Pastel Series #1: Onions {Beginner Tutorial}

Hi friends! I have been asked a lot lately when I was starting the pastel painting series. How about today!

This is a beginner tutorial and I urge you to use what you have before buying supplies. I will be doing both oil and chalk/soft pastel tutorials. Todays tutorial uses soft pastels but if all you have is oil try them. The exact set I am using can be purchased at Blitzy where I am an affiliate and I earn a small percentage of the sale if you buy through my link. Blitzy also has the Pentel set of 50 oil pastels that I use for $6.58. Please don’t feel obligated buy but thanks if you do:) Unfortunately I could not find the set of 72 Faber Castel pastels for what I paid for them a few years ago. 😦 I have also found SMI, Lowel Cornell and Sargent to be the same quality if you are looking for something cheaper that will work fine.

Video!

You can find the reference photo here at Paint my Photo. *I have heard from some of you that you are waiting for approval to join PMP and I reached out to the webmaster and he said that 60-70 new people are joining daily without problem. The only thing we can think of is that maybe people are trying to join at the old Ning site or maybe the confirmation emails are going to spam folders so you are not getting the welcome/approved email. Please check into that if you are having trouble accessing the site. It really is worth a visit and I am so grateful to all of the photographers who share their photos and the community of artists who share their paintings done from the photos.

So, what pastel team are you on? Oil or soft/chalk? I like both teams! Let me know in the comments which you prefer, if it is 50/50 oil to pastel preference I will alternate oil and soft pastels, if it is heavily one or the other I will make more tutorials on the preferred medium. I’m here for you and I like them both! Please invite your friends (remember the handy-dandy sharing buttons below) to join us on this pastel journey, you don’t have to spend much to get started and pastels are always ready to go when you are and easy clean up. Now go and enjoy your pastels! Happy crafting!

 

 

Denver Haul & Giveaway!!!

Hi friends! Many of you asked about my trip to Denver and what I bought so here it is! As you know I went to Denver to film a class for Craftsy. The mixed media class I shot will be live soon and they are letting me give a spot in the class away to a lucky reader, you can sign up for a chance to win here.

And now, on to the haul! Video!!!

And I only had 2 cups of coffee hours earlier, just say’n.

Don’t forget to sign up for the drawing for a spot in my new Craftsy class! Here are a few pics from the class:

Thanks for supporting me on this journey:) If you have a moment please click on the handy sharing buttons at the bottom of this blog post to help be spread the word about the class and giveaway, I really appreciate it:) Til next time happy crafting!

Stamp School: Photo Paper Ideas!

Hi friends! The other day I was testing out some new rubber stamps from ArtNeko and I like to use photo paper to test my stamps on because I have a lot of the smaller size paper leftover because my printer will no longer take it and also because it gives a really crisp impression. I liked the image so much that I decided to experiment and came up with these:

Watch the video to see how to do this technique!

Today I am using stamps from our sponsor ArtNeko!   *Save 10% off your next order of any size or get free shipping on orders over $50 (whichever discount is greater you get!) just by mentioning thefrugalcrafter!

Supplies:
Cardstock
Patterned paper
Dye ink
Fish rubber stamps (Art Neko)
Building stamp (ArtNeko-used with rainbow ink pad)
Fibers
Buttons
glue and double sided tape
Waterbased Markers in light colors

Directions:
1. Stamp image in brown dye ink on white photo paper.
2. Color with watercolor markers.
3. Adhere pattern papers to folded cardstock, than attach focal image.
4. Embellish with fibers and buttons.
5. Make envelope as shown in video.

Photo paper CAN be used for stamping, unlike glossy cardstock which dries slow photo paper dries instantly making it great for dye based markers and detailed stamps! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Live in an hour! Iris Watercolor/Mixed Media Painting Class!

Hi friends! I am so sorry for the late notice but I have time this evening at 8:30pm Eastern time to do a live painting class so if you want to check it out you can watch it here or if you want to chat with artsy friends you can watch on YouTube. Here is what we will paint:

This will be a watercolor lesson with mixed media accents but don’t feel like you have to add them if you don’t want to and as always feel free to use whatever you have on hand. Have fun and paint!

Supplies: From Sponsor Jerry’s Artarama

Supplies:
Turner Watercolors (or whatever you have)

Watercolor paper

Brushes: #12 and #5 round (or similar sized rounds)

Colored pencils

Honeycomb stencil, texture stamp, pencil and watercolor crayons or pastels (use what you have!)

Reference photo by Debra Underwood

Remember you can watch the live show or the replay in the player below but if you want to chat be sure to watch on YouTube.

I hope we can paint together tonight, again sorry about the short notice but I figured it was better than waiting a week. Happy crafting!

Gelli Printing on 3-D Objects!

Hi friends! I admit, I am a bit obsessed, I am not sure why I am using my Gelli Arts plates so much lately but I am finding them so addicting! I was looking for a way to dress up some packaging today and though hmmmm, “can I Gelli print on that?” Turns out I can!

Watch the video for lots of fun techniques!

Supplies:
Gelli Arts printing plate 8″x10″ or homemade gelatin plate (recipe below)
Acrylic paint
Soft rubber brayer
Kraft Take out boxes
Kraft Jewelry boxes
Canvas Bags
Other boxes to print on
Other cloth bags to print on
Jewelry Tissue
Deli paper (dry waxed paper)
Other: Stamps, stencils

Directions:
1. Ink printing plate with acrylic paint and a brayer.
2. Press box to plate making sure to make full contact. You can place your hands inside the box to ensure total contact.
3. Clean up excess paint with deli or tissue paper.
4. Add more layers of printing until you are happy with the results.

More info:
Homemade gelatin printing plate recipes: Temporary, Permanent (see recipe in description)
More printmaking tutorials

Thanks to Papermart for sponsoring this tutorial, please check them out for loads of plain packaging to print and stamp on, it is so much fun and you can make a truly unique statement! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

 

Let’s Paint a Columbine Flower!

Howdy friends! Today I have a review of the Grumbacher Deluxe Opaque Watercolor paints, although they were not my favorite they did the trick to paint this columbine flower requested by a viewer. 🙂

Video!

You can find the reference photo here.

I hope you give this a try using whatever watercolors you have! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

DIY Gelli Tools (Fast & Frugal!)

Howdy friends! I am back home slowly getting back in the groove so bear with me:) I had a chance to play with my gelli plates before leaving for Denver and I was inspired to make some cheap tools to create with, I liked them so much I decided to share them with you so you can save some cash too!

Watch the video to see how!

I got the double ended silicone spatulas at Dollar tree, the single ended “art spatulas” are $7-$20 retail, holy smokes! You can make them for a tiny fraction of the price!

You can also get the funky combs in a  1o pack for a dollar and the fun foam at the dollar store too!

Cut fun foam or cracker boxes with fancy edge scrapbook scissors to make texture combs too! *Thanks UK MaryAnne for that, check out her blog here, it is so good!

Use embossing folders and junk cardstock (Junk mail postcards work great!)to make impression plates for printmaking.

Foam “bath blocks” are great to making designs on the gelli plate and you can even heat up the blocks [with a heat gun] and press them on things to make custom stamps!

All the foam stamps you already have are great for this too!

Save waste paper from die cuts and punches for cool stencils.

Regular Gelli Arts plate vs. Student Gelli Arts plate

The regular Gelli Arts soft printing plate is much thicker and comes in more sizes.

The student gelli arts plate is 5″x5″ and about half as thick as the regular version but using it is pretty much the same and you can use a coupon on them at ACmoore and I think you can order the student plates in bulk online. At ACmoore the retail for the student plate was $20 and I paid $8.50 after my coupon and teacher discount. Totally worth it.

You can always make your own too with unflavored gelatin to see if you like it before investing. I have recipes for a disposable and permanent plate below, the homemade ones are more fragile BUT you can chop it up and re-melt it if you need or want to.

More info:
Homemade gelatin printing plate recipes:
Temporary
Permanent (see recipe in description)
More printmaking tutorials
Have fun and happy crafting!

 

Its a wrap!

Wow friends! What an amazing week I had shooting at Craftsy. It was incredible to be around such a talented and positive group of people. I came to teach but I left inspired!

Here is my amazing crew who made my work feel more like play:

And the talented make artist who gussied me up every day:

After the shoot wrapped today I took the advice of you guys and visited a fantastic local art store…can any if you guess what is is?

2 floors of crafty goodness!!!! And I had a yummy dinner with a fellow crafter. I am so glad I took this opportunity to come to Denver and teach and I would do it again in a heartbeat! The class will launch layer this month and I can’t wait to share it with you. I hope you have enjoyed the behind the scenes this week and til next time happy crafting.