pen-pal

DSC_0427 (800x533).jpg

Are you guys excited for Christmas? I sure am! Today I have a fun Christmasy way to decorate an envelope for your pen pal or friend or family. Grab an envelope, fine-tip markers or gel pens, and colored pencils, and here we go…

Idea: Christmasy envelope

Set the stage.
Hang up the strands.
String on the lights.
Turn the lights on.
Add the lyrics of a favorite Christmas carol.

CHRISTMAS BOKEH!
Send it off to make someone happy!

Ahh, I love Christmas lights. They’re so cheery, and really make Christmas feel cozy. Don’t you agree? Do you string lights up around your house? We don’t usually, but this year we strung some on our front porch, and it looks beautiful!

If you made some art inspired by this post, we’d love to see it! Visit our “Art Gallery” page here to see the details. Thanks for reading!

***Allison***

Methinks it’s past time for another Art Lab episode, don’t you agree? Quite, quite.

Well, today I have a fun “two-player” art prompt for you to do with a friend or a pen-pal (or of course you could draw the whole thing by yourself).

Art Prompt: Here’s a mandala I really like.

{from this Etsy shop}

And here is a bunch of inspiration for mandala-type doodles:

{via}

Technique: Two-Player Mandala

My pen-pal Grace and I made this mandala together. We took turns adding a section each time we sent our letters until it turned out like this! Isn’t it pretty?

Mandalas don’t have many rules. The basic idea is to create a symmetrical, circular design by adding consecutive rings of doodles. It’s fun to play with the position of the mandala – you can have it in the center of the page, running off the page, or in the corner, which is what Grace and I did. This is how the mandala looked from start to finish:

Wow. I realized this post is really short. Heh heh, oh well! I hope you enjoyed it, short though it may be! If you made some art inspired by this post, we’d love to see it! Visit this page to see how to help fill our art gallery.