I have had a dream video I’ve wanted to make for a while…and hopefully I can pull it off for my 100k celebration on YouTube:
I want to create something across the community to encourage EVERYONE to celebrate their own achievements as artists, and to take their next step!
AND I NEED YOUR HELP!
To do that I need YOUR help! I need you to 1) write your artistic milestone on a couple pieces of cardstock, and 2) hold them up in a video clip or a couple stills, then 3) send them to me! Watch the video below or click HERE for a bit more info.
What kind of milestone am I talking about? It can be small or large. It might really just mean something to you – an “Aha!” moment that opened up your thinking as a creative person. Any medium. Any point in the creative process. You don’t have to show the creation, but you can if you wish! And your milestonoe needn’t be something you learned from me…I just want to celebrate your growth!
Here are a few ideas:
can color a turtle so it looks like it’s round!
finished watercolor class and framed one of my paintings!
can now tell the difference between warm and cool colors!
can paint clouds!
joined a design team!
wrote a guest blog for a company!
sold enough cards to pay for my daughter’s ballet lessons!
What is YOUR milestone? Are you willing to share it so others can celebrate with you – and be encouraged by you?
If so, fill out the form at the end of this post so your submission ends up in the right part of my inbox, and upload your video file or up to three still pics. Be sure to wait for it to upload (you’ll see a confirmation message.) If your file is too big, you’ll get a message about that. And if you can’t get it to work, then just send the form with a message to that effect and we’ll deal with it by email. If your file came through fine, you won’t hear back – but if something goofed up, I’ll email you.
What’s in it for you?
In the final video, I’ll link to the site-of-choice for each artist (it can sort of be a hop!) —your blog, Instagram, etsy, YouTube, or whatever site your art is on. (I reserve the right to not link to non-family-friendly sites.) You don’t have to be linked if you don’t wish.
You’ll also be entered into a drawing for stamps, dies, and art supplies! I have a growing prize box that I’ll divvy into flat rate envelopes and announce winners in the big video. Good luck!
Bonus video this week
If it takes a minute to upload your files, click HERE to be entertained while it does – and go see my Snowman card over on Ellen Hutson’s site. (It’ll open up a new window for you, so come back here to be sure your submission went in!
Happy 5th birthday to Club LaLaLand! They’ve been making kits for a long time and when I heard there was a party, I had to join in!
There’s no video today – instead, several cards. And a party over in their facebook group. And a few designers are each offering $25 prizes in addition to me, but there’s no hop – I think the way to find each one will be on Instagram using #clublllcturns5 – check in on those posts to see their instructions for the giveaway.
My giveaway is on this blog post – since I can hopefully track you down via email if you win! Prize requirements:
To enter my $25 giveaway, followers will get one entry for each – so leave a comment on each place so they know you followed/joined: 1. comment on THIS blog post 2. follow La-La Land Crafts on instagram 3. join Club La-La Land Crafts facebook group 4. tag a friend on LaLa’s Instagram giveaway post Winner will need to create an account on their site to have the $25 credit applied. Winner will be notified via email.
Note: Supplies are linked in the supply list at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used – that means if you make a purchase using my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support of my work on this blog! Read more.
This is the kit as it arrived in my mailbox….shiny gold made me feel awfully special! Value of contents is $71.99.
FYI: deadline for new subscribers to start with this August Kit is August 29th.
Stamps are already mounted and just needed some trimming apart – I used these scissors to do that. The dies also needed to be snipped apart.
If you’re wondering about the sentiments….
My cards! First a CAS birthday card – using the “happy” that’s already in a gift box, and “birthday,” all one word. I popped the black panel on dimensional adhesive as well as the balloon. I attached the little bow with this glue pen. Details were added with my favorite white pen – and I cut out a highlight to glue onto the balloon. Color on the panel underneath is applied with Copic Airbrush (see the buyers guide, recently updated, HERE.)
Next up – cute little girl with a gift box! I added lots of white pen detail to her dress and gift box, then drew my own scene around her. Coz that’s kind of how I roll. LOL.
Last but not least the group of critters! They’re all one stamp, no masking needed (YAY!)
In last month’s Ellen Hutson release, one of the cards that got the most comments (I was surprised!) was my porthole card with the octopi (see it later in this post) – so I decided to show you how to make one like it, along with a couple other designs too. Three cards in one video!
Note: Supplies are linked in the supply list at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used – that means if you make a purchase using my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support of my work on this blog! Read more.
Watch the video below or click HERE to see it in HD on YouTube.
