Life’s a Beach!

Hi Friends! What a gorgeous day! It was 88 with a breeze at the lake and I spent the day with friends and their kids. Well, in the sense that the kids played merrily in the water as the moms chit-chatted on the shore;) I love beach days, probably too much because I hate to leave, the only people who have a harder time leaving the beach is my kids. I guess we need to soak up enough sun to get us through the long Maine winter…that is if sun can get through SPF 50 (in case you are wondering, it can.) We all came home a little pink (even with 3 coats of sunscreen) which made me feel guilty but also made me remember slathering up with the SPF 4 dark tanning oil with the lovely coconut fragrance I used to lay out with as a teenager, I can’t imaging doing that now, but there is something about that Hawaiian Tropic coconut fragrance that will always take me back. I think I ought to buy a bottle of it and crack it open in January when I need a boost LOL! I brought my KOI travel watercolor set with me and decided to paint. I chose to be inspired by my surroundings. I painted birch trees, beach roses, clouds and the lake.

I used the water brush that came with the kit, I refilled it 3 times from my water bottle to do these small paintings. I used the lid of the palette as a paper easel and it worked great. There is a finger hole on the bottom of the palette I just noticed today too, great for painting in the field. Next time I will bring 2 kits in case someone wants to paint with me. I offered to share with curious onlookers but they all declined, huh. I’m sure they just didn’t want to use my only set I had. I was able to put a stack of watercolor papers and the KOI palette in a quart freezer bag and put that in my beach bag as easy as pie! I think I will bring it every time! Yesterday I filmed a tutorial for painting a tropical beach (not Maine obviously) and I thought since I am feeling beachy I’d share it with you today!

It is fun to paint from memory or reference photos, you can’t beat the convenience, but I urge you to take your paints outside and be inspired by your surroundings. Don’t worry about people watching you or how it will turn out (notice, no masterpieces here) just observe and paint. I got to the beach early so I claimed the shady spot (right next to the birch tree I painted in fact) so I could easily watch my kids swimming while painting and that might be an option if you are shy about painting in public. I actually thought the clouds I painted were rubbish until I peeked at the photo I took all all the sketches and I thought, “hey, they look like clouds!” when before at the beach I thought “good grief, what a mess, I guess it’s time to quit!”  Paintings always look better with fresh eyes.

We are supposed to have great weather this week so I know there will be more swimming in our future! When you head out to the water make sure you bring your watercolors, you will be glad you did! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Artsy Fun With Deli Paper!

Hi friends! Deli paper is not just for wrapping your sandwiches anymore, it is a versatile (and cheap!) substrate for printmaking, stamping and stenciling and since I purchased a box of 5000 sheets of the stuff ($16 with free shipping from Sam’s Club online) I will probably be overwhelming you with ways to use it! Tonight I am going to show you how to stamp and stencil on it to make a cool scrapbook page overlay.

OK, by now I’m sure several of you are freaking out at the thought of me using deli paper in my scrapbook, what with the questionable acidity of there paper. Well, I’m not too bothered, I have a PH testing pen somewhere in my stash and when I find it I will test it but I bet it is PH neutral, it is made with virgin paper and other food-safe products I tested with the pen came out PH neutral. Either way, it is a fun product to use and if all else fails I can use the rest to wrap my sammies! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Use watercolors instead of ink pads! It’s fun!

Hi friends! If you are a beginner stampers the expense of buying inkpads in all different colors can be quite intimidating and expensive! Well, today I am going to show you how to stamp with watercolor paint to make this card:

I will also share frugal tips on making cards in batches like this:

To make three cards you will need:

• 3 sheets of 8.5″x11″ white cardstock
• 1 sheet of 12″x12″ patterned scrapbook paper
• 3 A2 envelopes
• Stamps (this is the Chicks set from Local King Rubber Stamps)
• Watercolor paints
• An embossing folder and label die cut and machine or cutting tool of your choice.

Watch the video to see how it’s done:

I used my new KOI watercolors but you can use any brand, even your children’s! If the paint does not want to stick you can rub the stamps with an eraser or if you are using clear stamps a viewer told me that you can ink the stamp first in clear embossing ink and then the paint will stick. I have not tried it but it will probably work! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

It’s Not Easy Being Green…And a Stamp Winner!

Howdy friends! It is 11pm on a Friday night as I am writing this. I am so excited because tomorrow I can sleep in!!! Woohoo! For those of you who suffered my silly sleep deprived craft videos this week on YouTube I want to thank you again, so much, for watching. I had been up early every day to get kids to camp, andyet could not manage to get myself to bed any earlier and, well, wackiness ensued is it usually does if I do not get my 8 hours of beauty sleep a night 😀 First up tonight I want to announce the winner of the stamps I used in last Friday’s post and a gift certificate to Art Neko…drumrolll…Sheilla!!! Congrats! Check your email for all the details;) Tonight I have a tag made with the large frog stamp from the Garden Friends stamp set from Art Neko. BTW that stamp set is on sale for $12, regularly $20! Use my coupon code Lindsay10% to save 10% on non-sale rubber if you shop:)

And a step by step video tutorial to go with it! Lots of tips on copic coloring and background stamping AND Mr. Frugal makes an accidental cameo…

I hope you enjoyed that sill bit of crafty fun! Now I am off to sleep! Have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

DIY Organza Ribbon Cords for Pennies!

