Craftsy free Beinge watch day is Labor day

On Labor Day, enjoy 1,200+ Craftsy classes for free - for one day only. 

Click here for all the information

All you have to do is to get a login (be a member that is free)  to view any class on Craftsy for FREE! This is such a great deal, I am so glad I am able to carve out some time to watch a couple classes. You really don't want to miss this!

Here are some of my class reviews.

My tip on how to make the most of this day would be to add classes that you want to watch on your wish list before Labor Day, so  Monday comes you know what you want to watch! I can't decide between food classes, paper craft classes, or painting!

Here are some of my favorite classes if you are curious what classes I have taken from Craftsy:

Pair ups
Class reviews
My favorite class in food
Favorite class in watercolor
Favorite class in card making

Some of the classes that I hope to watch that I am so excited for are

Radiant Stamping because I love love love stamping with my Misti!










Silhouette Savvy: Design, Cut, Create with Paige Evans  Becuase I love my Silhouette and I am always wanting to learn more!

Cracking the Egg: 25 Ways to Transform Your Cooking with Chef Kyle Shankman Because my family loves eggs!

Jacques Torres' Ultimate Box of Chocolates Becuasea I love Chocolate and am always looking for ways to make a sweet gift for Teachers, family, friends and as thank you gifts

Venture into Vinyl, because a good friend of mine loves using her Silhouette to cut vinyl, and I want to try! 

Trending NOW: Stamped Floral Watercolor Card

After doing this card for World Watercolor month and For Memory Bounds Make and take, I had to buy like 5 more different brush stroke stamps from Penny Black! I am a Huge fan!

the card was used in Memory Bound July Make-n-Take

Materials:

Tim Holtz Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint ink pads

Spray bottle with water

Container of water for watercolor

Penny Black Moment in Time stamp

MISTI

Watercolor paper cut to 4.25x5.5

Small round brush (I like sizes 4-6)

Medium-large round brush (I used a size 12)

Craft mat for ink

Mounting tape, or foam tape

A2 card base.

Start by adding some of the peeled paint to the craft mat, spritz it with water.

Get your paper and stamp situated on the MISTI, I chose the flower to be the right center.

With your medium to large brush make a gradient wash on the water color paper with the peeled paint ink Your work/paint surfaces on the craft mat, not on the MISTI

Once your gradient wash is looking sheen, (semi glossy, but not super wet) ink the stamp, start at the top and work your way down, I used Worn Lipstick for the flower and peeled paint for the steam.

Make sure that your gradient wash is dark value at the bottom so the pink stands out more at the top!

Stamp the flower onto the semi glossy sheen watercolor paper, (you want the ink to bleed) That is how you get the watercolor look. Troubleshooting: If the ink didn’t bleed like you wanted it too: ink the flower again but this time spritz the stamp with a bit of water. The paper was too dry by the time you stamped it.

Play with the stamped flower, at this time you can add some darker tones to the flower, I used a small round brush and painted with worn lipstick ink onto some of the pedals that I thought could use some extra value, (don’t go overboard with this, spend less than a minute on this. The more you play the more unnatural it will look) On the flip side doing this adds depth to the flower.

Dry the paper, you want it to be bone dry (as dry as it can be.) I use a heat tool for this to speed up the process.

Now it’s time to ink the flower again in the same way before, pink for the flower, green for the steam. This helps give you more details for the flower. This is also a great time to stamp a sentiment if needed.

Do the stamping 2 more times where ever you want the flowers to be.

If needed at a sentiment stamp or die cut to the card and you are done!

I am entering this card in to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge Blog and at this Blog post from the Card Concept, as a clean and graphic style. 

To find out other great ideas on how to use water-soluble inks to use as watercolor check out 

How to learn more If you are like me and always love to learn more about watercolor cards there are two classes that I recommend you take:
Angela Fehr's Creative Watercolor class: This is a great class for anyone that wants to add watercolor to cards, art journaling, and Calligraphers.  This link will get you 20% off the class I am in the works of making a review for this class, I highly recommend this class, it is a great class! Here is the Class Review post

Watercolor Card's Made Simple on Craftsy. This is the perfect class for all paper crafters you can see my class review here

Happy Creating!





