I remember when I was in college, a friend of mine was taking German, grudgingly, and when we would go to the library to study, he liked to just put together random words in German to stave off the boredom. My favorite was "birthdaysurprisepotato" - I don't remember how you say that in German, but I can assure you it was hysterical, and slightly frightening, as German can be.
So it was a great surprisepotato to me to find the melonentierchen hashtag on Instagram. This is Pepita Hasenkeks' challenge to "watermelonize" ALL THE THINGS and the things people have come up with are just hilarious.
I could not resist playing along with a watermelon fox for Alba Sevadilla's challenge on Splitcoast.
Seriously - how cute is that fox as a watermelon??
First I stamped him in Smoky Slate just to get the shape down for my coloring - that's my fave no-line coloring ink because it's neutral, but sort of creates its own shading. Then I no-line colored him with Copic Markers, and stamped his face in Versafine, and then I drew the seeds with a Project Line pen to complete his little watermelon head.
He's proud of who he is, even though he isn't like all the other foxes. ESPECIALLY because he isn't like all the other foxes.
I don't consider myself a picky eater at all - but I think I base that on my love of most vegetables. Except beets. Beets are Satan's work. Oh and okra. I don't eat vegetables with fur. And of course green bell peppers, which are also Satan's work.
Well anyway, my point is I do not consider myself a picky eater UNTIL I start going down my list of quirks.
I hate seafood. Blech. I consider shellfish to be ocean bugs. Or, in the case of the god-forsaken crawdad - sewer bugs. Fish is gross. Unless it's sushi, in which case it's delicious. Quirky, right? I used to confound my parents by going to Luby's, ordering fried fish, and then just eating the batter with tartar sauce. I considered the fish just a molding prop for the delicious cornflake crust. I do like tunafish though. I consider myself exempt from criticism on this because I grew up on a giant, boiling hot savannah, a.k.a. Texas.
I'm only allergic to one food - and that's horseradish. I really don't even like to be within a few feet of that noxious plant, but I do love radishes and ginger - I'm OBSESSED with ginger actually.
I can't eat anything gelatinous. Jell-O makes me want to barf. I've tried to track down this phobia, and I think it's because I had tapioca while recovering from the removal of my appendix when I was in 4th grade and I just got gelatin PTSD. But I don't think I liked it much before that either, even though my childhood friends loved it. And then when I made a homemade gel printing plate from unflavored gelatin a few years ago and almost DIED from the smell of that, and realized they just cover that up with colors and flavors and smells for regular Jell-O - HORRORS. It seriously smells like death.
And speaking of food that smells like death - let's go ahead and talk about the elephant in the room. Or should I say the DEAD elephant in the room - cantaloupe.
Cantaloupe should be banished from the earth. And it should take honeydew melon with it. I feel like cantaloupe is some gross marriage between a pumpkin and a NORMAL melon, like a watermelon, which is God's gift to overheated Texans. Cantaloupe has a nasty, squash-like flavor (and I love all squash, BTW, but not mixed with melons) coming through its lame attempt at melonhood. Set the cantaloupe fields on fire.
I do not approve.
So today, on my walk, I was laughing HYSTERICALLY at my audiobook, because it was saying all these things that are in my head.
I think this was recommended to me by my friend and artistic idol - Dina. She's a huge fan of Jim's as am I, but I had only seen the comedy shows prior to this book. His comedy is very clean, which I really like. But his rants on food make me think that we actually might have been separated at birth.
Here are a few examples - here are his/my thoughts on oysters:
“Often on the menu, oysters will be listed as “oysters on the half shell.” As opposed to what? “In a Kleenex?” Even the way you are supposed to eat an oyster indicates something counterintuitive. “Squeeze some lemon on it, a dab of hot sauce, throw the oyster down the back of your throat, take a shot of vodka, and try to forget you just ate snot from a rock.” That is not how you eat something. That is how you overdose on sleeping pills.” And this on avocados: "Avocados are so delicious they should just petition to be reclassified a cheese.”
So true. And his tour of each state's signature dish just had me laughing like a crazy person alone in the woods this morning. Especially his observations about southern food. I HIGHLY recommend this audiobook if you want a laugh. He's the narrator, which closes the deal. Here's the real book, if you like that sort of thing.
So that brings me to today's project, which revolves around one of the world's most perfect foods - watermelon.