First – the older cards. Sometimes I forget that I post a lot more on social media and those cards don’t make it to my blog or YouTube so here are two! The card on the left is the inspiration for today’s post. The one on the right with the flying sub – too many people were shocked I hadn’t made a yellow submarine in THIS card, so…..well I had to do one! ha! Gotta love the sentiment from the Pure magic set too 🙂
In this first card in the video, I used a Gerda Steiner stamp set (yes it has SHARKS! I told you I have a thing for sharks!) since I had already made the one with the octopi from the Subbing In stamp set;
Secondly, the porthole set has little dies in it for starfish, corals, bubbles, etc, so I nested them together. A bit of a pain to reassemble when nesting them after intertwining, but the nice flat effect on the card is sure nice! Sentiment is from Subbing In .
Last but not least, the Subbing In octopus decided to peek his little head above water – because he NEEDED to stand out! ha! (Another from Pure Magic!)
FYI the lid is showing this well-loved inpad’s age. LOL. How long til the printing rubs off? Anyone have one in worse shape? Post yours on social media, I’d love to see if anyone loves on their ink pads more!
PS that bloghop…
Go see the bloghop HERE from last month, there are a few porthole cards in that too!
I almost made it in time for Christmas in July! I did get two cards done this month, I think….I’m so jealous of those who get them done all year long! But alas….I’m at least getting a few done! And I stamped more of these so I can sit and color on the sofa for a while and make more beautiful scenes like this one with Bethlehem’s Light by the Colorado Craft Company.
Note: Supplies are linked in the supply list at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used – that means if you make a purchase using my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support of my work on this blog! Read more.
Watch the video below or click HERE to see it in HD on YouTube.
Copic colors used on this card….
Embossing on top of rich Copic color can be truly gorgeous – and it still makes for a nice flat card!
Don’t forget to tickle the inside of a card with some sparkle! Got to love Wow’s Gold Rich powder!!
Today….the last day of the month – it’s time to wrap up the last day off #worldwatercolormonth! I’ve combined all my speed paintings in one video (with a vlog at the beginning, maybe you only want to see that part!) – or you can go see the videos individually here.
Note: Supplies are linked in the supply list at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used – that means if you make a purchase using my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support of my work on this blog! Read more.
Watch the video below or click HERE to see it in HD on YouTube.
Auction!
The auction is open for two weeks – bid high, it’s for charity!
There are four types of Daniel Smith Watercolors that don’t get a lot of use – mostly because it’s not obvious how or why to use them, or which colors to select! Me included. I had swatched out the ones on the dot card into my swatchbook, but as you’ll see in the video, I didn’t really trust tiny swatches to tell me much about the paints. (Scroll down for a gallery of swatches of the luminescent colors.
I googled to find out the differences between the different luminescent paints; John (the top cheese at DS) had explained it to me but my mind had shut down. LOL. So if this starts to tax your brain, don’t feel alone! He wrote up some of this info HERE – big credit to him for writing it down so I could read words and think through them! These are his descriptions:
Iridescent: Reflection – particle of light hits paint/pigment matrix and bounces back. Much like a mirror.
Interference: Refraction – particle of light enters the paint/pigment matrix and scatters light.
Pearlescent: adds opalescence – like an opal or pearl – to the color it’s mixed or glazed with.*
Duochrome: one pigment that bounces between two colors.
*I think of this more as glitter, myself. Except it doesn’t rub off like glitter…yay for that, right?
In the video below, you’ll see my Whiskey Painters mini palette with the colors (all below) – I cover a ton of info in a short time:
The types of luminescents (Iridescent, Interference, Pearlescent, Duochrome)
Black watercolor paper (to purchase or how to make it)
Paint-outs, which show off the effects better than little swatches
Fine art applications on several of my water-themed paintings
Card Making application to test colors and make cards too
Note: Supplies are linked in the supply list at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used – that means if you make a purchase using my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support of my work on this blog! Read more.
Watch the video below or click HERE to see it in HD on YouTube.
Subjects to consider adding luminescent watercolor touches:
birds’ feathers
insects
fish
seashells
flowers
snail’s trail
spider’s web
silvery or golden moon
clouds aglow at sunset
rainbows
snow and ice
glint of water reflections.
metals like pewter, copper, silver, and gold.
fairies, dragons, mermaids and other fantasy figures.
I hope to paint some of these subjects deliberately in the next few months and play with more of these colors, to see more of what they do. If you’d like to keep an eye on my nutty watercolor adventure, pop over to my Instagram. In the meantime, the paintings seen in this video….
Cards
I tested out the colors that are in my little Whiskey Painter palette – but this would be an excellent test of the colors on the dot card if you have one. (The luminescents are only on the large dot card, I believe.) You can see which colors create effects you’ll like. Oh, by the way, write down which colors are which, I kinda just randomly put them all over and have no idea what’s what. LOL. Do as I say, not as I do!
For those who love Shark Week – I’ve collected a bunch of my favorite shark stamp sets in the supplies list at the end of this post!
Swatches of the Luminescents
As I said before, these little swatches don’t help a ton, but they might at least give you a general idea of what you’re getting when you try a color!
I purchased these DS Luminescents – randomly. So there’s not a rhym or reason for my selections:
