Won’t you Join Me on The Coast to Paint?

Hi Friends! Boy, we should totally all go to the coast of Maine someday to paint, dont’cha think? Until that day comes you can paint this coastal Maine inspired scene with me.

I am using a Maine state shaped plaque from Unfinished Wood Co., They have cutouts for every state as well as beautiful monogram shapes in all sorts of cool themes including nautical (my fave!) They are even offering an awesome discount for all of my viewers, you can get 40% off your ENTIRE order with the coupon code thefrugalcrafter but hurry, the deal is only good for one week so order before 8/7/15 if you want to snag that deal, and it is a deal because at full price their wood is reasonable. Unfinished Wood Co. ships to USA and Canada. Now on to the tutorial!

Video!

Supplies:
Maine wooden cutout: Unfinished wood Co
Acrylic Paint (M Graham and Liquatex artist acrylics) in colors:

• Ultramarine blue
• Yellow Ocher
• Sap Green
• Titanium white
• Burnt Sienna
• Aliz. crimson

White gesso
Acrylic paint brushes & Palette knifes (use a cut up credit card if you don’t have palette knives)
Varnish (Minwax Polycrylic-gloss)

Tips-Prepping and finishing:

If you have never painted on wood before you will want to know this, make sure you seal the wood either with gesso or a waterbased wood sealer, it will make the paint blend and flow so much nicer, otherwise the acrylic will absorb into the wood, dry too quickly and you will need more paint. Also follow up with a varnish to unify the sheen and make it easy to clean as well as protect the surface of the paint. You can use water or oil based varnish but oil based tends to yellow. I like Minwax Polycrylic but Delta also make an affordable varnish. I hope you try out this painting, it was really fun to paint.

Thanks to Unfinished Wood Co. for sponsoring today’s project, if you check them out be sure to use the coupon code thefrugalcrafter to get 40% off your entire order until August 7th, oh and let me know what you got, there are so many cool designs that I am curious to know what your favorites are, I can’t wait to paint my monogrammed anchor! It’s a project for the “She Shed” my backyard bungalow that I have been puttering away at, of course by the time I get it done they’ll be snow on the ground LOL! So many projects, so little time! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Homemade Lip Balm {you can use what you have!}

Hi friends! I have made lots of lip balms and glosses over the years and what I love is that you can tweak the mixture to get just the glossiness and softness you like.

I experimented with glycerin this time because I wanted a lip balm that would really moisturize rather than just coat. One batch came out perfect and one had a puddle of minty liquid which was the glycerin and peppermint extract that did not stay dispersed because I did not keep stirring it as it cooled. I just wanted to let you know in case that happens to you. Also you do not need glycerin, you can use more oil instead. At first I tried to make the balm with no oil, only glycerin but it was unusable. I added oil and it was perfect! I will provide the recipe and substitution suggestions below the video. Also, don’t toss a batch you don’t like, add to it until you like the lip balm!

Video!

You will need
1 part beeswax (you can get it in pellets or a block and you will have to grate it)
1 part food grade mineral oil or coconut oil
*note: Use 2 parts of oil if you want to omit the glycerin.
Up to 2 parts vegetable glycerin
2-3 drops of flavoring oil per tablespoon of product (optional) *also you can add some lipstick to the mix if you want a tinted gloss. You can also add a bit of sweetener to the gloss if you like.

Tools:
Glass measuring cup
measuring spoon
1oz food grade jar

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients except for flavoring in glass jar.
2. Met ingredients by placing jar in a pan of hot water (double boiler method)
3. Let cool until you see the wax turn white at the edge of the cup. Make sure you keep stirring the mixture as is cools to keep the glycerin mixed into the oils and wax otherwise you might have a puddle of minty glycerin in your lip balm! *If using metal containers you do not need to let it cool at all but do make sure the mixture is thoroughly stirred.
4. Pour into 1oz pots and let cool completely before using.

Troubleshooting- If your balm is not to your liking, no worries, you can scrape it back into the measuring cup and tweak the recipe so it is perfect for you. You might want to write down what you did to be able to recreate it later!

