Scribble Town (ST):  Every year, Youth Art Month (YAM) has a flag competition for each state.  Students from each grade level (elementary, middle, high school) creates a flag design for YAM in their state.  The design can use the National theme: Art Shapes the World, or you can create your own theme.  A winner will be chosen from the three levels and the winning flags will be represented on the posters and postcards promoting the YAM show at the Capitol in March.  The winning student artist will receive an actual 3’x5’ flag of their winning design.  On the Scribble Blog with us is the winning high school student from Minnesota, Chelsea Waite!

Chelsea Waite’s winning NM YAM flag!

Chelsea, what was your first thought when you heard of the YAM project?

Chelsea Waite (CW): When I first heard of the contest, I was excited because I have never been involved in a art contest this big before.

ST: Already you sound like a person who is up for challenges and like to take a chance! How did your idea develop?  What story or idea are you trying to convey with your flag?

CW: I wanted to focus on the idea of diversity. I think diversity is important to New Mexico because of the many different cultures we have here. My first idea of how to represent diversity is in using the Zia symbol. I found that I could manipulate the ends of the symbol to go off into different direction, but then come together in the middle to make one complete symbol. This is how I think the people of New Mexico are, we come from lots of different cultures but live together as one.

ST: Multiculturalism in New Mexico is just one of the things that makes it a special place. How did you decide what medium to use?

CW: I decided that I would use Sharpie and color pencils because it is easy to make small thin lines with these mediums.

ST: How do you feel about your final outcome?

CW: I was happy with my final outcome, but I never thought it would win.

ST: And that’s exactly what happened! What do you like most about your YAM flag?

CW: My favorite element in my flag are the yucca flowers. I didn’t choose the yucca flower because it is our state flower, I chose it because it is not very pretty. Compared to the millions of flowers in the world, the yucca flower is ugly but if you look close enough there is beauty there. I think this represents New Mexico because of that very same reason. This state is often overlooked but if people take the time to look close enough they will be able to see beauty.

ST: That’s such an honest approach to depicting your surrounding.  There is beauty everywhere if we just tune our eyes in the right way.  You are so wise and thoughtful!  How did the idea come into your head?

CW: I came up with the idea the moment I heard about the contest. The idea popped into my head very easily and with not much effort.

ST: And just like that we now have a beautiful YAM flag for New Mexico! Thank you Chelsea for your creativity and taking the time to share with the Scribblers!

Hi Scribblers!

Time flew by, but I just realized today that the Scribble Blog has been live for a little over a year! I hope you’ve enjoyed the post so far!

Over the past year, we’ve had some really great crafts, guest posts and tutorials and we’ve had a blast getting scribbley to provide you with fun creative inspiration for parents, teachers and kids! Inspiring Creativity is really where the heart is at for Scribble Town – we hope we’ve been able to do that for you!

Here is a round-up of some of the highlights!

1. An introduction to the Scribble Jam! A fun way for any one (artist or not!) to let out their inner scribbler and explore their creativity.

2. A guest post by Memo the Clown during National Clown Week!

Memo the Clown!

3. Looking for something unique to bring to a Summer Barbeque? Try our “Corn on the Cob” cupcakes.

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes!! Yummm!

4. Love to craft with nature? Be sure to keep up on our posts! We love crafting with nature. Check out our Autumn Leaf Wreath.

5. Introducing the family to an After-Dinner-Scribble. Remember in school when everyone would go around the circle and would one-at-a-time add a sentence and make a collective story? Make a collective picture! Have each person in the family add an element to a drawing after dinner.

What were some of your favorite posts? Let us know in the comments below!

Hi Scribblers!

As you know, I love seeing the art of fellow scribblers! This weekend I got a special treat!

A Scribble by Charlotte!

This scribble was a drawn by Charlotte (5 yrs, New York) who made this for her grandparents.  Her grandfather sent this beautiful scribble in for her and describes Charlotte as a happy and creative young lady. He says this drawing is showing a little girl who is welcoming people with open arms! Thank you, Charlotte! This scribble is beautiful!

