Teaching Schedule 2018

Hi Everybody, I wanted to make sure that my teaching calendar is posted for dates that I have for the remainder of 2018.  My classes are fun and very informative.  You'll learn lots of methods and techniques for creating art! 

Happy Crafters here...we just made Color Burst Galaxy Cards!

Serious creativity going on here...check out that photo-bomb!

My classes are great for all skill levels and for all ages...I love it when kids come to class too.

I hope to see you in a class sometime soon.  I still have some dates to fill for 2018. And, I am already booking dates for 2019. If you'd like to find out about having a class in your town, shoot an email to me at ken@kenolivercrafts.com or contact your local scrapbook, stamp, art supply shop and let them know. 

Thank you for stopping by today...make sure to spend some time on your creative pursuits today too, it will do you good! 

Watercolor Backgrounds: Tips and Techniques

No matter your crafting style, a great watercolor background is often the best foundation for cardmaking, art journals, bible journals, or scrapbook layouts.  Watercolor can be brilliant and bold, or subtle. 
All too often, I hear students say they're afraid to try their hand at watercolor washes and backgrounds.

I put together a live video today, with a few tips and techniques that will take some mystery out of watercolor backgrounds. 
You'll be surprised because I used some mediums that you typically would not think of using for watercolor backgrounds.  I used Color Burst, Color Burst Ink Pads, Liquid Watercolors and Color Burst Ink from a refill bottle.

You'll have to watch, the results are beautiful and easy to replicate over and over. 

Thank you for joining me today!  I hope you're inspired to create a few watercolor backgrounds for your next crafting project. 

Color a Card with Cut 'n Color Stamp and Die Sets, Tree of Life

Hey everybody, I hope you're having a great day! I am having an artful day in my workroom, creating shaped cards with my newest die and stamp sets...this set is called Tree of Life.  You can use the stamp and coordinating dies for lots of projects ranging from cards to mixed media art.

These sets are beautiful and intricately detailed.  I designed them especially for coloring.  You can color with Color Burst, watercolors, or your favorite markers.

To get started, I stamped the Tree of Life image on my Water Media Paper from Canvas Corp. with Archival Ink.  You'll want to use a permanent ink that it waterproof and won't run when you color over it.

 



 Then, I colored using my newest Color Burst colors, Rich Moroccan Shades.  The color palette is beautiful and includes Cadmium Scarlet, Cerulean Blue, Gamboge, Olive Green, Burnt Umber and Lamp Black.  And, I colored with a watercolor brush and water. 

 

When I'd finished coloring, I cut a shaped card from my Water Media Paper and cut out the colored image with the die set. Before I cut the die, I applied Stick It adhesive to the back side of the Water Media Paper...it really makes gluing intricate die cuts very easy. 

I made a couple examples for you to see...one with a background of Cerulean Blue, and one with a background of Gamboge.

If you'd like to see how I made these cards, please watch this Facebook Live broadcast from my Facebook page Ken Oliver Crafts. And, make sure to LIKE my page.  

The stamps and dies are brand new and will ship next week, so make sure to ask your local retailer to pre-order them for you.  You will love coloring and cutting these dies! 

 Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderfully crafty day! 

Ken

Spread Love with Color Burst

Giovana Smith is back today with another great card made using Color Burst and the Water Media Paper.

Here Giovana explains how she created this great card.

I started stamping the little heart on a piece of Water Media Paper in Versamark ink and added White embossing powder, then I color the background with Alizarin Crimson and the heart with Fuchsia Color Burst. Then I took a Water Media Bookmark and added Metallic Sky, Yellow Gold and Iron Oxide Liquid Metals, set aside to dry and then stamped the sentiment in Walnut Ink.

'Grace' Card using Color Burst

Creative Team Member Giovana Smith shares with us a card she made using new stamps from Latina Crafter and Color Burst and Liquid Metals. 

Here Giovana gives us the instructions

Grace Card

I started stamping the flower on a piece of paper, cut it out and used it for masking. Then I stamped the flower several times on a piece of Water Media Paper in Versamark Ink and added White Embossing powder, I did the same with the leaves. I colored the flowers with Ultramarine Blue and the leaves with Terra Verte Color Burst , the outside areas was colored with Indigo Color Burst.

I stamped the sentiment and the little butterfly with Turquoise Click It Ink Pad. 

I added a scallop border, twine and rhinestones, finally added the panel to a Ivory card base. 

Ken Oliver Crafts May Challenge Day 6

Welcome to day 6 of the May Challenge, we will be sharing projects by our Creative Team for their monthly challenge.  

The theme this month is 'May Flowers' and the to make it a 'light' challenge they could use any Ken Oliver Craft products alongside products from ANY other manufacturer

Now it's your turn to get in on the fun!
 Facebook or Instagram with the tag #kenolivermaychallenge or email your submissions to sharon@kenolivercrafts.com.  You could win some Color Burst for your stash.  

The deadline for submissions is June 3rd. Winners will be announced her on the blog and Facebook on June 6th.

