I really loved painting this!

Hi friends, I had the most fun playing with pastels this week!

You can find the real time 73 minute long fully narrated tutorial in Critique Club if you are interested along with 34 other intermediate/advanced mixed media tutorials all for $5 per month. What’s more, you can upload 2 paintings of yours per month for an in-depth critique from me. You also get monthly creative prompts to inspire you! Critique Club is designed to help you grow as an artist. Anyone who wants to get more out of their art is welcome to join this supportive group of like minded artists! Learn more or join today!

Now on to the timelapse!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Paper: Canson MiTintes *I recommend the pads rather than full sheets unless you want to work large and have storage space for them. I have both and almost always reach for the pads.
• NuPastels
• Pan Pastels *I recommend starting with the painting set of 20, then go for the tints, shades and then ex dark shades. This will allow you to build your collection without duplicates (except black and white.) Pan Pastels are an investment so if you are not sure you will like them try painting with a cheap, yet colorful, set of eye-shadow and see what you think. The Pan Pastels will be a bit brighter and opaque (and cheaper in the long run) but at least you can see if it’s for you before spending a lot.
• If you want an inexpensive pastel stick set to get started with I recommend the Faber Castel Goldfaber pastels.
• Sponge tools for pastels
• Reference photo

So, how did you like pastels? Do you want to give it a try? If you want to get going in pastels but don’t know where to start I have the class for you! You can save 30% on my online course Soft Pastel for Beginners with the coupon code PASTEL30 or by clicking this special discount link. In this class I go over tools and techniques so you can get the most of this exciting medium and then we paint four complete paintings step-by-step together so you can put all of the techniques you learned into practice. This pastel primer will give you all of the training you need to explore soft pastels and create truly stunning artwork. As with all of my online classes you can come back to the lessons anytime you want for as long as you want and you can upload your work for feedback from me. Learn more here or enroll today!

Well, that’s it from me today. I’m going to go visit my folks today and hopefully score some lilacs from their massive lilac bush (and hopefully some rhubarb too!) Have a wonderful Sunday, take care of yourself and each other and til next time happy crafting!

Black Watercolor Paper?!? & 43% off Birthday Sale!

Howdy friends! Today I turn 43 so instead of dwelling on the creep towards my middle 40s (I say I’m still in my early 40’s, hubby say’s I’m in my mid-40s) I decided to celebrate by giving everyone 43% off the regular price of any of my classes in my Teachable School. Just use the coupon code HB43 at checkout. This coupon will work on payment plans as well so if you have been waiting for a sale now is the chance. The sale/coupon code is good through Sunday 7/14/19.

Today we are going to do something different, we are going to paint watercolor on black paper! What? Yes that’s right! I had some requests to paint a hummingbird after my failed attempt a couple of weeks ago so I decided to paint that bird again on black watercolor paper. I didn’t have high hopes for the paper. After all I like my watercolors transparent and that wouldn’t show up on black but then I realized that my metallic watercolors would look great on black and it would be nice to have a paper designed for that. I was able to request a free sample of the Stonehenge Aqua Black on their website (sadly that offer doesn’t seem to be available anymore) and that is what I will use in today’s demo.

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Black watercolor paper: Stonehenge Aqua Black *I looked for the free sample offer but it doesn’t seem to be available any more:(
• Paul Rubens Metallic watercolors
• #2 & #6 round synthetic brushes
• White chalk pencil
• Reference photo

Save 43% on Any Class!

• 

  https://lindsayweirich.teachable.com/p/texture-toolbox-feathers-fowl/?coupon_code=HB43

• 

  https://lindsayweirich.teachable.com/p/learn-to-draw-with-lindsay/?coupon_code=HB43

• 

  https://lindsayweirich.teachable.com/p/loose-juicy-watercolor-florals/?coupon_code=HB43

• 

  https://lindsayweirich.teachable.com/p/soft-pastel-for-beginners/?coupon_code=HB43

• 

  https://lindsayweirich.teachable.com/p/watercolor-landscape-workshop/?product_id=1225697&coupon_code=LANDSCAPE50OFF

• 

  https://lindsayweirich.teachable.com/p/essential-tools-and-techniques-for-watercolor-painting/?coupon_code=HB43

If you click any of the photos above it will take you to the class with the discount applied. If for some reason you don’t see the sale price use coupon code HB43 at checkout. I only run this sale one a year so if you have been thinking about taking a class now is a great time. Here are some reasons why!

