Let’s Take is Easy and Paint a Simple Watercolor Christmas Card!

Hi friends! Each year I like to make kissing balls to hang on my porch. As I await for the floral foam to be delivered (I usually get the wet floral foam disks at Dollar Tree but they were out! I have a tutorial here if you are interested) I thought I might as well paint a simple one from memory. I painted this on a watercolor greeting card but it would work well small on a gift tag too. If you want more watercolor card and tag ideas for Christmas check out my Hand-painted Holiday online mini class! Now, onto the video!

Supplies (may contain affiliate links)

• Watercolors: olive/sap green, Viridian hue/pthalo green, Prussian blue, Crimson red. I used the new Paul Rubens student watercolors and I will share a review in a couple of days.
• Watercolor greeting card
• 8 round brush and 1/2″ flat brush
• Other: cotton swab (Qtip)

Today is such a gorgeous day, I just got back from walking the dog and it is so bright and sunny so I think we will get the porch decorated (except for the kissing balls) while the weather is nice. We managed to get the tree up and inside of the house decorated on Tuesday while everyone was snowed in so it is looking pretty festive around here! I hope you are having a great day and til next time happy painting!

Whoo’s Ready for Fall!

Hi friends! Today we are making a stamped card with alcohol marker coloring and rub-on transfers.

There are lots of techniques and ideas in this seemingly simple card, watch the video to see!

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:

• Hocus Pocus Stamp Set
• Autumn Nights Stamp Set
• Creative Expressions Andy Skinner Mixed Media Transfers
• Vintage music paper
• If you don’t have music pattern paper try this stamp and make your own
• Alcohol markers (Spectrum Noir Illustrator)
• Black ink (Ranger Archival)
• Double stick tape and wet glue
• Wink of Stella pen in clear and gold
• Colored pencils

Thanks for stamping with me today and til next time happy crafting!

A 10 Minute Modern Country Card!

Hi friends! This quick card is cheerful and bright! Why not perk up someone’s day by sending something similar?

Feel free to change up the colors or sentiment to suit your needs. Learn how easy it is to make this in today’s tutorial!

Sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry!
Get your instant 20% off coupon code and become a Peg Stamp VIP here. Your 20% off coupon code will be immediately emailed to you plus you’ll get the deepest discounts available, free shipping coupons, and sale notifications and you will find out first when we release new products.
The VIP email is sent once a week and always includes a wonderful deal and fabulous peg stamping tutorials by me, Lindsay the Frugal Crafter and other designers.

Supplies:

• Stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry: Rooster peg stamp (facing right),
  Hen peg stamp (barnyard animals stamp set- hen facing left), Perfect layering circles, Live, Love, Be Thankful unmounted stamp set
• Dye inks (mint, coal and yellow colors) *The ink cubes I used were from hero arts from different sets, use whatever colors you have that are closest or colors you like.
• Black archival ink
• Ink blending brush
• Starburst stencil
• Thin washi tape
• Masking tape (or washi tape) to hold things down
• Post it notes (I used 4″x6″ super sticky)
• Primitive heart punch
• Pastel pink embossing powder
• Embossing heat tool
• Fine tip glue applicator

Masking and stenciling with a subdued color palette create the foundation for this summery country themed card. Switch up the sentiment to meet your card sending needs. Simple “enamel hearts” made with a heart punch and embossing powder complete the look. I hope you try these techniques in your next card and til next time happy crafting!

Paper Pieced Embossed Background Card!

Hi friends! Are you looking for a way to use up your scraps and create a pretty background? Try this!

You can see how I made these cards start to finish in today’s video!

This video is sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry! Use coupon code: LINDSAY17 – 20% off peg stamps and peg stamp sets of orders of $10 or more. New stamps are being released soon, sign up for the Rubber Stamp Tapestry newsletter for bonus free projects and fun news! Coupon expires July 3, 2017

Supplies:

• Peg Stamp Sets: Sunny Daisy, Wisteria frame, Summers End
• Dye Ink (Memento)
• Gelly Roll Glaze Pens (for sentiment)
• Pattern paper scraps (I chose pastel yellow, pink and greens)
• Cardstock scraps in similar colors as pattern paper
• 5″x7″ Kraft card base ad envelope
• Black/white.cream Washi tapes
• Burlap ribbon
• Die Cut Felt (Quees & Co.)
• Buttons
• Twine
• Adhesive: ATG tape and Zip Dry liquid glue
• Silk flower
• Hexagon Punch (Fiskars) 1 1/2″
• White sketching paper or thin cardstock for making background
• Embossing folder

Directions:
1. Punch a bunch of hexagons from several pattern paper scraps.

