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?

My watercolor class in live!

Come Watercolor with Me! from Courtney Khail on Vimeo.

Hey everyone! Today is such a super exciting day- my watercolor class is finally live! So if you've ever wanted to learn watercolors, just need a refresher, or maybe you just skipped the gym this morning and feel like you should do something- come on over!  It's only $10, it's all online so you could be in your pjs if you wanted to be, and you have the videos for 6 MONTHS so you are in absolutely no rush.

Sound good? Awesome. Let's go get painting.

(Sign up at www.jeanneoliver.ning.com)

The Most Amazing Biscuit Ever (Recipe)

The Best Biscuit Recipe Ever

As I'm typing this, I'm watching the clouds roll in for what's predicted to be a "really big snow storm." Come on Mother Nature. I love snow just as much as the next person, but ski season is officially over (as of this past weekend) and therefore you must go away too. It's time for sunshine and flowy dresses. But since the weather apparently doesn't agree, I decided to throw on an apron, crank up some rap music and bake. (In case you weren't aware, baked goods love rap. It's like plants and classical music. Just trust me on this. You put on Bach and your biscuits will be flat. You sing "Baby Got Back" to them and they'll plump up. Okay, I'm kidding, but at least you'll be less guilty about downing your goods after dancing around for an hour to some old school tunes.)

So back to the biscuits. I mean business when it comes to biscuits. Don't give me some dry, flat thing and say it's a biscuit. If they aren't puffed up, delicate, and filled with enough butter to give you a heart attack, it's not a biscuit. It's sad breakfast bread and you might as well have made dry toast. Of course, seeing as we now live a mile above sea level, I wasn't exactly sure how my biscuits would work up here. But, a friend gave us homemade jam for a housewarming gift and I refused to let it go to waste on some dry toast. (It's good jam, people. It deserves good bread.) Plus I had lavender that I really wanted to cook with so I figured I'd try my hand at buttery, lavender biscuits.

And ohmygod they were so good. Like, freeze some so you can eat them every morning good. So yea. Let's get to those.

lavender biscuits via courtney khail

Do what this photo says. If you can't read my handwriting, let me know and I'll walk you through it. If your dough seems really dry, add some more milk. (Outkast's"Ms. Jackson" came on right about now so I'm not really sure how much extra I put in. Let's guestimate 2 tablespoons give or take 1/4 cup. It needs to form a ball, not be a crumbly mess.)

Flatten the dough out on a floured surface and cut out your biscuits. Technically, you're supposed to use a drinking glass "so the edges don't smush together and they really rise" but I think that's a little nit picky. Plus, I like my simple round cookie cutter.

cutting biscuits via courtney khail

Put them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. Mine were done in 13.

Pull them out and try not to burn yourself as you devour them. (They are best hot out of the oven, so freeze whatever you're not going to eat right away and just add 2ish minutes to the baking time.)

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.

from the studio: diy watercolor halloween cards

I'm kind of obsessed with sending mail (I'm guessing that doesn't come as a huge shock.) but seriously, nothing is better than receiving real mail that isn't a bill or an election flyer. That in mind, I wanted to share a super simple diy watercolor halloween card with you all today. Seriously, it's so easy that you could whip a few of these out today and have them in the mail for your friends to get by Wednesday. Or maybe even just whip up a few and put them in your neighbors mailboxes Wednesday morning to let them know you're excited to see them during trick-or-treating/at the party/etc. It's all about the little things!

From the Studio: DIY Watercolor Shamrock Bouquets

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner and given that I'm Irish (or partly- have a little French and English too) I've always loved the holiday. It may be because for as long as I can remember my dad, my sister, and me walked in the parade (complete with Irish American Heritage sashes on) as my mom waved from the sidelines. Or maybe it was because the whole day was filled with merriment, laughter, and good food (I for one love corned beef and cabbage with boiled potatoes.) Whatever it was, the day holds some of my fondest childhood memories and therefore still makes me all happy when it finally arrives. Because of that, I thought I'd play around with painting different compositions of shamrocks and share my favorite with you all. In the end, I created a shamrock bouquet (complete with a twine bow) for you all to share the luck of the Irish with your friends and family. Enjoy!

Step 1: Gather your supplies. You'll need blue and yellow paint (or just green if you want to take the easy way out,) water, a brush, a piece of watercolor paper, twine, yarn, or string, and a needle. I used an upholstery needle because the eye was large enough for my twine and the needle was sturdy enough to poke through the paper.

Step 2: Make green paint (by mixing yellow and blue together) and paint a shamrock. I know we all learned this in elementary school, but in case that was just my school, a shamrock is simply 3 (or 4) hearts connected together at their base. Let it fully dry before continuing. (This is when I did a load of laundry)

Step 3: Add some more yellow to the green paint (just to add some interest) and paint a second shamrock. Let dry (and if you're me, put the clean clothes in the dryer.)

Step 4: Add some more blue this time, and paint a third shamrock. Don't be afraid to let them overlap. It creates a really pretty layering affect.

Step 5: After everything is dry, thread your needle. Coming from the back of the card, poke the twine through the paper just to the left of the stems.

