Doctor Who & Twin Peaks Inspired Greeting Cards!

Hi friends! I totally realize that these specific cards are for a very limited audience but you can use the techniques and ideas to make other cards too!

I didn’t know what I was going to create when I set out my supplies but I sure did have a good time playing! It takes longer to create in this manner but that’s how you learn, grow and discover techniques that you will able to efficiently use on your future cards. Feel free to binge watch your favorite TV show while you create for inspiration!

On the inside of this card you could write: “Geronimo! Now off to your next adventure!” and use it for a retirement or graduation card. I dipped into some older stash to mix in with my new supplies for this card, namely gel pens and Paper Artsy acrylic paints. I really enjoyed using the matte acrylics because it allowed me to stamp and use gel pens on top. I think it is the glossy plastic-like surface that I don’t care for in other acrylics but I really like the matte finish ones. I need to make a not of that. I wonder if there is anything I can add to the other acrylics I have to degloss them. If you know of such a thing let me know in the comments! We can learn together! Now, without further ado let’s watch the tutorial!

Video!

This tutorial is sponsored by Top Flight Stamps! SAVE 10% off your next order with coupon code: thefrugalcrafter10 *USA orders of $50+ ship free!

Supplies (from Top Flight Stamps)

• Visible Image “Ahead of our Time” stamps
• Fibers stencil 
• Time Tunnel Stencil
• Paper Artsy Infusions Pigment Powders
• Paper Artsy Acrylic paint
• Stamp mount

Other Supplies:

• Embossing powder
• Black Versafine stamp pad (pigment)
• Black Archival stamp pad
• White pigment stamp pad (Gina k)
• Ohuhu Dual tip markers (permanent)
• Tombow (water-based markers)
• Colored gel pens (color it)
• White gel pen (Uniball signo)
• Square hole punch
• Black and white cardstock
• Bristol or smooth white watercolor paper (for art panel)

Directions:
1. Make backgrounds by spraying bristol/watercolor paper with water through a stencil and then sprinkling on pigment powder. Let dry.

2. Stamp images with black ink.

3. Stencil time tunnel with acrylic paint.

4. Accent with gel pens, and markers. *Heat embossing can also be used.

5. Punch 2 edges of a matting panel with a small square punch so it looks like film and mount that and the art panel to a white card.

I hope you break out some of your underused supplies and try something new today!Happy crafting!

Well, this is different…

Hi friends! Have you ever gotten an art or craft supply and wondered “what in the heck am I going to do with this?” That’s kinda how I felt when I opened the October Smart Art Box. The project was abstract art using acrylics. Two topics that I am not particularly experienced in, however I decided to dive right in and make…well…something!

I honestly had no idea what was going to come of this project as I started smearing paint but in the end I kinda liked it and I really enjoyed the texture the finished painting had. You can see the supplies in the box as well as the process to create the painting in today’s video!

Find out more about our sponsor Smart Art here. All of the supplies I used were included in the October Smart Art Box

• Sennelier Abstract Acrylic paints in Vermillion, Purple and White
• Set of 8 painting tips
• 2 Raphael brushes
• 8″x10″ stretched canvas

The Sennelier paint tips and bags of paint felt much like piping frosting, it was a lot of fun to experiment but very messy. I recommend putting your canvas on a scrap of cardboard while working. The tips can also be used to scrape paint away. This was a project I liked much more than I thought I would. Don’t be shy, give it a try! The painting took 2 days to fully dry, I ended up setting it in the box my supplies came in and propped the lid open a bit to let air in and keep dust out. The color choices seemed odd to me but it is good sometimes to break out of your comfort zone and do something different I think! I hope you enjoyed today’s creative play and til next time happy crafting!

You know what? I am really excited for Christmas this year!

Hi friends! I have a confession to make, I usually approach Christmas with a bit of dread and anxiety. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting together and spending time with friends and family, watching Christmas specials with my hubby and kids and attending the kids Christmas concerts at school. But then I have the shopping/gift anxiety, the clutter of too many decorations added on top of an over cluttered house and cooking anxiety. I actually declined an invitation EVERY YEAR from a sweet friend to a fun cookie swap because I was embarrassed about my cooking ability, instead I would just lurk on Facebook the day of the event and feel sorry for myself as they shared pics of all the fun they were having. I was so lame. I would live in a state of overwhelm from November 1-December 25th. But this year I am looking forward to the holiday, why you might ask? Because of the decluttering process I started in February. I have room for decorations. I spend less time cleaning on a daily basis and if we are having people over I can have the house presentable in 1 hour (vs the 8 hour cleaning marathon two days before Christmas last year!) I finally feel like I can relax and enjoy the season.

