Art Journal Prompts, S’mores, a Scavenger Hunt & Flower Crowns
Welcome to Camp! 🍃
I originally created this virtual camp in 2016. The videos and printables have been lovingly dusted from the archives and are shared with you here in my Course Library. ✨
Please ignore any mention of Facebooks groups or a schedule.
Everything is included so you go at your own pace. 🐌
Have fun!
Ready to dive in?
Most of the prompts for this camp can be found in the camp log along with a few YouTube tutorials.
Camp Log
You can print this out or just reference the prompts and use your own art journal.
Nathaniel Roy is a book designer, collage maker, photo taker, self-publisher, and a few other things in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Hi, I’m Nathaniel. I’m a graphic designer who specializes in book design, but for the right cause, I’ll design just about anything. I’m keenly interested in local, independent, and non-profit projects. I am currently an in-house designer at the Ann Arbor District Library and available for freelance opportunities. I write a newsletter about books, design, and creative practice.
There are endless ways to approach self publishing so I’ve started an author spotlight series to help indie authors connect and share stories.
Meet the Author
B. S. H. Garcia is the author of the epic fantasy series, The Heart of Quinaria. A household manager by day, writer by night, she graduated with honors from The University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in English Writing. To get into character for her stories, she trudges through the woods in cosplay with a mead-filled drinking horn and has traveled from Oregon to New Zealand seeking inspiration. Visit her online at www.bshgarcia.com. There, you can get your hands on a FREE copy of The Heart of Quinaria prequel novelette, From the Ashes. All she asks for in exchange is your soul.
There are endless ways to approach self publishing so I’ve started an author spotlight series to help indie authors connect and share stories.
Meet the Author
B. S. H. Garcia is the author of the epic fantasy series, The Heart of Quinaria. A household manager by day, writer by night, she graduated with honors from The University of Colorado with a bachelor’s degree in English Writing. To get into character for her stories, she trudges through the woods in cosplay with a mead-filled drinking horn and has traveled from Oregon to New Zealand seeking inspiration. Visit her online at www.bshgarcia.com. There, you can get your hands on a FREE copy of The Heart of Quinaria prequel novelette, From the Ashes. All she asks for in exchange is your soul.
Recharge with the co-creators of Entwined & Ember.
It’s a big week so I’m sending a few more emails than usual. We’ll be back to our normal weekly rhythm in October.
Hang out with the mothers who are co-creating Entwined & Ember TODAY.
I wanted to send a reminder email for anyone who’s timeblind (like me) or who missed the first email. We are meeting on Zoom TODAY. Time zone information is below.
This mini retreat is completely free and hosted by the mothers who co-created Entwined and Ember. I’m blocking out 2 hours for myself, but you’re free to come and go.
Whether you tune in on your phone while your kids run in circles around you or use this as an excuse to make some time for yourself I hope you’ll join us.
Here’s what you need to know.
Come as you are. You won’t be on camera.
Entwined & Ember contributors may choose to come on camera to chat, but there’s no pressure.
Bring a journal or sketchbook. Art supplies if you fancy it.
We’ll have two simple creative prompts. You can use a pencil and paper or if you’d like an excuse to paint or collage bring water materials you find inspiring,
This is completely free!
Invite a friend by forwarding this email.
If you’re looking for the Zoom link here it is!
What to expect…
Entwined readings from , , , , Lindsey Smith, and Lauren Oakey. 🌿
Meet & connect with other creative parents in chat. 💞
Grab your journal or sketchbook and join in a creative prompt from Ember. 🔥
Enter to win a copy of Entwined for your local library! 📖
I originally envisioned this as a “launch party” but in writing this post I’ve realized it can really be a micro retreat for parents. Invite a friend and use this as a reason to make some time for yourself this weekend.
New here? Sign up for emails from Sarah Shotts about pursuing creativity as a neurodivergent parent. 💌
The Entwined retreat will be September 28th at 1pm CST.
Alternate timelines are listed below. (If you don’t see yours you can use this website or app.)
I won’t be sharing the recording publicly, but if you miss the stream and are interested in watching the recording send me an email and I’ll see what I can do.
P.S. There are 3 days left to preorder Entwined & Ember.