• You have lifetime access! You can enroll now with the savings and enjoy the classes when you have the time.
• Go at your own pace! My online classes are broken down into smaller lessons so you can work to your goal as you have the time. There is also a pause button and you can repeat a lesson as much as you like until you prefect the technique!
• You can ask me questions as you go and upload your artwork for direct feedback from me.
• The cost is much less than an in person class (these classes would cost $180 to take from me in person in a group class) and you can take it on your schedule.

Remember the coupon code HB43 is only good through Sunday July 14th, 2019 in my Teachable School so now is the time to snag that class you had your eye on! Thanks for stopping by and painting with me today! Are you going to try painting on black paper? It’s a lot of fun and I hope you do! Til next time happy crafting!

Sketchbook Tuesday?

Howdy friends! I was off visiting my parents on sunday for Father’s day and although I managed to get my YouTube video posted for sketchbook Sunday I completely forgot to blog it. Oops!

This project was a collab with Anne-Laure from Following the White Rabbit, an urban sketcher, and with warmer weather making it possible for more of us to go out and paint I thought it would be fun! You can see her painting of the same scene here. If you want to paint along you can share your work with the hashtag #sketchwithLandAL

 
Supplies: (affiliate links used)

• Watercolors: M Graham (ultramarine, cobalt blue, burnt sienna, yellow ocher, Napthol Red, Sap green)
• Acrylic paint pens: Bullet tip Ohuhu and Extra fine tip Posca
• Watercolor pencils
• Watercolor crayons

If you want more tips for watercolor be sure to check out yesterday’s blog post: 15 Watercolor Hacks to lean how to get more for you money when watercolor painting including free stuff you can use from around your house. You can also use the coupon code 15HACKS to get 30% off any of my classes on Teachable. I recommend the Essential Tools and Techniques for Watercolor Painting if you want to learn to basics and get painting fast!

Tune in tomorrow for a fun card making tutorial, til then happy crafting!

Ever After Blog Hop & Giveaway!!!

Hi friends! I have some wonderful & exciting news! I am going to be teaching
on Ever After this year! I saw the beautiful artwork from many talented instructors last year and I am so happy they asked me to be a part of this years crew! And even MORE exciting news is that I can give away 1 space on this magical new collaborative
art course! Keep reading if you want to find out more about Ever After and if you want to find out how you can win a spot! 🙂

First let me tell you a bit more about Ever After in case you haven’t heard about it yet!
“Ever After” is a mixed media art & style development course with a fairytale theme hosted by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts. Tam is joined by 14 popular mixed media art teachers who will all share beautiful fairy-tale & myth inspired lessons with you AND they will also divulge all their hints and tips on how they developed their own style and how YOU TOO can find your own unique voice as an artist! 🙂 Yay!
You can find out all the deets (and sign up with the Early Bird price) by clicking HERE.
My chosen fairy tale is The Wizard of OZ. My lesson will be inspired by this
fairy tale, I have some fabulous ideas cooking! I’ve not fully developed my class idea yet, but I’m excited to be sharing my drawing, layering and perspective techniques with you, much like you can see in this painting I did for Lifebook last year.

Registration opens on May 15th 2018 and the class begins on July 1st 2018.
So if you want to start your summer drawing and painting fairy-tales, exploring your own personal story and style and hang out with a wonderful creative community of like-minded souls, be sure to join once registration opens! 🙂 Keep this page bookmarked so that you can sign up the moment it goes on sale! 🙂
Now then, onto the give-away and blog hop! 🙂 I can give away 1 space on this year’s Ever After to 1 lucky winner, yay! 🙂 And if you follow the blog hop (see below for links and dates) you can up your chances of winning a space by entering all the other give-aways also! 🙂

To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment below letting us know why you would love to join Ever After this year. I will announce the winner on 5/17/18.