I am also looking at my gift giving with new eyes, this is something I have been leaning towards for the past few years but now I am not going to feel badly about it. I have received gifts that I couldn’t use before but the guilt of getting rid of something I did not need make me keep the item. I don’t want others to feel that guilt either so I am changing some of my gift giving tactics. The following are my gift giving guidlines:

• Give a gift that is consumable: A bottle of wine, coffee, fine vanilla etc.
• Give a gift card to a restaurant, grocery store of the recipients favorite store
• Make it reusable: Craft cute handmade gift card packaging that can have a label removed and it can be reused.
• Make it handmade AND useful: Hand knit hats, mittens, cowls, socks, cutting boards etc.

I used to feel bad picking up a gift card and then I’d go into panic shopping mode. I didn’t want someone to think I didn’t care about them enough to select a perfect gift. Ironically that meant I would buy completely random stuff that did not hit the mark. How did a holiday of love and togetherness come to this? I say “no more!” We will have joy and abundance this Christmas, the question is will you be too stressed out to enjoy it?

I know some people gripe about my random konmari posts but I have to say for me The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo was life changing. I can’t guarantee results for everyone but I am looking forward to all aspects of the holidays and that makes me happy.  One thing I love is sending handmade cards, I will attack that with gusto and enjoy every minute of making them, addressing them and sending them off. And I will go to that cookie swap this year. If my cookies are a disaster I know of a few good bakeries. 🙂 I hope that regardless of what you celebrate that you enjoy the season without stress and anxiety. Happy crafting!

Easy Christmas “Crackers” You Can Craft!

Hi friends! Today I have a fun wrapping you can use to wrap a gift, use as a party favor or an advent calendar!

These christmas crackers are quick and fun to make and use few supplies. If you want them to really snap you can order inexpensive cracker snaps and insert them inside the tube or between layers of tissue. It is totally up to you! I didn’t have any so I kept it simple. Watch the video to see how!

This video is sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry! Use coupon code: FRUGALNOVEMBER17 – 20% off ALL STAMPS! Coupon expires November 30, 2017. Become a Peg Stamp VIP here & get the deepest weekly discounts available

Supplies:

• You can find all of Rubber Stamp Tapestry’s Christmas stamps here.  These are the specific sets I used: Gingerbread Wreath, Embellished Holiday Wreath, Holiday Garden, Winter Night Sky,
• Dye based inkpads in colors to coordinate with paper
• Strong double-sided tape
• Address labels (OR paper and adhesive)
• Metallic wired garland or pipe cleaners (dollar store)
• White cardstock (cut in quarters 8.5″x11″)
• Tissue paper (2-4 layers cut to 8″x11″ or so)
• Christmas themed pattern paper (cut to 2″x6″) *YES I am still using every last scrap of that Crate Paper line from a few years ago because I love the designs so much LOL!

Directions:
1. Roll white cardstock into a tube and adhere in place.

2. Pink the short edge of the tissue paper stack and wrap around the tube. Twist ends closed and secure with garland or pipe cleaners. *Note, you can fill your crackers with treats now, otherwise you can untwist the end to fill at a later time. A cracker snap and be inserted at this time, follow the instructions that come with your snaps.

3. Wrap tube with patterned paper and secure.

4. Stamp a festive design on an adhesive label and stick over the seam of the pattern paper.

You could whip up a couple dozen of these in an hour making them great for an advent calendar or a classroom treat. Have fun with this idea and make it your own! It would be cute for other occasions too so keep it in mind if you need a quick favor for a birthday party or other event. Happy crafting!

LIVE: Misty Mountains in Watercolor 12:30pm ET Today!

Edited to add the final painting from today’s live show! Have a great weekend!

Hi freinds! Grab your paints and get ready for a fun watercolor painting lesson today! Here is my practise piece I worked up this morning:

I wanted to paint my test painting on cellulose (student grade wood pulp paper) paper so when we paint during the live stream on cotton paper I can give suggestions to overcome some of the issues you may face using a wood pulp paper. If you have cotton paper it would be a good time to use it but if not I will offer suggestions on dealing with it:) You can watch the live show or the replay in the player below but if you want to chat with fellow painters live or ask me a question be sure to tune in on the YouTube watch page at 12:30pm ET today!

