PS I am going to try and do a livestream tomorrow, most likely early afternoon but I will try to notify on social media. I will be sure to post a replay here but subscribe to me on YouTube or Instagram if you want a heads up before I go live. I have switched to livestreaming on my phone because it works better but I can schedule it that way (I don’t think anyway LOL!)
And the jewelry supplies I was too cheap to buy at the craft store but spend the same amount of money once I added the stencils for free shipping. Can you relate?
Well friends, it has been a week of learning new things! First podcasts, and yesterday I learned how to do a livestream from my phone. I didn’t give advance notice because I was afraid I might not be able to figure it out but I did and it worked very well! This is what we painted.
Below you can watch the reply. This is a paint along style lesson so grab your supplies and paint with me!
If you want to join the facebook group created by Joe Maysky to share artwork inspired by these tutorials you can here.
I hope you have a bit of creative time this weekend to try this fun project! I have been thinking of doing more of these botanical lessons, what do you think? Let me know in the comments below! Happy crafting!
If you are reading this in email please click over to the blog post to listen to the podcast!
Hi Friends! It’s that time of year again when we dust off the cobwebs and make everything nice and fresh. How is your craft room or art studio looking? Need some help? Here are some steps to help you get control of the clutter and make a functional creative space.
Throw out/recycle any trash such as dried up paint and glue, unusable scraps, packaging
Donate things you no longer like (schools, senior centers, scout troops, daycares or thrift shops will gladly take them off your hands)
Determine if you have too much of something. If you can’t use it up before it goes bad donate it.
Sometimes we have things from a past season of life that we will not return to. It’s OK to let those supplies go.
If you are in doubt if you will use the supplies again ask yourself if it would be a burden to rebuy the supplies. If you used to knit and crochet but haven’t in a while and don’t plan to anytime soon but still enjoy it you can get rid of the yearn that takes up a lot of space but keep the needles, hooks and tools so when you are in the mood again you can pick a pattern and purchase the yarn you will need (Let’s face it, you would probably have to do that anyway as having the yarn you want in the quantity you need is unlikely)
Asses if the supplies you are keeping are worth “rent” in the space they are stored. I read a book called “Goodbye Things” and the author said “Your stuff is a roommate who doesn’t pay rent.” and that really put things in perspective for letting go of the things I didn’t like but felt wasteful getting rid of.
If you like it, keep it! I’m not the boss of you. If it gives you comfort to have it and it’s not bothering anyone then go ahead and keep it. Or as Marie Kondo would ask: Does it spark joy? You can keep or get rid of any of your things at any time so don’t think your space needs to look like anyone else’s. You do you!
4 years ago I did a complete Konmari overall of my craft space and you can see photos and watch the video here. I hope that helps you if your space is overwhelming. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends, Today I have a review of the new Derwent Chromaflow colored pencils. They are made in Britain like the other artist quality pencils from Derwent however they are only available in India and the United States right now. There isn’t any info about them that I could find on the Derwent Website but there was some Q &A on the Amazon Sales page. I reached out to my contact at Derwent when I saw these were available to check if they were legit and she confirmed that they were. She also said that they are initially going to launched in India and USA and sent me some for review. So, without further Ado here is the review!
Derwent Chromaflow Colored Pencils are available in tins of 12 and 24 at Blick and Amazon *Affiliate links used.
Pros:
Vibrant Soft 3.5mm wax based cores
Highly mixable for infinite colors
Good coverage with little pressure (good for weak or arthritic hands as long as the skinny barrel isn’t a problem)
Sharpens well in a small hole sharpener (if you don’t have a small hole sharpener use a shallow point sharpener)
Cons:
Skinny barrel
No open stock availability as of yet
No lightfast ratings as of yet but the company says lightfastness is similar to other Derwent pencils
Only 24 colors
Only Available in USA and India currently
Bottom line: I like these a lot as someone who prefers a softer pencil. These are similar to Coloursoft but these mix in fewer layers rather than blend and seems to have a bit less waxy bloom. It is a very small difference but with this limited color range mixing is important. I hope they come out with more colors and I’d love for them to have a larger barrel like other Derwent pencils. they are a bit more budget-friendly than Coloursoft but not much. Given that and the fact there are no open stock colors I’d recommend Coloursoft over these but I would change my mind if open stock, lightfast ratings and a larger range were available. Still, this is a great versatile set and not a bad addition to any artist’s pencils bag. I hope this answers any questions you might have about these elusive pencils and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends, yes, I know I am a day late in posting the Sat Chat to my blog (what’s new right) but it’s been a busy weekend. Today Mr. Frugal and I went around to car dealerships to look for a new vehicle to share as we are planning on letting the girls use our current vehicles when they get their licenses. In Maine auto dealerships are closed on Sunday so people can look without being harassed by eager salespeople so we thought it would be a good day to do some window shopping. We are planning to get a fairly recent dependable used vehicle (my mid-life crisis convertible will have to wait) but only one of the dealerships we visited had prices on the used cars. That seems super shady to me and I already trust the dealership with prices and disclosures on the vehicle 100x more. The moral of this story is don’t be shady. Speaking of shady there has been a storm brewing with one of the largest companies on the crafting scene: Cricut. Watch this weeks Sat Chat to learn more.
Recap:
Cricut Drama, there was a lot of it this week and the reason I had to re-record this video. The last one was to warn you to register machines before you have to pay to use them but luckily Cricut did the right thing and rolled back that decision after a huge backlash from furious customers. The lesson here is to be wary of buying machines that you have to hook to the internet and use on the companies website to work as they always have control and ownership of the machines. I am glad they did the right thing and decided not to charge people who already bought machines that were sold as free to use in an unlimited fashion but I am disgusted that they tried to bait and switch their customers. Disgusted but not surprised. Be smart consumers. The sewing report has a lot of info on this. *that was the 1st in a series of 3 videos following the drama in case you missed it.
If you want to vote with your dollar you can purchase generic blades and mats (not sure on specialty tools that might be on newer machines as mine are 10+ years old)
I did want to add one more thing, in my YouTube comments some viewers said you can now download an app to use offline with your Cricut but I have no idea about that. One person said you have to upload designs to their website first but again I don’t know and apparently many users are unaware of it. I heard is is super glitchy, an upon researching it Cricut says you need to parodically connect to the internet for verification and updates. I don’t know. There is a lot of mixed info but it does not seem like a download and be done with it kind of thing.
That’s all from my neck of the woods. I hope you are having an awesome weekend and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends! Whenever I see pink carnations I think of the Lawrence Welk dancers and watching that show on Saturday nights growing up. Remember the bubbles? Ahhh, good memories of having no social life in the 1980s LOL!
This painting is so carefree and easy! It would be a great warm up to painting too as it is so quick! If you want to learn more about painting loose florals and arranging them in different compositions check out my Watercolor Flower Workshop
The Frugal Crafter Blog 