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  • Home
  • Art Classes
    • Online Courses & Classes
    • Printable Lessons
    • Free Art Classes
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  • Books
    • Book – Illustration on the Go
    • Book: Wanderlust San Francisco
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    • Travel Journal
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  • At Home Creative Adventures: Create a Landscape Painting Inspired by Van Gogh

    Needing some culture or creative inspiration, but not wanting to leave the house? Museums around the world offer virtual tours of their collection to offer you colorful inspiration for days! Today, I virtually traveled to Amsterdam, Netherlands and visited the Van Gogh Museum. I have always admired Van Gogh’s work. His bright colors and exuberant brush strokes just bring me joy! In this creative exercise, head to the the Van Gogh Museum online and browse the amazing work. Find a painting that resonates with you and get inspired! Inspiration vs. Copying Painting from inspiration does not mean copying. I encourage you to make the painting your own. Perhaps you use…

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    The Wild West by Wanderlust Designer

    Free Printable Vintage Wild West Post Card

    June 11, 2013
    Vancouver: An Urban City Surrounded by Nature by Wanderlust Designer

    On Location: Vancouver – An Urban City Surrounded by Nature Part 2

    May 23, 2013

    At Home Creative Adventures: Learn French and Make a Doodle Word Book

    March 24, 2020
  • At Home Creative Adventures: Learn French and Make a Doodle Word Book

    Doodle your way to learning a new language by making a mini-book filled with foreign words to learn. Think of all the possibilities! You could make one of these before each trip to familiarize yourself with foreign phrases. Or if you’ve always wanted to speak french, say, make a whole collection of these doodle word books. To start, follow the Make Your Own Mini-Journal/Sketchbook lesson to create a booklet. Next, pick a topic (say, around the house like this example) and start doodling! Below is a video to show the process of drawing the doodles. Here are some pictures of the final book. I added a border around each spread…

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    The Colorful Mission District, San Francisco, California by Wanderlust Designer

    Palette+Place: The Colorful Mission District, San Francisco

    June 20, 2013
    Gulliver's Corn Illustrated Recipe by Wanderlust Designer

    Culture: Food – Gulliver’s Corn Illustrated Recipe

    November 8, 2018
    Art School: Line Basics Hatch Lines by Wanderlust Designer

    Art on the Go: Art School – Line Basics: Hatch and Marks to Imply Light and Dimension

    September 22, 2017
  • How to Make a Mini-Journal or Sketchbook

    I’m a huge fan of mini things– especially sketchbooks and journals. The big blank page staring in front of you becomes much less intimidating when it is smaller! Below is one of the most simple methods to creating your own mini-journal or sketchbook. The creative uses of these mini-wonders are endless, they can be used for art or journaling or if you are a budding story teller, you can even write your own book! Below is a printable worksheet you can use to create your own mini-journal or sketchbook. Here is a process video to show the details! Below are just a few samples of mini-journal/sketchbooks I have created. Be…

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    Mexican "Bingo": The Game of Loteria (Card imagess from Gallo)

    Culture: Loteria – the Latin American Game of Bingo

    May 2, 2013
    Paris Floral Collection by Wanderlust Designer

    Wanderlust Patterns: Paris Floral Collection

    September 19, 2017
    Apple Watercolor Wash Tutorial by Betsy Beier

    Art School: Apple Template & Watercolor Wash Tutorial

    November 9, 2018
  • At Home Creative Adventures: Take Out Sushi Collage

    Celebrate your favorite take out food with this creative collage exercise! This may look a lot more complicated than it actually is, but don’t panic, it’s actually quite simple! First find a take out menu (or print one out from online if you don’t have any) and lay it out on a table. Use a variety of watercolors and place color blocks around the menu. Once dry begin to cut the shapes. For instance, for the nigiri, I first cut a “white” oblong shape, then cut a colored shape (salmon, or tuna perhaps?) Lastly I placed a green “seaweed” wrapper on top. Glue the shapes down on a piece of…

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    Where in the World #1 by Wanderlust Designer