Supplies:

• 140# cold press cotton watercolor paper such as Arches, Fabriano Artistico or The Langton Prestige 9″x12
• Qor Watercolors (Perm. Alizarin Crimson, Transparent Brown (or Burnt Sienna), Sap Green, Cerulean Blue, Indigo (or prussian blue), Diox. Purple
• Brushes: Royal Majestic and Mimic value sets

I hope to see you live at 12:30pm ET for a painting tutorial! If you are local I will be at the Briar Patch Books in Bangor, ME from 4-6pm for a book signing with author Kelly Brooks bay for her new book Sea Glass and The Lighthouse that I illustrated! I am super excited for that! The book will be available on Amazon next week! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

A Blue Poppy Real Time Watercolor! {greeting card quickie!}

Hi friends! Man, it has been a long time since I did a quick fun watercolor on a Strathmore watercolor card. I want to do more of these and hopefully it won’t take 3 tries to record it next time LOL!

I used a couple new products from Jane Davenport. Her new mixed media line is hitting stores tomorrow and I have had several viewers asking me to demonstrate the new watercolors and watercolor crayons and I aim to please. Watch the video to see how they perform and hear my thoughts and observations on these new paints!

Video!

I had a few people ask me how these compared to Dina Wakley’s new Scribble Sticks as well as Caran Dache Neocolor 2 crayons. There are a lot of points to compare here. Essentially they are all sticks of watersoluble media and you can use whatever watercolor crayons you have to get a very similar effect. You can even use watercolor pencils in some instances. One of the differences between crayons is the waxiness or dryness of the media. Watercolor pencils feel drier to color with where a watersoluble pastel like Prima is very slick and creamy/oily. Caran Dache falls nearer to an oil pastel where Dane Davenport Aquapastels are more dry like a pencil (very much like the ls Derwent Aquatones that were discontinued a few years ago-oh the humanity!) Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks are between the Aquapastels and Caran D’ache on the softness scale. These are small differences. Both Dina Wakley’s Scribble Sticks and Jane Davenports Aquapastels are more bright and transparent than the Caran D’ache Neocolor 2 crayons but that might have to do with the fact that they have a larger range including pastels so they would be overall more opaque (that said I have a hard time getting a vivid red in the Caran D’ache line but THAT said Caran Dache is my favorite watercolor crayon but they also usually have a steeper price tag but Amazon has the set of 15 for less than the two sets I am focusing on here, of course you can’t use a coupon like you can at the Big-Box.) I decided to compare the Scribble Sticks and Aquapastels together because a. I had several people ask me to and b. I already did a comparison on watercolor crayons last year before these came out and c. These are both brand new and aimed at the papercraft market. Here is a photo of both sets of crayons next to their tins.

I am a sucker for good packaging and they both are cute:) The scribble sticks are a bit larger but not as much as the tin might have you believe. Both sets have an insert to snugly hold the pastels. I’ll probably remove the insert on the DW tin and add some random crayons I have floating around:) Both crayons have paper wrappings to keep your hands clean, it’s pretty standard. The next image is a scan of each set watched so you can see what colors are in each set.

I was happy to see no overlap in color, here I swatched them all together in rainbow order. I think I might have too much free time on my hands.

The Scribble sticks felt softer as I colored with them and filled in the tooth of my paper easier, they were also better for picking up pigment directly from the stick with a brush.  The white crayon can be added to either the other scribble sticks or the Aquapastels to make a color more opaque which will give you the versatility of working on a colored surface or dark painting layer. The Aquapastels had less drag when sketching and coloring which is nice if you want to work quick and they held up to drawing on wet paper without the tip softening. Again minute details but worth mentioning. They felt more like a woodless watercolor pencil only a bit softer than a pencil.  Bottom line I like them both and they work great together. Amazon has the Scribble sticks for $23 and the Aquapastels are $24 at Michaels so they are comparably priced. I hope that helps anyone make a decision on what to get. As for the Glitz Sea watercolor set I found the quality to be the same as the original two watercolor sets she released earlier this year and you can see my full review here.

Phew, that was a long post but I wanted to get the info out while it was fresh in my mind. Will you be checking out any of these new art supplies or adding them to your wish list? Let me know in the comments below!  There will be a live show tomorrow at 12:30pm ET, til then, happy crafting!