2. Stamp small images on colored cardstock with a darker shade of in of the same color and punch out.

3. Arrange the paper pieces on white paper and glue down.

4. Trim paper to fit card based (4 1/2″ x6 1/2″) and emboss with an embossing folder if desired and adhere to card.

5. Embellish with ribbons, twine, buttons and flowers.

6. Write your sentiment slowly with a glaze gel pen, let dry, trim and adhere to project.

This is a great project to use up scraps, I hope you give it a try and til next time happy crafting!

Stamping Without Ink! {Stamp School}

Hi friends! Sometimes our crafting plans change mid project. When I began this stamping session I had planned to make a bunch of Project Life type cards so I could quickly scrapbook my vacation when I got back but the creative muse had other plans….

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, and that is just what I did.  Watch the video to see how fun it is to stamp with water-soluble crayons/pastels and markers and how to salvage supplies you pre-cut for one project to make them work with another.

Sponsored by Art Neko  *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:

• Stamps: Japanese Marine #2
• Media: water-soluble oil pastels (or crayons) Waterbased markers
• White and cream cardstock
• Patterned paper (Tim Coffee Travel Specialty paper pack from K&Co)
• Scissors
• Spray bottle with water
• Waterbrush or small brush and water

Directions:
1. Spritz stamp with water and color the rubber with water-soluble crayons or markers. Stamp on white cardstock and spread areas of ink with a wet brush. Cut images out.

2. Trim patterned paper and stamp on the paper if you want, you can also flick and spatter any paint on the paper if you like.

3. Assemble paper and stamped images on card base. Stamp accent on envelopes if desired.

I love how this card (like many other of my cards and scrapbook pages) uses paper as an embellishment. I love finding scrapbook paper that has lots of elements than can be cut apart and used to decorate. It keeps postage cost down, it is easy to store and if you can find papers that are from the same line they all coordinate so it can take some of the guesswork out. So, the next time you find a project going awry, don’t fret, just go with it and see what happens! Happy crafting!

Wanna Win Some Templates from GreenSneakers?

Hi Friends! Today I want to show you a fun papercraft project and give you the chance to win some of the templates I used OR you can pick different ones!

My Friends at GreenSneakers are letting you pick your prize! All you have to do is visit www.greensneakers.com and find 2 templates you would like to win, then come back here and tell me what you would like to win by leaving a comment. How cool is that? Maybe you would like to win a Kreate-a-Lope envelope maker, A2 slider card, or the baker’s box templates I used in today’s tutorial. It is up to you! I will draw a winner at random next Wednesday the 26th. If you feel like shopping you can get 20% off your order with the coupon code Lind20 and don’t worry if you shop and then win, they will let you pick a different prize, that way everyone can take advantage of the sale and the contest! Happy shopping and picking! Now watch the video to see what you can make with some of their awesome templates!

I’m sure you can think of a lot of ways to use these templates! I hope you didn’t freak out too badly when you saw what I did to my stamp but hey, sometimes you have to take drastic measures for your art! I want to thank GreenSneakers for partnering with me to bring you this fun giveaway. I hope it gets your creative juices flowing and maybe inspires you to make a batch of Christmas cards or note card sets for Christmas gifts or craft fair items. The coupon code Lind20 is good though 11/30/14 so don’t delay, they only run this sale once a year! Thanks so much for playing and til next time happy crafting!

Contest and Coupon Details: Contest is open to US residents only. Winner will be selected at random 11/26/14. No purchase necessary. Coupon code Lind20 good through 11/30/14 and 20% off sale is available worldwide. You must log in at www.greensneakers.com to see the discount in your shopping cart, don’t worry, it’s easy. Good luck to all who play!

 

 

I can’t believe I didn’t post this card yet!

This poor card, I stamped and colored the image ages ago, all it really needed was to be adhered to a cardbase but it sat neglected on my shelf for months until, during a cleanup, I tossed it in to my “papercraft UFO (that’s un-finished object by the way)” drawer and I discovered it during the lonely crop last month. I needed a card so I finished it up, it really only needed 5 minutes of work, and the recipient loved it!

