Blog Posts for Summer

Summer is here in New England, which means trying to soak up as much time outdoors as possible. If you like to get creative while you’re outside, we have lots of blog posts with suggestions for you. Over the years, we’ve shared many of our favorite tips for getting the creative juices flowing on this blog. If you’re new to Design Pool, check out some of these previous posts.

Posts About Creativity

These blog posts feature prompts, suggestions, and exercises you can get started doing right away.

Travel Journal Prompts to Bring Inspiration Home
In this post, I shared five different prompts to help you get started when you’re out with a sketchbook or journal. Check out the full post for details on each prompt and some photos of examples.

Summer Activities to Slow Down & Be Inspired
This post has six suggestions for summer activities that will help get your creative juices flowing. Kristen Dettoni shared three of her favorite activities, and I shared three of mine. Check them out, especially if you want to know my favorite bird-related app!

Learn About Color with 5 Fun Exercises
Playing with color is the best way to feel more confident about your color decisions. In this blog post, we share five exercises you can do inside or outside that will get you thinking about color in a new way.

Post About Reading

Periodically, we share summer reading lists of books we love. Here are a few of our previous lists.

Summer Reading, Textile Edition
This list of five books is mostly about textiles and their impact on humanity.

Eight Inspiring Books About Creativity
This list features eight books about creative people and living a creative life.

Summer Reading, Books About Color
This list of five books includes both books about color and books about working with color.

Posts About Travel

We also try to write blog posts after we have inspiring trips.

San Miguel de Allende Color Inspiration
In this post, I share what inspired me on a trip to San Miguel de Allende. I also shared photos of my travel journal.

Traveling in Italy: Food, Art & Family History
Kristen shared her story of traveling to Italy with her mom to connect with the place her ancestors were from, as well as her quest to find their artwork still in Italy.

A Creative Week in Holland
Kristen spent a week in Holland in 2022, an experience that led to the creation of her Swallowtail Farm collection.

Whatever you do this summer, we hope you give yourself the time to slow down, relax, and recharge. We’d love to hear what you’re up to. DM us on Instagram to share your favorite summer activity, creative or otherwise! And if you’re local to Vermont and looking for something fun to do, stop by Studio Place Arts to see Kristen’s solo show, Top Secret.