It’s Here!!!

Hi friends! I am so excited to announce that the Book Sea Glass and the Lighthouse written by Kelly Brooks Bay and illustrated by me is here!!!

If you are in central Maine and would like to pick up a signed copy of the book and meet Kelly and me we will be signing (and selling) books at the The Briar Patch bookstore on Central Street in Downtown Bangor Maine this friday from 4-6pm. The book will be available here on Amazon next week for folks who are out-of-town:)

This is the second book Kelly and I have worked on together and I couldn’t pick a better person to work with. You can see what Kelly is up to on her blog The Page Peddler where she has information about upcoming local Maine book events and will be adding book reviews as well. check her out! That’s all for today, after lots of computer work yesterday I am itching to get away from the computer and play in my art room! Happy crafting!

Another Cheap Marker Review:)

Hi friends! Today I am going to review and show you how to color with Ohuhu alcohol markers.

I have seen them online and was curious if they would perform well because they were so inexpensive and the company sent me a set for review purposes. Here is a swatch of the colors in the set:

Here is a link to the set I am reviewing and a coupon code good for 15% off this set: 15Frugal Offer good through 11/15/17 11:59pm PDT. Want tosee how they preform? Watch the video!

Supplies:

• Ohuhu set of 80 dual end markers (15% off coupon 15Frugal)
• Cardstock I worked on: Neenah Classic Crest Solar white
• Black ink pad (Memento)
• Face stamp (Stampendous)
• Butterfly Stamp (Stampendous)  *Dies available
• Leaf stamps (Stampendous)  Leaf dies
• Ohuhu White acrylic paint pen *I will be reviewing these in the future  (10% off code 10Frugal good through 11/15/17 11:59pm PDT)
• Clear blender pen (Prismacolor)

Review: These double ended art markers feature a fine tip bullet nib and a chisel tip and are filled with alcohol ink*. They have an oval barrel much like a Copic marker. *3 markers are fluorescent water-based markers/highlighters.
(Pros)

• Low Price-Around 50 cents a marker.
• Great selection of colors (77 alcohol pens)
• Good blending ability.
• Gray identification band on the end with bullet tip to make finding the fine tip end easier.
• Markers provided crisp lines on the paper I used with no feathering.
• Good layering ability (you can layer up colors to get darker shades.)

(cons)

• There is no brush nib so blending over a large area or palette blending is limited.
• One marker arrives with a loose cap but it was easily fixed with a few drops of denatured alcohol-Just make sure you cap them tightly as with ANY alcohol pen.
• This set could use a medium light violet and medium light brown to round out the colors but you could add those colors in from other brands is you like as long as they are alcohol based.
• The 3 waterbased highlighters were an odd choice, I’d rather have 3 more alcohol pens (a clear blender, mid violet and light brown) instead of those.

Bottom line these pens are a steal, I have never tried alcohol pens that were this inexpensive, they are half the price of a Sharpie! I think this is the perfect set for someone starting out or someone who want’s an extra set for travel or for a teen who is getting into markers on a budget. This set is NOT for someone who must have a brush tip marker. I think they are a great buy. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. Til next time happy crafting!

 

Happiness vs. Pleasure

Hi friends! I posted this video earlier this week on YouTube. I recorded it a couple of weeks ago and honestly I almost did not post it. I know some people don’t care for my “Konmari” videos but on the other hand some of the most thoughtful engaging comments come out of those videos from viewers so I know they are reaching people in a positive way.  A few weeks ago I read an essay on Seth Godin’s blog called The Pleasure Happiness gap and it really made me think. Just about that same time I read a really insightful comment from a viewer on my Hedonic Treadmill video that said something to the effect of “Even-keel being just fine” and it hit me that we are expected to be trying to be happy all the time and it is making us stressed and unhappy. How ironic? So, there is the backstory for today’s random Sunday chat:) Enjoy!

Video!

 

I think that trying to live in the moment and enjoy what we have (in real life) instead of constantly searching for something else (that we think we need because we compare our lives to others) is the key.

I also wanted to apologise if I came down too harshly on social media. Truth is that I can get sucked in, waste time and scroll on, I was speaking of my failings. I did not consider that Facebook and other outlets may be the only point of outreach for some people and for that I am sorry. Thank you, as always for sharing your points of view in the comments. Understanding each other is how we all grow and I am very thankful for that! I’ll be back tomorrow with a marker demo and review, til then happy crafting!