Collection Feature: Love Bug

Love Bug is a collection of bright lively ladybug patterns based on a bright, bold watercolor ladybug I delighted to paint. The idea to paint a ladybug came from the ladybugs who decided to move into my art room this winter. I'm not sure what they ate, but they seemed happy crawling on my windows. My son was so excited to catch one on his finger that he promptly adopted it and named it "Eli Junior." The relationship didn't last long because Eli Junior flew away and Eli the Human needed to run off and get a snack, but the ladybug itself has lived on as a bright rosy red, yellow, and orange ladybug. The idea for my ladybug might have come from a bug, but the inspiration…

Rent Friendly Hacks to Decorate with Wall Art

Decorate without leaving holes Decorating a rented space can be a challenge, especially when you're hesitant to put holes in the walls. Don’t let that discourage you from turning your rented house into a beautiful personal home & haven though. I want to encourage you to rise to the occasion and make your space yours with just a little bit of out of the box thinking! There are plenty of creative and temporary options that allow you to personalize your living space without leaving a mark. In this blog post, we'll explore some innovative ways to decorate with wall art for renters who want to maintain their security deposit! First, Prep the Walls Before you jump into the fun part of decorating, you might need to do some…

How to Start Your Own Monarch Butterfly Garden

Start a wildflower garden for monarch butterflies Cozy winter evenings are the perfect time to dream of spring flowers, and here in the middle of a cold windy December we’re talking about planting a garden for everyone’s favorite, the Monarch butterfly! Read more about Monarch Butterflies here Want to make your little piece of land welcoming and homey for butterflies? Keep reading to gather some great ideas on making your own butterfly garden.  In this guide, we'll explore the steps to create a vibrant haven for monarch butterflies, turning your garden into a flourishing ecosystem. Where do you live? Before diving into the delightful process of creating your monarch butterfly-friendly wildflower garden, you need to know your garden zone. For some people this might be as easy to…

Maple Rabbit Desktop Calendar

Scroll through to enjoy each page of the 2024 Maple rabbit desktop calendar. Each month features a charming original watercolor illustration of Maple enjoying a fun little slice of life, along with her short & sweet advice!

Great Gifts for Butterfly Lovers

Today I'm going to be shari ng great gift ideas for butterfly lovers. Complete Kit to Raise a Butterfly Enjoy the whole process of raising butterflies from caterpillars. Watch them eat and grow by the day, create a chrysalis, and eventually emerge as butterflies right in your home! This kit includes a cup of 5 tiny caterpillars and all the food and supplies they need to grow into Painted Lady Butterflies. House them in a sturdy reusable pop up 12 inch mesh habitat. It collapses and stores flat until you need it again. Enjoy learning about the butterfly lifecycle as they grow with a great STEM butterfly journal that includes fun activities for the kids. Insect Hotel for Garden This adorable insect hotel will provide a cozy home…

Best Tips to Give Art as Treasured Gifts this Season

Connect to Shared Memories

Use a gift to spark shared memories with the recipient. A beach scene to remember a girls trip. A coffee mug with a fun reminder of an inside joke. A vintage postcard style image of a place you both wish you could visit. The options are endless when you look back and think through favorite memories with friends.

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Enjoy Art to Become More Thankful

November is a bit of a calm before the chaos of the holidays. Time to stop and reflect on what you are grateful for. Time to make a point of talking about what you are thankful for and blessing others who you are grateful for! One of the many reasons to love art is that by nature it helps you focus on gratitude. (Grab my free 30 days of thankful journal page here) Here's how . . . Art makes beauty a focal point An artist creates to bring a unique vision of a specific moment or feeling to life. It doesn't have deep or dark feelings to be helpful. A painting can serve a wonderful purpose by bringing beauty and peace and joy into focus. This is…

Thanksgiving Free Printable Gratitude Journal List

Change is in the air as leaves cover the ground and November is the perfect time to reflect on our many blessings as Thanksgiving approaches! I'd like to share with you a free watercolor printable featuring my "30 Days of Thankful" blank list to use as a gratitude journal in your personal notebook, homeschool, classroom, Sunday school class, etc. It is a simple 8.5" by 11" pdf download featuring a watercolor of one of the beautiful Sugar Maple trees that light up our driveway! It takes some discipline to fill in each day, but recording what we are thankful for has been such a blessing for our family over the years! We started making a giant "thankful pumpkin" from orange construction paper to record what each person in…

Milkweed

Thanks for checking in to learn more about how to grow milkweed to support monarch butterflies! If you need some seeds; check out our shop to purchase beautiful seed packets that are great for gift giving too! This post is a work in progress but will be done soon.

A Quick Intro

I'm Alissa, the artist behind the watercolor here at Art Reflects Light. I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself without the "officialness" of actual artist's bio. Like many artists, I have loved to draw and paint since I was little. The earliest watercolor painting session I can remember was being outside painting the tulips in my family's flowerbed at 5 years old. Growing up in South Florida with an encouraging creative family who brought me to art museums and galleries was a blessing! Georgia O'Keeffe's flowers, Edgar Degas' charm, Romero Britto's enthusiasm, and Howard Behren's glowing colors all impacted me and inspired me over the years. I explored colored pencil and pastel and admiring the elusive watercolor from afar, attempting a painting here and there.…

Read more about the article Fruit Valentine Day Cards!

Fruit Valentine Day Cards!

Enjoy the new line of fruit flavored Valentine's Day cards! They are perfect for friends and family, including kids! It can be difficult to find cards that are high quality, sweet without being too mushy (overripe lol?) and appropriate for multiple ages. These funny punny cards fit the bill! You can order physical cards mailed to you that include a white envelope, or you can download the file and print them yourself. If you print them yourself, instructions are included in your purchase. Here are links to the paper and envelopes that I recommend. Paper: 110 lb white cardstock Envelopes: 5x7 inch envelopes Enjoy and head on over to my shop to pick up a few for yourself! Whether you want to tell someone that they are berry…

June 2021 Artwork

What does June like in the art studio? Check out some of my most recent artwork! June is a busy month for my family. As the month of our summer vacation from "official" homeschooling, June is full of hikes to local creeks to cool off, playing with children in the sprinkler, working in the vegetable garden, and harvesting dozens of bowls of berries! We have goumi berries, strawberries, and blueberries that are ripe now, and I have been spending hours every day harvesting and processing them. (Any fresh berry recipes????) I am looking forward to painting some pretty punny berries soon, but the mosquito bites, sunburn, and scratched up arms have me less than inspired at the moment! Keep scrolling to see what I have actually been up…