At Home: My New Passion, Clip Art

I've always considered myself an amateur artist.  I dabble in this, and I dabble in that, and then when I get bored, I'll move onto something else... I'm a Sagittarius. I'm built this way.  Lately, I've been floundering... looking for my new art fix.

So, I'm planning a trip to Vegas this summer and I'm trying desperately to save up the money ahead of time.  Do you know how much I've saved? That's right!!  $0.00!  So, where can I earn some extra cash, share my teaching passion, and be creative?  TpT!  For those of you who don't know what TpT is,  it is a great website where Teachers create products and sell them to other teachers, thus the name TeachersPayTeachers (TpT).

I had purchased from TpT before and there are some wonderful products out there.  I took the leap and became a seller... and I sat on that for months.

Here were the snags for me:
1.  You have to put out a free product first.
2.  You have to make sure all clip art, borders, and images are copyright free (no random copying from the Internet)  Yikes!  I knew I could buy clip art, but UGH!  Brick Wall.

Finally, before Thanksgiving, I posted my first two product:  Turkey Notes and Life Skill posters.

Turkey Notes and Life Skill Poster title pages.  

So, here is where the artistry comes in.  I've been making my own clip art and borders.  It is something totally new to me and I love it.  I'm a puzzle person and putting together a piece of clip art is like putting together a puzzle. 

It Takes Patience and time!

Making your own clip art is a HUGE lesson in problem solving, too.  I'm not much of an instruction reader...  I'm more of a DO IT AND IF IT DOESN'T WORK THEN FIND A VIDEO person. 

 Pssst...  by the way, my wonderful husband is a tech geek... whenever he starts talking, all I hear is Charlie Brown's teacher, "Waaaa, Wa, Waaaaa, Wa."

The above graphics are some of my very first attempts at making clip-art.  Here is a *FREEBIE* I made for the Holidays:

And a collection of holiday clip art and borders:

A collection of clip art and stationary you can use in your own products, blogs, etc.   $3.50

And here, Da-Da-Daaa,  is my latest posted endeavor:

Rounding for 3rd Grade - 10s and 100s Place (click on product for a link to it on TpT)

 I think the graphics have really come a long way!  I'm working on a project right now that I can't wait to share and post on TpT.   It is a bit artsy, but I can't do it any other way.  

So, If you have never attempted to make your own clip art, give it a try!  But be warned!!!  It is an addictive hobby.   

Okay, I do have a confession to make... I have spent hours upon hours working on my seven "amazing" (at least I think so) products and I have only sold one item.  :)  But I am not daunted!  I am having so much fun making my products, and being creative in the process, that the fact that I only have $2.00 for Vegas seems like a small (very small) price to pay.  Well, I've got to go.  I have a Rattlesnake to Round-up!