Fun Stuff

Recent Art {+ GIVEAWAY!}

| Allison

Hello, dears!

I haven’t done a recent art post OR a giveaway for rather a while – I think it’s high time for both. 🙂 Today I’m going to show you guys some sketches, paintings, and LOTS of envelope art, and if you stick around to the end, there will be a fun little pen-pal/artsy giveaway which I’m so excited about! Continue reading →

Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String… {Gift Wrapping Inspiration}

| Allison

Hello, dears!

I wrote this draft a while ago when it September was just starting, and WOW, can you believe it’s almost October now?! WHAT. All the stores are putting out Halloween stuff and getting ready for “the holiday season.” NOOOOO IT’S STILL SUMMER, ISN’T IT? *sigh*

Anyway, September is one of the most birthday-heavy months with our extended family and friends, which is fun! But it means a lot of wrapping gifts. I put together a package for my dear friend Aria‘s birthday a while ago, and since it turned out so pretty, I decided to show you guys! 🙂 Continue reading →

{Summer 2018}

| Allison

Hello, dears!

Oh my, it was VERY hard to restrain myself from starting this post with the overused “I can’t believe summer went by so quickly!” (Wait, but what did I just do…? XD) Instead… let me think. Oh! I saw a marquee sign the other day that said “Summer should get a speeding ticket.” Much more original, right? AND TRUE.

ANYWAY. I seriously am having a hard time believing it’s September already, especially since this is the first year after graduating when I don’t have school! :O It feels strange, but it’s exciting. Even though it’s not technically fall yet, it doesn’t quite feel like summer anymore. Maybe it’s… fummer. NOPE, THAT SOUNDS TERRIBLE. Maybe it’s just September. Let’s go with that.

Ahem, what I was TRYING to say was that this post will be about 20+ things I did this summer, in no particular order. Not an exhaustive list, but a good summary. (Or rather, summery. SORRY I COULDN’T RESIST.)

Wow, I really better start using pictures instead of words, now. This is getting out of control. O.o Heh, let’s begin. Continue reading →

A Trip to the County Fair

| Allison

Hello, dears!

We recently went back to where we used to live for some family reunions and a trip to the county fair! Even though I didn’t enter anything this year (see P. S. at end of post), we still had a ton of fun and made some great memories. 🙂 Also I got some good pictures, which is what I’ll be showing you today. 😉 Continue reading →

The Art Lab, Episode 51: Mixed Media Owl

| Allison

Hello, dears!

This week it’s my turn for Art Lab, and I have something a little different than my usual watercolor art for you today. 🙂 Quite different, in fact: in this post I shall give you guys a tutorial on how to make a cute owl with graphite and colored pencil shavings! 😀

But first, the inspiration behind the art: Continue reading →

The Summer Bored Games: the Finale

| Allison

Hello, dears!

First of all, I’m SO sorry this took so long to get up! We had a lot going on today and then it took us hosts all way longer to put together this post than we thought. O.o Anyway, HOORAY, today we announce the winners of The Summer Bored Games! WOOHOO! Be sure to also stay tuned for our favorite pictures that you guys sent in over the past month, near the end of this post. Continue reading →

ART STUDIO {Part 2: Studio Tour}

| Allison

Hello, dears!

AHHHH I am SO excited about this post! Finally, after many months of working on my studio, I am ready to unveil the (almost) finished product! 😀 I absolutely LOVE it, and I hope you guys do too! If you need a refresher on what the studio looked like before (hint: it was a closet), click here to see part one.

Now. Walk right this way, please… And here we are! Won’t you step inside? Continue reading →

The Summer Bored Games, Week 3

| Allison

Hello, dears!

Are you excited for the next round of SBG? I AM! WOOHOO! Thank you all for your participation so far, and for making it so fun to host. 😀

In case you’d like to review the basic rules of the game, you can check out my introduction post right here. Shall we begin? (That was a rhetorical question, by the way. I’m going to start whether you answered yes or no. *nods*) Ahem.

WHAT TO DO:

You have until the end of this week to complete however many of the 35 challenges below you wish to do. This is the only week that you’ll be able to complete these challenges.