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My top classes to take with BOGO Craftsy SALE!

Craftsy has a Buy One class get one Free, and there are some really good ones to take if you are looking to learn a new skill!

GO HERE for the last post on what classes I would pair up! there are some really good ones you might not want to miss, including watercolor cards, watercolor as an art, yummy and healthy FOOD, and CARD and STAMPING classes that I learned so much from! 

Go here for the Bagel class that I love!

My recent class I took was the Bagels and Pretzel class, totally worth it! the bagels I made were so inexpensive, and you didn't need any extra equipment! I figured for one batch of bagels (8-4oz bagels) cost only $1.50 in ingredients! totally worth it if you like to bake and save money like this girl does! (so totally worth the money to take this class!

My quick tip for saving money with Craftsy is: to buy classes when they are on sale, sometimes you can get a class for $10, but my favorite time to get classes is their BOGO event, because you get to choose what you want, and usually the classes are about $20, so you could get two classes for $20, It's totally worth it! The Craftsy community is awesome, I have learned so much from other students that I just really love being a part of the community! If you are part of the Craftsy community please feel free to follow me! 

Penny Black Peony's watercolor stamp

Watercolor Stamping is very addictive! I love this stamp for all the simple reasons why I love watercolor, The art of it! each time I stamped and watercolored the stamp I got something unique every time. If you love to stamp but want a unique look to your cards this stamp set is the one. 

I found this stamp set at my local paper crafting store at Memory Bounds in Ankeny Iowa. I could have waited for a sale but it was calling my name and I had to have the stamp. 

Penny Black has a great line that works really well with "no line" stamping, and the Peony stamp didn't disappoint. 

I used Gansia Tambi light pink and Olive green for the flower, and then for the background, I used Cobalt Blue. I then used some Starry Colors that I mixed into the pink to make the watercolor shimmer.

  

Here's how I did it:

stamp your flower with some water activated ink (I used Tim Holtz worn lipstick and Pealed Paint) You want some ink that will work with the color of the Gansia Tambi watercolor that you will be using. 

then I mixed some Gansia Tambi light pink and Olive green with some starry color for the flower and stem. (I used more starry color than pigment at this point, and lots of water.) the ratio would be 80% water, 4% pigment and 6% Starry color  (Yellow Gold) The idea is to have the brush loaded with water, then with the paint mixture. I used a size 4 round brush for the painting of the stamped image.

To paint I would paint the peony as if I was painting it without the stamp, so I started in the middle and worked out. each pedal I would work from the darkest and then work out to the lighter part. I did this until the whole stamped looked like I painted it.  The key to this is to always have your brush full of the water pigment mixture. 

For the background, I used a wet on wet technique, and just added the cobalt blue water color to just the edge of the flower and worked out with just water to give it a dreamy look. 

I then stamped with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint a Thank you sentiment. mounted it onto a card base. This stamp works well horizontal as well as vertical.

To learn more about watercolor cards take an Online Class with Angela Fehr, (who inspired this card.) Here is a 20% off coupon for the class. Totally worth the time and money!

If you are looking for a good watercolor card class, Craftsy has one that I love and recommend 

Go here for the class from Craftsy that will show you how to do this technique

If you are looking to just learn about watercolor I would head over to CreativeBug and look into Yao Cheng's beginner watercolor class, You will love her class!

Some links are affiliated with my blog, by purchasing from my links you are supporting my blog

Craftsy Flash Sale

Remember my pair up post here from all the Craftsy's classes with reviews, well, here is another opportunity to learn a new skill!

LAST MINUTE CLASS EVENT

SALE! Hundreds of classes under $20. Stock up on your favorites Craftsy classes! Promotional Details: Starts: NOW Ends: Sunday, January 29th at 11:59 pm MST

Craftsy's Bogo Event going on this weekend

I love getting things free, and amazing classes are perfect for winter days. Learning and doing things keeps me out of trouble. So I am so excited to get a new class for those long winter months. I thought I would share a couple pair ups with you since Friday Craftsy is starting their BOGO class event. see the bottom of my post for all the details or click here



Here are some of my pair-ups: For Craftsy's BOGO event on all classes!

