a back-to-school giveaway with skillshare.

This post is sponsored by Skillshare, an online learning community for creative skills.

In the spirit of heading back to school, I’m partnering with Skillshare to encourage you guys to try out a class or ten this fall. If you need a refresher: Skillshare is an online community for learning creative skills of all stripes. For as little as $8 a month, users have access to thousands of classes taught by experts in their fields. I started taking their watercolor classes earlier this spring, but Skillshare’s roster includes classes on topics from design and business, to photography, tech, crafts, film, writing, and cooking.

If you fancy yourself the expert, you can also sign up to be a Skillshare instructor and teach a class of your own (and get paid for it!). Head here to redeem a special offer: three months of unlimited classes for just $.99 cents. Or try your luck: today, we’re offering one lucky reader a full year scholarship to Skillshare Premium. 

The scholarship is good for any kind of classes the winner might desire, but we’re also sending along a care package with a set of watercolor paints, a stack of blank watercolor postcards, and a waterbrush. Just a little something to get you started in case you’re feeling moved to try your own hand at painting a postcard or two. (Sign up in the embedded form at the bottom of the post for your chance to win!) 

For my part, I’ve been busy continuing to play with watercolors and dip into classes with Skillshare. I recently enrolled in a few new classes and have been using much-needed downtime in the evening to hone my skills. 

Waterbrush Lettering Essentials is all about learning to hand letter with watercolors. Personally, it helped me to better know the waterbrushes I’ve been using. (It also made me realize that even if I’m not going to fall in love with my particular handwriting overnight, there are still techniques I can continue to work on to improve my lettering skills.) 

Modern Watercolor Florals: 3 Ways was really up my alley. None of the flower styles were exactly what I’ve ended up trying to develop on my own, but all of the lessons offered something new for me to take away—and gave me the confidence that I could make something that looked flower-like, if not perfect. Progress! I really appreciated the straightforward style and can-do-it spirit of the instructor.

The class Creating Magical Patterns with Simple Watercolors and Pencil Drawings was especially interesting to me, because I’ve discovered that I actually really enjoy creating simple patterns with my paints. In the evening before bed, I can sit for a half an hour just making patterns in my watercolor sketch pad. (Meditative!) I love manipulating the gradients of the paint and the style of the brushstrokes to make an interesting repeating pattern and it was fascinating to have the chance to learn more about how that can be done more professionally (and with the help of Photoshop!).

In an effort to get out of my notebook a bit, I’ve been working on a little series of postcards that I can use to mail to friends this fall. They’re not super fancy and I’ve got skills that need improving, but they’re a little something to show for my efforts and I really kind of love them.

To enter the giveaway, enter your email address into the form below. (By entering you agree to join Skillshare’s mailing list.) The giveaway closes September 20, 2016 at 11:59 pm ET. A winner will be contacted directly on September 21, 2016.

Even if you’re not the winner, use the special code RMTL99 to sign up for three months of Skillshare for just $0.99. Offer expires 10/10/2016.

This post was sponsored by Skillshare. Thanks so much for supporting the brands that support Reading My Tea Leaves.