Today we have a project from

Jeanne Streiff

Supplies: 

Cut 'n Color - Poppy Flower Stamp

Cut 'n Color - Poppy Flower Die

Color Burst: Lemon Yellow, Aquamarine Blue, Lime, Terre Verte, Alizarin Crimson, Tangerine, Merlot

Stick-it

Best Ever Craft Mat

5 x 7” Ken Oliver Crafts/Canvas Corp Water Media paper

Birthday Greetings

Creative Team member Jeanne Streiff has created a beautiful watercolor card, the base card is from the Ken Oliver range of Stitched Water Media Greetings cards.  

Jeanne has a tutorial over on her blog here.

Supplies

Color Burst - Lemon Yellow, Sepia, Terre Verte,

Liquid Metals - Metallic Jade, Metallic Saffron

Stick-it

Best Ever Craft Mat

Stitched Water Media Greeting Card

Stamps and dies from Impression Obsession

Lucky / St Patrick's Day Card using Liquid Metals

Spring is in the Air and the evenings are getting longer. St Patrick's Day is almost here and Creative Team member Giovana Smith has a great card to share with us today.

Giovana Says:

Hello friends!! Happy Monday to you all. Last week I got a box full with new goodies from Ken Oliver Crafts, felt like Christmas in March, hehehe. So I decided to use my new crafty goodies to make this super fun St. Patrick's Day card. 

Die-cut 9 small square piece from Ken Oliver Water Media Paper. Then, add a little drop of Yellow Gold Liquid Metals and then spread the Liquid Metal on the center of the square with a paint brush.

Cut a piece of Water Media Paper, size 4" x 6", mist it and tap the new Lime Green Color Burst. Cut a couple of strips about 0.5" and painted them with Yellow Gold and Verdi Gris Liquid Metals. Set aside to dry.

Die-cut the gold piece with a scallop die, add it behind the Verdi Gris piece, add a white strip of Water media paper and adhere them to card panel.

Stamp the clover leaves and Lucky sentiment in Kelly Green Click It Ink Pad.

Add a kraft piece of cardstock behind the panel and add stitches. Add all the squares little panels with foam adhesive.

Embellish your card with a ribbon and twine bow and drops.

And this is the card. I think it turned out super cute!!

Remember, you can find Ken Oliver Crafts products in small retailers near you! 

Hope you like it.

Have a fantastic day!

Color Burst Cards

Jessica Frost Ballas from the creative team has brightened up our day with these gorgeous and fun cards, these certainly would make our day if they popped through the letterbox.

Jessica says:

Good morning!  Jessica here for another stencil project using Color Burst Powders.  I LOVE the effect you can achieve using Ken Oliver Color Burst powders and stencils.  I used a similar technique in a post earlier this month and my process is pretty much the same.  Instead of using specific colors with patterns in the stencil I opted for an all-over wash of bright colors.  After sprinkling the powders over the stencil I spritzed them with a water bottle and allowed the colors to mix and blend.  Once they dried I removed the stencils and then added sentiments and embellishments to finish my cards!

You can visit Jessica's Blog here for more details.

Cut n' Color Stamps and Dies...Floral Banner

It's that time of year when we all start longing for spring and look of a pop of fresh color to brighten the long days of winter. 

I've got a banner project today that you are going to love.  It's bright, cheery and sure to chase away the winter blues!

 And, I am super excited about it because I got to try out something brand new! I've got some new coordinating stamp and die sets that were launched in January, and I am just now getting a chance to create something with them. 

They're called Cut n' Color Stamps and Dies, they're specially designed for coloring, and cutting! Whether you color with markers, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, or Color Burst, these sets are great! And, after you've colored 'til your heart's content...

 

You can cut out your coloring creation with a coordinating die template. I love how these sets are going to let me take something I already love (water) coloring...and do something completely new with it. 

So I stamped up a few images with the Poppy Mandala stamp, I stamped them on my new Water Media Papers from Canvas Corp.  

 

And cut them out with the matching die.  I stamped first, then die cut...and saved the coloring for last.

I gotta tell you...I am in love with this Poppy Mandala set.  The images are perfect for coloring.

After, I'd cut out all the stamped images, I colored them with some of the newest Color Burst colors, Turquoise, Tangerine, and Chartreuse...it's a color combination that will make you forget all about winter!

Are you with me? The color combination is luscious.

 

I colored 5 mandalas and 5 backgrounds. 

After I'd colored all the stamped images, I teamed them up with my new Water Media Banner Kit.  I colored each of the banner pieces with Fuchsia Color Burst, 

And attached a little yellow crepe paper that I'd accordion folded with hot glue, then used mini clothes pins to create the banner.  

This little banner just added that pop of spring color that I needed over my fireplace...it had looked a little barren since I'd taken down my wreath after the holidays.

I can't wait for you to try these stamps and dies, but here's the deal, they're not shipping until April, so ask your local scrapbook shop or stamp shop to pre-order them for you! You'll be sure to get them then in time for spring.

Here's a quick look at the other stamps and dies in the assortment....the butterfly is really cool, and the individual flowers are going to be great for spring cards!

Thank you for stopping by today...make sure to pre-order the stamps and dies with your local shop...if you like coloring, and like die cutting...I know you're going to love them!