    Where in the World: No.1

    March 15, 2013
    Where in the World No.4 by Wanderlust Designer

    Where in the World: No.4

    April 5, 2013
    An Irish Toast by Wanderlust Designer

    Type+Place: A Free Font Inspired by Ireland

    March 5, 2015
  • At Home Creative Adventures: Floral Bouquet

    To brighten up your environment, create a floral bouquet just for you! This creative prompt will get you outside looking for blooms, and inside creating a masterpiece. An impressionistic style is the best approach to making a colorful bouquet worthy to prop by your desk! Here are the blooms I found in my yard, inspiration for my bouquet. If you don’t have flowers in your yard, feel free to use mine as inspiration or head to the internet for more! Below is the time-lapse of me creating my bouquet. Notice the looseness of the lines, and watercolor. Also, the varied size interpretation of each bloom. The pansy bloom is actually…

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    Bouillabaisse in Marseille, France by Wanderlust Designer

    Culture: Bouillabaisse in Marseille, France

    February 13, 2014
    Steam Train Trip, Llangollen, Wales

    Time+Place: A Steam Train Trip in Wales for a Thomas the Train Fan

    April 5, 2013

    At Home Creative Adventures: Learn French and Make a Doodle Word Book

    March 24, 2020
  • At Home Creative Adventure: 4 Objects, 1 Color

    We can become easily immune to the colorful objects and items that fill our homes. Brighten your day with this creative color exercise and celebrate those items you may not see anymore! For this project, I picked my favorite turquoise blue shade and found: a small globe, a mini-house souvenir from Denmark, a candle and a santon figurine from Provence. They are an odd pairing of objects, yet still make for an interesting illustration. Below is the still life on my desk. Be sure to read the “More Creative Prompts” on the printable exercise to learn of ways to vary this exercise. And, as always, I’d love to see what…

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    Artist Homes: Jackson Pollock by Betsy Beier, Wanderlust Designer

    On Location: Artist Homes – Jackson Pollock’s East Hampton Home

    May 17, 2017

    Digital Travel Journal: A Trip to the Coast

    March 5, 2019

    Art School: How to Draw a Taco

    April 8, 2019

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My monthly free online art class starts in an hour My monthly free online art class starts in an hour!!! Join me to have fun celebrating spring and let’s paint whimsical birds and blossoms. Sign up now with link in my profile to get zoom details! #freeonlineartclass #artclass #birds #watercolorclass #blossom #celebratespring #everydaycreativeadventures
It’s tracked down to the day, even hour when it It’s tracked down to the day, even hour when it is at its absolute peak. People travel for miles, if not around the world to see them. There are live webcams, parties, picnics and milestone events planned for this event. What am I talking about, you ask? Cherry blossom season of course!

There is something quite charming that in this day and age people can work up such a fevor for something as simple and natural as cherry blossom trees in bloom. It’s not as if it won’t happen… every year… it is guaranteed! Yet, I find this enthusiasm is so refreshing! 

Washington D.C. and Japan are definitely top of mind when I think of cherry blossoms, but did you know that on the University of Washington’s campus in Seattle, there is the same celebration going on? 30 Yoshino cherry trees were brought to UW in 1939 and initially planted in Washington Park Arboretum. They were moved to the Quad on campus in 1962. The number of trees in the quad has more than doubled since then, and truly is a spectacular site up against the gothic-style architecture.

