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

Watercolor with a Twist feat. Lilly Pulitzer

One of my favorite craft trends at the moment is watercoloring. There is something so delicate and chic about the way the colors appear luminous off the paper. Feeling inspired by the pop of color that summer brings, I decided to seek inspiration from the queen of bright, happy colors: Lilly Pulitzer.

Something (among the many things) I admire about Lilly was her creativity and how she was never afraid to pair bold pigments of color together whether or not they had been done before. She was crafty in a way that I aspire to be. I love this little blurb about the start of Lilly's career on the Lilly Pulitzer website.

So being the Texas gal I am, I ran with my inspiration and painted a little Lilly myself, but with a twist. My watercolor print is the state outline of Texas filled with my own interpretation of Lilly's pink roses. The print is now available in my Etsy shop. 

Let's have a closer look, shall we? 

I have officially caught the watercolor bug - since finishing this piece, I have started on three more patterns. Rainy days are to blame, and I am not complaining. 

XO BK

College Bound Canvases & Boots

Happy Hump Day, blogging world!

The orders have been coming in by the numbers, and I am so grateful. Summer is my favorite season for paintings and such because it is the time when I receive a surplus of orders for college bound individuals. This gives me a chance to learn more about other schools' traditions and even learn about new colleges that I never researched when I was applying. Last year I am pretty sure Arkansas took the cake for most orders, so I am looking forward to seeing who comes out on top this summer. So far, we have a tie for first!

LSU canvas for Kristen, and a soccer pattern for Sarah, who is going to school to play soccer. How exciting!

University of Oklahoma chevron canvas for these two roomies, Paige and Rachael.

These upcycled, refurbished books were custom painted with the colors of Cornell University. Because these babies were my first Cornell piece, I'm going to do a follow up post on them. How fun of an idea is that though? Turning an old pair of boots into your gameday boots? Yes, just yes.

That's all for now, but keep checking the blog and Instagram for new canvases and giveaways!

Father's Day Fun

Hi, y'all!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Father's Day- I know my family did. My dad and I got to go watch his alma mater, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, play their first ever game in the College World Series. If you're not a sports fan, just know that this is a huge deal. Also, you should rethink your life choices. 

On the Bkrafty side, I had a busy week completing these spirited coolers for some awesome dads. First up, we have a University of Texas cooler - right up my alley. 

I wanted to make sure there were some unique elements on this cooler. Having done a few Texas themed coolers in my day, I love making them unique and special so that whoever receives it knows that they have something truly special. Wendy, a Texas gal herself, collaborated ideas with me and sent me ideas for her husband's Father's Day cooler, which was really fun for me. I got a great sense of what to design, and I was really happy with the way it turned out.

Let's have a look!

On the front, we have the famous words from our old coach, Mack Brown: "Come early. Be loud. Stay late. Wear orange." I've been trying out this new font (not an official font, just one of my own) and am really loving the way it looks on coolers. The letters can be crunched and stretched to fit perfectly around whatever space, and I thought - what better to be in the middle than Bevo? I have to admit, this version of Bevo. Look how happy he looks!

Because the front and top have a lot of detail, I thought the sides should be sharp and clean, especially with "The Eyes of Texas" wrapping around the top of the cooler. 

And last but not least, the back. No Texas cooler is complete without the state of Texas or the Texas flag. That's my motto! 

Not only did I get to make a University of Texas themed cooler for Father's Day, but I also was asked to paint one for a dad who loves the Kansas City Chiefs. 

My favorite side of the cooler is definitely the front. I experimented with a lot of new fonts and styles, and the colors really popped against the red background. It's always fun to learn new traditions from different teams, and I researched a lot about the Chiefs and what some of their famous staples that should be incorporated in this spirited subway art styled side.

On the top, I painted the Chiefs logo with a butter yellow background. The arrowhead is outlined in black, then metallic gold around the black. The top is also complete with two red stripes to bring a little inspiration from the Chiefs' uniforms.

I loved the look of the metallic gold on the back and decided to use a spray paint to add an airbrush look. The gold wasn't getting enough love on the cooler yet, so I was really excited when I found a chrome finish metallic gold color that I could use. I thought it gave it an element of toughness (and coolness.)

Happy Father's Day!