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“Wild roses are fairest, and nature a better gardener than art.”
-  Louisa May Alcott



For some years now Brittany and I have wanted to regularly keep a watercolor nature journal. Growing up, each of us filled nature journals as part of our outdoor school time, but after graduating the habit slipped. 
 
We decided that the new year was the perfect time to take the plunge 
and start nature journaling again - together!


 
Materials and Supplies

I thought I'd share some of the materials and supplies that we have found to be useful, for anyone interested in starting a nature journal of their own. 

The first item of importance: A Watercolor Sketchbook
 
Ours were purchased at a small, brick and mortar, art shop so I couldn't find the exact sketchbooks we're using online. However the one linked above is the same brand and paper as ours, it's just a different size.

We thought the handmade paper in these sketchbooks would be interesting to experiment with on this project. Each journal contains 20 pages total and since the pages are so thick, the watercolors don't seem to bleed through as much. We should be able to paint on the front and back of each page, giving a total of 40 pages to fill out during the year. 

 So far we have found the paper to have a lovely texture.
The paints absorb more slowly into the paper than what we're used to, however, once the pigments settle they do not blot up easily. It has taken some trial and error, but I think that for this particular project, it's going to work very well. This paper really forces artists to keep moving and to focus less on details and more on colors, shapes and shadowing.



Secondly, we organized all of our watercolor paints before we began using
this paint palette. 
 
We use a variety of watercolor brands and usually purchase them in tubes.
This palette keeps them well sorted, and allows us to rearrange the paints as we add new colors to our constantly growing collection.


The palette linked above comes in three different sizes with the option of holding 12, 24 or 48 half pans. It's perfect for carrying all your paint colors around at once.

Lastly, for brushes we've been using some Refillable Waterbrushes.

These refillable watercolor brush pens are perfect for painting outdoors. They can be filled with water and the brush can be wiped off on a damp paper towel as they're used.
They are a great solution for painting on the go.

 
Nature Journal Guides and Inspiration

Sometimes it can be struggle to know exactly where to start or what to record in a nature journal. I have found much inspiration from studying the following books:

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

"The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" by Edith Holden is an artist's nature journal from the year 1906. I love the way she interspersed quotes, poetry, and facts throughout her diary and her illustrations are just lovely.

The Watercolorist's Nature Journal

"The Watercolorist's Nature Journal" by Jill Bays has a great many tips and tricks for painting nature, many of which I found insightful. I would definitely recommend this book to any watercolor artist who loves to paint the outdoors, regardless of whether they're planning to nature journal or not.


(Pictured above: Brittany's Journal Titlepage)

Our Nature Journals


And now for the journaling itself! We began by creating title pages for our journals.
Britt and I each picked a Psalm to go on the front.

Brittany went with strictly watercolors and ink and had lovely results.


(Pictured above: Bridget's Journal Titlepage)

I opted for a more mixed-media look and interspersed torn book pages throughout my journal. The actual truth behind this decision was because this paper is unforgiving when it comes to erasing pencil lines and I am an indecisive sketcher - a deadly combination! ๐Ÿ˜‚
 
However, the ephemera gives a vintage feel to my journal,
and I'm actually rather pleased with the results.


(Pictured above: Bridget's Pages for Janury)

January was wet and cold, as usual, so our nature walks were a little more brisk!
We decided to paint from photographs that we took, instead of painting in the elements,
but we are hoping to do more plein air painting when it starts to warm up.



 
Despite the fact that there is not a lot of flowering plants in this winter month,
we were able to fill our journals with, mushrooms, seed pods, budding plants, and some of the very first blooms of the year - hyacinths!

(We are blessed to have early blooms since we live in the southern U.S.)


All in all, I would call January's nature journaling efforts something of a success,
and I'm looking forward to continuing it and updating everyone on our progress.

Have you ever kept a nature journal?
We would love to hear your tips and tricks in the comments below!




 We're delighted to announce that we have a new, seasonal mini art print
going out with our Etsy Shop orders as a free gift!

 "It sifts from leaden sieves,
It powders all the wood,
It fills with alabaster wool
The wrinkles of the road. "

~ Emily Dickinson ~

 

Inspired by the above stanza from Emily Dickinson's poem, I titled this mini art print "Snow".
 
Miss Dickinson's words so beautifully capture the wonder of a land consumed by snowfall. 
In our part of the country, we often go years without seeing a flake, but I am so grateful that I can experience the briskness and thrill of a fresh powdery snow through her timeless words.



 We are looking forward to tucking these beautiful art prints in with the packages being shipped out here at Some Little Good, and we're hoping everyone is enjoying the wintertime!
  ๐Ÿ˜Š⛄❄๐ŸŒฒ⁠
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
This past autumn, after perusing knitting patterns on Pinterest and admiring one delicious colorwork pattern after another,  I decided it was high-time I learned how to knit with stranded colorwork!
 
  I quickly commenced to dust off my trusty, double-pointed needles and turned to Youtube for some information and advice. 
 
After watching quite a few tutorials, the videos that ended up helping me the very most were:

THIS ONE
by Suzanne Bryan, which shows how to catch and carry floats. I especially appreciated Suzanne's technique because she shows you how to hold both yarns at the same time, one in each hand. (This method seemed to make the knitting go a lot quicker for me.)

THIS VIDEO by Roxanne Richards, is a very clear introduction into stranded colorwork and shows different techniques that can be used.

And THIS VIDEO by Roxanne Richards, which shows how to read a knitting chart.

After working some practice swatches, my first colorwork project that I undertook was a pair of nautical-themed socks. I was also attempting to write my own sock pattern for the first time, so there ended up being quite a bit of trial and error!

I'm going to save how my nautical socks turned out for another post, and share about my second colorwork project instead, because I actually followed a pattern the second time 'round. ๐Ÿ˜‰  

I ended up checking out the book "Socks from Around Norway" by Nina Granlund Saether from the library, and I'm so glad I did! With over 40 traditional, Norwegian knitting patterns to pore over, Saether's book is a delightful collection of patterns. I particularly enjoyed the history on Norwegian knitting that was included before each pattern, as well as the many different heel techniques shown at the beginning of the book. It was a very fun read, and I'll definitely revisit it again in the future.

After studying all the lovely patterns, I settled upon the "Halling" sock.
It has a relatively simple color chart and the small pattern repeat made it a great choice for beginner colorwork practice.

While this book is extremely interesting and informative, it's intention is not to actually teach the basics of stranded knitting. So, if you're a beginner (like me!), it would definitely be helpful to watch some of the videos linked above that demonstrate the process before starting one of the projects in the book. 

 

And here's the finished pair!  

I've officially been hooked on colorwork now,
and have had a lot of fun trying my hand at designing some patterns.
I'll have to share more about some of my other knitting adventures soon. ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿงถ

 



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