Melissa

1) My friend Debra inspired me to begin nature journaling! My husband enjoys birding and bird photography and I usually accompany him on his photography outings. He holds the camera and I'm there for support, though often times I'm there just observing either with my naked eye or with binoculars. I don't mind at all. This is especially fun during the summer as to me it's no different than a relaxing day at the beach. Upon a chance meeting of a lovely new friend Debra and her husband who were also birding at one of the spots we visited over the summer, I learned that Debra had recently begun nature journaling. She explained to me that she began journaling as a better way to remember and explore the birds she was seeing when out in the field. I was so inspired by her enthusiasm in getting back to sketching and drawing! I hadn't sketched in years but thought this would be an adventurous idea for me and she was so encouraging recommending this course! Thank you Debra for recommending this journaling course to me! 2) I really liked Shayna's approach to journal set up where she jotted down what she saw but also gave herself little 'magnifying glass zoom in' spaces where she could point to and draw the smaller intricate details in the object as well. I can see myself doing this to show the texture of the features on birds or the patterns in the leaves of a plant... even the markings on an insect. I loved the journalists' approach in always adding dates as I think this will finally be a way for me to remember what we saw when and where! 3) I don't have additional journaling ideas yet but I'm kind of a 'get the ideas once I put pen to paper' kind of person so I'm looking forward to what ideas seem to come up! :)