Here is the list of the other amazing teachers who will be teaching on Ever After this year. They too will be giving away a spot on Ever After so go check them out and enter their give-aways! 🙂

• 30th April Tamara Laporte
• 1st May Ady Almanza
• 2nd May Andrea Gomoll 
• 3rd May Renata Loree
• 4th May Cristin Stevenson
• 5th May Danielle Donaldson
• 6th May Effy Wild 
• 7th May Tiare Smith
• 8th May Kara Bullock
• 9th May Katrina Koltes 
• 10th May Lindsay Weirich the Frugal Crafter *You are here!
• 11th May Lucy Chen 
• 12th May Marielle Stolp
• 13th May Micki Wilde
• 14th May Regina Lord

Have a great time following the blog hop, good luck and til next time happy crafting!

W. Springfield Classes are Now Open for Registration!

Hi friends! I just got word that the classes I am teaching at the Heirloom Productions stamp & Paper Arts Convention in June in West Springfield MA at the “Big E” are open for registration! Classes will be on June 3rd, a day before the show opens so you don’t have to miss any shopping time if you want to attend one or both classes!

Here are this year’s classes I am teaching at Heirloom sponsored by Lost Coast Designs.

DCF 1.0

Mixed Media Layer By Layer 101 dives into fun mixed media techniques you can use on your cards, scrapbooks and art journals.

Time & Date: 12:30-2:30pm June 3rd 2016

You will learn:

• Stenciling
• Found object stamping
• Watercolor background techniques
• Highlighting
• Collage
• Flicking and spattering

You will use (Supplies provided by instructor for use in the class)

• Watercolor powders
• Inktense blocks
• Gesso
• Acrylic paint
• Sponges
• Brushes
• Stencils
• Matte medium
• Ephemera
• Household objects
• Painting boards (art surface)
• Black and white pens

Supplies are provided but you are more than welcome to bring your supplies if you want help learning how to use them.

DCF 1.0

More Mixed Media Layer by Layer!

Time & Date: 3-5pm June 3rd 2016

Want to make a day of it? Take both classes and really dig into mixed media. This class will be a bit faster paced and go into more advanced design and techniques. This class would also be suitable for crafters familiar with mixed media techniques who prefer to work at a brisk pace.

You will learn

• Gesso resist background
• Gesso rubber stamping for texture
• Coloring and layering with Inktense and watercolor crayons
• Watercolor powder backgrounds
• Inktense backgrounds
• Doodling/tangeling Pen techniques
• Stenciling to guide your eye through your design
• Selective stamping (stamp in the hand technique)

You will use (Supplies provided by instructor for use in the class)

• Watercolor crayons
• Inktense blocks
• Watercolor powders
• Gesso
• Acrylic paint
• Sponges
• Brushes
• Stencils
• Matte medium
• Painting boards (art surface)
• White gel pen
• Rubber stamps

I hope to see you in West Springfield in June, either in one of my classes or on the show floor at the Heirloom Productions Stamp Show, it is such a fun weekend and I have been going for years! Bes sure to say “howdy” if you see me! Please don’t wait if you want to take the class though, the classes filled in May last year and I want my blog readers to get first dibbs:) Feel free to invite your friends to the show too! I love stamp conventions and I want them to thrive and if you have never been I urge you to attend, they are so much fun! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

My office this week…

Hi friends! What an amazing day! As many of you guessed correctly I am in Denver to film a class for Craftsy. Today was rehearsal day and I film tomorrow and Friday. Here are a few pics from their amazing studio. Please excuse the lighting, these were taken with my phone:)

The studios are in an old taxi company hence the motif in the dining area.