For a sweet treat:

Celebrate with cookies And The Perfect Cupcake once you know how to make the perfect cupcake and cookie, you will never ever have to buy them in the store, and they are both worth the money, it has saved me money not to buy cupcakes for birthday parties, and cookies for celebrations! both classes are really good choices if you like being in the kitchen. My kids love watching these two classes also and then helping me in the kitchen. Here is my class review for The Perfect Cupcake. Look for my class review for Celebrate with cookies in February!

For healthy fun in the kitchen I recommend:

Make the Most of your Food Processor with Greorge Geary and Guilt-Free Comfort food with Anna Bullett You will be using your food processor a lot in these classes! Both instructors are amazing at what they do, and I was so captivated by the content and knowledge that they taught! These two classes can really help you eat healthier with lots of flavors. With the help of a food processor, it makes short work of eating healthier! These classes also make cooking in the kitchen fun! Here is my blog post for Making the most of your food processor, and Creating Guilt Free Comfort Food with Anna

For watercolor: I have 3 pair ups

Luminous Watercolor and Simple and stunning watercolor techniques If you are thinking about starting watercolor, or need a push to get out of a rut, these classes are perfect, I learned so much from both instructors, It's tricky to get the right color in watercolor, but with a limited pallet you can do so much, Kateri teaches that for you! Mary Murphy does such a great job explaining in-depth about brushes, pigment, styles, and unique ways to stretch yourself as an artist.Both are wonderful for any skill level that wants to take their paintings to the next level. Here is my class review link for Luminous Watercolor and Simple and Stunning Watercolor Techniques. 

Painting florals in Watercolor
Kristy Rice's Getting Started Watercolor Fresh Florals and Anna Mason's step by step Painting Realistic florals. I love painting and creating flowers, and watercolor is the perfect medium to paint florals. These two teachers teach their unique style in painting their florals and pairing them together, learning from them will help you become a better floral watercolorist. Art is a process, and I love each style, taking these two classes helped me with my techniques and skills. My best advice is to keep practicing! This is a class you could practice over and over until you get it right! You can see my two class reviews for Kristy's Class and for Anna's Class both have great youtube channels too!




Angela Fehr's Better Paintings with watercolor Sketching and Watercolor Flower Bouquet with Mary Murphy. I like these two classes together because they teach you about creating the whole painting, it's not technique based, it's looking and painting with the whole picture in mind, from start to finish. They expect you to know your style, or to have a knowledge of how to paint and then take you through from start to finish, this is a very open-ended class that can really jump start your finished painting! Here is my Class review for Angela's Class, Look for my blog post review from Mary soon!


If you love mixed media, I have the perfect pair up!

Painting With Water Based Media with Nina Weiss and Mix it up Mixed Media Step by Step with Lindsay Weirich aka The Frugal Crafter Both instructors are amazing at mixed media, I love both of their styles, I have really enjoyed learning from them. There is a ton of information that you can branch of off with these two classes, They are worth your time and money!

Paper Crafting: With Pigment:
Water Color Cards with Depti Malik and Wild Cards with Catherine Pooler
These two classes go very well together, I find using watercolor and ink can really make your cards look amazing! Both classes offer unique styles to help you use your supplies is ways that are stunning! Both classes have about the same material list or are very open ended to the materials, You can get away with using all inks, or watercolor. Both have great ideas to make your cards look amazing! My best advice for these two classes would be to use what you have, most times one medium or tool can be used in different ways! I have a class review for both: Depti's Watercolor Cards and Catherine Poolers Wild Cards Both classes are excellent resourcesfor paper crafters!

Paper Crafting with paper and tools

Cards with Dimension with Daniel Flanders and Fresh Eyes on your Card Making supplies with Mariam Prantner. Both teachers really love layers, and using supplies in their own exclusive style that you can imitate to make it yours! They both love paper and layering it, and making cards into really neat works of art that you can be proud of! Here is a blog post that was inspired by Daniel's Cards with Dimension, and here is my blog post for Mariam's Fresh Eyes on your Card making supplies

Realistic flowers in watercolors step by step

By now you know that I love watercolor and flowers, I can't get enough during the winter months in the midwest. So when I found out that Realistic Watercolor Step by Step Craftsy class was only $10 I snagged it before I even thought twice about it. I am glad I did!

