Thanks for signing up for my newsletter. As I promised on the sign up form, I won't be sending emails more than twice a month and I will always try to make my newsletter useful and/or funny. I should have added that it will be about art or art journaling, but sometimes maybe it won't and I hope you will stick around to find out what I do come up with.

Useful -- Map Art Ideas
Today, as I finalize plans for launching my Map Your Dreams handmade books, I want to share with you some ideas for using or creating maps in your art or art journal.

1. Collage -- cut those old (or new!) maps up and use them as collage! They make great additions, adding interesting texture, line work or colors. I like to use bits of maps that have special places on them for the memory keeping aspect.
2. Create a mind map. There are many guides out there for this, from super simple to complex. You can use them for single topics, as you explore an idea or project, or you can use it to help get a grasp on what your goals for your whole life are. The possibilities are endless.
3. Draw a map of your neighborhood. Or city. Or your favorite amusement park. Maybe a map of your studio? Your desk? The spots your cat sleeps in through the day? Your map doesn't have to be to scale and can be just simple sketchy lines and labels or illustrated with details and color.
4. Take an online class! I'm currently working on Personal Mapmaking, a class at Creativebug.com from e. bond. It's part of Creativebug's series of daily practice classes. If you are on Skillshare,*** you can search Map Design and find a ton of classes there, too.
5.  Look at books for inspiration -- I have had the book Map Art Lab in my shopping cart for a few days and have just now added Making Art from Maps and The Art of Map Illustration to my wishlist as well.

If you do make or use maps with any of these ideas, I hope you'll share your art and tag me on Instagram!

Funny -- I forgot to warn you that I love puns
If you get an email that says google maps can read directions backwards...Don't open it, It's just spam

I once stopped and asked a Mandalorian for directions....
He pointed at the map and said, “This is the way.”


My Handmade Book Collection

Map Your Dreams, a collection of handmade journals will be available on Instagram starting at 4:00pm CDT TODAY June 1, 2021. I will post the winner of the giveaway journal some time tomorrow after 5:00pm on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. (Don't ask me why I picked different times. I had them typed and saved in a caption before I realized I could have made them the same....)

I'll be posting the journals in separate posts on my Instagram feed! I'm equally excited and terrified, but I'm leaning in to the first and trying to ignore the second.

I can't wait for these books to make their way out in to the world and get filled up with someone else's art!

Thanks for reading, now go make some art!
Suzanne