When you’ve completed all the challenges you’d like to for the week, submit your points using the survey included in this post (see it below). Please try to submit your results just once per week. I suggest waiting until the end of the week to submit the survey.

Okay, guys, NOW FOR THE CHALLENGES. Are you ready for this? *drum roll*

SBG this weeks challenges

  1. Microwave Ivory soap. (Learn how to here.) 2
  2. Write a haiku about lonely earthworms. 2
  3. Attempt to yodel at an animal. 1
  4. Hit a potato with a baseball bat. We encourage you to actually play baseball with said potato. 2
  5. Give someone a Christmas card. 3
  6. Come up with a 7 word tongue twister and challenge 3 people (outside of your family) to say it. 4
  7. Put at least seven socks on one foot. Earn one point for every sock you put on past number seven. 4
  8. Make supper for your family. 10 (megapoints)
  9. Come up with an odd fantasy creature (example: a dragon with a unicorn horn and a mermaid tail) and draw a picture of it. 2
  10. Buy something for exactly $1.99. 3
  11. Put a thank-you note and a treat in your mailbox for your mail deliverer. 3
  12. Bake cookies for (and give them to) your neighbor. 4
  13. Organize a treasure hunt for your siblings or friends. 10 (megapoints)
  14. Make an ATC. (Learn how to here.) 2
  15. Spend at least 5 minutes blowing bubbles. 1
  16. Make a mug cake for someone else as a surprise. 4
  17. Go on a walk and find the following: a piece of trash, a forked stick or twig, something round, something blue, and a colorful rock. 4
  18. Get a notebook and a pencil/pen, set a timer for 20 minutes, and draw non-stop until your time is up. It doesn’t matter what you draw, as long as your pencil doesn’t stop moving. 4
  19. Give your mom $15 toward groceries. 10 (megapoints)
  20. Learn to whistle with a blade of grass. You can use the internet to learn how. 3
  21. Find a rock, paint it, and give it a name. 2
  22. Put up a birthday banner (a happy birthday sign) in your house…when it’s not anyone’s birthday. XD 2
  23. Learn how to tie a reef knot. 3
  24. Make a blog post including the words “Crazy”, “Frosty”, “Abominable” , “Frank” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. 2
  25. Sing a song while washing a window. 2
  26. Send a letter to your favorite living author. 3
  27. Read a book (or part of a book) out loud to your entire family. 4
  28. Try a new fruit, vegetable, or meat. 4
  29. Find five new blogs and leave each blogger at least one kind, sincere comment. 4
  30. Give someone a message you wrote in Morse Code. 3
  31. Pick and listen to three songs, and draw what they sound like. 3
  32. Play “shark Attack” in a pool. (How to play: https://www.wikihow.com/Have-Fun-in-the-Pool) 2
  33. Organize something in your house that’s messy. (Examples: Your desk, under your bed, etc.) 3
  34. Wear mismatching shoes in public and see if anyone notices. 3
  35. Learn the sign language alphabet. 10 (megapoints)gray-border

What do you think? Which of those challenges are you most excited to complete? My favorites are #1 (THAT IS SO FUN TO DO, GUYS), #11, and #31.

If you have any questions about the challenges, the game, or anything else, don’t hesitate to contact us at summerboredgames(at)gmail(dot)com. We’re happy to help! Read on for a few more important details:

If you’d like to print off a checklist to help you keep track of the challenges for this week, CLICK HERE. 

If you take any photos of your completed challenges (or your funniest challenge fails!), we would LOVE to see them! Send your pictures to us at summerboredgames(at)gmail(dot)com, and we’ll pick our favorites to include in the final post! (If you’re just completing the challenges just for fun and haven’t signed up, we’d still love to see your photos!)

We’ve really (REALLY REALLY) enjoyed the photos you guys have sent us so far, and we can’t wait to show you guys at the end of July! Keep the pictures coming, hee hee! 😀

Have you completed all the challenges you’d like to do for this week? Hooray! Just click the image below to submit your points:

sbg submit your points

Click that graphic and it should take you right to the form!

Please be honest – the game is no fun if you aren’t playing fair. Please follow the rules and make it fair for everyone!

