​Today I'll show you how to sew cute little paintbrush case that will protect your watercolor brushes from getting damaged or squished in your bag--whether you're traveling across the country, or just walking downtown to the park for an afternoon of sketching.

​The final case dimensions are 9" by 3.5", with the seam allowance at 1/4" (but of course you can always make adjustments to accommodate your brushes or preferences).

Here are the pieces you'll need to cut:
​

• A - 19.5" x 4" from EXTERIOR fabric
• B - 5.5" x 5.5" from EXTERIOR fabric
• C - 10.5" x 4" from LINING fabric
• D - 9.5" x 4" from LINING fabric 
• E - 9" x 3.5" from CARDBOARD, twice
• F - 1" x 3.5" from CARDBOARD

​Hem the square (piece B) along one side, by turning the right side of the fabric to the wrong side 1/4" and pressing it with an iron. Fold it over just the same way a second time, and press again. Then you're ready to sew it in place. If you are hand sewing, I suggest using the blind hem stitch here.

With right sides of the fabric facing up, place the piece you have just hemmed (piece B) on top of piece C and line up one of the raw edges perpendicular to the sewn edge (as shown in Fig. 1) and pin together (remember to line up the bottoms, too). Sew 1/4" from the edge.
​
Next, pin the following side as show in Fig. 2.

​Now we're going to need our paintbrushes. I've found it easiest to pin sleeve pockets around the paintbrushes (Fig. 3 above, and as shown in the photo below). That way, you'll be sure they'll fit!

To make it easier to sew the pockets in a straight line, get out a ruler and a sewing pen with disappearing ink, and draw them right along the row of pins. Alternatively, you could use a piece of paper tape as a guide.
​
Sew each of the pockets, and the right edge.

​With the wrong sides facing out, sew the bottom of the sleeves to the bottom of the exterior fabric (piece A), 1/4" from the edge.

​For this step, you'll need some embroidery thread. Tie a knot at the end of your thread, and pull it from inside to outside. Make a loop about 2.5" in length with the thread, and repeat 3 times (Fig. 4). Pull the thread to the outside to make the first knot (Fig. 5, 6, and 7). Keep tying knots around the entire loop, then pull the thread to the inside of the fabric and cut.

​Your finished loop should look something like this:

​Fold the sleeves back towards the right side of the exterior (piece A) again. You should have both wrong-sides of the fabric facing outwards at this point. Lay piece D on top of piece A opposite to piece C (the sleeves), as shown in Fig. 8.

Pin the exterior edges of pieces C and D to those of piece A. You'll notice that C and D will overlap a little in the middle. Fold them back so they're even, and press with a hot iron. The space between them we'll leave open until after we've slipped in the cardboard.
​
Sew 1/4" around the remaining three edges you've just pinned. Trim the corners, then turn the whole thing right-side out, and push the corners square with the end of a paintbrush.

​Using masking tape, or duct tape, or whatever kind of tape you have around, tape the cardboard pieces together leaving just 1/8" or so of space between them. I found it easiest to lay the tape sticky-side up on the table, and set the cardboard on top of it. You'll want to cover the cardboard all the way around with tape. Press the tape together in the gaps.

Now it's time to slip the cardboard into the case through the slit we left back in step five. It's going to be a little bit tricky, because you'll have to fold the two large pieces of cardboard (pieces E) flat. When folded, one side of the cardboard will stick out farther than the other due to that middle piece (piece F), so make sure that you insert the longer side (pieces E + F) into the longer side of the sleeve!
​
Use the invisible stitch to sew together the slit.

​Before you mark where the button will go, be sure to fill up the case with whichever brushes you intend to carry in it, since they'll affect the depth of the case. Then pull the loop over the top cover, and sew on your button to hold it.

​It should look something like this:

I'm quite happy with how mine turned out. :) If you give this project a try, I'd love to see a photo! Drop a link in the comments, or just use hashtag #paperfrosttutorial on Instagram, and I'll check it out.

Happy plein air painting,

​Today I'm going to show you how to use a technique called "tape-resist" to create silhouettes with watercolor backgrounds!

​Afterwards, you can add details with ink if that strikes your fancy.

Now it's time to paint! I went for a simple vignette background, but the beauty of this technique is that you can splatter and dab watercolor to your hearts content without worrying about getting paint where you don't want it.

After making sure the paint has fully dried, slowly pull up the tape. (If your tape silhouette doesn't rip, you can reuse it. Mine was sticky enough to be used four times!)

Now you have a lovely blank lady ready to be drawn or painted! I kept mine simple by drawing the features with a black micron pen.

If you give this technique a try, I’d love to see your results! Please feel free to link to your work in the comments, or tag me on Instagram "@leoraannewinter," where I'll be sure to see it.

Wishing you artsy fun,

So, you want some schmancy buttons to let people know you are on not only Twitter and Facebook, but also Pintrest and Youtube? Or maybe you proudly use Vimeo and DeviantArt? Wherever your haunts, icons allow you to share all of them with you blog readers and website visitors from one easily navigated hub. And you can install them yourself, for free.

First though, you'll need a set of icons. Have some picked out already? Great! If not, read on and I'll share some of my favorites.

LAST MINUTE VALENTINES! Get yours today! They come in two sizes, with envelopes and everything. =D

If you're like me, you'll have made your Valentines two weeks ago, created a PDF version of your favorite design for your blog, and then neglected to post it. Ahem. So for those of you not like me, here it is.