What's a Happy Stone?

A Happy Stone (also known as Doodle Stone, Stoones, Travelstones, Painted Rocks or Kindness Rocks) is a stone that has been beautifully painted by someone and then placed somewhere to make the finder happy.

When you find such a stone, you can place it in another place to give someone else a lucky moment.
You can also give it a nice place at home as a cherishing stone, after a while you can of course let it travel further!

Did you find a painted stone?

• Take a picture and upload it to this site (), you will make the maker of the stone happy.
• Do not remove stones from private property or cemeteries.
• Let the stone travel and place it in a new location.

Are you placing a stone?

• Do not put stones in a nature reserve.
• Do not hide the stone. Put it in a visible place so it doesn't get lost.
• Also take a picture at the new location and post it on the site as well. This way the journey of the stone can be followed.

Are you making a stone?

• Check this tutorial to make your own stone.
• Do not stick anything on the stone: eyes, diamonds, ... these will sooner or later fall off, and damage nature.
• Mention the website happystones.be, so the finder knows where to report the stone.
• Post a first photo of your stone on the site. You can turn on notifications and will be notified if someone finds your stone.

But most of all...

About this site

This site tries to provide a solution where many Facebook groups fall short.

• Anyone can easily add stones here, without having to become a member or have a Facebook account.
• Stones can be easily tracked on their journey.
• The site is available in several languages and is therefore accessible to everyone.
• The site is specific for Stoones, Doodle Stones and Happy Stones and is continuously optimized in function of them.

The site is in full development. Would you like to help contribute to the further development or do you have an idea or proposal?

Then you can contact us using this form:

Help us

By making a small donation, you help us to maintain and further develop this unique platform.
Your contribution will ensure that we can expand the collection and improve the search functions, so that even more people can enjoy our wonderful hobby.
Help us keep this website accessible to everyone for free by making a donation today.
Thank you!

Use the button to donate using PayPal, or scan the QR with your banking app to avoid costs.

How to make a Happy Stone

Creating your own painted stones is a fun and enjoyable hobby; you don't need much for it and you can put all your creativity into it.

Stones

• The cheapest way to get stones, is to search them yourself. You will probably find suitable pebbles on the coast and in rocky environments. Try avoiding porous stones, as these absorb the paint and ink quickly, making it more difficult to draw on.
• In your local garden center or hardware store, large beach pebbles are often sold in big bags. These are perfect if you're planning to make a lot of Doodle Stones.
• You can also buy them online. Try searching for "stones to paint" or "large beach pebbles".

Apply a base coat

After you have cleaned the stones, you can start drawing. If the paint or ink does penetrate into the pores of the stone, you should treat your stone with a primer. You can use gesso, primer or ordinary wall paint for this.

Gesso can be applied with a brush or a paint sponge, but it is also available in a spray can.
If you want to preserve the natural look of the stone, use transparent gesso. If you want to work with a colored underground, you can mix a little acrylic paint in white gesso.

Drawing and coloring

After preparing the stone, you can decorate it with your drawing or message.

We always draw a first sketch with a soft pencil, after which we paint the stone with acrylic paint or acrylic paint markers.

We like to use Posca Markers, they cover very well and have beautiful colors.

Text or label

Provide a place to put the website stoone.org, a short text and possibly a self invented #hashtag or a Stoone ID.

eg. " Let me travel and follow my journey on stoone.org/one "

Finishing

If you don't want your stone to fade because of the weather, you'll have to apply some layers of varnish for optimal protection.

You can find varnish as a spray, or in a can to apply with a brush.

For optimal protection, apply 2 or 3 layers.