Sometimes, Michelle and I have a hard time finding inspiration for our art cards, especially if we both had a routine week with nothing too terribly exciting to illustrate.
So last week, we agreed to take turns coming up with a word or phrase we could both use as a prompt, and then see the difference in our inspiration. I picked the phrase Dog Days of Summer, which are the hottest, most sultry days of summer between July and September.
We had a super duper hot streak of weather and no rain, so I illustrated side 1 with a hot sun and a blue sky. Side 2 has a gingham pattern in the background to represent a picnic tablecloth, with lots of little silhouettes of summer highlights.
I made a couple extra cards to reflect on my adventures over the weekend, including the shopping trip my niece and I made to the Mall of America.
Side 2 represents the fun we had visiting the farm where my brother works. Such a cool operation to see first-hand!
Part of my weekend adventures included a visit to see my cousin Linda who owns Blue Sky Alpacas, you know, the awesome yarn company. She used to have a herd of alpacas on her farmette, but now she just has three for pets. I have gotten so used to illustrating with my watercolor crayons, so I had fun using my colored pencils for this set.
She has the coolest wall of yarn in her offices, which looks just like this side. It was heavenly to see!
Be sure to check out what Michelle did to illustrate her dog days of summer. She is so clever!
I’m curious to see what prompt Michelle will choose for our next set.
Terri's Notebook 
They are all beautiful Terri!! I especially like the alpaca and yarn one:)
You could design some Christmas cards;)
Hi Terri! All the cards are beautiful! i love the colours you have used and the sense of happy summer! When I see your cards, I wish I would have time to draw and paint, too!
xxx Teje
Love all of your cards – the sun star and the picnic blanket with all of those summer activities. How cool to cram so many varied activities into your weekend – I think I would have to be physically removed from Linda’s office! I’ve just been browsing around her site – it’s fantastic and the alpaca picture is so sweet.
You’ve managed to record all of the highlights so well on your cards. Thanks so much for suggesting the prompt word idea as it really helped me out and got the ideas flowing again!
Looking really good. I especially like the last one. Ummm….looks like a quilt! LOL. No wonder I like it. Have a good one!
I stumbled across this blog tonight and it made me think of you: http://inthesuncourse.blogspot.com/. Maybe it will help on the days that you’re feeling stuck. 🙂
Hello Terri,
Oh I love your card with the yarn on, Very effective.
Happy days.
Bev.xoxo
I love so many parts of your art cards this week! I love the yarn wall, I love the alpaca silhouette, I love the letters in “Dog” (they look like Jay McCarroll’s creepy bunnies or was it the deer?), I love the gingham…
Great week-great cards 🙂
I love the “sun” card! The little ice cream cone in the center of the pink one is perfect for this nasty heat.
I always thought I’d like to have alpacas, but I’m too lazy for livestock:)
I love your watercolor work! So much talent!
I love your cards this week! The picnic table illustration is so clever!
I love your cards this week especially the pink one with the silhouettes. You are so talented with your drawings. I know you like Spoonflower and saw they had a coffee contest going on so I scanned all of the entries hoping you would have submitted one of the coffee repeat patterns you made a few months ago.
Dearest sweet terri, such beautiful cards to celebrate summer! They are really pretty. Have a lovely merry happy sunday and love to you!