A Bkrafty // Bree West Giveaway

Happy Friday!

I recently connected with a fellow blogger, Bree West of bree-west.com, via Facebook. We decided to put together a little something special for y'all: a giveaway!

Head on over to Bree's blog, bree-west.com to enter! The contest will end July 5th.

Want a sneak peek? Here's a glimpse at what we're talking about on bree-west.com :

where do you gather inspiration?

“i gather inspiration from the simplest of things like sunsets and wildflowers. i also gather inspiration from artists and designers i admire like lilly pulitzer, baron batch and andy warhol to name a few. they are all artists who aren’t afraid to use bold colors and go outside the box”

 What will the lucky winner receive? A custom Lilly Pulitzer monogram of her choice! Good luck, ladies!

XO BK

Cooler Divided 2.0

Happy Friday! For today's post I am featuring the latest cooler I painted. This cooler was customized for a couple getting married this month, so I had to wait a little bit to post it. My amazing hair stylist Shara recently ordered a cooler during the holidays, and her friend Cortni (who also works with her and is wonderful!) decided it would be a great gift for a wedding!  The bride went to LSU and is a huge Saint fan, and the groom went to Texas (Hook 'em!) and is big Dallas Cowboys fan. I decided to split the cooler right down the middle with the bride's teams on one side and the groom's on the other. Here's  a snapshot of the front: 

 

I have painted a few Saints themed coolers, and I always love the way their colors look together. The metallic gold really pops against the black background.

I wanted to include more of the bride and groom's college traditions in the cooler design, so on the back I painted one side with slogans from each school: "Love Purple Live Gold" for LSU and "Hook 'Em" for Texas complete with a little tribute to the happy couple in the middle!

Here's a closer look at the LSU side; Geaux Tigers!

Below is a picture groom's side dedicated to the Dallas Cowboys; I was really happy with the way the lettering outlined in metallic silver looked against the bold blue. 

Cheers to the happy couple. If you are interested in ordering a cooler, please send an email to bkraftydesigns@yahoo.com. Happy Friday!

Black Friday "Texas Forever" Giveaway

Calling all Instagrammers: Bkrafty is doing it's first giveaway, and you can win! Go to @bkraftydesigns on Instagram for more details. Contest ends tomorrow!

TCU Lambda Chi Woodsie

Hey y'all! SO you may have seen this if you follow me on Instagram (@bkraftydesigns) this past week I painted a cooler for one of my friends who was headed up to TCU for a date party her boyfriend's fraternity was having. It's called "Woodsie", and it's a camping weekend event they do somewhere in Texas. She had the cutest ideas for a cooler, and she asked me to paint one for her. Here's the final product:

Bianca had the best idea to do a "cooler divided" since she and her boyfriend go to different schools. I loved the idea, and I think it really turned out great. It's something different that I haven't done before, so I was all for it. PS. The TCU mascot is a challenge to paint, and that's putting it nicely.


Here's a side view of the cooler with the Lambda Chi flag on one side, a campfire setting with "Woodsie" painted in rope lettering, and the "Cooler Divided" design on top.

Getting really into the theme on this side; I really hope they had a campfire this weekend because it was freezing!

Another shot of the top of the cooler:

Lambda Chi flag:

 Fireball Whiskey side: "Roses are red, violets are blue, whiskey costs less, than a dinner for two."

For the back she wanted different bottles of alcohol, so I modge podged different bottles on top of a Gastby-esque background I painted. I love the black and gold, and I think it was a good contrast to the different colors of bottles.

I hope that if you stumbled across my page, something inspires you! It's always hard to think of different ideas for coolers that haven't been done before, and sometimes you just need to see something to get your creative juices flowing. Have a great week everyone; if you have any questions about cooler painting or anything else, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.

