Recycle an old dead marker to make a colored pencil blender!

Hi friends! As you know I am a connoisseur of cheap er, affordable markers. I love using them because I don’t worry so much about wasting expensive supplies so when they get all used up I feel I’ve got my moneys worth. The downside to these cheap markers is that they are not designed to be refilled (although I do) and the nibs tend to wear down quicker. You are probably wondering why I don’t just chuck the markers and move on. Well, I really hate the waste and the marker bodies are perfectly good. I could see if my local elementary school participates in the Crayola ColorCycle marker recycling program and save my markers for them (honestly, I might if I can’t think of other ways to reuse them) but I like to re-purpose whenever I can. I had wanted to make a marker filled with Gamsol to use with my wax/oil basted colored pencils and I thought it would be great to use one of these markers. Watch the video to see how!

You will need (affiliate links used if available)

• An old marker you would otherwise throw away, cleaned out with nibs and center felt discarded. *Because I do not know what kind of chemical interactions the old marker ink might have with gamsol I don’t recommend reusing the old felts and nibs.
• Cotton balls
• Replacement nibs, I am using the Optional Round nib from Copic because you can trim them to the desired shape with a sharp craft knife.
• Odorless Mineral Spirits, I like Gamsol
• Pipette or small eyedropper
• Sharp craft knife
• The stamp I colored was from Lost Coast Designs
• I used Derwent Coloursoft pencils to color but any wax or oil based pencils will blend with this DIY marker!

Variations:

• You can make one for waterbased pencils by using a mixture of glycerin and water instead of Gamsol. The glycerin keeps the water from pilling the paper.
• You could use alcohol in a marker to blend colored pencils (Prismacolor sold their clear blending marker for that) but I never found it dissolved the wax and pigment as well as Gamsol or Odorless Mineral Spirits. some artists like a citrus based solvent but I have not used that myself.
• You can also buy empty dry markers (Ranger and Copic sell them) if you don’t have one to reuse.

If you have any ideas for reusing old dried out markers please let me know. Til next time happy crafting!

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We Got a Puppy!

Hi friends! Yesterday I had a booth to sell my cards and paintings at a vendor fair our town has each year for Old Home Week. I knew there would be puppies from a local rescue organization there. The kids have wanted a dog since Hazel, our golden, passed away 3 years ago. I was cautious because I had such a hard time when Hazel passed, I never really got over it. But I decided to keep an open mind and if there was a dog that was a good fit I’d consider it. I knew the woman who fostered the dogs (she was one of my daughters favorite teachers in grade school) and I knew she did a good job with them.

We haven’t named her yet, we are waiting to see what seems right for her personality. I think she is a Poppy, Clementine, Millie, Mavis or Snickers. She really responded to the name Snickers, how cute is that?

She is really smart too. She is 12 weeks old and the foster mom said she wasn’t toilet trained yet but she hasn’t had an accent.

I won’t have a Sketchbook Sunday video today and the videos might be a bit erratic over the next couple of weeks as we adapt to our new family member but it will be a fun journey! Don’t forget that today is the last day of my birthday special over at my online school. Use coupon code HB43 to save 43% on any class there through tonight! So, what would you name this pup? She is such a good dog, I can tell already! Til next time happy crafting!

It starts off one way but ends in another…

Hi friends! When I started this piece I thought I would end u make a background that I could crop a card front out of and then salvage some tags or bookmarks from the scraps but after the page was done I couldn’t beat to cut it!

This was a really fun piece to create, watch the video to see it come alive!

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:

• Whale stamps (Pink Ink Designs)
• Distress Oxide Sprays
• Versafine black ink pad (for embossing)
• Black embossing powder
• Black Archival ink or Staz-on (permanent ink for overstamping design if desired)
• Dr Ph Martins iridescent ink
• Dr Ph Martins Acrylic Ink
• Watercolor paper (I used the smooth back side of Arteza Premium watercolor paper as it works really well for stamping and inks) 
• Real brush marker pens (Arteza)
• Jane davenport paint over pens
• Uni posca pens in white and black extra fine
• Assorted paint brushes

*I also used gloss gel medium and some iridescent paint but I don’t think it really added anything thank you can’t do with the inks I already listed. Feel free to substitute with similar products.

I hope you experiment with your supplies and don’t hold too tightly to what you originally plan if the artistic muse takes you in a different direction. Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans and til next time happy crafting!

Chat with me LIVE at 5pm and Paint a Pretty Landscape!

Hi friends! Tonight in celebration of my new Watercolor Landscape Workshop I am having a landscape video tutorial chat party! Here is the landscape I will teach you to paint:

During the premiere (from about 5-6pm Eastern Time-New York Time) I will hang out in the chat and answer any questions you have about the tutorial, the new online class or just chit chat. I am so excited because I never get to see what is happening in chat during a normal live stream. (Although spoiler alert, I am thinking of doing a live stream Friday night, I hope I remember how LOL!) Make sure to click over to the YouTube watch page if you want to chat live, otherwise, you can watch the video here in the player below.

I’ll be hanging around the entire hour to chat with you and answer any questions you may have about my new Watercolor Landscape Workshop class! You can save 50% during my launch month special here (*use the coupon code LANDSCAPE50OFF if the discount doesn’t appear) *Regular price $79, with coupon $39.50

Supplies for Cactus Landscape:

• 9″x12″ watercolor paper (Arteza cotton dual sided paper-I used the backside as I preferred that texture)
• Watercolor paint in colors: Ultramarine blue, Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red or Scarlet, Sap Green, Burnt Sienna, Hansa Yellow Light or Lemon Yellow, and Quin Rose This Yarka/White Nights set is a good deal right now and contains the colors you will need (use indanthrone blue in lieu of Prussian) 
• Optional: White gouache and a few colored pencils for accents
• Reference photo
• Pattern (We will also draw it together but I snapped a photo in case anyone wanted a pattern)

If you enjoyed today’s free watercolor lesson you will love my new class Watercolor Landscape Workshop!

