Learn to Paint Your Own Holiday Cards! (plus the bloopers)

Paint Your Own Watercolor Holiday Cards (Bloopers)

Watercolor Greetings -the bloopers from Courtney Khail on Vimeo.

Good morning everybody!!I hope your past two days of the week have gone wonderfully and that you've adjusted to daylight savings. I've heard a lot of griping about it lately, but personally, I enjoyed the extra hour of sleep. Now the whole it getting dark super early thing? Well that's a little bit of a bummer I guess.

So the big news for today is that my holiday card class is now live! It launched today and when you sign up you'll learn how to make six different cards as well as get tips and techniques to use throughout the season. The classes are available for a full year when you order the class, so in case you are like me and sometimes get really behind on sending out Christmas cards (I just add in Happy New Year! and call it a day) then you can always just get a head start on next years. And then you can pat yourself on the back for being so on top of everything!

And of course, for your enjoyment, I've included my bloopers. Or some of them. It's amazing how many takes I have to do sometimes!

I hope to see you all there! 

Watercolor Holiday Cards... my new class!

 

filming for the class

I feel like there has been so much going on and yet, I haven't shared any of it with you. Every time I thought I'd have a second to write, another something would come up and I'd end up running out of time. Well I could have given up sleep, but if you know me at all you should know I love my sleep. So please forgive me and let me catch you all up.

Most of our days have been consumed with house projects. Winter's coming and we wanted to get everything possible done! We landscaped the front yard- it looks beautiful if I might say so myself- and hung up cafe lights in the backyard (well technically hung them up again. Our first method proved unstable and they came crashing down one random day. Fun times, fun times.) We've also been doing a lot of work to the roof since it's finicky and likes to leak. It really loved leaking on J's laptop which is now sitting on the kitchen table drying out while we hope for the best. Luckily we think we figured out the problem and hopefully the leaks are a thing of the past. Silver lining? I can now add roof repair to my resume so that's neat. Or random. Or both.

And then on top of that, I've been working on a secret side project (oh the suspense,) painting up a storm, and the biggest news... filming my newest watercolor class!!

That's right, guys. I am teaching another watercolor class on Jeanne Oliver's network! Since everyone seemed to have a great time with my other course (thank you again for all of your kind words. I was so touched that you all enjoyed it so much!) we decided to keep the fun going and offer another watercolor class.

register here!

This time, you get to learn to paint holiday cards!

Christmas time has always been my most favorite time of the year (so much so that J. and I got married 5 days before Christmas) so I am super pumped about this one. By the end of the course, you will have created six (6) different holiday cards and learned new techniques that you can use throughout the season (think gift tags, seating cards, etc.) And while the class has a Christmas overtone because that's what I personally celebrate, I'll make sure to show you how you can easily adapt everything I teach for Hanukkah, New Years, or whichever holiday you'd like!

The class begins on November 5th (just in time for the holidays) and I'd LOVE to have to all join me so make sure to register and save your spot today! (If the link doesn't work, simply go to www.jeanneoliver.ning and click on "Watercolor Greetings")

I can't wait to share this class with y'all! It's going to be so much fun.

But until then, have a great weekend! The temp dropped from 85 and beautiful yesterday to rainy and cold today so we're thinking it's a good movie day. And of course, tomorrow we'll be cheering on the Dawgs to beat LSU! Any big plans for your weekend?

from the studio: a bouquet painting for Christmas

via courtney khail

Just looked up from painting and realized that it's already past 6p and I haven't said hello today! Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well that and the fact I have 90's hip hop playing kind of puts me in the "zone." (Speaking of, whatever happened to Lauren Hill?) Anyhow, back to the point. A little while ago my wonderful father in law emailed me about creating a painting of my mother in law's wedding bouquet, which of course I was ecstatic to do. Her bouquet has always reminded me of Christmas because of the lilies and deep greens and reds, so I agreed it would be a perfect Christmas present. After a few sketches and rough drafts, this is what evolved. What do you guys think?

A little bit about my in laws (who will celebrate another anniversary this January!)- They met in Germany at a wedding of a mutual friend. I believe my FIL actually came with another date, but once he saw my MIL he promptly ended the date. Of course, seeing as he was just stationed in Germany before heading to Vietnam, he wasn't exactly fluent in German. And by not fluent, I mean he had to ask someone to translate just to talk to her that night. (If I remember correctly, he learned by watching a lot of German T.V.) Regardless, after that night he just kept showing up at my MIL's childhood home, asking her parents if he could take her out on a date. Apparently it worked and the two were married shortly after in her hometown church. Oh, and in perfect German fashion they had a polka band. That's right, polka and beer. Sounds like a party to me!

Merry Christmas

via dust jacket attic

Merry Christmas everyone!!

For the first time since our honeymoon*, we aren't spending Christmas with our families. Due to a complicated work schedule, it was best for us to stay in Denver and start our own family traditions. (One in particular: J. and I collect an ornament from each place we travel/an ornament to represent something from that year. It's so fun to see all we've done together!) And although a little strange to be on our own, it's also kind of exciting. After dinner last night, J. and I cuddled up and watched Home Alone (is this toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association?) while a blanket of snow fell outside. (It's our first white Christmas so I may or may not have continuously looked out the window, smiling and jumping up and down a little.) As for today, two of our other friends also couldn't head back to their parents for the holidays so they're coming over for Christmas dinner. I cannot wait to host our first "grown up" Christmas- feels like such a milestone. Have any of you ever experienced that?

(Oh! Also, there is apparently a house just a little while away that coordinated it's lights to a radio station that I'm going to try to talk everyone into going to see. If that goes well, I may even suggest an epic snowball fight.)

What about you all? Any big Christmas plans or traditions you're excited about?

*Since we were married so close to Christmas, we actually spent our first Christmas as husband and wife lounging by a pool with frozen drinks.

DIY glitter tree tutorial

Yep, I'm obsessed with decorating for Christmas. And thanks to last week's project, I had some extra gold glitter paper just sitting around so I figured I'd make something with it! You can make this with any thick paper you have (you know, in case you're not in love with glitter) and they literally take like 5 minutes. Maybe 10 if you cut really slowly.

1. Grab your paper and your scissors

2. Draw out a Christmas tree (excuse the wonkiness. This is what happens when you try to draw while looking through a camera.)

3-4. Cut out the first tree, trace it onto the second piece of paper, and then cut that out so you have two identical Christmas tree shapes (or if you're feeling fancy, you could do this whole tutorial with present shapes)

5. On one tree, cut from the top down about an inch. On the second tree, cut from the bottom up- stopping just a little more than an inch from the top.

6. Slide them together and adjust so they stand upright

7. Go have a cookie, pat yourself on the back for being so incredibly talented, and begin planning your future crafting empire. Or just eat the cookie.

Studio Sneak Peek: holiday party

copyright courtney khail stationery and design

Let's go ahead and not point out the fact that it's January 17th.. almost exactly one month AFTER this party took place and instead focus on the fact that it's red and white and therefore completely fits with the whole Valentine's Day theme. (Sounds a whole lot better than "Sorry I just got around to uploading this one, guys. I was snowed in all last week and instead of remembering I made mini snowmen like this one

(like the pipe cleaner? yea. me too.)

and watched a lot of bad tv. Speaking of which, is there really a show where brides compete for PLASTIC SURGERY?! What have we come to?! And if that wasn't bad enough, then the 4 brides compete for the "best wedding" show came on. It was about that time when I turned to magazines, only to be hit with "What was Prince Charles thinking when he gave his mother's ring to Kate?! Doesn't he know it's a symbol of a marriage filled with infidelity blah blah blah?" No people, I don't think that's what he was going for. Instead, I think he was thinking, "I want to marry this woman and I happen to also have this kick a** ring that not only is beautiful, but also is one of the only possessions I have left of my mom's. Because of all of that, I think the woman I love should wear it."* HONESTLY. The ring doesn't have to be a diamond to promise love and devotion and it's a little tacky to state in a magazine that it should be one.)

Anyhow, now that I've gotten that off of my chest back to the invitation.

Every year my sister throws a holiday party and this year I decided to help her out with invitations. We were under a tight time line (as in they needed to be designed, printed, assembled and mailed within 2 days) so hand painting was out and instead I tried to keep it as simple as possible.

Not sure my sister would agree that tying candy canes to each one was simple, but overall I think they came out great (despite a little discrepancy of colors between the string and the printing. Apparently no one else besides us noticed, but as I've said before, I'm a little neurotic when it comes to my work and therefore it kind of bugs me. But only a little or else I wouldn't share them.)

Hope you enjoy them!

studio sneak peek

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas weekend! My parents came up and we had our 2nd annual Atlanta based Christmas celebration complete with an incredibly tasty (if I do say so myself) family brunch at our home, present opening by the fire (you know where the bad gifts go! Just kidding. Seriously, how sad would that be? Not to mention we all got amazingly thoughtful and wonderful gifts) and then a huge dinner at my aunt and uncles house that night. It was so great getting to see everyone (we even got to see J's parents and brother for a little while) and just hang out together. (And thanks to the storms across the country, it snowed this year! Which made for my first true white Christmas. There's just something so magical about snow. It makes everything seem so still and clean (and makes me  just want to curl up by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate... which is precisely what we did.) Side note: Have I mentioned Christmas is my favorite holiday? Because it is. Everything and everyone just seems happier and joyful and full of cheer. (Heck, even the strangers ducking behind columns to hide from the change collecting Salvation Army Santa are smiling.) Wonderful time of year all around.

So back to the point. Now that all of the gifts have been opened, I can share this and not worry that someone is going to accidentally ruin the surprise.

Each year I make my dad a calendar, and this year I wanted to do something a little different. (And I mean a little. I am a watercolor artist; there is going to be some repetition haha) So in addition to the watercolor backgrounds, I also marked specific days of importance on the calendar (my parent's anniversary, our birthdays, valentine's day etc.) and attached magnets on the back for easy frig hanging. (And of course, after making them I kind of wanted some for myself too.) Here's how they turned out:

(excuse the lighting. I posted two photos together...)

craving: gingerbread airstreams

via here discovered on black eiffel

If nothing says Christmas decor quite like a gingerbread house, then nothing says hipster like a gingerbread airstream. What a great idea!