XO Bethany

Link Up for Liam

During September, I donated two canvases to a dinner/auction that a community put on in honor of Liam. Liam Webb is a carefree and happy 3 year old boy. Liam's parents, Christian and Carli, were given the news on April 11, 2013 that their little boy was suffering from a malignant brain tumor. A member of the Webb family's community reached out to me and asked me if I would donate any canvases for the auction. There is a Facebook page where you can receive updates on this little fighter, and I believe you can make a donation through the page as well. Here's the link to the Facebook page: 

Link Up for LIAM 

 

I sure hope whoever bought these canvases loves them! I was asked to do an A&M and UT one, and I was honored to be asked to donate. What an incredible community for coming together to support each other.

B.Krafty is back! (And OU still sucks)

Hey hey hey!

Hello blogging world, oh how I have missed you! There is so much to catch up on. First and foremost, I have reopened my etsy shop (hooray!) and am back in business. Thank you everyone for your patience! Only out of the game for a little over a month, and I got so many emails that I couldn't stay away any longer.

Next up, COOLERS! Last weekend was the famous Texas vs. Oklahoma Red River Rivalry football game (hook 'em horns!) and with OU weekend comes coolers. I had promised one friend a year in advance that I would paint her TX-OU cooler for her, and seven other girls reached out to me to design theirs as well. Many of them even sent me pictures of some of the coolers they loved that I painted last year, and a few requested similar designs. Let's take a look at these bad boys!

 

The eyes of Texas are upon you!

I hope y'all enjoyed a glimpse of the hard work I put into those beauties. I freehand everything, and I love working in new color schemes. I tend to be a perfectionist, so these coolers were a big time commitment. I am thrilled with the way they came out and even happier about the result of the game! Congratulations to all of the football players and to our coaching staff on the W. Thank you to all of the girls who reached out to me for painting over the past few weeks; I am so glad I could be a part of your OU weekend experience. Hopefully the coolers were a hit!

Love, Bethany

The Lone Star State

Happy Monday, y'all! I have been getting a lot of requests for texas flag canvases lately! Whether they have "Texas Forever", a name, or a monogram, the flag design looks great with anything. Below you'll see just three examples of variations I have done with the Texas flag design recently. 

I have also seen a few other people who sell canvases trying to copy my design (and when I say this, I mean my script and everything), so I just wanted to let everyone know that this is the place to find the original Texas Forever canvas! I know pictures circulate on Pinterest, but if you're looking for that design, this is the best place to be!

texas flag canvas by bethany kelm with freehand  "texas forever" script

texas flag canvas by bkrafty designs with freehand personalized name

texas flag canvas by bkrafty designs with freehand monogram

Don't forget to follow @bkraftydesigns on Instagram and favorite my shop on Etsy!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad ever! Even though I chose the "evil empire" over his Texas Tech Red Raiders, he still loves me. However, he is yet to wear burnt orange. Have a great Father's Day, dad!

You ain't met my Texas yet

Happy Wednesday, y'all! After a pretty hectic week of school filled with tests, projects, work, a cooler and canvases, I thought I would finally post these canvases. After I did the first "Texas Forever" canvas for Kelli, I got emails asking if I could do more. The answer is YES. I love the Texas flag, and I would love to paint more of them! In fact, here is another one that I did this past week!

If you're wanting a more personal design, I did this canvas for Jenna! She wanted to give her grand big a cute graduation gift, and she messaged me about a custom canvas design. I have actually done a few before for graduation gifts, so I have been hoping to do more again this year.

Last but not least, I have this canvas that was also ordered as a gift from Katie! I am always excited about painting UT themed canvases. I also painted one for two roomies: Brianna and Erin. Their canvas includes both of their names, but it has the same design as the one below. I'll post that one soon! I hope y'all love the way they turned out. Hook 'em!

Have a great week! More canvases and coolers to come soon :)

ETSY

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Just wanted to remind y'all to check out my page on ETSY! I am actually obsessed with that website. Everything on there is adorable!

Here is the link to my page:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/bkraftybybethany?ref=si_shop

Have a fabulous day! XOXO

Gig 'em

Last week I delivered my first A&M cooler! I also got to send an A&M themed canvas to Amanda for a gift! There was a whole lot of maroon going on around here. It was really fun to decorate those two items! Let's take a look at what I created this time:

Hope y'all like them!