This has been my most requested class and I have worked so hard on it so that you can understand and paint beautiful landscapes in no time. This class contains over 7 hours of brand new, step by step instructions from skies, trees, and rocks to four full-length painting tutorials. I’ll break it all down in bite-sized lessons so you can fit it in your busy schedule and take a break whenever you like. I strive to make landscape painting easy and fun! Let’s paint together! Click here to learn more or enroll today! *Use coupon code LANDSCAPE50OFF if the discount doesn’t show up.

Thank you so much for trusting me with your art education! I look forward to painting with you soon! Remember to tune at 5p, ET on 7/3/19 on YouTube for a fun live chat and to paint the cactus landscape! Til then Happy Crafting!

Paul Rubens Tube Watercolor Review (Floral Set)

Hi friends! Today I have a new (to the US market) set of watercolors to review that would be perfect for painting all of those summer blooms! I have been using this set for about a month and I am quite pleased with the Paul Rubens Floral Watercolor Tube set especially considering the price and I have a coupon code for an extra 5% off: 05TEFY81 Watch the video for the full review!

Paul Rubens first came on the American scene with a set of 24 standard half pans in a pretty pink tin. They now have a 48 half pan set which includes most of the colors from the floral and original set of 24 colors, plus you get a palette. I wanted to mention that in case you were considering getting both the original and floral sets as getting the 48 sets would be cheaper and you would avoid getting duplicate colors because there are a couple of duplicates between the original 24 half pans and the set of 24 floral tubes. I also recommend the cheaper set of 36 student grade paint they offer, they call it “Pretty Excellent” and it really is, I have a full review here if you are interested. To be honest, I preferred the working abilities and transparency to this under $20 set of paints. You get 36 half pans in a metal tin. The paint is in a plastic tray within the tin so you can’t remove the half pans (I’m sure a cost-saving measure) but dang, they are the best deal I’ve come across in watercolors. The lightfast ratings on them were surprisingly good too so if you want to try the brand out and not invest much I can’t recommend this set highly enough! I also wanted to mention that their metallic set of watercolor paints is probably the best metallic watercolor I have ever used. There is a full comparison here if you are interested.

Pros:

• Price (under $60 for 24 12ml tubes, save 5% with coupon code: 05TEFY81 )
• 19 of the 24 are single pigment colors
• Colors glaze well
• Paint is reliable, it does what I expect and works like my other professional paints
  *These remind me most of my Renesans Tube watercolors from Poland.

Cons:

• I am not crazy about the earth tones. I like the Van Dyke brown but the other browns are weak and have odd undertones, also the raw sienna color (yellow sienna deep) is weak and hard to rewet.
• The tube set does not come with a palette, consider the 48 half pan set if you want these colors in a metal tin.

All in all, I really like the quality and value of this set. They performed like other professional colors in my stash and I ended up storing them with my other tried and true paints to refill palettes when they get low on paint. With the exception of the Cyprus brown deep, umber and lavender I would use the other colors frequently.  What do you think? I think it’s a good deal if you need some paint, the quality is not quite as good as Sennelier, Daniel Smith of Schminke but they are on par with Winsor & Newton in my opinion as far as pigment strength goes. I hope you found this review useful and til next time happy crafting!

 

Hot Mess Hydrangea

Hi friends! I decided to see if I could correct a painting I started earlier this week. I was frustrated with the way it was developing and decided to take another run at it, I am pretty happy with how it turned out, in any event, I had nothing to lose experimenting!

Watch the video to see the whole process:

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Hot press watercolor block
• Paul Rubens watercolor Floral tubes set
• Zen Brush 5 peice set
• Scribble Sticks watercolor crayons
• Waterproof brush and flexible calligraphy pen pack (awesome price!)
• White gouache
• Reference photo

Every cloud has a silver lining and every hot mess has a chance to be salvaged. Til next time happy crafting!

Pretty Poppies

 

Hi friends! This cheerful card is quick to make and will delight anyone on their birthday!

Watch the video to see how!

This video is sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry  – use coupon code: LINDSAY and receive 15% off your retail order of $10 or more of peg stamps, peg stamp sets, and unmounted stamps! Coupon expires a week from this video publication. Continue to receive great deals by becoming a PegStamp VIP here. As a PegStamp VIP
you’ll get a weekly deal via email plus links to fabulous tutorials by me, Lindsay the Frugal Crafter and other designers.

Supplies:

• Poppies for Remembrance peg stamp set
• Poppy Fields peg stamp set
• Happy Unmounted Stamp Set
• Dye ink pads (Memento)
• Ink Brushes
• Cardstock in white, red and green
• Adhesive
• Grass and clouds die cuts (or hand cut shapes)

Directions:

1. Prepare cardstock. Make a 4 ¼” x 5 ½” top fold card. Cut a red panel to 4 ⅛”x 5 ⅜” and a white panel to 4”x 5 ¼” (for stamping.) Also, Cut grass from green cardstock and clouds from a scrap to use as a stencil.
2. Using an ink brush and a blue inkpad create a cloudy sky with the sky stencil.
3. Brush green in the grassy area.
4. Stamp “Happy Birthday” in black on sky area.
5. Stamp poppies in shades of red and draw in stems and buds.
6. Adhere stamped panel to red panel and gue down grass die cut then mount on a card base.

It’s good to have some quick and easy ideas for those days you just want to make a card with no hassle. Happy crafting!