Marker Giveaway!!! (that got your attention)

Hi friends! I have a fun, fast and frugal project that will decorate your home all year-long. It is a DIY wreath with a plaque on it that you can write a seasonal greeting on and decorate to match any season because the colors are neutral.

I made sure the plaque was glossy so that I could use my new Crafty Croc Liquid Chalk Markers on it and the writing would be easy to remove with a damp cloth. I will be giving an 18 color pack away to one lucky blog reader so make sure you leave a comment on this post for a chance to win! Also Crafty Croc giving my viewers $6 off the 18 color pack with the coupon code FRUGAL06 now through September 14, 2015.

Video!

See how easy it is! I think they would sell really well at a craft fair (yes, you have my permission to make these to sell!) or be awesome housewarming gifts.

Supplies:

• Crafty Crock Liquid Chalk Markers, available in 8 pack neon, 10 pack earth tones or 18 pack mega kit. *note $6 off 18 pack with coupon code FRUGAL06
• Styrofoam wreath form (9″ from Dollar Tree)
• Old Book
• Die (optional, I used the Tim Holts Bigz tattered florals for mine)
• Hot glue
• craft wire and cutters
• Ribbon
• Decorations
• Wooden plaque made from hardboard (painted black and varnished or you can purchase a small chalkboard to glue on)

All of the directions for making the wreath are in the video. It is really easy. If you can’t find a wreath form you can cut a ring out of cardboard and use that. Coffee filters would work really well in place of the die cut book pages too. Use what you have and experiment! I want to thank Crafty Croc for sponsoring this tutorial and offering the giveaway. Make sure you leave a comment for a chance to win a set of markers. I will draw a name at random next Monday. If you want to save $6 on the 18 pack of Crafty crock Liquid Chalk Markers make sure you use the coupon code FRUGAL06 before 9/14/15. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Cheap Marker Review & Tutorial PLUS Stamp Giveaway!!!

Hi Friends! Last night I posted a haul video on YouTube where I shared my crafty loot from a recent trip to ACmoore and the Dollar Tree. I asked what I should use first and the answer was overwhelmingly “The Markers!” Why, because they were cheap, like $24 for a set of 18 art markers and I only paid $12 because I had a coupon, cheap.  And because I feel funny showing off all the new goodies I got I thought YOU should get something too so you can win all of the stamps I used in this note-card set! The stamps are from this plate from Art Neko and the entire set is half off right now! Don’t worry, if you buy them and then win the giveaway you can pick an equivalent in stamps. I do not know how long the sale is on for. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner next Friday. This giveaway is open to anyone in the world! Yay!

Markers can be really expensive but good markers are a joy to work with. I have used everything from Sharpies to Copics and everything in between. You can get good results with all of these markers if you know some techniques that I will show you in this video.

I would rate these no-name gems to be as good as Promarker and Prismacolor markers, better than Bic Mark-Its and Sharpies but not as good as Copics which I think is pretty darn good given what I paid for them. They were all very juicy and the fine tip end was pointy and springy like a brush nib but smaller than Copic. The palette blending technique and a blending pen is essential to getting smooth blends with a limited palette of bright colors. You must have an alcohol based blender marker for this to work but any brand is fine such as Copic, Prismacolor, Promarker or Spectrum Noir. If these blenders run dry you can refill them with denatured alcohol. A blender pen costs between $3-$7 depending what brand you get but they all are very similar.

I decided to make some envelopes to match these quick little note-cards. I think they would make a nice gift set for the holidays or a birthday gift.

I hope you enjoyed this review and coloring tutorial. Don’t forget to leave a comment to win the stamps from today’s project. If you end up shopping at Art Neko you can use my coupon code Lindsay10% to save 10% on your non-sale rubber. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

It’s Not Easy Being Green…And a Stamp Winner!

Howdy friends! It is 11pm on a Friday night as I am writing this. I am so excited because tomorrow I can sleep in!!! Woohoo! For those of you who suffered my silly sleep deprived craft videos this week on YouTube I want to thank you again, so much, for watching. I had been up early every day to get kids to camp, andyet could not manage to get myself to bed any earlier and, well, wackiness ensued is it usually does if I do not get my 8 hours of beauty sleep a night 😀 First up tonight I want to announce the winner of the stamps I used in last Friday’s post and a gift certificate to Art Neko…drumrolll…Sheilla!!! Congrats! Check your email for all the details;) Tonight I have a tag made with the large frog stamp from the Garden Friends stamp set from Art Neko. BTW that stamp set is on sale for $12, regularly $20! Use my coupon code Lindsay10% to save 10% on non-sale rubber if you shop:)

And a step by step video tutorial to go with it! Lots of tips on copic coloring and background stamping AND Mr. Frugal makes an accidental cameo…

I hope you enjoyed that sill bit of crafty fun! Now I am off to sleep! Have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Rubber Stamp Giveaway & Nature Themed Cards!

