Hello Friends! After sharing my farmers market adventure with you last week I had many requests for a video demonstrating how to mat a watercolor, finish the back, price and display them for sale so in today’s video I am going to do just that. The secrets to my success are clear bags from Papermart.
Now this is not my first rodeo, I have tried other brands of clear bags (all more expensive) and Papermart bags are the best! I bought some art bags before from another company and they were all stuck together in the package and the bags ripped when I went to separate them. I have never had a problem with the Papermart bags AND they offer a 15% off discount on a clear bag order over $200 so if you want a few sizes it is a great chance to buy them all at once. Sometimes my crafty pals go in together on orders to save on shipping and get a discount so keep that in mind if you have your eyes on a lot of sizes. These polypropylene bags are also FDA approved food safe and come in sizes from 1″x7″ to 20″x24″. You are sure to find the size to fit your needs. I love that I can use the smaller bags to package my cards or candy at a craft fair. They come in packs of 500-1000 so you have plenty to share:)
Here are the other products I used in this tutorial:
Crescent Mat Board
Logan push style mat cutter #2000 and straight cutter #701 *both use #270 blades. The handheld cutters are around $15 each online. You can use a craft knife instead of the Logan straight cutter but it is nice if you have strength issues.
pencil and metal yard stick
Please refer to the video for advice on measuring and cutting mats. Check out Papermart for all of your art business needs, the clear bags not only display your art beautifully but also protects it from fingerprints and becoming shop-worn. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends! It my Wednesday video blog I am talking about judgement and criticism, what do you think?
I think that there are 3 kinds or judgement:
Jealousy
Inadequacy/mirror judgement (You feel bad about something in yourself and judge other people for the same thing to make your self feel better but really you are judging yourself.)
Concern (You see a friend needs help and you offer it, or advice and it come across as criticism.)
Remember someone criticizing your art is different from someone criticizing you. The next time you feel jealous, or like judging someone or you feel judged just remember you can figure out why you feel the way you do and move on! Someone told me that what others think of you is none of your business, well said my friend! Let me know what you think in the comments below and as always happy crafting!
Edit: If you want to read the full story of my day at the fair scroll down to the end of the post!
Hello Friends! What a day! I took my kids to the fair today and we rode so many rides I am still dizzy (it is $12 for all you can ride rides and we have to get our money’s worth you know!) What I don’t like about the fair are the pushy game people and the crappy throw away prizes. What is it about those cheap prizes that make the kids go nuts? Then again I had a black satin Bon Jovi wall hanging and Poison mirror in my room as fair trophies for years as a teenager so I guess they come by it rightly. At lease they don’t still give away goldfish as prizes.
Speaking or goldfish, do you want to see how I painted this one? Watch the video!
And in case you missed the tutorial for the DIY metallic paint here it is again:
I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am. Until next time happy crafting!
And now the rest of the story: I often schedule my posts to my blog so I won’t forget on busy summer days (the 2 days I did not blog this month were busy “I forgot” days) so before I left the house this morning I scheduled this one. I took the kids to the fair, my sister, brother-in-law and mom all went too. Now I LOVE rides, especially the high daredevil rides. We begin on the Freak-Out! and the name did not disappoint, I loved it! We took a few turns on Pharaoh’s Fury and looked longingly at the Fireball (more on that ill-advised ride later) and a few rides I have forgotten all ready, add in a large bowl of french-fries, lemonade and soda and we have a recipe for disaster. There is a part of me that thinks “If my kids can handle these rides so can I” but I have to admit I can’t pile them on like I used to, especially the rides that spin or rotate. That is where we come to the tradgidy of my story. My little nephew wanted to go on the swings and I remeber liking them a lot in my youth and I did not think the mild rotation of the ride would bother me but after that I was not feeling so hot. I decided to save my strengnth so I could ride the fireball before I left. I stayed hydrated and walked around a bit until everyone was tired and ready to go and it was time for the last ride. “What do you think girls, wanna try the Fire Ball I said?” “Yes! wahoo!” they replied. The rest of my party decided that they would rather watch. The ride seats 2 side-by-side facing 2 other riders so usual a group of 4 will sit together. There were only 2 seats together left so I put my girls in them. I saw a vacant seat in another section and asked the family sitting there if I could join them, “Sure!” they said. As soon as I was buckled in I had second thoughts. As soon as the ride started moving I started to doubt my sanity. Halfway through the ride I was just hoping tho God that I would not throw up on the nice people who let me sit with them. Just after the halfway point of the ride the lady across fro me said “It’s almost done, hang in there.” I’m thinking “don’t puke on the nice lady, don’t puke on the nice lady” The ride stopped and I could not get out of there quickly enough. As soon as I saw my mom and sister waiting for the girls I bolted for the most discreet grassy area and proceeded to be reintroduced to my lunch. I was so sick. I came back and saw the family I was sitting with and the lady said “I knew you weren’t feeling good when you shut your eyes” I said “I’m just glad I didn’t vomit on you!” We shared a hearty laugh until I felt the urge to hit the closest garbage can for round 2. I have never thrown up in public in my life. I would have been so embarrassed except for the momentary sweet relief it provided. I’d love to say that was the end but alas I darkened 2 more garbage barrels before I was out of the fair. Moral of the story: Just because you CAN ride all the rids you want for one low price does not mean you should! Have a good night and again, happy crafting!