If you’d like to help us reach more mums and raise some money for help us spread the word.
New here? Sign up for emails from Sarah Shotts about pursuing creativity as a neurodivergent parent. 💌
More The Internet research. Lots of it is about what we could do differently. This week I added two quotes about when we get it right:
There are plenty of times that this YouTube channel feels like a really nice town that I live in. And I appreciate you for living here too. Thank you so much.
The communities of affinity that form on the internet are the greatest thing about it. …and it’s just the entry point through which they connect. But all the richness of their human lives follows behind because they’ve made that connection. (50:50)
And also find this funny.
I mean, it’s hard to explain to the young people I mentor in the tech industry now that we had computers that didn’t have the internet. And they’re like, “What would you do with it?”
Our Disney game glitched in the coolest way – right at sunset.
Naturally, I had to take selfies.
I was today years old when I learned you cannot copy / paste notes from books you purchase from Google. 😳
I understand they don’t want you to copy the whole book, but if you can’t take notes what’s the point?
Bought a book on Google and returned it.
This week I finished Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. It was a great light read to balance out everything going on in the real world and spending so much time at the hospital. This particular book makes me wonder if Pratchett wrote it after dealing with offers to turn his books into films or TV.
Delightful finds of the week…
Found Flatland on Internet Archive and downloaded to read:
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, though written in 1884, is still considered useful in thinking about multiple dimensions. It is also seen as a satirical depiction of Victorian society and its hierarchies. A square, who is a resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, dreams of the one-dimensional Lineland. He attempts to convince the monarch of Lineland of the possibility of another dimension, but the monarch cannot see outside the line. The square is then visited himself by a Sphere from three-dimensional Spaceland, who must show the square Spaceland before he can conceive it. As more dimensions enter the scene, the story’s discussion of fixed thought and the kind of inhuman action which accompanies it intensifies.
Why do we hold indie authors to a higher standard?
First of all, I respect anyone who chooses to publish outside of Amazon’s ecosystem. My hat is absolutely off to you. Self publishing allows us to make choices that align with our own needs and values and if you have the resources to print and sell your book without Amazon that’s bloody brilliant.
What I don’t like is seeing indie authors shamed or embarrassed for using Amazon.
Would you imagine shaming a traditionally published author for being sold through Amazon?
Absolutely not. That would be absurd.
The research I’ve done says that half of all book purchases in the U.S. are made on Amazon.1
Choosing not to sell your book through Amazon is leaving a lot of sales on the table and putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage.
Author Susan Earlam talks a lot about that in her author spotlight here.
If you choose not to utilize Amazon you’ll need to lean on your own community (both locally and your group of supporters online.) And probably accept that you’ll sell a lot fewer books.
It’s also worth noting Amazon print on demand services which make publishing accessible to those with less financial capital. I never could have afforded a local bindery for my first book project. Amazon’s print on demand offerings are what made selling print books accessible to me.
I didn’t believe the term “creative ecosystem” would be frequently searched for.
Profit margins are small (I’d actually make a loss at the length and quality the book is printed now.)
I wanted to sell directly to my community.
I wanted 100% profit from ebook sales.
However, for my next two books, I will be selling on Amazon for the same reasons:
I believe the titles and topics will be searched for.
Books are designed with Amazon profit margins in mind.
I want to reach as many people as possible (especially for the picture book about autism and neurodiversity.)
Reaching more people is more important than the profit per sale.
A Middle Way
There are plenty of ways to utilitze Amazon’s marketplace without going all in.
Sell author copies directly through your website. (This is allowed by Amazon. You’ll make more per book and you can sign or customize the way books are shipped. You can also have quality control because the Amazon print on demand services have a bad habit of sometimes sending out damaged books.)
Sell author copies at bookshops, events, and festivals as well as Amazon.
Sell physical books on Amazon and ebooks through your own website.
You can also do your part as a consumer by purchasing books outside the Amazon ecosystem whenever possible (indie bookshops, direct from publisher, from authors, secondhand, etc.)
But this often means books will cost a bit more due to Amazon’s reduced shipping costs. How often we can do this will vary depending on our personal finances and what bookshops offer.