Howdy friends! It’s giveaway time! Up for grabs are these beautiful snail and butterfly stamps from Art Neko (formally About Art Accents):

The full 8″x10″ Garden Friends sheet of stamps that these images came from is gorgeous and on sale for $10 (regularly $20) so you might want to check it out. Don’t worry, if you buy it and end up winning it you can pick different stamps:) Oh and if you see stamps that are not on sale that you want to buy you can use my coupon code for 10% off: Lindsay10% I will show you how I made these cards with lots of tips and hints along the way in today’s video:

Here is a close up of the snail card:

And the butterfly one…I think I need a sentiment here, what do you think?

For a chance to win the stamps I used and a $10 gift certificate to Art Neko just leave a comment on this blog post and I will select a name at random next Sunday the 25th. Art Neko ships worldwide so anyone on the planet can enter. Good luck and happy crafting!

Mixed Media Fun: Wax, Watercolor, Stencils, Stamping and Sprays!

Howdy friends. Time again to get out the art journal and have a play! I love working in a spectrum of colors, like the color wheel, putting colors next to their neighbors for really vivid results! The other neat thing is that you can get by with only 3 colors of spray ink and just let them overlap! This quote from Marc Chagall was perfect for this page: All colors are friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites:

That quote means the the colors are pleasant with the surrounding colors on the spectrum but really pop when placed next to their complimentary color, that is the one opposite on the color wheel. Watch the video to learn some techniques with sprays, stencils, markers, stamps, wax and watercolor!

Here is the spread from the beginning of the video, I actually was doing a video of this and ran out of time and I felt that for the amount of techniques I was sharing it should be under 20 minutes…and I am too lazy to edit clips together LOL! Still, more than 20 minutes is a lot to ask you to sit through…in fact 20 is probably bad enough LOL!

Here are close-ups of the pages:

Before I forget I want to mention that I will be posting a giveaway for the most adorable stamps tomorrow, I do hope you check back for a chance to win. If you are afraid that you will forget you can subscribe to my blog (look for the subscription area in the upper left hand column, it’s free) and you will get an email when I post something new. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Mixed Media Fun: Markers & Pens!

Happy weekend folks! I am still tired and I honestly think someone switched my coffee to decaf this week! Do you remember those Taster’s Choice commercials from the 1980’s where you would see a shot of people in a restaurant and the announcer would come on and say “we secretly switched their coffee to Taster’s Choice Instant coffee, let’s see if anyone noticed…” We’ll that is how I felt this week. Hmm, come to think of it was it Folgers,  Taster’s Choice..or Sanka, I don’t remember. I even asked my husband if he switched my coffee because I had run out and I had him grab me a bag at Dunkin Donuts. His reply was “Why would I want that, you not having caffeine is not good for anybody.” LOL! It would be a really dirty trick on school vacation too. Anyway, I have an art journal page for you today using a quote by Oprah Winfrey:

She always comes up with great inspirational quotes! I used markers in my journal. I did not try to blend or do anything fancy, just have fun, I hope you like it! I also used homemade stencils, spray inks and masks, nothing fancy to see here folks!

Sorry about the lost train of thought when the phone rang, to finish the story a lady had emailed me about how to fix her old-style Spectrum Noir markers because she just bought them and some were dry and I told her to put 3-5 drops of denatured alcohol or blending solution in the marker and she was good to go:) Thanks to Oriental Trading Company for the Canson XL Journal and Micron pens I used today and thank YOU for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Terrific Tags & Two Tutorials {on marker blending!}

Hello friends! I was in the mood to play with markers the other day and I remembered some cute stamps that came in an old issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine, I actually bought the magazine because of these cute stamps!

