Developed by botanical artist Lara Call Gastinger, perpetual nature journals are a way to visually document our discoveries outdoors on a regular basis. I've heard about this method for years and I'm finally getting around to starting my own!
Here's the basic idea:
1. Get a blank journal. If you want to incorporate wet media like watercolor, make sure the paper can withstand that.
2. Think about how often you want to add a small observational sketch to your journal. It could be one every day, week, or month (I opted for 1/week).
3. Divide up the journal based on the timeframe that you decided on and pre-write all the date ranges out.
4. Once you're finished with the first year, return to the same pages for the next and the next. Your journal is finished when all the space on your pages is filled up (I'm anticipating that mine will last 3 years). Now you have a tangible reminder of all the interesting things you observed throughout the various seasons, over the course of several years!
Learn more about perpetual journaling at: www.perpetualjournal.com/