Step 6: Thread the other end of the twine and repeat- coming through on the right right of the stems.

Step 7: Tie the two ends into a bow and cut any extra twine that may be there.

Step 8: Write a message and send off to someone who needs some luck. (Might I even suggest a gold or green envelope? Because that would make this even better. Oh! Or maybe package everything up and fill it with gold chocolate coins and rainbow colored shredded paper. The possibilities are endless...)

From the Studio: DIY Watercolor Valentine's

Every year I make my own Valentine's. Something about the glue and the glitter and the paint transports me back to the days of elementary school where every one makes a "Valentine Box" and gives EVERY single person in their class a card. (I know some people may think that it's annoying to have to give everyone a card, but I remember seeing how happy and surprised some kids were to get cards and it always made me smile.) And to be honest, unlike a lot of people, I love Valentine's Day. Not the whole "I have to buy you chocolates and a cheap card or else I don't love you" mentality sometimes adopted, but the idea that for one whole day you get to go overboard in showing how much you care about someone. Or someone's. My family is really big on Valentine's Day. Like wake up to a Valentine's Day celebration complete with presents before school kind of big. What can I say, we're saps when it comes to love. Anyhow, back to the point. Given that I make Valentine's every year, I thought I would show you all a creative (and really simple) way to make some for yourself. (I taught this trick to my Alt classes as a test run and it went really well so hopefully it does for you too!)

Step One: Get all of your stuff together. You'll need paper (I wanted an A2 sized card so my paper is 8.5"x5.5" but you can use whatever size you have) a watercolor brush, watercolor paint, a bone folder (or credit card. No reason to buy something you don't absolutely need) masking fluid and an old small paintbrush that you don't care if it gets ruined because it will. If you'd like to feel fancy, feel free to place some glittery hearts around- you know, for the mood.

Step Two: Using your bone folder, fold your paper in half and crease the edges. I did a vertical fold, but horizontal would work well too.

Step Three: Using the brush you're going to ruin, paint a design on your paper using masking fluid. It doesn't need to be super thick, but you'll want to make sure the fluid makes a complete solid layer wherever you place it. I did X's and O's because my parents used to play tic tac toe over the phone when they were dating long distance and I always associate that with love and therefore Valentine's Day.

Step Four: After it has FULLY dried-test with the back of your hand never the front because it will leave oil behind and water and oil don't mix- combine a dime sized amount of watercolor paint with clean water and use that to paint over the entire design.

Step Five: Once the paint is completely dry, take a regular white eraser (or any eraser, I just like that you don't have to worry about color transferring with a white one) gently erase away the masking fluid. It should start acting a lot like rubber cement does when you rub that away. After the entire card is erased clean of masking fluid, dust off any left over residue.

Step Six: Step back and take a moment to admire your handiwork.

See? Super easy. And if you'd like, add some glitter, write a message inside and mail it off to a deserving loved one. I'd suggest in a pretty red or pink envelope because that makes it even more awesome to receive.

All photos copyright of courtney khail stationery and design. Feel free to re-post, but please give credit and be sure to link back to this post.

DIY picnic tote

I'm huge fan of all the beautiful and unique picnic bags popping up lately, butcouldn't bring myself to buy another bag when I already own too many (I'm really working on the "less is more" philosophy.) Instead, I decided to take an old canvas tote I already owned and make it over. So here is how it turned out!

via personal collection

Step 1: Get a plain tote. This one (from LL Bean) used to be my grandmother's, but she handed it over to me awhile back because she never used it. Instead of taking off her initials (which I kind of like) I simply turned the bag around to the blank side. If you wanted though, you could pull out the seam ripper and go to town removing the monogram. I just didn't think it was necessary.

via personal collection

Step 2: Sketch out what you would like on the bag in pencil. I went with the whole "looking into an open picnic basket," but you could draw out wine bottles, loaves of bread, herbs...whatever you'd like. I'm a big proponent of drawing from life though, so I pulled out the mismatched flatware, the wine opener etc. to make sure everything would look close to how it should. (For me, this was most important for the buckle around the plates. I drew a blank when trying to remember what it should look like and had to bring out a belt!)

via personal collection

Step 3: Trace over your sketch with a Sharpie. You could probably use a fabric pen, but I didn't have one handy. (As an artist though, I always have sharpies around!) I decided to use two sizes- thick and thin- to create more depth in the objects. Pick where you'd like the light source to come from (thanks to studying scientific illustration, I almost always have it coming from the top left) and use the thick Sharpie on all of the areas that should have a shadow. For me, that meant I used it on the right side of my objects. Once that's done, use the thin Sharpie to finish the other parts and to add delicate details to the flatware, plates etc. I kept going and added more values to the straps etc, but that's not necessary. I just thought it made everything pop a little more!

Step 4: If you feel like it, erase your pencil marks. I didn't care if you could see the sketch so I didn't worry about it, but if it bothers you, feel free!

via personal collection

Step 5: Step back, marvel in your handiwork, and get to planning a picnic so you can show off your new bag! Hope you all enjoy!!