Be sure to head to the internet and google one of the live webcams so you can see the show! And, of course, make sure you have a copy of my Wanderlust Guide Seattle book to tell you more creative details about the beautiful UW campus and U District in Seattle. @westmarginpress
@uofwa 
#cherryblossoms #inbloom #washington #seattle #universityofwashington #UW #thequad #wanderlustguide
I miss creating daily art. Not sure why this habit I miss creating daily art. Not sure why this habit I love has disappeared for awhile but going to start to work on bringing it back- even if it’s just a 5 min sketch! I found this site called randomstreetview.com that basically just shows exactly that - a random street in the world. Here’s a quick painterly landscape I created of Ordino, Andorra! Do you know of other sites like this that give different glimpses of the world? #dailyartpractice #painterlypractice #wanderlust #streetsoftheworld #andorra
Join me this Saturday, Mar 20 @11am Pacific Time a Join me this Saturday, Mar 20 @11am Pacific Time as we head to Ireland and paint a layered landscape of the Wild Atlantic Way!!! Link to sign up in my profile. #ireland #irelandtravel #wildatlanticway #dinglepeninsula #virtualtravel #artclass #landscapepainting #layeredlandscape #takemetoireland #inspiredbytravel #wanderlust
It was so fun to create a rainy day story in my on It was so fun to create a rainy day story in my online art class today. I loved seeing everyone~ and of course creating art together. Definitely the perfect way to kick off the weekend! If you missed the class- you can catch up anytime at your own pace by watching the videos. See link in my profile to sign up and gain access. #artclass #freeartclass #storytelling #rainyday #illustration #selfpacedclass #yellowslicker #rainboots #rainbow
Join me tomorrow for my monthly free art class whe Join me tomorrow for my monthly free art class where we celebrate rainy days! I can’t wait to introduce a little storytelling into the fun as well! Sign up in link in my profile and hope to see you tomorrow! #freeartclass #artclass #watercolor #rainyday #celebratetheseason #everydaycreativeadventures
I am saddened to hear of the passing of Lawrence F I am saddened to hear of the passing of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, artist, publisher and champion to Beatniks everywhere! In 1953, he and Peter Martin opened City Lights Pocket Book Shop in North Beach, San Francisco creating a haven for like minded individuals to explore, read, and publish creative works outside the norm for the time. 

His bookstore and North Beach were a huge influence for me in creating my Wanderlust Guides! It’s stories like his, the history it created and the creative vibe that can be discovered there even today when wandering this neighborhood that I just love. For anyone exploring the streets of San Francisco, a visit to City Lights Booksellers is a must. With my Wanderlust San Francisco book handy, you can even try your hand at writing some Beat poetry!😎 @westmarginpress #riplawrenceferlinghetti #beats #beatniks #poetry #northbeach #sanfrancisco #wanderlustguide #wanderlustsanfrancisco #citylightsbookstore
Time to get a little personal... for many of us ou Time to get a little personal... for many of us out there, staring down at a scale ranks up there with tooth extraction, just something we don’t want to have to deal with!! For almost a decade now if I really think about it, not counting that one 4 month stretch about 4 years ago,  I have been avoiding this view. Yes, I’ve known my weight is not ideal. I have gone to doctor appointments and seen first hand what the scale looked like, but quickly let that image go once I left their office! 

Long story short - NOW is the time. I’m a middle aged woman of pretty good health I’d say except for my weight, but lately (as in the last few years) I’ve been feeling my age more. Aches and pains where I didn’t used to have them. One could easily chalk this up to, well, AGE, because that does happen, but my stiffness, lack of the ability to stretch and just plain aching back was getting out of hand. I’m too young for this. After all, the 50s are the new 30s, right?

So fast forward to 2021... and I finally have said, enough is enough. After dealing with my 40s plagued with migraines (20-25 headache days a month) I’m seeing that subside (yay!) and ready to tackle my weight.  I’m happy to report I am already 20lbs lighter!! 🎉. Hard work does pay off. I have a much, much longer road ahead, as weight loss is a s-l-o-w process, but I am game. Ill be the turtle to the hare and will get there I know! 

You know what one of the things that is keeping me going?? TRAVEL!! Yup, betcha wouldn’t have guessed 😂 but I have so many adventures around the globe in mind post-pandemic and I want to be ready! Hiking in Nepal, sleeping in Wadi Rum, exploring Patagonia— the list goes on. I’m crossing my fingers the roaring twenties will be here soon enough and I will be there with you actively celebrating! 

Have you ever done a big weight loss or health regime? Anyone else on my same mission? I’d love to connect and as always thank you for listening and your support! ☺️

#weightlossjourney #gethealthy #healthy2021 #scale #loseweight #adventuretravel #noom
I want to hear from you! I want to teach art lesso I want to hear from you! I want to teach art lessons that you want to learn. Click the link in my profile for a quick 5 question survey to help me with my planning and thank you!!! Your input means the world to me. (Feel free to DM if you prefer.) #artclassesforall #artonthego #inspiredbyart #artclass

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