Fall Creations

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So what exactly have you been creating this past month?  We’ve been quite busy, behind the scenes in our Community here at The Creative Grove!  Here’s just a quick little peek into our little creative world:

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It’s been class mania with both our Brayer 101 and 102 classes being added to the project and resource libraries.  That’s a HUGE savings off the individual cost!  And well worth it.  While the 102 class is still being added this month, it’s been six weeks of creative scenery inspiration fun.  Plus of course lots of clean and simple and watercolor madness also being added.

So if you haven’t checked us out yet, what are you waiting for?  We’re approaching 70 project videos in just a little over three months – crazy, right?  Plus we have lots just waiting to be added.

So come stamp with us in the VIP Community – join in on the conversation in our private members only facebook group and get a craftin’!

See you on the inside.

xoxo –

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To find out more about The Creative Grove Community, click here!

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Filed Under: Online Class, The Creative Grove Tagged: , , , ,

Community July Peeks

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Have you heard? We added 32 videos during the month of July to our VIP Community!  Here are just a few peeks into some of the amazing step by step video tutorials we added in the past few weeks.

The Creative Grove VIP Community July Sneek Photos

The summer can be a crazy busy time for everyone – kids are out of school, lots of relaxation and relaxation on vacations, holidays and just general warm weather merriment are taking place! So we wanted to kick off our newest corner of The Creative Grove with a wide variety of technique and project tutorials.  We added several that covered:

  • The Ink Swipe technique – unique backgrounds with the Colorbox Stylus Tool
  • Ombre Sponging
  • Various Masking and Masking Tape techniques
  • Bokeh
  • And more watercolor tutorials and projects than we can possibly list!

What’s unique about the watercolor tutorials is that we loaded our Watercolor Techniques that Wow class right into the community!  Just one of the features of our VIP membership – online classes too!  As a matter of fact, we’ve added over 60% of all our classes already with the much sought after Brayer 101 coming this next month.

We’ve had challenges in the private facebook group, project sharing and community all around.  It’s been fun to get to know each other, see what we’re all working on and get technique and tutorial requests directly!

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So come visit us – we’re still looking for a handful of founding members that will save before the price increases soon.  To become part of the family – click here!

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Filed Under: Online Class, The Creative Grove Tagged: , , , , ,

Merry Monday Bokeh Flurry

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Have you tried the Merry Monday Challenge?  I seem to be on a challenge kick lately, and thought I’d have a go at this one this week.

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This week, the challenge is to add some Sparkle, Shimmer and Shine.  Sounded like fun and I needed to get started on some Christmas Cards! Smile

Here at the grove, we have an exclusive step by step video and we’re having fun with a new technique this week – Bokeh.  I promised them I’d try it with some snowflakes along with all the other samples.  Here’s the result – enjoy!

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Filed Under: Challenges, Christmas, Online Class, Techniques Tagged: , , , , , , ,

A Watercolored Poinsettia

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It’s no secret that you’ve seen lots of watercolor projects at The Creative Grove lately.  To say I’ve fallen in with this medium is putting it mildly!  Today I wanted to share with you a project I made a few days ago, because I just needed a little something fun, light and creative in my day.

We all have them – days that are bogged down with work and stuff that isn’t so much fun.  Lately, mine have been filled with the other side of running a creative classroom and blog – the business end: building websites, connecting them, creating digital images and making sure all the SEO is in place.  If you told me a few years ago that I’d be doing that on a regular basis – I probably would have laughed.  Well, I’ve become quite proficient at it!

We just finished up our latest class – Watercolor Techniques that Wow! a few weeks ago.  The feedback was through the roof.  I had so much fun putting the class together for you, that I guess it really showed.  One of the things I love about our classes here at the Grove is that you don’t have to have anything in particular that we use.  Just use what you have.  Colors, mediums, stamps, etc…  The goal is for you to have fun – play with what you have and above all – learn something new.

That’s why I’m SO excited to announce our latest educational venture – our VIP Community!

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This isn’t just any old class – it’s a course.  So what’s the difference?  It’s a monthly course where you learn something new every two weeks.  There are two levels – one that builds as you go, and one that is all access from the get-go.  To learn more about it click here.