Hello friends! I am beside myself right now, I posted this video on YouTube yesterday and it already has over 4000 views! Cool! I am so glad people are painting! It is such a fun pastime and it can be really easy when you know a few tricks…like how I painted these raspberries, watch the video to see how:
I really like this lesson because you get to practice the technique on the paper before it counts. By working on a wet background the pencil-eraser stamped berries get blurry and look farther away, then after the paper is dry the berries you tapped on because crisp and in focus. I also like how painting with a pencil eraser gives you an automatic shade and highlight. I hope you take the techniques you learn in each of my tutorials and apply them to other things you want to paint. The x-acto knife highlights are great, I have used that technique many times. I realized watching the video back that you could use a push-pin to do the same thing and it would be safer too, A great option for kids who paint! I hope you liked this painting project and til next time happy crafting!
Hi Friends! A couple of weeks ago I was trying to make a cool watercolor background for this art journal page. The more I did to it the worse it looked and by the time I was done I had used so many mediums on it that I hated to throw it away and waste the color. So rather than toss it I made paper beads! Watch the video to see how:
I had a similar thing happen yesterday, I was trying to paint a tulip because it was a viewer request and I just was not happy with the way it turned out, I painted that darn flower 4 times before I liked it! I asked my friends on the Frugalcrafter facebook page what they did with bad watercolor paintings and their ideas were inspired, you can see what they said here. I think the best advice was to wait and look at the painting later and when I did I actually liked them. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting.
Hello Friends! I was inspired by a friends dangly earrings one day, I thought when I get a minute I am going to try something similar. Her earrings had long thin chains with a bead at the end of each. I used beads from my stash and cut lengths of chain to achieve the same effect! Do you want some swishy earrings for summer too? Well watch the tutorial and I’ll show you how to make them!
They takes longer than simple head-pin earrings but really the techniques are the same. I have another earring style I want to try, a copy of my favorite pair of earrings, and I think they are going to get made soon! Would you like to see more jewelry tutorials? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
Hello friends! Tonight I have an easy painting tutorial, I am using a 9″x12″ watercolor block for my painting but feel free to paint this on a greeting card. We will begin by sketching a peony flower on the paper with a pink watercolor pencil and then we will paint a wet into wet background and proceed with painting the flower. Give it a try! This video will show you how easy it is!
I thought this painting needed something else so I painted a Japanese beetle on it (collective groan from all the gardeners) and I will show you how in this quick video:
You know what, this painting is still sitting on my table because it still does not feel done to me. Any advice? What do you think it needs? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
Hi Friends! The other night my husband asked me if I could whip up a plant hanger for our thriving spider plant. We have a large bay window in our living room that is covered with happy plants (well, they are all happy except the orchid-the only plant I am responsible for- which lives in constant fear) and we have run out of room on the windowsill. I never learned the art of macrame and I am quite lazy so I decided to come up with a quick technique for making a plant hanger that only takes about 10 minutes. Watch the video to see how.
I used Jute Cord and Floral Wire from Papermart to make this. You will also need scissors, wire cutters and a yard stick.
Directions:
Begin by cutting three 6 foot pieces of brown cord and three 6 foot pieces of green cord. Bundle the cord lengths together and tie a knot in the middle so you end up with twelve 3 foot long ends. (*note, if you want a hanger with a tassel on the bottom cut the cords in half to 3 foot lengths and tie all of the cords together 3″ from the end in an overhand knot.)
Divide the cored in groups of 3 and braid those strands together for 3″. Place your plant pot on top and divide the strands and knot between the braids. Repeat this technique until you have made a net around the pot.
Gather the cords and divide in half and tie together over the pot.
If desired wrap above the knot with floral wire.
Now you can cut off the extra cording over the wire and if you have enough left tie 4 strands together with an overhand knot to make a hanging loop. If you do not have enough cord left for a loop simply trim it all neatly above the wire and add a string or ribbon under the main knot for hanging.
Then you can hang that plant with pride! Here is something else to feel good about, spider plants are excellent for cleaning the air, they even sent them up in the space shuttle to keep the air clean and fresh. If it’s good enough for NASA it’s good enough for me!
I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past, yet very useful, project and til next time happy crafting!
Hello friend! Anyone else having a busy summer? I have already seen my friends counting down the days til school begins on Facebook so I am thinking yes. 🙂 I’ve been having a fantastic summer, the weather has been really nice after a long cold winter and spring so I want to be outside all the time! I had a chance to participate in an outdoor farmer’s market last weekend. Want to know how I did? Watch the video:
So…if no farmers attend a farmer’s Market is it still a farmer’s market? It kinda reminds me of the scrapbooking crop I went to a few months ago and nobody else showed up LOL! Speaking of scrapbooking I will be doing a week of scrapbook tutorials next month (August 4th-9th…maybe the 3rd-10th depending on how many tutorials I make LOL!) so if there is anything you would like me to cover let me know as I am filming the tutorials over the next few days. I am finding that keeping it simple is hard, I have too many doo-dads that would be just the perfect touch LOL! I hope people find the scrapbook tutorials encouraging and helpful and not overwhelming. We will see. I mean I don’t want to bore someone with just the basics, I want to share techniques and ideas too. I am going to try to start the pages off simple and build up and if someone does not want to see the fru-fru they can bail out on the video when they think it is done. What do you think? Leave your scrapbook wishes in the comments below and I will take them into consideration when I film the tutorials. Speaking of videos, did you know I put a new video tutorial up almost every day? If you want to see what you are missing check out my YouTube channel (and subscribe so you don’t miss any tutorials!) Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
The Frugal Crafter Blog 