Free Plaid Painting Class and Discount Code on their Live Facebook Feed

Project Photo by @plaid

If you have every wanted to attend one of those fun painting party, paint and sip, girls night out painting events or just plain paint, then you are going to love the free live painting class being hosted by Plaid on their facebook page feed. 

The theme is Learn to Paint: ‘Peace, Love & Avocado's’ a Live Stream Paint Along.  It is hosted by Plaid Crafts on:    Thursday, August 2, 2018 at 7:30 pm Eastern (4:30 pm Pacific time).  The limited time discount code is:  PWPAUGUST2018 for 30% off (check website for  any limitations).

You may already have some of these colors for this month's theme.  The list of suggested Folk Art Paints can be found on the Plaid website .

In addition, you may need some of the following

• Grid avocado pattern
• 12" x 12" stretched canvas ( I am painting this on wood)
• Palette
• Water basin
• Paper towels
• Stencil tape
• Hair dryer (optional).

The costs of the supplies is around $30 but if you already have some of them then it is less. However, I think this is a great deal.  I have paid $45 for a painting class and that amount only paid for the class and not the supplies.  So for me a less than $30 (I already own some of the paint colors)  investment for my daughter and I do to the painting class is a great deal.

Free Plaid Facebook Live Paint Class Link for July 2018

Photo by @Plaid

If you have every wanted to attend one of those fun painting party, paint and sip, girls night out painting events or just plain paint, then you are going to love the free live painting class being hosted by Plaid on their facebook feed at 

http://bit.ly/2u63N4V.  

The theme is Learn to Paint: ‘Serene Summer’ a Live Stream Paint Along.  It is hosted by Plaid Crafts on:    Thursday, July 12, 2018 at 7:30 pm Eastern (4:30 pm Pacific time).

You may already have some of these colors for this month's theme.  The list of suggested supplies is:

FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Parchment, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Titanium White, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Aqua, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Calypso Sky, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Ocean View, 2 oz.
Mod Podge ® Gloss, 8 oz.

Folkart ® Brush Set - Artist Variety Set, 10 pc.
Folkart ® Brush Set - Basecoating Set, 2 pc. 

and a surface to paint on.

The costs of the supplies is around $30 but if you already have some of them then it is less. However, I think this is a great deal.  I have paid $45 for a painting class and that amount only paid for the class and not the supplies.  So a $30 investment for my daughter and I do to the painting class is a great deal.  

Below is what Plaid has posted on their Facebook page:

Watch to paint along “Summer Memories” with us in just one hour during our FREE Live Stream paint party class on Thurs., July 12, 2018, at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT! #PaintWithPlaid is the ultimate night in with friends or family, or it’s a chance to nourish your own soul with a creative escape. Make your art extra special by optionally adding sand and shells from your favorite beach trip with Mod Podge. Get the supply list below, and we can’t wait for you to join us! 

COMPLETE SUPPLY LIST + SHOP SUPPLIES: 
http://bit.ly/summer-memories-supplies

DISCOUNT CODE: Use code PWPJUL2018 to save 30% and receive free shipping on orders over $35. Expires 7/31/2018. Cannot be combined with any other offer. See site for details. 

Note: All supplies equate to ~$30. But you certainly won't use all the paint and your brushes will last a long while! Split the cost with friends and you're in for a super fun & frugal night!

HOW TO WATCH: Visit our Facebook page (NOT this event listing) at the time/date listed to watch the live stream: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredByPlaid/

CAN’T WATCH LIVE? Replay on demand in the 'videos' section AFTER the stream concludes: https://www.facebook.com/pg/InspiredByPlaid/videos

SHARE YOUR WORK: Post it on our Facebook page or tag #PaintWithPlaid on any social channel!

REPLAY PAST PAINT NIGHT CLASSES: http://bit.ly/Paint-With-Plaid

Anyway, this month they are doing something new, by incorporating sand and seashells into the project.  I don't have a lot of table space in my house so I have to limit the display items I have.  I am loving that this is a painting and I can hang it on the wall.   I think it will be fun to display it on my wall to bring a little of the beach into the home.  By the way, if you end up painting the project, don't forget to use the hashtag #PaintWithPlaid so that they can see what everyone has created. 