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Bet you thought I forgot about the watercolored Poinsettia card! Smile  Like I was telling you, I was smack dab in the middle of building web pages and I couldn’t see straight or think clearly.  I decided I needed to clear my head, so I whipped out some watercolor paper, clear embossing powder, my two aqua painters, a paint palette and some watercolor pencils.  A little while later…I had this:

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To really see exactly how I colored this flower in layer after layer after layer creating depth and dimension, you’ll have to watch my three videos on it in the resource section of our Watercolor Class, or on Project #6 – click here to read about what to expect.

That’s the cool thing about that class, it’s loaded with step by step resource videos explaining techniques before you even get to the project videos!  For example, I show you how to make your own shades of colors – I didn’t have a green pencil this shade – I created my own!  I hope you love this card – I can’t stop looking at it – it’s so much prettier than the photographs even show.

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To learn seven different techniques with watercolors, brushes, inks and so much more, click here.  I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

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Looking to learn something new?  Join us in class – here are just a few:

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Filed Under: Cards, Flowers, Online Class, Techniques, The Creative Grove, Watercolor Tagged: , , , , , ,

Watercolor On a Shelf

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Have you ever made something and just wanted to put it up on a shelf?  I was given a challenge to create a project just like that – capture a stamped image in a photograph.  After I framed my work – literally, I displayed it on my card on a wall shelf.  Well, of sorts, kind of – I created one!

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What you see here is a watercolored butterfly – created using a technique that literally smashes watercolor together to form amazing colored masterpieces.  You’ll want to prop it up on stamping dimensionals, add a little pop behind with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set by Stampin’ Up – love that set – great for fillers, and then add a popped up frame to create a shadow box. Once that’s all done, create a shelf with layers of cardstock and you have two masterpieces in one!

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To learn how to create amazing backgrounds using the watercolor smash technique – check out my watercolor class.  It’s loaded with techniques to turn you into a master watercolor paper crafter.  Click here to learn more about what you can learn.Watercolor Master Edge2

Have a great day!

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Filed Under: Online Class, Watercolor Tagged: , , ,

Warmth and Wonder: Just out of the woods

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Today, I wanted to make a simple Creative Scene using advanced Brayer techniques and the Holiday Hostess Set Warmth and Wonder.  I have to confess, I slept in today.  Usually I start Mojo Monday at 5 am, that’s what time the sketch goes up!  So as I began to wake up and saw the sketch, I knew this would take me a while.  I’ve been dying to make this card, and today’s sketch was perfect for it!

Many of you have wondered how to make amazing scenes like this.  They look so simple, but actually aren’t.  They involve many different techniques and steps, but every person can make this card – regardless of your stamping ability.  In our classroom, we have a few Brayer classes that teach you step by step with precise videos to help bring the inner artist out in each of you.  The advanced class is in pre-release, save $10 until 10/24 here.  Similar Brayer Cards:

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I needed a custom size card and envelope for this card.  I didn’t want the creative scene to be too small.  So I started out by deciding how big my scene should be and built my card around that.  With the Envelope Punch Board I can make any size envelope I need, so I didn’t have to worry about that!  What a stress relief!  Click here for a quick video on how to make a custom sized envelope.  Here’s the Mojo Monday sketch and my project.

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Creative Tips –

  • Create the scene using Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky and Marina Mist, embossing powders, masks, a brayer and some sponges.  You will want to pop it up on dimensionals to help set it apart from the rest of the card.Warmth & Wonder Christmas Brayer Card 013
  • Sponging the various pieces of the card tied it together.  Sponging the creative scene draws the reader into it.
  • The background was sanded using the Stampin’ Sanding System in a random fashion. 
  • The circle was cut out with the Circle Collections Framelits – it’s the 3rd largest.Warmth & Wonder Christmas Brayer Card 014
  • To get the diagonal stripe on the vellum, use the Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder.
  • The ribbon is Soft Sky 1/2” Seam Binding Ribbon Warmth & Wonder Christmas Brayer Card 020
  • The little banner flags are made with paper from the Winter Frost Designer Series Paper Stack and the hexagon punch.  View a video to see how to make banner flags here
  • It was hard to figure out how to incorporate a greeting.  You don’t want to take away from the scene too much, so a simple banner with a greeting from this very set brought out to the circle worked well.Warmth & Wonder Christmas Brayer Card 007
  • Here is the card height so you can see the height of the various elements.
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    If you’d like to learn how to use your brayer along with many other tools to create little works of art like this one, check out all the classes we have.  We even have a bundle here at a huge savings!
    Have a creative day!
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Filed Under: Brayer, Cards, Challenges, Creative University, Mojo Monday, Online Class, Scenic Tagged: , , , , ,