I used mostly Lemon yellow, Permanent rose, crimson red, and ultramarine blue for most of the flower, with a size 5 round and 1 round brush, for the veins I used a script brush. I opted out using white gouache for highlights. Next time I think I will try it with the white gouache. All the supplies I picked up at my local Micheaels store.

As you know I am all about the process of art, not the end result, If it makes me happy, and I enjoy it, then it's a win. This painting was fun to create,  I can't wait to try this process with other flowers.

blending colors 

Stippling and other blending techniques taught by Anna Mason

Although this class is a paint-along class, It's more than just the techniques, Anna teaches about color harmony, and uses only a handful of hues to create a beautiful painting. She teaches about how to add texture, and how to paint as if you are growing or creating this flower from nature, which I enjoyed the process of creating each petal. Most of the first lesson is filled with great ideas for warm ups when you start your painting session. I enjoyed the professionalism that she gave and all the great tips. You don't have to be a seasoned watercolorist to take this class, I really wish I would have taken this class earlier, as I believe that she teaches so much more than just painting a flower. 

Project I painted from Painting realistic flower Craftsy Class

This painting turned out beautiful that I plan to hang this flower in my house for everyone to see, I really loved the process of painting this flower, it wasn't stressful, and it was a fun class. I like you could make other floral paintings from this class, You could paint any botanical picture with the knowledge and skills you develop from this class.

I am an affiliate with Craftsy, any Craftsy link you click on will help my blog!

Selected Craftsy Classes only $10!

I woke up this morning and there it was, an email from Craftsy saying that popular Craftsy classes are only $10! I  had two classes on my wish list that came up as $10! So I got them both! Here is a link that will get you to the classes, It's an affiliated link, I will make a very small commission from your order

I am getting these two classes, I can't wait to watch them (after Christmas!) Cheek it out, there are some really good ones, and for $10 you can't go wrong, All Craftsy classes are guaranteed so if you really are not impressed they will refund your money. Of all 27 classes I have done, all have been worth my money!

Realistic Watercolor and How to Make Custom Cookies 19 designs

Happy Crafting!

King Arthurs Flour Fruit Pie Craftsy Class

It's pie season and Craftsy sure know's how to help you learn all the skills it takes to make a pie. I was so excited when I saw this class, it was exactly what I was looking for in a class for pie making. I have always been about the crust, I get the filling, and really, the filling was always easier to do than the crust, at least it is for me. So King Arthurs Flour's Fruit Pies came very timely. I am in charge of pies for Thanksgiving, I have been for the past 2 years, and this year I want to be called/labeled as the Pie Maker of the family. I think I will achieve that!

So why make your own pie when you can get one cheaper, or all ready done for you? It's about the process, and of course the taste, you can't beat a home made pie, not even if you pay $20ish for a home baked pie from a restaurant (Perkins, Village Inn, Bakers Square.) Which my apple pie I that is pictured costed about $3-$6 worth of ingredients to make, (got free apples when they were in season then froze them)

I make pies because I really like to know what ingredients are in my pies, I like to pick the apples, or the cherries, or the peaches or even the black berries. Making the crust is one of those fun processes that makes my heart happy, I don't know why it just does. With those reasons in mind I wanted to share some of the things I loved about this craftsy class, King Aurthor's Flour Fruit Pie.

I never learned how to make a crust that actually tasted better than the store bought ones, so you guessed it I would just buy the store bought kind. I now understand how to use different types of flour and fat's to cater to my pie, for example Melanie Wonders talked about why you would want some lard/Crisco in your pie crust instead of butter (Lard gives more of a hearty taste to the crust, perfect for your favorite pot pie, or quiche dish.) I really like the idea of using almond flour for a really extraordinary cherry almond pie.

I like that she used classic pies in the class to demonstrate the different crusts, I am a very traditional cook/baker and wanted to know how to make a cherry, peach, apple and blackberry pie, Melanie did a great job, she also explained how much sure-jell I will need for what type of filling, it took out the guess work.