I was thinking about what project to share tonight and it hit me, share the forgotten flower fairy, the image has been waiting on my computer Long enough I think! Here are the details: The stamp was one of the amazing flower fairy sets I got at Custom Crops when they first came out (so glad I did because now they are hard to find) they are manufactured by Crafter’s Companion but they did not have this one anymore on their website either.

I stamped with waterproof black ink and colored with inktense pencils and a blender pen. I stamped some of the individual flowers from the set, colored and cut them out and adhered them with hot glue for dimension.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to post this, I think it is like clutter, you see a pile of paper on the coffee table, at first you think, “I need to take care of that” a week later it’s like “I really should deal with those papers” and in a month you’re all “what papers?” because you get so used to seeing something that you don’t notice it. That is my theory, it explains why my coffee table is a cluttered mess too! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Another Stamp Giveaway! Yay!!!

Howdy folks! We went to my 4 year old nephews birthday party Sunday and had a great time! He had a bounce house and it looked fun, the kids were having a ball in there when my sister says to me “go ahead and try it, the guy from the rental place said that it is safe for adults!” Well, I had to try it! Somewhere between the toe-touches and the somersaults (I was having a grand old time!) I pulled something in my back because an hour later when I reached down to pick something off the floor I felt it. I’m gonna feel this tomorrow I think, better keep the Advil handy:) Before this nonsense I made a card and earring set using a Victorian style stamp from About Art Accents and I am giving this stamp away, just leave a comment and I will draw a name in a week! Well, that’s easier than a cartwheel in a bounce house, aint it?

I had to make a thick envelope-box to hold the card and tag so I used my envelobox creator by crafter’s companion, boy it is slick! The earrings I made (I stamped the image at the end of a paper strip, colored it and rolled it up before adding two coats of UTEE for shine) are about 3/4″ thick and 2″ high, they are lightweight but bulky!

I originally thought I would put the full stamped image on the card with an earring on each side for embellishments but it did not work well so I opted for simple and made the big image into a bookmark.

To get the vintage enamel look I coated the design with utee and let it cool then I bent the paper to crack the embossing. I rubbed it with a brown inkpad and wiped off the excess so the cracks would show. Oh, and The coloring was done with Gelatos. If you want a better look at the stamp you could win by simply leaving a comment (hint, hint) you can see it here. Good luck and til next time happy crafting!

Cute Little Berry Boxes & Sandwich Board Cards!

I hope you are enjoying summer. I am! I wanted to have some little berry boxes to use in projects but it was hard to find ones that were not stained by berries (and I didn’t want plastic ones) so I made my own:

To make them sturdy I used a sheet of kraft cardstock and a sheet of printed cardstock to make the box!

I have been loving the trend of chalkboard art (not that I’ve mastered it) so I wanted to try stamping some. I made this card that looks like a sandwich board that would be on display on a sidewalk in front of a cafe:

You can get my printable templates & SVG cutting files here. I designed the printables to be printed right on your good cardstock so you don’t have to trace. You get two cards on one sheet of cardstock (2 different sizes) a box and tags. The project makes up in minutes perfect for summer crafting!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Bounce! {add crochet to a card!}

Happy Monday folks! I don’t want to jinx things by saying this out loud (wait, I ‘m typing, this doesn’t count then, ha ha) but this morning went so smoothly.  I taught one of my girls to crochet this weekend , she was inspired by the totally rad poncho I was working up, she was instantly “hooked” (‘scuse the bad pun!)  The kids were all up early and after breakfast the girls sat knitting and crocheting quietly in the living room. What a relaxing way for them to start the day, much better than me nagging them to get up for school! Why am I talking about crochet you ask? Because I crocheted a border for this card:

This was for a birthday we went to yesterday. To make the crochet border you simply punch holes in a strip of cardstock and pull the yarn though as if the holes are your foundation row. It is the same technique I showed you in the Crochet Heart Video.

I love to use yarn on cards because then you can use the yarn to tie on a tag to the present or even use in place of ribbon on a gift. Yarn comes in so many textures and colors (remember the comedian Gallager and his bit about “colors only found in yarn” LOL!) and it is pretty cheap. A great use of yarn leftovers!

Another fun tip is to decorate the envelope if you have the time. All I did here was press 3 small inkpads along the edges of the envie (wow, it would totally rock to use this technique as a border on a scrapbook page!) and stamp 2 of the stamps I used on the card and tag over it. I colored the presents because the pink ink was a bit dark and I wanted them to stand out.

So, how is your Monday going? If you are feeling stressed might I recommend some yarn therapy? Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!