Hi friends! When I saw organza ribbon necklace cords for sale online I knew I could make them on the cheap using high quality supplies from Papermart:

Supplies:

• 1/4″ Organza Ribbon (100 yards for $3.22)
• 2mm Rat tail Cord  (200 yards for $8.03)
• Jewelry findings: cord ends, jump rings, barrel clasps
  Tools: Chain nose pliers, needle nose pliers, scissors
• Optional: 3″x5″ clear bags for packaging finished jewelry like I showed in the video (1,000 bags for $12.20)

Directions:

1. Cut ribbon and cord to desired length.
2. Center cord over ribbon and place on cord ends and crimp closed with chain nose pliers.
3. Add clasp.

Sure, pre-made ribbon cords are not that expensive, you can buy them made for a dollar or less a piece but they are probably made with cheap supplies, you can make them with really good supplies for 5 cents worth of ribbon and a few inexpensive findings and only a couple of minutes of your time. Best of all you can make any color you want! I hope you enjoyed today’s project and til next time happy crafting!

 

Ask a Crafter 40 {part 3!}

Hi Friends! Boy, I couldn’t be happier to have a “post in the can” tonight. It has been a tiring week for me with the 5:30 wake up calls.  I am one of those 7.5 to 8 hour a night sleepers or all is NOT right in my world, mostly I turn into a silly, laughing, lunatic…OK, not THAT much different from normal.  To prove this here is part 3 of the ask a crafter summer marathon:

That was fun! Have a great night and til next time happy crafting!

 

 

Time to Paint the Daffodils {again!}

Hi Friends! Remember the old Dunkin Donuts commercial when Fred the Baker would say “Time to Make the Donuts” over and over again as he went back and forth to the shop? Today I feel like Fred the baker LOL! I have been getting up at 5:30 am to get my kids off to different summer camps (thank goodness for awesome carpool moms so I only have to drive once a day!) and by evening I am ready to drop. Hubby and I are planning on finishing a movie (Word War Z) that we started 2 night s ago, zombies and Brad Pitt, that should lull me to sleep (ha!) but before that I am going to make sure my coffee maker is all set up and ready to go in the morning because I am not as perky as Good ol’ Fred come 5:30. Before I do that I will share this tutorial I did  the other day by request of a Facebook friend who wanted to learn how to paint a sunlight daffodil flower against a dark background:

I want to thank Lisa for allowing me to paint her beautiful photograph (and she shared her versions on the facebook page and they looked great!)

Here are the colors I used in Cotman Watercolors by Windsor & Newton”

• Payne’s Grey
• Lemon Yellow
• Sap Green
• Yellow Ocher

I use a 1″ angular wash, #6 round and a #1 liner and I painted on a 140# cold press watercolor greeting card from Canson. If you have any questions or comments you can leave them below, thanks for stopping by and til tomorrow “Time to make the donuts”….er, I mean Happy Crafting!

Deli Paper Wrinkled Background {art journal page}

Howdy friends! I just vacuumed the floors, mopped them and climbed  and conquered Mt Washmore and now I can settle in a bit for some fun bloggy time. 🙂  I blame my state of disarray on the box of 5000 sheets of 12″x12″ deli paper I ordered from Sam’s Club. It was a deal you see, I could get 5000 sheets of 12″x12″ dry waxed paper for $15 and free shipping from Sam’s or get 500 smaller sheets for $16 from Amazon.  Hey, if I don’t use it all in the craft room at last I can use it in the kitchen right? Today I am going to show you how to do 2 fun techniques with deli paper:

I will show you how to make a wrinkled background AND a fun letting trick…and hey all of you folks over 21 can play a fun game:  Take a shot every time I spill my pot of embossing powder!

If you were playing the over 21 game I hope you are coherent enough to try this technique LOL! I swept up so much powder after this video, it is just as well, my studio needed a proper clean which it got…or course now it is a bit messy again because I played with that darn paper some more and then my kids saw the fun I was having and they joined in. That’s a good thing because I have thousands of sheets of the stuff haha! 😀  I did the math, each sheet of paper cost .003 cents, each 1000 sheet box was $3! Dosen’t that just give you loads of freedom to create! It does for me! The box weighed 35 pounds, I still can’t believe they shipped it free but I am not complaining! If you find yourself with an over abundance of deli paper (I know some of you will!) don’t worry, I’ll be sharing more ideas of what to do with it here on my blog and YouTube channel.

BTW the stamp I used is from Lost Coast Designs. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you did like it, please click the “like” button. Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A quick card for a Dude.

Hi Friends, I find cards for men hard to make. Here is one I made for my husband for Father’s Day:

I just got the stamp set from Local King Rubber Stamps at the stamp show because I knew it would be great for quick guy cards.  Watch the video to see how I made it:

Tips for masculine cards:

1. Keep a clean simple design.
2. Take color cues from nature (ocean blue, bark brown, moss green etc.)
3. Use natural textures like this jute rope.
4. Don’t stress about it, I know a card doesn’t feel done until it has lace, buttons and ribbon but think about who you are making the card for. Some guys will appreciate lots of textures and details but most are happy with a clean and simple look.

I hope this did not sound sexist, i know many ladies that love a clean and simple card with earth tones and I know many men love the bling. I just want to give you an easy option for a quick non-frilly card. Have a great day and til next time happy crafting!