SCOUT ~ Zollie Newsletter #1

Dear Zollie Community,

I'm so excited to introduce SCOUT, our new quarterly newsletter that invites you into the creative world of Zollie! Each edition will take you behind the scenes, exploring the inspirations that shape our work through the lens of what I've been Seeing, Crafting, Observing, Understanding, and Transforming.

Since starting my work on Palette Scout, I can safely say that I will never see color the same way again. I hope this newsletter helps you scout-out beauty and inspiration in unexpected places, explore the role of color in your own life, and know that you’re in good company as you seek more color in the world.

SEEING

Around this time of year I like to play a little game while out driving or walking where I check the trees for that special early spring growth. Long before baby green leaves or even buds, you can spot the red tips of rapidly growing branches. Turns out this comes from sugar being converted into red pigments called anthocyanins. I couldn't resist building out a little palette inspired by these seasonal hues.

CRAFTING

To help vet future knitting projects, it's really helpful to watch knitting vloggers on YouTube. I am so happy to have found the channel of this true color queen, Hanaan Bonet. In a world of neutral knits, Hanaan's color choices stand out and are so inspirational. She also has a toddler and a new baby at home so she includes some seriously cute kids knits as well.

OBSERVING

I'm sure I'm not the only one who fantasizes about their dream home. When I saw this interior designed by my friend Karie Reinertson of Mother Studio, it felt like my dreams had come to life. Of course, I couldn't help admiring the warm palettes and careful use of color and craftsmanship at the home, so you know I had to use Palette Scout to take a peek at some of the color relationships happening. I'm seeing a split complement palette here in the breakfast nook of my dreams.

UNDERSTANDING

This year I'm prioritizing quality over quantity when it comes to Easter eggs. I remember an Easter weekend spent with my uncle and grandmother where we tried our hand at Pysanky, a Ukranian art of Easter egg decorating. Our day-long efforts resulted in just a few eggs each.

I loved reading this post from Little Ukranian Blog that discusses the traditional symbolism behind the colors used in this art form. I'm eyeing this crayon based kid friendly method to do with my son for now, and will work up to the wax technique when he's older.

TRANSFORMING

Behind the scenes at Zollie, we're in the process of developing our new digital course—Infinite Palette: Color Mixing 101. Crafting the course has been a game changer for how I think about mixing colors (thanks to Palette Scout), and I'm loving the way my desk is full of vibrant painted swatches.

My almost 3 year old has been doing some color mixing of his own using his Crayola and Honeysticks watercolors. His paintings are beautiful washes of color that end up looking like the aurora borealis. We have hundreds of them now, so I've been using some as scrap paper/DIY stapled notebooks. I'd love to follow this binding tutorial to transform some into a notebook with more structure.