I also really enjoyed learning the different ways that you could decorate your pie to make it look professional, or in my case to make the pies "look like I know what I am doing." From braiding the edge of the pie, or crimping the crust for the caramel apple pie. Adding cut outs to add a beautiful border, or topping the pie with different size shapes to make a top crust, and my favorite that I really hope to make soon: a lattice top, which will makes your pie stand out and almost to pretty to eat. I really enjoyed the artistry behind the process of the crust to your pie.


Melanie does a great job with the filling too, I made the caramel apple pie and it was truly delectable! The best apple pie I have had, let alone made. For a quick tip, I like to peel, core and cut my apples and then freeze the apples in a bag until I am ready to make an apple pie, it's easier that way, you can also do this with peaches, which is my preferred way of making pies. I don't like the idea of buying produce when it's not in season. So I get apples and peaches late august when they are in season for less than $1.00/lb, cut peal, core bag'em and freez'em then it's easy, the hard part come pie season is making the crust, which with this class is totally worth it!

I also had made the raspberry white Chocolate cream pie, with Cornmeal coconut oil crust, which was delicious!

If you are looking for a good seasonal class to help you in the Kitchen try this class, you will be so glad you did Here is the link to get started!

Guilt Free Comfort food

Is it possible to have guilt free comfort food? It may not be calorie free but it is possible to keep all the flavor and loss the calories! This Craftsy class is all about using those calories to it's fullest,  it's all about the flavor.

In Anna Bullett's Guilt Free Comfort Food Craftsy class, Anna does a great job explaining why we need good healthy nutrient rich food in our recipes, and their benefits. It's been so fun to learn ways as to why you substitute one ingredient, and use a healthier choice, like using mashed beans instead of a ton of ricotta cheese in your lasagna.

I love the smell of comfort food, the memories that come with the food, the process of cutting and cooking then baking it, makes my heart swell! The wonderful thing about using vegetables in this class is it's doable, I say doable because It has taken me forever to figure out how to get more vegetables into our meals with out vegetables being a side dish that we all snuff at.

My family's favorite comfort food will always Chicken Pot Pie, I cringe every time I make it with the two packaged pie crusts that you buy already done. I know there is a healthier and better way... This class shows you how!

 Yes my friends that is spinach in my pot pie, and you can tell that it just "melts" away to nothing! (my kind of vegetable) She doesn't compromise the flavor factor at all in this recipe, in fact I think it was far more flavorful than any other pot pie recipes I have made in the past without adding lots of salt. Yummy!






I must add, that these biscuits were made with whole wheat flour, I used 1 cup whole whole wheat flour that I milled, and then 1 cup regular all purpose flour, they were awesome! I have never had such good biscuits before till this class! She made me believe in my biscuit making abilities, and they are so cheap to make,  $1.00 for all of the ingredients to make just the biscuits.

This was such a great recipe that I will use a lot of in those winter months! Doesn't this make you want to make some really tasty Chicken Pot Pie?

Baked Potato Fries

They are a favorite, I enjoyed the simple process of the recipe, it's not hard and it really doesn't take a hole lot of time, For me, when it comes to recipes like this is it all about the planning. If i know that I want fries for supper, start it 30 minuets before eating, and hope that the timing works out. (we did these fries for lunch.)

I really loved the garlic and herb seasoning, It was worth the extra step to brown the garlic! This is a worthy side dish for anything that you want fries with. It's really convenient, and cheap, for less than $3.00 I was able to make this side dish, which tastes far better than any store bought frozen potato's and if you were to get them at a restaurant as a side I bet they would cost more $6.00 for the side and quantity. 

Here is the finished results, and yes they are as good as they look! Thank you for showing me a better way to make fries!!! Seriously it's a wonderful skill to know, right?

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

I love the "idea" that I can make Mac and cheese from scratch at home, with it loaded with vegetables over half the ingredients are vegetables!  The dish was very flavorful like Anna promised. 

She didn't mention that when roasting squash to get it to roast with a little moister helps it to become tender and easier to mash up, so I wanted to share how I roast butternut squash when it's on sale for $.50/lb. Here is my way I use for both pumpkin and squash.