Packing for Vacation

We're off tomorrow for the West! I can't wait! This will be my first visit to the Grand Canyon - and I've heard so much about it. Plus, Sedona and Jerome sound really cool, too. We've mapped out way more places than we'll make it to, I'm sure.

I always pack art supplies for my vacation - I've always been more creative when I'm not working. I usually pack them in this gigantic duffel bag since we normally drive to our destination.

This time, though, since we're flying, I've had to

narrow it down to just the basics - a handful of

watercolor pencils, some brushes, a tiny spray

bottle, a film cannister in case I don't want to

use a water brush, some scissors (don't worry -

this will be in my checked bag!), a ruler, a couple

of travel watercolor sets, glue sticks and

a couple of travel sized watercolor sketchbooks.

I take multiples of some things because sometimes, my nephews will join in the creativity. I love the idea of establishing drawing and painting as normal parts of a vacation. I carry the supplies with me sometimes on regular days, but I'm not as good at that as I want to be. Still, I really like that in most of my sketchbooks, you can flip to a few sketches that were done by my nephews. I hope to spend more time with my nieces this summer, so hopefully their sketches will be in there soon as well.

These are some of the things we did last summer. One of my nephews is quite the history buff - he did the WWII soldier. I'll share more pictures and artwork from the road next week. Happy Summer everyone!