• If your balm is too dry add more oil.
• if your balm has a “puddle” reheat and stir well, probably the glycerin settled as it cooled and separated from the wax.
• If your balm is too gooey or glossy add a bit more wax.
• If putting your balm into “chapstick” tubes you will need a waxier mix but for tins or pots you can have a glossier (wetter) mix. It is up to you because you are making it! You can even melt some candy melts, AKA colored chocolate, into the balm for fun flavors.

Even Easier BONUS recipe for kids!

This next recipe is perfect for kids to make as a party favor and it really works too and since you do not need to melt anything it is perfect for kids to make in the PET plastic containers from Papermart.

Supplies: All Vegetable Shortening (I like Crisco) and powdered drink mix (like Kool-Aid) and sweetener if desired.

Directions: Fill plastic pot half way with shorting. Add 1/8 teaspoon of powdered drink mix to the pot and stir with a popsicle stick until combined.

Do you have a favorite lip balm recipe? If so share it in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Sponsored by Papermart.

Stamp School #6: Layering stamps!

Hi friends! Last week my hubby and I celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss, this is the card I made him:

I really like layered stamp designs, also called 2 step stamping, because it is quick and you get beautiful results.  I am using some watercolor and accent stamps from Rubbernecker today. I often reach for their watercolor stamps when I want to make a quick, yet beautiful card. There are a few tips I have for you on lining up your rubber stamps, the most important tip is that you do not have to be perfect lining them up to get a beautiful result. Watch the video to see how I made this card.

Video!

Supplies you will need for this card:

• Stamps: Rubbernecker, they have all the stamps I used on sale and free shipping over $25, thanks guys!
• Ink: Black (Ranger Archival) Shades of red (Memento)
• Color Dusters (optional)
• Black Grosgrain Ribbon (Dollar Tree)
• White cardstock
• Paper trimmer or ruler and knife
• Frame die or stencil (optional)

I hope you try some of these techniques on your next card. I know many people get frustrated with the layered stamps but hopefully you can relax and give it another try. Another tip, if you ever feel like you are not getting a technique, make the card anyway then set it aside and look at it tomorrow because it will look so much better. You can then tell if it needs something else or if it is great as is, hindsight is 20/20 as they say. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Brush Up on Your Brushes!

Hi friends! I have been asked a lot lately about brushes and what different ones were used for and also what brushes were best for what medium so I decided to make a video about that. Find out what brush is best for what paint and how to make your brushes last longer!

Video!

I hope you found that helpful! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Blogging on my phone…

Howdy friends! I am on the road today and took some lovely flower photos in my sisters garden. What would you like to paint first?

Leave your tutorial choice in the comments below and feel free to paint from any of these pics. I am not sure if they are nice enough for paint my photo but they look good on my new phone. I hope they are useful. I also hope my phone has
spell check lol 🙂 thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Confused by Color mixing? Let’s make a color wheel!

Hi friends! I get asked about color theory a lot so today I decided to show you how I mix colors and tell you what 6 colors I recommend for watercolor but it can be applies to any paint medium. I also recommend white if painting in acrylics or oils.

I even have a free printable handy-dandy checklist of supplies for watercolor here. Now, watch the video to see the color mixing magic happen!

Video!

Trust me, play with your paint and start mixing. Watching a video is good but you will learn by doing. Your color may have different names or maybe your color are in pans and you do not have the names BUT you do have eyeballs so simply look at them and see what the undertones are in your primarys.

Red
Warm: Cadmium Red, Scarlet, Vermilion (any red that looks more orange than purple)
Cool: Alizarin Crimson, Quin. Magenta, Red Rose Deep (a red more purple than orange)

Blue
Cool: Pthalo, Prussian, Turquoise (A blue more green than purple)
Warm: Ultramarine, Cobalt (a blue more purple than green)

Yellow
Cool: Lemon (a yellow more green than orange)
Warm: Gamboge, Cad Yellow, Indian Yellow (A yellow closer to orange than green)

Once you can spot the colors undertones you will know what paint to pick for mixing the color you want.

