

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