design-it-yourself umbrella

It’s been raining cats and dogs here in Toronto.  We have been swamped with seven consecutive days of rain.  I’ve been ogling the clear umbrellas at the dollar store for over a year now and with all this wet weather, finally found a good excuse to pick them up.  Doodling a custom umbrella is one rainy day project to soak in during this rainy season!

I have had a hard time finding that cute umbrella.  It didn’t occur to me until experiencing all the rain this week that I can design my own umbrella any way I want.  Oh, the torrent of possibilities!  Skyline?  Spring flowers?  Sunshine?  The list is endless and, luckily, the dollar store is fully stocked with these clear umbrellas this season.  I will have an illustrated umbrella collection by the time all this rain ceases.  For now, let it keep raining cats and dogs.

You will need: a clear umbrella and permanent markers.

1. This project has little margin for error, so I decided to sketch my cats and dogs on paper before tracing them ON THE INSIDE of the umbrella with my Sharpie.

2. Continue the design around the umbrella.

3. Color away!  I wanted a simplicity to this design considering it’s quite cheeky to begin with, so I used my Sakura Permapaque white paint marker.

Now get outside, step into a few puddles, and sing in the rain!