Ask a Crafter #34 {Lorraine is back!}

Hello folks! I hope you are having a good week! I have been enjoying my new camera set-up (working right side up is a treat!) and because so many of you asked me how I rigged my camera up I have a brief demo at the beginning of this weeks ask a crafter. I was hoping to have both Lorraine and Kathy on the show this week as a special treat because you had to go without last week while we had school vacation but it didn’t work out. I did get Lorraine in though and we still managed to have a blast. Grab a cuppa, have a seat and ask a crafter!

If you have a question for next weeks show leave it in the comments. Don’t you think it would be fun to have Kathy and Lorraine on together? All it takes is a little peer pressure encouragement from you guys and I can make it happen. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Easy watercolor tutorial: Forest Stream

Tonight I am going to show you how easy it is to paint a tranquil stream in watercolors. There is no drawing involved, al you need is paper, paint and a few brushes and you are ready to paint along with me. If you try it let me know how it turns out!

If you enjoyed that free video tutorial perhaps you will enjoy this Mallard Duck PDF painting tutorial. It is only $3 in my shop and includes a pattern to trace and full instructions with photos so you can follow along.

Well, I’m plumb tuckered out tonight so I will leave you to your evening. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Easiest Bows Ever!

Howdy folks! A couple weeks ago I asked my husband to make a stick of wood with some holes for dowels so that I could tie bows on it. He obliged and I liked it so much I asked if he would be willing to make more to sell. He said sure and I made this video and listed them here in my Shophandmade shop. Here are the Bow Making Jigs in action:

The original jigs were made from an extra walnut and maple chess board he had made. The thin strips of hardwood were glued on Plywood and strips of that were on a cherry base. I loved the way it looked but the amount of orders we received in the first two days completely used up our supplies! Then we started branching out into better woods, here are the new bow making jigs in walnut and maple.

They are hefty at a pound a piece and are very easy to use not to mention pretty enough to leave out. We kept the price the same but had to charge a bit more for shipping due to the weight.  You can buy your very own Bow-making jig for $20 plus $6.75 S&H in my shop! (international shipping is more, sorry 😦 ) Bust since I HATE charging so much to ship it I decided to throw in another bonus, you will get my Pretty Packaging and Box Bonanza SVG & Printable template set, an $8 value,  with this purchase along with the $4 of free digital product you earn ($1 for every $5 spent in my Shophandmade shop) normally. The template set and free product of your choice will be emailed to you so be sure you look for my email after ordering.

So, if you want a beautiful hardwood USA made bow-making tool made lovingly for you and shipped with the utmost care please check out the ones my hubby made! Thanks so much for enduring my shameless promotion tonight and til next time happy crafting!

Painting Peacock Feathers with Pencils!

Howdy folks! Today I want to inspire you to dig out your colored pencils and paint a peacock feather:

This one is done in Inktense watercolor pencils (and it is the one I am demonstrating in today’s video):

This one was done with Polychromos colored pencils:

You can use any kind of pencils for this but I like the watercolor pencils for vibrancy. Won’t you paint a long with me?

I also painted a 2 minute bookmark on watercolor paper. That is a fun no-stress project that makes a great gift!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Mixed Media Fun: Markers & Pens!

Happy weekend folks! I am still tired and I honestly think someone switched my coffee to decaf this week! Do you remember those Taster’s Choice commercials from the 1980’s where you would see a shot of people in a restaurant and the announcer would come on and say “we secretly switched their coffee to Taster’s Choice Instant coffee, let’s see if anyone noticed…” We’ll that is how I felt this week. Hmm, come to think of it was it Folgers,  Taster’s Choice..or Sanka, I don’t remember. I even asked my husband if he switched my coffee because I had run out and I had him grab me a bag at Dunkin Donuts. His reply was “Why would I want that, you not having caffeine is not good for anybody.” LOL! It would be a really dirty trick on school vacation too. Anyway, I have an art journal page for you today using a quote by Oprah Winfrey:

She always comes up with great inspirational quotes! I used markers in my journal. I did not try to blend or do anything fancy, just have fun, I hope you like it! I also used homemade stencils, spray inks and masks, nothing fancy to see here folks!