Hi Scribblers,

I was trying to decide what to do for my daily scribble and as I sat thinking, I was looking at the craft we had made today. I loved the colors and the underwater creatures, and while I sat fishing around for ideas, I came up with this scribble!

Fishing Around, by Andi Thea

Haha, Fishing Around…get it? I just love how soothing the ocean water can be and it tends to be the inspiration for a lot of my scribbles.

What inspires you? What did you scribble today?

Hi Scribblers!

You know me, I’m always on the look out for found art and scribbles!

Deli Man Scribble

Well, today the man who made my sandwich at the deli, did an impromptu scribble when he wrapped it! I didn’t even ask him to do a scribble and I thought it was just too funny, so I had to share it with you!

Hi Scribblers,

I just finished up my scribble for today. My creative team and I were in meetings all day long working on an exciting project that we are preparing to announce. A conference call that we thought would only take an hour, ended up lasting close to 3 hours! We had so many technical and creative details we had to work through that, by the end of the call, I felt like my head was crammed with so much information that I really didn’t know what to do with it. Of course, this immediately made me want to sit down to Scribble!

Crammin & Jammin, by Andi Thea

Crammin & Jammin is a scribble that represents the influx of information I had to take in today. Phew, I am so glad I sat down and took those few minutes to do that Scribble. It really helped me to process the information from our meeting and think it through in a creative way!

Hi Scribblers!

I sat down to scribble today and I was in the best mood! The storm was over, the sky was beautiful and I had the song Feelin’ Groovey, by Simon & Garfunkel in my head.

Feeling Groovey, by Andi Thea

This is my scribble for the day. I was feeling great, I had a smile on my face and I went to grab a marker, these colors were just calling my name!

It’s a happy scribble, because I was feeling happy! Sometimes, getting scribbley- sitting down and being creative- is a great way to express yourself. Why not try it with your little ones?

When I made today’s scribble, I was thinking about the hurricane and the radar maps I was constantly seeing on TV.

Irene, by Andi Thea

During the storm my apartment was evacuated because my home is on the East River of NYC. Knowme and I packed up and ended up staying farther toward the center of the island to avoid danger from the water surge and chaotic winds.

I could just imagine Knowme saying, "Take me with you!"

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the storm. New York has not been in the direct line of a hurricane since the 1800′s and this was the first time EVER that the MTA shutdown the NYC subway system. In all actuality though..I slept through the storm…I didn’t hear anything! Where I was staying the trees were barely blowing and I got the okay to return home, I was shocked at what I saw on my way to my apartment. There were trees uprooted everywhere and the streets were a mess but all-in-all the storm was anti-climatic.

I hope everyone on the East Coast braved the storm okay! Did the storm inspire you to Scribble?

Hi Scribblers,

I really believe that it is good to use your imagination and have a good time.

Imagination at Play, by Andi Thea

I did this scribble because I was thinking about our newest website in development and that whatever comes to mind, you can make happen if you focus on it and taking it one step at a time.

Sometimes I get these random thoughts in my head and when that happens, I scribble!  When I was thinking about the upcoming website,  I was thinking about how to get traffic to it, who would be interested in supporting us and who our target audience would be. I  was thinking it is really important to put people in your life who can help you reach your goals and make your dreams come true and most importantly,  having people in your life that you enjoy being with– then, the rest is just fun and play.

Hello Scribblers,

I was looking over some of my old scribbles today when I came across this:

On the Town, by Andi Thea

This “On the Town” scribble was something I did years ago when I was working on a product for my toy company, Scribble Mats. Though this may look like a busy drawing, “On the Town” was actually the creative inspiration for Scribble Town!

To me, Scribble Town has always stood to represent a place that would serve as a Home to Scribblers Everywhere and a place to Inspire Creativity. I really think art and creativity is an important part of learning and an integral part of expressing oneself.

You can download the “On the Town” scribble to print and color it in. Or if you’d like, why don’t you show us a drawing of your home town!

Don’t forget, the first 3 people to post a picture of their drawings on our wins a free Scribble Book!