Doodle Swap #15

Round 15 of the Doodle Swap Project just ended, so I wanted to share my set for this round.

If you haven't already joined the Doodle Swap Project, I encourage you to visit the website and register for the next round. Not only is it loads of fun, but it's a great opportunity to connect with amazingly talented artists, designers, and illustrators. See doodle cards from previous rounds here.

Operation Christmas Child: Packing A Shoe Box Full of Love

National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is coming up soon! Within the next week (November 12-19) millions of boxes will be packed, wrapped, and shipped with love all over the world. 

This is my first year participating in OCC, so I wanted to share how I decorated and packed a plain, white shoe box for donation. Hopefully my gift will be a huge blessing to one little girl out there in the world (UPDATE: I was able to follow my box, and it was shipped to Honduras!). 

First things first....decorate the box. I originally thought about using a roll of festive Christmas wrapping paper, but who needs wrapping paper when you have Sharpies!?

Spreading hope, love, faith, and joy...

Next...pack the box. Samaritan's Purse offers a list of gift ideas and suggestions, so I gathered my items with four categories in mind: school supplies, toiletries, accessories, and toys/activities.

TIP: Get crafty and make handmade gifts. (I made a couple bracelets and added little charms to make them one-of-a-kind.)

TIP: Take items out of the packages they come in to fit more gifts inside the box.

Finally...write a happy note. I found some pretty stationery, wrote a little note, and enclosed it in a small envelope. Now it's all packed and ready to go!

There's still time to pack a box! Recycle a shoe box or grab a plastic container and fill it up with all sorts of goodies. You can find your nearest drop-off location here!

#GOVOTE

late night doodle for the #govote project
nov 6. go vote.

I Doodle Because...

"Every child is an artist.  The problem is staying an artist once you grow up."
— Pablo Picasso

We begin as creative beings full of curiosity and wonder as a bold, adventurous spirit guides our great imagination, but somewhere along the journey to adulthood, the world stifles our creative genius. I still remember that infamous day in kindergarten when my teacher scolded me for coloring the sky orange instead of blue. But who says the sky is blue? What about those early fall mornings when the birds chirp sweetly to the rhythm of a new day or those cold, rainy Sundays in the winter that make the most productive person just a little bit lazy. Well, I say it's time to get back to the days of playing dress up in your mother's closet, building forts out of some old blankets and a couple chairs, and jumping from couch to couch because the carpet has magically transformed into hot lava! As we grow older we must continue to find ways to feed our imagination and express our creative spirit on a daily basis, and this is why I doodle.

Over the years doodling has become one of my favorite things to do to keep my creative juices flowing throughout the day. When I was in high school I would often doodle during class, and it wasn't because I was bored or disinterested in the subject.  I still paid attention, and I still managed to take great notes.  Somewhere between the Lewis dot structure of carbon dioxide and the Pauli exclusion principle little hearts are dancing happily in the margins.  Now I enjoy participating in the Doodle Swap Project which allows creative folks from all over the world to create and swap a set of 3.5 x 2.5 inch mini artworks. The whole process is super fun, and whenever I receive one in the mail it makes me feel all squishy inside.  Below is a peek at my doodles for Doodle Swap 13 along with some from previous rounds.

Doodle Swap 13 (3.5 x 2.5 inch trading card and a happy note!)

Doodle Swap 12

Doodle Swap 10

Doodling is not only fun and relaxing, but it sparks creative thinking. So even on your busiest days I encourage you to nourish your creative minds, because maybe mixing and matching clothes will inspire you to study fashion design, perhaps constructing a fort out of pillows will arouse the architect within you, and maybe just maybe you'll develop enough agility and endurance trying not to get scorched by red-hot lava that you'll become the fiercest dancer anyone has ever seen.