And look, I get to have my hair and makeup done by a pro! I can get used to this!

I’ll let you know how the first day if filming goes tomorrow, til then happy crafting!

Classes in Springfield June 3rd!

Hi friends! I just wanted to give you a preview of the classes I am offering at the Heirloom Rubber stamp Show in Springfield this June. The classes are 2 hours long each (specific time TBA) and will be held at the “Big E” in West Springfield MA the day before the Stamp convention. Registration will open sometime next month but I want to make sure my peeps get first dibs on the class (they filled up really fast last year!) so if you are interested and want to be notified please sign up for my mailing list, this is not the daily blog mailing list you may already be on, this is my special announcement list that I only use if I have a class or special event coming up. Fore more details and class descriptions please visit my 2016 classes page.

DCF 1.0

Sorry I didn’t have a video for you tonight, it has been a really busy weekend, we helped build and paint sets for the kids drama production yesterday and today we visited my folks. Let’s not forget losing an hour this weekend to daylight savings time LOL! Oh, before I forget, if you are not near W. Springfield but would like me to teach in your area let me know. I am putting feelers out to other conventions or craft stores that might like to have me teach so if you would like to take a class in your area let me know in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

AAC is Back & Sign-up to Win Tickets to the Heirloom Stamp Show!

Hi friends! I spur-of-the-moment called Kathy and Lorraine yesterday and asked them if they could shoot an Ask a Crafter episode, turns out I had enough questions in the jar for 2 (yay! there will be an AAC next week too!) I really wanted to have them on because we are getting so excited for the Heirloom Stamp Show in West Springfield June 6-7 and Heirloom is giving me 12 tickets to give away! Just leave a comment saying you want to win tickets if you will be in the W. Springfield Massachusetts area June 6-7th so I can make sure someone who can use them wins. Also note if you could use an extra ticket, that way if fewer than 12 sign up I can make sure that none go to waste. I will give the email addresses of the winners to the folks at Heirloom Productions and they will email you printable tickets (no need to put your email in the comment, I can see it on the back-end, that is why I am doing to contest here and not on YouTube because it is hard to get hold of people there if they win.) I’ll pick a winner next Wednesday. Oh, and I am teaching 2 watercolor for stampers classes on June 5th at the convention center. There is room in the Watercolor Techniques for Stampers class but the Using Watercolor to Stamp is almost full (it might be sold out because you can’t register online for it anymore, you have to call) so if you are interested in either of those classes sign up now! I also think we ought to have a meet up, maybe at Chili’s Friday night, or at Micheal’s Craft Store…anyone?

OK, enough of that, I don’t want anyone to be sad if they do not have a stamp show near them (heck, we have to drive 5 hours so I feel your pain, at least I have good company for the ride!) so let’s get on with the show!

That WAS fun! I am so glad I got caught up on projects and was able to squeeze in time with the ‘girlfriends! Thanks so much for spending some of your busy day with us and til next time happy crafting!

Stamp with me in Springfield!

Hi friends! I just wanted to give you the heads up that I will {hopefully} be teaching 2 stamping and watercolor classes at the Heirloom Stamp Show in West Springfield  Massachusetts in June. Are you going? I’d love to meet you! I have so much fun there every year! I wanted to make sure my blog readers get first dibs on the class (only 16 students are allowed in each class) so if you want to be notified when sign ups are posted leave a comment on my class page and I will let you know. The classes will likely be on June 5th or they could be held on the 6th or 7th. Who knows, maybe they would let me repeat the class on Sunday if the Friday spots fill up…now that would be cool! Here is a preview of the two classes:

Please visit my class page for more info and samples. If there is a good response I might teach at other conventions! If you are wondering if there is a Heirloom Stamp Show in your area you can visit their website  or Facebook page (you could also tell them how much you’d love to take my class! Just kidding….not kidding, tell them! Kidding…not.) I hope you are finding some time to be crafty this weekend. It is snowing again up here in Maine (shocking) so I think we will be inside and crafty tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!