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Are you tired of trying to find just the right greeting card for someone special? Often spending way too much time deciding between cookie cutter cards that all look alike and even have the same words? And worse yet, do you sometimes wonder if you've already sent the one you're considering...more than once...to the same person?  Your loved ones aren't ordinary, so why settle for an ordinary card from the local card shop? In my latest Skillshare class, Tooling Foil Valentines, you'll learn how to craft beautiful cards using tooling foil and some basic art supplies, many that you may already have on hand. I'll be demonstrating with a Valentine's Day theme, but you can apply this technique to any holiday or special occasion!  I’ve even included a pdf template with sample drawings and a list of the supplies you’ll need to complete your foil tooling project. Once you try this easy to learn technique, you'll be able to design and create unique cards for all occasions!  Check out a little preview below: Happy heARTing! 
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Do you have a favorite color? You know, the one you always seem to choose for your wardrobe ... your home ... maybe even your car? Or do you have a different color preference for each of those areas of your life? I used to think that last description fit me best. My wardrobe is predominantly blue and black, my home leans toward neutrals with an occasional splash of blue and green, and my car is a silvery tan color. When I looked at collections of my paintings and other artwork, I saw the same color choices, with a very strong preference toward green. I was pretty sure that my paint palette needed some brightening, but I had no idea how much until I used Year of Color on my Instagram feed! I expected to see lots of green since my tubes of sap green hue and chromium oxide green are always needing replacement, but all these grays, tans, and browns took me by surprise. It's definitely time to brighten up my palette!  The little circles of chartreuse, bright blue, and red gave me hope and a place to start, so I came up with an action plan for the new year...  January 1, 2020 #aquajanuary with @kickinthe creatives (Watermedia challenge) For this first week of 2020, the focus color is YELLOW. Bright, clear yellow ... soft, yellow with a hint of orange ... maybe even a little chartreuse to liven things up!  January 2, 2020 #quickkickjanuary with @kickinthecreatives (Abstract Photo challenge) If I stick with the plan, in six weeks I will have added a rainbow of colors to my paint palette and a much brighter look to my Instagram feed! Truthfully though, I am looking forward to "green week"!  Ice painting... a great way to take advantage of a close to zero winter day! Follow me on Instagram to see if my plan for colorful transformation is successful ... and have a very happy, colorful 2020!  Are you looking for an easy and budget-friendly way to display small prints without spending money on frames? This technique is perfect for your personal photos as well as prints to sell at your local artisan market or your online shop. Check out this video from my YouTube channel for an easy DIY thanks to Miriam of Miriam's Nature on YouTube and Alex of MatboardShop on Etsy. Note: This video was formatted for Instagram Stories, so it is not wide screen. There's more in the works now that summer has arrived here in Ohio! Follow me on Instagram or join my email list to get a monthly update on new YouTube videos and Skillshare classes.   It all started in my Thursday morning watercolor class when the instructor gave us a day to play with unconventional materials and ended up a YouTube tutorial ten days later! In between, it tried to be an Instagram story, but kept getting interrupted by daily life. Here's the video...enjoy this family fun art activity! MATERIALS USED TO CREATE PAINTED BUBBLES: Dawn dish detergent Tube gouache paints (or tube watercolors) Straw Paper and water  Click this image to learn how to create the fish prints used in this tutorial. If you try this project, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out! Even better, share a photo on Instagram using #cboggsart2 !   We've been in the deep freeze here in Ohio the past few days. Temperatures have dipped into the single digits with well below zero wind chills from time to time. So I decided to make the best of the weather and use the cold snap to artistic advantage. One of the women in my Thursday watercolor class had told us about what she called "ice painting". Her samples looked quite intriguing, with crystal shapes and lovely blended colors, so I decided to give it a try. The results were mixed, depending on variables like paper, amount of watercolor paint, and temperature, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to spend some time outside in wintery sunshine!  If you happen to live in a wintery part of the world, try this out yourself. This is also a perfect activity to share with kids of all ages. Just watching the crystals form in the paint in fascinating! Post a photo on Instagram and tag me with @cboggsart. I'd love to see what you do! To see how I turn these frozen watercolors into mixed media paintings, follow me on Instagram or sign up here for email updates when new blog posts are published.   My "one word" for 2018 was JOURNEY, which I divided into two primary focus areas: FAITH and CREATIVITY. Looking back at my journey through the past year, I can note some successful times and some not-so-successful times. Of the 12 books I had selected for my FAITH journey, I only managed to read four. A few of the others are begun, but not finished, so for 2019, I am going to reevaluate the selection and continue the journey. To keep myself on track, I'm going to block out 30 minutes every morning before I open a digital device or pick up a paintbrush. For me, it isn't enough to "just read"; I need to actively do something with the reading, so as part of the 30 minutes, I'm going add a quick journal entry to respond to what I have read each day. My CREATIVITY journey went considerably better. I began taking watercolor class through the local community college in February and returned for the fall semester in August after a summer break. I'm signed up to return in two weeks and have even added a second painting class for this coming semester. In addition, I've taken online classes and workshops on Skillshare and other sites, as well as started teaching my own Skillshare classes. To keep myself on the CREATIVITY journey path, I've joined The Circle, a six-month online community of artists led by Carrie Brummer of Artist Strong. I've taken two of her short online workshops and really like the way she encourages artists and helps them wherever they are on their creative journey. So for 2019, my "one word" is CONTINUE. I have an unfinished JOURNEY to explore more of my FAITH and to add to my adventures in CREATIVITY. How about you? Do you choose a "one word" for the year, or are you a "New Year's Resolution" planner? Leave a comment here or chime in on Instagram, Whatever your preference, have a very Happy New Year! Weaving is so much fun for kids of all ages! This is a perfect way to introduce the skill to your young ones...and use up some of that holiday ribbon, too!  Start by gathering the supplies for the project: Click the photo below for the tutorial: This is my last YouTube video for 2019. Check it out and then subscribe to my channel for updates with new video tutorials are published. |
