life with lucy- 22 months

lucy talk from Alisa Burke on Vimeo.

a peek inside my sketchbook

homemade crayons

While I like to challenge myself to come up with unique projects and inspiration, there are times when I really enjoy falling back on old favorites! I can remember making my own crayons when I was a kid and now that Lucy is old enough to enjoy a little bit of crafting, I thought it would be fun to put my own twist on this process!

We love crayons in our house and we have a ridiculous number of them (especially broken ones) laying around. My goal was to gather and use all those bit and pieces to create something new!

My other goal was to use my love and understanding of color to create really beautiful and vibrant (not muddy) color combinations that looked like little jewels! 

TIPS- Limiting the number of colors that you combine will keep things vibrant and not muddy.

Using small chunks of black and white will give a fun pop of contrast.

Lucy and I peels and broke up the crayons and then filled mini muffin tins with the crayons and baked in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until liquid the melted.

I let the wax completely dry and then popped them out of the tins.

The results are BEAUTIFUL little circular crayons that can be used for coloring. An added bonus is that they don't break easily- perfect for toddler hands!

Use candy molds for fun shapes!

labor day sale!

Head on over to my online shop HERE for my complete offering of classes!

fashion friday- embroidery love

1. karma 2. aida coronado 3. free people  4. anthropologie  5. anthropologie  6. design emporia  7. rawhide  8 8. free people 9. jonny was

brother scan and cut

I am super excited to reveal a secret project that I have been involved with! 

Brother International is releasing a brand new cutting machine in October and it is called the Scan N Cut. It is the first all in one cutting machine with a 300 dpi built-in-scanner  and I've been having TONS of fun playing with it! I have been scanning in my doodles, cutting them out and using them in all kinds of projects!

If you would like to get the latest details, sign up for the Scan N Cut mailing list HERE. And stay tuned because VERY soon I will be sharing some really fun tutorials!

ways to fill white space

My sketchbook is all about getting ideas out of my head, it is a place to practice and a place to warm up my creative muscles. Because I spend a lot of time sketching and keeping a visual journal, a BIG part of my process is filling a page. Most of the time when I sit down to draw or doodle I try to fill all the white space on the page with something...anything! The daily practice of working from start to finish and filling white space has become a great lesson in learning (and embracing) the discipline it takes to complete a creative project. Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite simple ways to fill white space.

In my opinion color is one of the easiest ways to fill white space. If left white, the subject matter is is nice but if you choose to fill the space around that subject matter with color, things begin to POP and instantly become more dynamic.

Tip- Try adding more saturated color along the edges of your drawing this will get things to jump off the page even more.

Free writing, journaling and adding text to white space is a great way to not only fill the space but it is also a fun way to keep a journal. 

Depending on your subect matter you can add observations, inspiration, ideas, even recipes!

TIP- Try getting creative with the placement of your writing. Add text inside the borders, in between shapes and around your subject matter.

I love to doodle and I have discovered that simple shapes or pattern are a great way to fill up white space. Use all those nooks and crannies in between your subject matter and fill them with smaller doodles.

TIP- Keep it simple with dots and dashes or get more complex with intricate lines and pattern. 

Theres is no rule that says that white space needs to be filled with clean details! One of my favorite ways to fill space is with lots of messy swipes of color, drips, scribbles and expressive marks. 

TIP: Set out to "attack" your sketchbook page like you would a mixed media project. Begin with a colorful, messy and expressive background and then draw over the top.

As much as I love trying to fill all the white space on a page, there is something quite beautiful about holding onto some of that blank space!

TIP: Try drawing from the corner of the page or offsetting your drawings to one side this creates visual harmony between your drawing and the white space.

For more information about my sketching process and supplies visit HERE

a peek inside my sketchbook- oodles of doodles

canvas pencil holders

If there is one thing I have A LOT of laying around my studio is painted canvas scraps and pens and pencils. 

So when I needed to organize supplies, I decide that all those canvas scraps would be perfect for making some cute little pencil holders!

I cut my canvas into a rectangle.

I folded it in half.

Sewed up both sides.

Sewed each corner (on the inside).

Turned the pouch right side out.