I also like Sap Green, Yellow Ocher and Burnt Sienna because I use a lot of these colors and it would take a lot of time to mix these (although you totally can) on every painting. Play with the paint, it is the best way to learn. My dad always said the best way to learn how to build a house is to build a house. It’s the same with painting (and he was a contractor and I am an artist so you can totally trust what we say!)

I hope are less confused about color now. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Paint Lupines!

Hi friends! Wow, it’s Friday! I had such a busy week! I taught 3 art classes at my local library in collaboration with my town’s Olde Home Week (you know it’s fancy when you add an “e”!) Both watercolor classes were packed which was so nice, I hope my students return next month when OHW is done. This was my first idea for class but I was not happy with it…

So I reduced the size and went with a simpler plan for a class of beginners and it was good I did because every one finished in the nick of time, right before the librarian was about to kick us out ha ha!

Do you want to try it? Here is the card tutorial.

Go ahead and flip the orientation and make it bigger if you like. I posted the larger photo in case you wanted to give that a whirl. The larger one has more of a focus on a couple flowers in the front but it is pretty much the same thing. I had the children’s watercolor class make the bigger version with focus on the flowers and they did fantastic! All my students did, I really hope the join me again next month. Thanks for painting with me today and til next time happy crafting!

A Hand Painted Gift Box (no painting experience required!)

Hi friends! I have had these medium sized kraft gable boxes from Papermart in my stash for a couple of months and I was wondering what to do with them. With all of the summer birthdays happening I decided to get a gift box ready. I love the look of bright acrylic paints on kraft!

This is a super quick project. I also think these would be fun to decorate like little houses since they are kinda shaped like them. Best of all you can reuse the packaging or use it as storage because they are fairly sturdy. Watch the video to see how I made it, I hope this tutorial gives you some ideas for painting your packaging!

Video!

Supplies:
Medium Kraft Gable box
Acrylic paint and brushes
Mod Podge (or white glue)
Organza Ribbon

Directions:
1. Apply paint to box.
2. Cut out “lollipop flowers” from paper and glue to box.
3. Paint leaves and stems with green, white and yellow paint. Outline with black. Let dry.
4. Assemble the box and tie on bow.

Thanks to Papermart for sponsoring this project, please check out their wonderful selection of kraft packaging (it takes paint wonderfully!) I am so glad you spent some time with me today, til next time happy crafting!

Stamp School #5: Winning Ways With Watercolor Pencils!

Hi friends! I hope you are enjoying your summer, we had another beautiful day in Maine! Sunshine and low 80s! I hope you picked up some watercolor pencils because I’m going to show you a few techniques while we make this card:

I recommend a waterproof black inkpad and watercolor pencils for beginner stampers for 2 reasons: 1. they are very versatile and allow you to have a rainbow of color for a small cost. And 2. Because even if you do not continue to stamp you can use the watercolor pencils for many other hobbies.  I hope you enjoy this weeks lesson!

Video!

This video is sponsored by Art Neko (Formally About Art Accents)
Special Deals for Stamp School Students:
10% off merchandise (not shipping and handling)
or
FREE shipping on $50.00 orders.
You will get either the 10% or FREE shipping, whichever is more.
All YOU have to do is mention The Frugal Crafter.
***Special Deal! $10 off the full sheet that this stamp is from for Frugalfans only, search LIND in the search box at Artneko and the stamp set will show up at a lower price! (don’t share the link, it is a special deal for YOU guys only;)

Supplies:
White cardstock
watercolor pencils
Butterfly stamp
Sentiment (this is by inkadinkado)
Blender pen
watercolor brush
bucket of water
Waterproof black ink pad
Black pen
Glue
Optional

BTW  If you don’t have a waterbased blending marker just use a paintbrush dipped in a 50/50 water glycerin mix (glycerin is available at the drug store.)

Let me know how these techniques work for you! If you liked this project please click the like button below and share it with your friends on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter! Thansk for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!