Some of the images I colored with alcohol markers and some I did with water based markers. With all of the hoopla over Copics and other alcohol based markers (Promarker, TRIA, Prismacolor, Spectrum Noir etc.) I thought I’d do a tutorial on blending them. It an be confusing what to buy, then, when we get them home we forgot how we were told to use them. Well, this tutorial is for you, especially if you don’t have many markers. I’m going to show you a technique called priming that will help you blend colors that are not too close together. All you need is a clear alcohol based blending marker and some permanent markers (Bic Mark-its and Sharpies are an affordable option and they will work with the expensive art markers too!) Well, enough talking, let’s get coloring:

OK, so maybe you never invested in alcohol markers because you already invested in water-based/watercolor markers ( Tombow, LePlume, Whispers, Memento, Stampin’ Up and Distress are all examples of water-based markers) hey, I don’t blame you, they are super versatile, each one can be used like a mini ink pad, but they are great for coloring as well. Today I will show you how to blend them on regular cardstock using a water-based blender pen which is basically a clear marker filled with a water/glycerin mix. You can use a damp round paint brush (damped with water and glycerin if you don’t have a blender pen. Another benefit to watercolor markers is that the color usually will not bleed through cardstock.

The benefit to watercolor markers is that you need fewer colors and it is quicker. The benefit of alcohol markers is that you can fuss with the image as long as you like. Whatever your preference you can get a similar effect from either type of marker. Can you tell what ones were done with alcohol markers and what ones were done in watercolor markers?

OK, you’re keen eyes probably can but I think they look super and it will be handy to have all of these tags on hand for upcoming birthdays! Here is a tip, the next time you color a  bunch of images grab a pad of paper and make a bunch of tags. I used to just color them and stuff them in a drawer but since I always need gift tags and grabbed my large shipping tags, tulle and leftover tissue paper flowers from Papermart and a pad of Fancy Pants paper (my 6″x6″ bin of paper was overflowing so I wanted to use some up!) and made some tags. I made faux brads/card candy by punching circles out of some of the scraps and doming them with a ball end stylus and hot gluing them to the tags. I had only itsy bitsy shards of paper left over after this and a batch of new tags for my trouble. Not bad:D I hope this helped you get more use out of your markers. If you have any questions leave a comment and til next time happy crafting!

Stamp Winners & a New Tutorial!

Howdy folks! Last week I hosted a giveaway from the generous and fabulous About Art Accents and we had so many people enter the first night, and with it being Christmas ans all, the owner said I could pick two winners! Yay! and (drum-roll please) here they are! Kim Ferguson and Jackie P! Congrats ladies, you have some fabulous surprise stamps coming your way! Be sure to check your email for details! Speaking of great stamps, check out this chickadee stamp from About Art Accents, it is part of the 50 state birds & flowers collection:

I think though, after the weather we have had in Maine this week I should have given my tree some snow and icy glitter! BTW BIG THANKS to all of the road crews, tree cutters and linemen (and women) who worked tirelessly through the holiday from as far south as Rhode Island to get the power back on in Maine, we would still be in the dark if it wasn’t for you! Sorry about that brief aside, I’m just feeling grateful to have electricity 😀 Anyway, here is the tutorial:

I hope you got enough tips and techniques there to make it worth watching a 20 minute video. Here is a look at the cards close up.

Tips!

1. Make an envelope (I use the Kreate-a-lope) and use the scraps to decorate you card!
2. Speaking of scraps save them in files sorted by color, that way you won’t need to cut into a full sheet of cardstock for paper piecing or when you just need a bit of a color. Plus you get interesting pattern and color combos when scraps mix and mingle!
3. Speaking of paper piecing, take a look at your punches, what else can you make from the tired old shapes, my notched circle punch became a pine-cone, a balloon can become an Easter egg, dig out the old tools and use them in a new way!
4. Switch out scissors for a craft knife and ruler, you will be surprise how quickly you can cut smooth banners and even mats, your die cutter will get lonely!
5. Before you run to the store to buy the latest and greatest think about the tools and supplies you already have and see if you can duplicate it! Creativity is a muscle, use it or lose it! I think we can all enjoy that workout, am I right?

Thanks to About Art Accents for letting me pick two stamp winners this month and thanks to you for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Watercolor Look One Layer Card!

Howdy friends! You won’t believe how easy it is to get the look of watercolor when you just use markers, stamps and a damp brush. I used a magnolia flower and canning jar stamp from Rubbernecker. I finished the card with my color dusters and distress inkpads.

Here is a video to show you how:

Have fun & happy crafting!