Disclaimer:  I do not work for Plaid. I am not sponsored by them.  I just enjoy their product line and love taking advantage of these live feeds.  

Folk Art Color Shift Christmas Ornament Tutorial

I found that the new  "Folk Art Color Shift" paint line is perfect for making last-minute Christmas Ornaments.  They have a fun finish that works so well with the clear glass ornaments that can be found at my local Michael's Craft Store.  My dogs got a hold of the Christmass tree and managed to break some of the ornaments, so I figured I would make some inexpensive replacements and write out a brief tutorial on how I made them using the Folk Art Color Shift paints.

Here is the list of supplies I used:
Folk Art color shift Paint - Orange Flash
Folk Art Brushed Metal Paint - Brushed Antique Gold
Folk Art Junky Glitter in Gold
Clear Glass Ornaments
Christmas Tree Sparkle Stickers

Step 1:
I removed the metal bits from the ornament.  Since the paint, I am using is rather thick, I covered the end of the ornaments with a piece of aluminum foil so that I could reposition the balls out during the day to make the paint move onto different areas of the ball without letting the paint dry out right away. I did this with each ball.

Step 2:
I squeezed a bit of paint into the ball and let it swirl around. I did this to all the balls, using one paint at a time.

Step 3:
I allowed paint to dry before adding next color.

Note: this is how I did it but you could add the paint while the other is not dry to create some fun marbling techniques.

Step 4:
Once I used all the colors that I wanted on the balls, I allowed them to dry out completely.

Step 5:
Add a sticker

Step 6:
To finish I just put the metal top back onto the ornaments and hung them on the wreath and tree.

I really enjoyed working with the new color shift paints. They are pretty easy to use and you can get some fun effects with them. You can not really tell from my photos just how cool this paint really is. My daughter is trying them out on her comic con costume to see what results she can get from them. I will let you know how that works out.

Disclaimer:  This tutorial is not sponsored. I paid for everything except the color shift paint which was sent to me to test out by Plaid.

If you are interested in other Plaid products I have reviewed, please feel free to use the search key on this page and put in a search for "Plaid".  There is also a review of the plaid gallery glass window paints and folk art enamels.

Plaid Paint Products Unboxing & Review

Plaid Enterprises recently sent me some of their paint products to sample the include some bottles from 2017 new product line. I was thrilled to receive a boxful of Plaid Enterprises Paint Products in the mail to unbox and Review.  There is an excellent sampling of a variety of paint products and a portable loom kit.

The first item in the box is the new FolkArt Stencil Sprays which were released in March 2017.  These stencil sprays come in a plastic 2 oz tube that has a spray pump on the end.

I like that it is long and skinny because I can put sprays into a jar to keep them together on the go.  Anyway, the colors I got in my box are: Bright Red (6186), Yellow (6182) and Brown (6195).  There are a total of seventeen colors in this new line.

I used a Waverly Inspirations Laser Stencil called Floral (60514E).  I find the Waverly stencils are perfect to use in my watercolor paper journal because they are a flexible plastic that lets me place them on a variety of surfaces.  Plus they are super easy to clean up after use.  I decided to test them out on a journal page to see how they worked.  These FolkArt Stencil Spray paints work great with stencils but you have to remember to hold the spray bottle at least 8 inches away if you want to get a fun splotched paint look like the one below.

If you spray closer then you can also achieve different looks just by adjusting how hard to spray and where you spray the paint.

The clean up from using these paints is pretty easy. I just wipe off the paint from the stencil with a wet paper towel.

The second set of paints in my box were 5 bottles of the Plaid Fabric Creations soft Fabric Ink in yellow (25985), Poppy (25977), Tangerine (25983), Carnation (25974), and Shamrock (25988).  The Fabric Creations Soft Fabric Inks are really pigmented inks that can be layered to achieve more opaque effects.  I wanted to test out the fabric inks that came in the box, so I used a brush to add some of the paint onto my journal page which is a cold press watercolor paper.

I set aside to dry and decided to see how well it worked with the Wavery Stencils.

I wanted the page to dry faster, so I decided to put a paper towel onto the page and I think the results are pretty cool.

The page came out great and these inks work great on the watercolor paper.

I wanted to test the fabric ink on some fabric so I grabbed an organza flower hair clip which had a bit of paint that had stained part of the flower.

As you can, the Plaid Fabric Creations Ink worked well on the organza fabric and the paint stain is a lot less noticeable.

It will be even less noticeable once I spray a bit of glitter onto it.

The third product line in my box were a set of four 2 oz bottles of the new FolkArt Pickling Wash in Driftwood (5824), Champagne; Stormy Sky (5825) and Papillon (5821).  These paints create a transparent wash of color on wood and other natural surfaces that are natural and porous (baskets, unfinished wood, straw, etc).  The instructions for use are pretty simple, just shake and paint onto the porous surface.

Allow to dry for 20 to 30 seconds (depending on how much color you want the surface to absorb) and then wipe with a soft clean cloth.

According to the bottle, it will cure within 24 hours. The FolkArt Pickling Wash were released in March 2017 and will be available at Michaels in June 2017.

The fourth product included in my box was 2 oz bottles of the FolkArt Glaze in Cafe Noir (5799) and Cream Puff (5798).  The FolkArt Glaze creates an antique finish on wood and other natural porous surfaces.

I decided to test them on the piece of wood frame that I had painted with the pickling wash (once it had cured for the 24 hours).  the Folk Art Glaze is pretty easy to use. I shook the bottle and just painted the surface with the glaze.  I used a piece of soft fabric to soak up the excess and set it aside to dry.  I found that the wood surface sucked up the glaze fairly quickly.   Once it dried it left a really nice satin finish on the piece.

The fifth product included in the box was 2 oz bottles of Leather Studio Acrylic paint for leather and vinyl.  The colors included in my box were Ruby (71435), Cobalt (71433), Yellow (71417), Metallic Pure Gold (71430) and a high gloss finish (71451).  I did not get a chance to test them out but when I switched the paint onto the watercolor paper, it was pretty pigmented.  I will post a future review and project using these paints in the future.

The last product included in the box from Plaid is a "Weave It n' Leave It" kit from Bucilla.  I am especially excited about this kit because I have always wanted to learn weaving but I did not know enough about weaving to figure out what all I needed to purchase to create anything. These kits are completely inclusive and have everything you need to create the featured project.

This kit contains:

• mini wood oval loom
• plastic needle
• 100% acrylic yarn in various colors
• 100% cotton warp string

and easy to follow instructions with great step by step photos.  I also like that they include some tips for newbies in their directions.  I will do another post in the future showing how I made the kit and the final piece.

I would like to thank Plaid Enterprises for their generosity in providing me with all this product to do some future projects and posts with.

Note: I do not work for Plaid Enterprises. These products were sent to me for my honest review and use.

DIY Half Pumpkin Crafts - Halloween Sparkly Spider Craft Tutorial

My local Michaels store put their half pumpkins on sale for 60% off, and then we were able to apply a 20% off the entire purchase, so we bought quite a few of these fun to create some fun half pumpkin halloween craft projects and use up the Folk Art Home Decor chalk Paint.  This tiny 2 ounce bottle really seems to cover a lot of surfaces.    We have been having fun coming up with ways to use this paint and loved adding it to our family Halloween craft stash.  This particular sparkly spider themed half pumpkin door decoration is one of the projects we came up with and it is pretty easy to make.

Materials Needed:

• Harvest Market – Half Pumpkin (Michaels Stores)
• Fabric Leaves (dollar store)
• Plastic spider rings (dollar store)
• Large Plastic glitter covered spiders (dollar store)
• Jewel Bling Strips (eyelet outlet)
• Small rhinestones

Supplies Needed:

• Folk Art Home Décor Chalk Paint in Rich Black
• 1 “ Plaid Mod Podge Tools Foam Brush
• A6000 glue
• Glue Gun
• Scissors

  

Step 1:

Remove tags from the pumpkin and clean it off. Then, using the foam brush, paint the pumpkin with some broad strokes of the Rich Black Folk Art Home Décor Chalk Paint.  Make sure to leave a lot of white space on the pumpkin.

Step 2:

Use the scissors to snip off the plastic ring part off of the spiders.

