 Hello there! It's Sandy Alnok with a Christmas in July project, learning how to paint a glass bubble with a cat in it. Today's video is somewhat related to a brand new class that I've just launched over on my website, link in the doobly-doo, all about painting Christmas berries. So it's a mini class with five lessons that I think you're going to enjoy. And today I'll be using a little bit of what was in the class, and I'll talk about it as we go. I'm starting out with a Colorado Craft Company stamp set. It's called Christmas Hats, so it's all kinds of critters wearing hats. And I'm going to make a bubble around the cat, and this is going to be my cat. It's a little black cat, and I've masked out the bottom part by not putting the ink on the stamp down there. I've created a circle and drawn in the little thing that holds the ornament at the top. I don't know what that little thing is called, but it's a cap that goes on the glass ornament. I'm going to begin by using a couple of different colors to just add some interest to the glassy portion. Very wet mixes, very, very wet. Lots and lots of water. And painting water outside the edges every time I add some color to it to make sure this stays really pale and moves a lot. And continue around with the blue, the gray, and the green, so I get just something interesting as opposed to just a big old blob of color. I was messing around here with what that highlight shape on the other side would be, because I didn't want to put windows on both sides and kept carving away until I was happy with it. And while that is drying, I decided I'd put some berries in this top section because the class has lots of berries and different kinds of leaves and things in it. And I'm using masking fluid. This is a masking fluid that has an orange tone to it so you can see where you've painted it, which is very helpful. And then started mixing color to use for the background. And the only reason for doing this is because it's a glass bubble and I want that bottom part to just stay white as if there's snow inside of the ornament and then if I have color around the outside of it then it looks like it's white by comparison because everything is in comparison to what's around it. So I'm just using a flat brush to paint that really soft color moving from blues to greens and just kind of messing around with the tones and letting them blend one into the other. They have to stay really wet in order to do this so you have to work quickly if you want to paint a big background like this. And then using a baby wipe, I'm dabbing off some circles so that I can have a bokeh look to the background. It's a real easy way to add something that looks a little bit magical without painting a whole lot of craziness in it. And I'm letting them be messy, not really trying to make them be round. They can be, but most of the time when you see them in photographs, they're not really round. They're partial circles, that kind of thing. And in the class, we are going to be doing a bunch of masking for the berries and we'll be learning how to paint various kinds of greens to go with them and we'll be learning different techniques for creating different types of paintings that you could use for Christmas cards or you could use them for decorations or for journaling, all different kinds of things. And of course, you could change lessons like those into other seasons. So instead of doing winter ones, you can do spring berries and spring greens and that kind of thing and learn those techniques so that you can apply them at any time of year. But it is July, so it was time to add a Christmas class to my list, including a watercolor class. The reason for another watercolor class right now is because it is also World Watercolor Month. And during World Watercolor Month, I donate a portion of each class that's purchased to the International Children's Art Foundation. And that is going to help kids to have art supplies and training so they can learn to be artists just like the rest of us are. And I love every single time that July comes around, supporting that cause. And I have a goal set, a financial goal that I'm hoping to raise. So I thought another watercolor class right now might be good. Even if you're not ready to work on your Christmas cards yet, you might want to go get that one so that you can get it while it's on discount at the moment and also help the kids while you do. So we've painted the greens in the top and while that's drying, I thought I paint the cat. And the color that's in my palette right now for black is one that I think is going to be exiting. It's lunar black, which is a highly granulating black. And I like certain aspects of that. But when I'm just painting a black cat, some of the other colors that are built into that lunar black come out. So my cat looks a little bit on the pinkish-brownish side as opposed to blackish. So I don't know. I still haven't figured out what that last color is going to be. I keep changing my mind. But now I'm going to paint the berries into the area where I've removed that masking fluid, the thing that I use to pull it off with. You can get it off with your finger, but I used a rubber cement pickup. It's one that I've had since college. So it has been around the block to say the least. That sucker has served its time well because it was a long time ago that I was in college. I had used the masking fluid for making this string ribbon. It's like kind of a twine tie on it. And I don't know why I did that. I think I could have just painted this red right over top of it. I could have used a darker red and not really had to try to kiss up to those edges and try to make everything all perfecty. And it was a challenge. It was a little harder than I would have liked, but you know, there you go. Sometimes we don't do things that are the smartest thing, do we? I'm going to add in a little bit of darkness in that center and refine the shape of a little cap on the ornament itself and a couple of the berries. Add in a few more strands of some greenery in there, a little bit more pine. And once I finish fussing because I am a fusser at heart, just trying to put in extra details, then this one will be done. I have not yet made my two cards into cards yet. So hopefully by the time the blog post goes live, you will see those over on the blog. If you want to check those out, I did both the puppy and the kitty. And right now today and tomorrow is a free shipping sale over at Colorado Craft Company. My code for you, my coupon code is in the doobly-doo down below and on the blog. And don't forget that you want to sign up for the Christmas berries class, even if you don't want to paint them right now. Although it might cool you off to be putting on some Christmas music and thinking about the holidays while it's as warm as it is all over the place. I will see you all again very soon. Friday I'll be back with more Christmas berry painting. And I'll see you then. Take care. Bye bye.