And now… *drum roll again* the participants who got the most total points (points from the last two weeks).

10: Aria: 102

9: Enni: 107

8: Anna P. and Christina (tied with same number of points): 131

7: Ava: 148

6: Mandalynn: 161

5: Julia Rose: 167

4: Sophie: 187

3: Jo: 195

2: Chloë: 216

1: Laura: 259

 

Way to go, girls! 😀 Also can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Laura did EVERY SINGLE ONE of the challenges so far, minus one! *awed look* XD WOW, LAURA. I AM IMPRESSED.

 

You have until 11:59 PM EST on July 21st to complete as many challenges as you can and submit your points. Have fun busting that boredom! 😀

Thanks for reading, dears, and have a lovely (and non-boring) day. 🙂

***Allison***

The Art Lab, Episode 49: Popsicles Forever

| Allison

Hello, dears!

Welcome back to another episode of The Art Lab! It’s a bit late because I kind of got the posting schedule confused but ANYWAY, here we go! Today I’m going to show you how to draw cute, summery popsicles inspired by some popsicle stamps Megan bought at the post office the other day. (They’re forever stamps – thus the strange post title. 😛 ) Here’s our art inspiration for this post:

{via}

And here’s what you’ll need to re-create it:

  • Some sort of paper to draw on (I used an ATC)
  • watercolor crayons (you can also use watercolor colored pencils or just plain watercolors)
  • a pencil
  • brown colored pencil (optional)
  • a normal or white gel pen (optional)

Ahem. We are now ready to start the tutorial.

  1. Sketch out three popsicle shapes + corresponding popsicle sticks on your paper. The shape is up to you, but I like making ones with a flat base that taper slightly up to a rounded oval or square top. If you want, draw a bite taken out of one of them. popsicles forever (2)
  2. Sketch in some details on your popsicles. There are SO many options for this, so have fun and be creative! I mainly did varying degrees and sizes of squiggles to separate the different colors (I mean flavors) later.popsicles forever (3)
  3. I penciled in the popsicles darker than they should have been so you guys could see them. If your sketch is like mine, erase it for the most part until it’s barely visible. You don’t want to see pencil lines under the paint later on. Next, choose a limited color scheme of colors that go well together and won’t make brown if they get mixed. I chose a summery palette of warm colors + white.popsicles forever (4)
  4. Loosely color in your sketches with your crayons (or whatever you’re using). Cover the space, but don’t worry about getting it perfect. For the middle popsicle, I got an ombre effect by blending gradually less and less coral with more and more white.popsicles forever (5)
  5. Now the fun part: add water and watch the magic! If you want to blend colors, I suggest starting with the lighter colors and blending into the darker. If you do the opposite, the lighter color might disappear under the more dominant darker one.popsicles forever (6)
  6. Draw two parallel lines in the center of the popsicle, about the same distance apart as the popsicle stick is wide. (This is the bump where the popsicle stick is inside the ice.) Use a darker color (I used red), and blend it out with water to soften the shadows.popsicles forever (7)
  7. Next we’ll add shadows to the popsicle sticks. When you’re drawing from a reference, it helps to think in terms of simple shapes. If you look at the stamps, the shadows on the sticks are basically brown triangles. So make brown triangles! You can also faintly outline the whole stick in brown. You can certainly use your watercolors for this part, but I used a brown colored pencil for more precision. popsicles forever (9)
  8. Finally, add some details with a white gel pen. I added squiggles to the first, shiny highlights to the second, and cute sprinkles to the third, but you can add whatever you want.popsicles forever (10)

Ta-daa! Step back and try to admire your work of art without eating it. It doesn’t taste as good as it looks, trust me.

popsicles forever 10

If you make art inspired by this post, we’d love to see it! Send us a picture at theartlabblog@gmail.com and we’ll add it to our gallery on The Art Lab website.

What do you think of this art idea? Did you get the new popsicle stamps? And what is your favorite popsicle flavor?

***Allison***

P. S. Made some art and now you’re bored? Well I have some good news: The Summer Bored Games have started! Check out Clara’s post here to start completing challenges! And thank you SO much to everyone who signed up – we now have over 40 participants!