Sorry about the lost train of thought when the phone rang, to finish the story a lady had emailed me about how to fix her old-style Spectrum Noir markers because she just bought them and some were dry and I told her to put 3-5 drops of denatured alcohol or blending solution in the marker and she was good to go:) Thanks to Oriental Trading Company for the Canson XL Journal and Micron pens I used today and thank YOU for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Quick Art Therapy & a Winner!

Hello friends! What a wild, busy week! I am always happy to have my kids home on school break but I must say by the end of the week I feel like I need a vacation! First off I want to announce the winner of the Art Neko Stamp Giveaway….kellyphillips62 Yay! You get the stamps I used on last Fridays post and a $10 gift certificate to Art Neko (formally About Art Accents) check your email for contact details! We had 267 entries, wow, thanks for playing everyone! Tonight I have another fun card for you also using stamps from Art Neko:

As I mentioned before, I love having my kids home but this week I felt more like a chauffeur than a mom, I’m glad they have activities they enjoy but I would have enjoyed just chillin’ at home with them a bit more. Oh well, we have an entire summer for that LOL! Anyway, as I mentioned I was exhausted tonight but I also had the itch to get inky in my studio. This card takes only a few minutes to make, it is wild and fun and you are only using a stamp, a sheet of plain white cardstock and watercolors (the kids watercolors are fine for this too!)

This is a great warm up exercise too, remember you are only using a sheet of cardstock so don’t worry about it, just paint! It’s fun, don’t over-think it! OK, now I am really tired. I hope you have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

An art journal flip through, a new tripod and other bargains….

Good evening friends! Another crazy school vacation day! I love having fun things planned but whoa, this week is running me ragged! In between dropping off and picking up I stopped into my local Goodwill. I am a contradiction, I have had the urge to purge clutter from my house so usually my trips are dropping off but today I went inside…and you know how good I am resisting a bargain…not! Well, they had a couple of tripods for sale. Both were missing the “hot foot” adapter but that was OK because what I was looking for was one with a screw on the bottom of the center pole to attach a camera to. The price was $5 but I noticed that there was a broken part on it and with the missing adapter I asked if they could do better on the price and I got it for $2! Check it out:

So, really, I could have done this with my other tripod but this one is sturdier so hopefully it was not $2 wasted…anyway I would not have thought of this without the new adapter. I found other goodies that I didn’t need but bought anyway (I clearly need my head examined) I got a nice baseball mitt for $4, a Cricut cartridge for $2, an LL Bean backpack for $3 and brand package new hefty freezer containers for $3 that will be handy with the garden I plan on growing this summer and the bounty of veggies I plan to freeze…or freezer jam. I do make good jam.  At least I didn’t buy the 3 pack of full size wooden hockey sticks that were bargain price of $3, I’m crazy but not that crazy! 😀  Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Paint a Robin in Watercolor!

Howdy friends! Sorry to disappoint anyone tuning in today for Ask a Crafter, I mentioned in last weeks video that I would take this week off for school vacation. The kids and I have been busy! Bowling, swimming, Easter! I could use a vacation LOL! Before we headed out to spend the day at the pool I took an artsy vacation for 20 minutes in my studio and painted a robin. It has been on the request list for a while but I thought I should wait til spring. It is an easy tutorial, I’ll even show you how to draw it:

The colors I used are: Ultramarine blue, sap green, alizarin crimson, light red (A brownish red, you can use burnt sienna with a touch of red) and yellow ocher. I used a 1″ wash and #6, #10 and #2 round but honestly you can do it all with a #6 round and a flat wash brush so don’t let a lack of supplies stop you. Even if your colors are not exactly the same as mine you will still have a lovely painting when you are done. I painted on a 140# Canson watercolor greeting card. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

DIY Gelato Blending Tools!

Howdy friends! Today I will show you how to make the best blending tool for your gelatos, gel sticks, water-soluble oil pastels and inkpads. All you need are clothespins, white craft foam, cotton balls and rubber bands. Let’s whip up a batch of these useful tools!

Fun huh? I use these all the time and I hope you like them too. Happy crafting!