Claire Johnson Designs

17/01/2023

I’m enjoying writing poetry these days. Here are some of my recent poems. Feedback welcome!

11/09/2022

10/06/2022

Going on a road trip this weekend? Here’s a scavenger hunt to keep the kids happy in the back, at least for a while!

08/06/2022

If you can’t get to the woods, how about a scavenger hunt in the city?

07/06/2022

With the weather getting nicer, here’s a fun scavenger hunt to do in the woods - how many things can you find?

15/04/2022

Happy Easter to everyone

31/12/2021

Change your habits, change your life! As the year is coming to an end, many of us are thinking about New Year’s resolutions and making goals. I wanted to share these habit trackers I have made for each month. The idea is that you focus on one habit and for each day that you stick to it, you colour in the field. So by the end of the month you should - hopefully! - have a nice colourful page. I prefer to focus on one goal at a time, as I find those habit trackers that track 10 things at once abit overwhelming and I can never stick to them. By focusing on just one thing, there’s hope!! I wish you all the best for the next year, let’s make it a great one.
P.S. If anyone wants a PDF version of these, just let me know, I’m happy to send it to you!

24/12/2021

Merry Christmas!

18/10/2021

Here is a nice activity to do with your kids over half-term: Christmas cards to colour in and then send out to friends and family. I have made 4 simple designs for you to print out (print on A4 thick paper, when cut and folded the cards fit in a standard C6 envelope). Happy colouring!

01/04/2021

When the first lockdowns started, my sons were 3 and 6. We did the usual arts and crafts and baking and also started going out for a daily walk. To give our walks abit more of a focus, we combined them with learning the alphabet. So each day we’d choose the next letter in the alphabet and on our walk we’d look for things that start with that letter. As we worked our way through the alphabet and I looked for resources online to help, I got a bit frustrated with the “usual” picture alphabets for kids. A for Alligator, B for Bear – not very useful around here where we don’t have alligators or bears and the zoos are shut! So I started making our own lists of things that we saw on our walks and creating our own picture alphabet.
I wanted to share the worksheets I’ve created, as they’re a great way to get kids (and you!) motivated to go out for a walk and they’re also good for encouraging you to take different routes on your walk. So if you’re on the letter “C” and you might take a route past a building site to see if you can spot a crane, on “D” you might go to the park to see the ducks, on “P” you would walk to the local post office and so on. Some of the things will be easier to find in a more rural setting and others in a city setting, some you have to look up in the sky, others down at the ground, the idea is to encourage you to explore and observe lots of different areas. If your kids are younger, the sheets are also good for learning new words (would you otherwise point out an antenna to your 3-year old?!).
The worksheets will all be uploaded in this group:
www.facebook.com/groups/292900312281441/
Come and check it out!

02/11/2020

Ich freue mich, euch mein Waldtiere Freundebuch jetzt auch auf Deutsch zu präsentieren! Hardcover, Größe A5 (148 x 210 mm), 60 Seiten.
Platz für 24 Freunde und 4 Lehrer/-innen, jeweils eine Doppelseite zum ausfüllen. Fragen wie "woher wir uns kennen" , "was wir gerne zusammen machen" usw. stellen die Freundschaft in den Mittelpunkt. Auf jeder Seite ist auch genug Platz für eine eigene Zeichnung, wo die Kinder ihre Kreativität ausleben können.
Wer gerne eins möchte, bitte melden (per PN, Whatsapp oder hier kommentieren).
Preis: € 12.90 für ein Buch. Selbstgenähte Stofftasche dazu: € 4.90 (2 passende Designs erhältlich, auf den Fotos zu sehen. Bitte angeben welches Design erwünscht ist, gelb oder blau).

17/08/2020

Dinosaur friends book A5, 60 pages

Dinosaur friends book now available in English in my Etsy shop. A great gift for the start of the new school year!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/856099243/dinosaur-friends-book-a5-60-pages?ref=listing_published_alert

In this book, 24 friends and 4 teachers can fill out a double page with their personal details, hobbies, dreams, likes and dislikes and do a little drawing. Each page features a hand-drawn dinosaur illustration and other lovely details. There are 7 different designs which are each repeated 4 times

24/07/2020

My new dinosaur friends book is finally here! It's available in German right now and the English version will follow very soon. Have a look at the photos below and let me know what you think!
I have had a few queries about my woodland animal and polar animal books, they have all been sold but a new batch will be available in my etsy shop shortly. I will keep you posted!

17/05/2020

Starting the layout phase of my dinosaur friends book. I scan all my drawings, edit them in Photoshop and then design the book in InDesign. After lots of tweaking and changing things I then send the book to be printed and excitedly await the delivery! I still have a way to go with this one, but the first draft is done and awaiting feedback from my chief editor (aka sister 😜)!

20/04/2020

Starting to make some progress with my dinosaurs. It's slow-going at the moment due to corona lockdown and trying to keep 2 little helpers out of too much mischief! I hope you are all holding up well.

10/03/2020

How lucky am I?!! Full set of 120 Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolour pencils. I love them!!

27/02/2020

New order sent out yesterday with a special gift of 2 handmade bags to put the friend books in. These little bags are useful when the kids are giving their friends the book to write in as they can hang the bag on their hook at school. And it also keeps the book clean and ensures it doesn't get lost amongst the school books in their rucksacks!
I'll be offering the option of including a handmade bag like these in my etsy shop once I have sewn up a stock of them. I'd better get busy!!

25/02/2020

I'm working on something a bit different at the moment: a series of dinosaur drawings for a dino-themed friends book for my son who will be finishing Kindergarten in August. Do your kids love dinosaurs too?

04/01/2020

Working on this majestic tiger as my first drawing of 2020. Wishing you all a roaring new year!

12/12/2019

Illustrated friends books for children by ClaireJohnsonDesigns

I'm excited to announce that my Etsy shop is up and running: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ClaireJohnsonDesigns
I have a limited number of my friends books available at a special launch price. If you get your orders in this week, delivery should still be possible before Christmas.

You searched for: ClaireJohnsonDesigns! Discover the unique items that ClaireJohnsonDesigns creates. At Etsy, we pride ourselves on our global community of sellers. Each Etsy seller helps contribute to a global marketplace of creative goods. By supporting ClaireJohnsonDesigns, you’re supporting a ...

09/12/2019

Here's a preview of my polar themed friends book. This was made with my nephew in mind, who loves polar bears. And I love penguins, so I really enjoyed making this one! Available soon for ordering!

09/12/2019

In Germany, "friends books" are very popular amongst kindergarten and school kids. They are books where each friend fills out one page with their hobbies, favourite things, a drawing etc. At the end, the child has a lovely album created by all of their friends - it's a great keepsake from their school years (I still have some of mine from school!). I wanted to give one of these friends books to my 10 year old niece, but I couldn't find any in English. So I decided to make one. Here's a sneak preview of a couple of the pages of my woodland book. Soon available for purchase!

07/12/2019

Some new drawings for my upcoming friends book with a polar theme. Stay tuned for updates!

05/12/2019

A selection of my woodland animals, soon to be featured in a fun friends book!