Creative Watercolor Class + Discount Code + Giveaway

My talented friend, Angela, is launching her latest class, Creative Watercolor for Hobbyists, Art Journalers, Paper Crafters, Calligraphers, and the Enthusiastic Amateur. Angela is an incredibly talented professional (and award-winning) watercolor artist. Her works of art are always inspiring and she is a wonderful teacher. She teaches by showing and I never fail to learn fantastic tips from her. In Creative Watercolor, she is taking her fine art techniques and translating them into uses for the paper crafter.

A few lessons in and I was ready to get creating! I learned about brushes, tools, paints, and the most important part, paper. Each lesson unfolds into more and more learning, which leads you to more and more inspiration!

After a couple of lessons, which are video lessons, I was inspired to create a background and use masks. It was so great to have a vision in my head and then have the skills to create it. For my card, I wanted a bokeh background behind my focal flower images. I combined my stamps (because we all know I cannot draw), to finalize my vision. And while I see I have more to learn, my previous feeble attempts look pretty pathetic. :D

Creative Watercolor is $59, but until November 18th, you can get the class for $29 using the discount code FIRSTDIBS. For all my Canadian friends, there is pricing for you too. 

(My class links are affiliate links, meaning I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

This is a 12 lesson class with 4.5 hours of video. You have lifetime access, meaning you can go back and watch the videos anytime. There is also a forum for asking questions and a place for students to share their work. Sharing work with others is my favorite part of classes. Seeing what others create is so inspiring!

Check out what these creative artists have in store for you today!

• Angela Fehr
• Karin Akesdotter, guest author
• Charlie O'Shields
• Scarlett Damen
• Kimberly Crawford *you are here
• Lindsay Weirich, guest author
• Nina Brackett
• Angela Fehr-chance to win the GRAND PRIZE closes November 18

And for the GIVEAWAY from me! I have a FREE enrollment code for one lucky commenter! Leave a comment on THIS post for a chance to win the class! You have until Monday, October 24th at 10 PM CDT to enter. Good luck!

thanks for stopping by!

kimberly

Supplies, affiliate links used:

Kuretake Gansai Tambi, 24 Color Set

Altenew Clear Stamps, Beautiful Day

Strathmore Watercolor Paper 9X12

Scrapbook Adhesives 3-D Foam Squares, Regular White

Altenew Clear Stamps, Wild Hibiscus

InLinkz.com

Paper Crafts Magazine: Stamp It! 3 Ways Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamp It! 3 Ways blog hop! This new special issue from Paper Crafts magazine is now available. Its stamping, all stamping!! What I love about this issue is how its set up. Three designers were given the same stamp set and they each created a card based on their own style. The creative ways each designer used the stamps is astounding! So much creativity! And so many ways to be inspired to use stamp sets in your stash.



Today I am using one of the stamp sets I used in the issue, My Mind’s Eye Lost and Found Princess stamps.



I stamped the pennants onto white cardstock with aqua ink. Then I added a piece of twine to the card base. Each of the pennants was cut out and foam mounted to the card. The butterfly was stamped with yellow ink, cut out and foam mounted. The sentiment fit perfectly between the embossed details.

The embossing on the background was created by Spellbinders Paper Arts latest; M-Bossabilities!! These dual-sided embossing folders are brilliant and create such a deep impression! This folder is called Elite. M-Bossabilities will be available for ordering at CHA-W. So look for them soon at your favorite store!!

Check out these talented stampers and see what they have created for today!
Jaclyn Miller
Julie Masse
Laura Williams
Heidi Van Laar
Emily Leiphart
Mariana Grigsby
Julia Stainton
Sarah Moerman
Karen Baker
Laura O’Donnell
Kelley Eubanks
Kimberly Crawford *you are here*

Congrats for making it this far on the hop! :) For your persistence, how about a giveaway? I have a copy of Stamp It! 3 Ways to give to one reader! Leave a comment on this post telling me your current favorite stamp set or stamping technique. You have until Sunday, January 29, at 12 midnight to leave a comment. I will draw a winner when I return from CHA on Feb 3. The winner will be announced sometime on that day.

AND there is an uber-amazing, cannot believe they are giving away all the stamp sets used in the issue give away on the Paper Crafts Connection blog!!! So be sure and leave a comment there for a chance to win too!!

thanks for stopping by!

~kimberly

Supplies:

• Stamps-My Mind’s Eye (Lost and Found 2 Princess)
• Spellbinders-M-Bossabilities (Elite)
• Ink-Clearsnap (Colorbox Chalk-Canary, Turquoise), Memento (Tuxedo Black)
• Twine-The Twinery

This is a scheduled post as I am in California for CHA.

PTI Blog Hop August:CD cases

Yay! Here it is!! Can you believe with the help of a 2.5 year old, this got done?!
I had this idea in my head as soon as I saw what the Blog Hop Challenge would be this month. I knew that making a group of photo frames for the wall would be perfect.
These photos are of my son at about 9 months old. He was in his first pile of fall leaves. These are my favorite photos (well, there are some better ones, but this is what I had on hand. I will share the "good" ones later :)). Can you believe that is our backyard? Seriously, no editing!!