Step 3:

Use the A6000 glue to adhere a rhinestone onto the back of each spider.

Step 4:

Using the A6000 or the Glue Gun, adhere the black leaves onto the top of the pumpkin.

Step 5:

Carefully lay out the jewel strips, making sure to vary the lengths. Remove the plastic backing and adhere to half pumpkin. 

Step 6:

Using the hot glue gun, carefully glue the spiders onto the ends of the jewel strips.  Be careful not to get burned or to melt the spiders.

Step 7:

Adhere the Large Spider to the top of the pumpkin. Be careful to place it where it won’t interfere with the how the pumpkin hangs.

Step 8:
Hang the Halloween Spider Themed Pumpkin on your door and enjoy.

Note:  I paid for everything used in this project except the Folk Art Home Décor Chalk Paint in Rich Black.  Thank you to the folks at Plaid who sent me this cool 2 oz bottle of chalk paint, so far we are loving it. For more Halloween Crafting ideas, check out Plaid online or my Halloween Pinterest page.

A Nautical Themed Fathers Day Project Idea: An Anchor Shaped Coat Hook Tutorial

If you are looking for a fun and creative gift for Fathers Day easy craft project idea for personalizing an unfinished wood monogrammed anchor and turning it into a decorative robe hook, then this is the perfect gift idea for the nautical person in your life.

This project is pretty easy to make and just requires a little planning if you want to order a wooden Anchor like the one I am using here.  The anchor is from the Unfinished Wood Co. in Georgia.  Their products can be found online and in some craft stores.  If you are unable to find the monogrammed hook, you can find any similar shaped hook and monogram it yourself, using paints and your favorite font.

For this project, I am partnering with Plaid Crafts who have supplied the paints, brushes and anchor for this easy to do project.

Supplies:

·      Anchor Monogram

·      Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in 34880 Cascade (Ultra Matte)

·      Folk Art Home Decor Wax Paint in White

·      Folk Art Home Decor Wax Paint in Clear

·      Folk Art Outdoor Gloss Acrylic Paint in Pure Gold (1654)

·      Folk Art Home Décor small Wax Brush

·      Natural Jute Cord

·      Robe Hooks

·      2 Screws

·      Drill

·      3/32 Drill Bit sized to the screws

·      Medium grit sandpaper or sanding sponge

·      Fine grit sandpaper or sanding sponge

·      Pencil

·      Screw driver

Step 1:

 Using a sanding sponge or sand paper in fine grit, sand the entire surface of the wood piece (this hook was pretty smooth and only needed a little sanding).

Step 2:

 Before painting the surface of the anchor, remove any dust or sanding residue left on the surface of the wood.  Paint two coats of the Cascade Chalk Paint and allow the paint to dry between coats.

Step 3:

 Take the medium grit sand paper and sand the areas of the hook that you want to look worn.  I did all the edges of the anchor that I wanted the wood beneath to show through and some of the surface.

Optional: If you want a more worn effect, use the screw driver to leave some dents onto the surface of the anchor.

Step 4:

Paint the monogramed center of the Anchor with the Gold Paint.  Apply enough layers to make it opaque. 

Step 5:

Using the small wax brush, apply a thin layer of the Folk Art white Wax on the outer area of the anchor (make sure not to get any on the Initial) and immediately remove any excess wax with a clean soft cloth.  Make sure you are careful during this process and allow the white to remain in the surface recesses.  Set aside and allow it to dry.

Step 6:

To seal and protect the anchor project, apply a very thin coat of the clear wax paint to the entire surface of the anchor, let dry for about an hour. Then use a very soft clean cloth and work a small area at a time to buff it out to a nice shine.  Allow the wax to cure for seven days before taking it outside or exposing it to moisture.

Step 7: 

Place the hook in the desired location on the anchor. Using a pencil, mark the hole locations.  Using the 3/32 Drill Bit, make pilot holes.  Then remove any dust left on project from sanding and drilling the pilot holes.   Then attach the hook to the anchor.

Step 8:

To finish the project, I wrapped some of the anchor with natural jute cord and added a bow that was embellished with shells that my kids had collected on one of our trips.

TIP:  You can change out the bow for each season, to change the look of the anchor.