I stamped on the front of the CD case using Palette inks. To help with slipping, I placed the cover onto the inked stamp.
Cardstock: PTI Kraft, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise

Stamps:PTI Out on a Limb, First Fruits

Inks:Palette, Summer Sunrise, L'Amour, Raw Sienna

thanks for stopping by!!

PTI June Blog Hop:Transparencies

Its Blog Hop night! Here is my first card for the transparency challenge this month.

I ran my transparency through my Cuttlebug. I then inked the transparency and heat set the ink. Too much fun!!
For my second card, I stamped on the front of the transparency card and placed the sentiment and bands of paper on the inside.
I thought the stamp looked like a heart so the sentiment would work well. The image was colored in with alcohol inks. (cotton swab applicator)
Hopefully you are inspired! Make sure and check out the blogs linked on the right side------>

Many of them are PTI'ers who will have some fabulous ideas! thanks for stopping by!

PTI Blog Hop May-Scoring Challenge

Time for the May Blog Hop! I cannot wait to see all the creations! Our challenge was to use scoring lines in our design. This was a tough challenge for me. I use my old Fiskars rotary trimmer for scoring. Its nice to just leave my scoring blade in it. I utilized it, but this challenge sure made me wish I had a Scor Pal! :)

I scored my paper in what looked like a quilt to me. I decided to make it look more like a quilt by stitching on the score lines. I used my score lines as a template of sorts.
Here is what you need to create this look. (Hopefully you are a better seamstress than I. My mother would be shuttering in horror! :))

It was tough to take a photo of the score lines, so forgive the off-color editing. Create a diagonal set of score lines on any sized piece of cardstock. I used the lines on my paper cutter as a guide for keeping the spacing even.
With PTI's 110 lb. cardstock and no sewing machine, I knew that the paper would have to be pierced to stitch. I pierced holes in the intersections of the score lines and then two more inbetween each of those. Then stitch away.
Enjoy! and have fun been inspired tonight! :) Here is the link to the list of blogs: Blog Hop.

PTI Blog Hop!

thank you SO much to everyone who voted for me!! I am so appreciative!! k

Its Blog Hop Night! Make sure and check out all the other blogs with projects here.

I have made fortune cookies with my students before and knew that was what I wanted to make from our squares of paper. I made these from the 6x6 pad of Father Knows Best paper pad.

Start by tracing a circle on the paper. Any circle from about 3-4" works well.
Cut out the circle.
Fold the circle in half, but do not crease the circle.

Hold the paper as shown and begin the folding process. Keep in mind that I had to take the photo, so normally your other hand would be holding the opposite side together. :)
Bring the two sides together. They look more realistic, if you do not fold them in half, but rather, off-center. You want to do this before you apply adhesive.
I recommend a strong adhesive, because of the pressure on the sides. I used two strips of Wonder Tape. Keep the pieces small enough, so they do not show.
Bring the sides together again, and there you have it! :)
I printed off fortunes from this site: Fortune Cookie Sayings. But, with all the great sayings that PTI has, I am sure that they could be stamped for the appropriate occasion. I am thinking graduation, baby shower, bridal shower...

Don't forget all the fun and contests going on at the PTI Forum! And vote for your favorite project! :)

thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Its Blog Hop night! Make sure and stop over at Papertrey Ink's forum and get all the details!

You can vote for your favorite projects in this forum: Blog Hop.

Tonight's challenge was to use ribbon in an interesting way. What I chose isn't new, but it sure looks lovely. I stitched with the ribbon from PTI.

Start by stamping your image. I used the Spiral Bouquet shadow stamps. (I wanted a thicker look to support the ribbon.)
Trim the paper down, so that you can fit a small hole punch into the image. Punch holes as shown. When you pull the ribbon through, it will make the hole larger, so keep that in mind when spacing your holes on your image.
I needed 4 small pieces of ribbon. Do not make them too small, or you will have a difficult time pulling them through-they will pull all the way through. Cut the ends at a sharp angle to make it easier.
Because of the small image, and the need to have just 2 holes, put 2 ribbons in together.

Feed one ribbon down into one hole and do the same with the other ribbon.

Once you have done this for both sides, the back will be a mess! :) I just trimmed and taped down the ends. (hey, no one will ever see the back! :))
This is one finished flower. Repeat for the second flower. Because the second flower is even smaller, I opted to only make 2 ribbon petals. Continue this for the leaves.
Close ups

A Cuttlebug mini tag and a sentiment from Mixed Messages finish the card off.

The 3/8 inch ribbon works much easier for this. There are books about ribbon embroidery and it is beyond stunning! Here is a link to a basic how-to: Silk Ribbon Flowers.

thanks for stopping by!