One of my team members was having trouble putting together the Curvy Keepsake box, and so I told her I would shoot a quick video for her, because I thought I knew what was happening. The two pieces that overlap have a square corner and a rounded corner, and you just want to line them up on the square corner. So I cut the pieces from Watermelon Wonder and sat down to do the video.
And while I was doing it it struck me that this box would make the PERFECT watermelon!! I don't know if I'm the first person to think of this, but I was pretty excited about it when I thought of it.
So I did a little video for you - super quick with just the alignment tips for the box.
(PS - If you order the Curvy Keepsake Box from me before the end of July, you will receive 4 hand watercolored backgrounds from me to use on your card fronts!)
And THAT my friends, is the only melon worth eating. Or crafting.
My friend Katherine suggested that I should invest in a little June Bug flipper I can carry around in my pocket.
This was after I observed that June Bugs are like Ford Pintos - they really are terribly designed creatures.
Somehow they manage to get inside the house and then immediately fall over and require assistance.
I walk around collecting the little idiots, taking them outside and righting them on a leaf or something so they can go fall over somewhere else.
It makes NO sense to me.
Why don't the genes of the two in 9 billion that can stay on their feet win out?
Why don't they stop pirouetting or standing on their tippy toes or whatever causes them to get stuck on their backs, pathetically wiggling their underutilized legs feebly? Maybe they have inner ear issues and they just get dizzy and plunk down like a kid who has spent too much time on a merry-go-round.
Some JuneBugitarian should take up this cause and help these poor things. They obviously need us.
Anyway - it's time for my UNWIND retreat - and I'm so excited! I have guests from all over the country converging on a little ranch in Wimberley (the site of recent flooding of biblical proportions).
I have 8 fun classes lined up, TONS of amazing prizes, a surprise guest or two and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with a bunch of creative people!
By the way, mark your calendars for a mid-October retreat at a GORGEOUS home here in Austin! :)
Details to come.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with some fun from the Simon Says Stamp Color of Fun release, which I squeaked out some time to play with this week.
I obviously had the retreat on my mind. I LOVE this die that says relax from the Find Your Happy bundle. I just wish I had a stamp that says "Heisenberg says...." :)
Then I used the Explore Nature set and dies to make a simple card with one of my FAVORITE quotes ever. I love Emerson and I love the spirit of this sentiment, along with the imperfect typewriter style font it's in. To make the green panel, I just swiped their new Catkin (seriously cutest name ever) on some Whisper White cardstock. It's a fun acidic lime color - my fave greens are acidic. Perfect with the Watermelon Wonder on the outline. The solid leaf image is also in Catkin, but stamped off once.
And we were biting our nails a few weeks ago about whether it would still be flooding. But guess what? It's going to be a bright, bright (bright) sunshiny day. :) You're welcome for the earworm.
Want to keep up with the shenanigans from the retreat? Follow along on Facebook or Instagram!
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My core temperature is HIGH as I write this. I spent the morning repotting some of my outdoor plants - using up three bags of potting soil in the process so I am whooped. I only got hit in the face by one cicada, and I didn't realize how very rootbound my garlic chives were. I moved them to a container that isn't deeper, but much wider so hopefully they will spread out. My creeping thyme was also very root bound so I moved that to one of my Earth Box containers too.
It was HOT out though - so you can't stay out for too long.
So today I'm all about the cool, beachy vibes and one gardening vibe, which I'll start with. This is a really fun combo - a die and a 3D embossing folderreally fun combo - a die and a 3D embossing folder that you run through together to get these beautiful shaped, embossed panels/tags. I used distress inks and oxides to blend and splatter it, highlighted some with my finger and white paint, and added gold leaf around the edges. I filled in the mushroom spots with white gel pen. It's so pretty! I just love it and it speaks to my inner gardener.
The beachy vibes are starting with this little watermelon and his watermelon popsicle! Try not to think too hard about why he's a cannibal, okay? He's just enjoying his summer, and it's none of our business. The background is just ink blending on this embossing folder. The sentiment is from this set. The watermelons legs are the little swinging element - I'll put a video in my IG story!
The next one is designed by my friend Dawn! The CUTEST little seagull die! I used the layering scene stencil, but used the back side for a different orientation - I wanted him facing the sentiment - so that's a fun trick you can do with any layering stencil.
Speaking of stencils - how cute is this beachball stencil? So classic - but I've never seen a stencil like this. I added this condo key and this sentiment.
You know the whole pay for someone else's order at a drive through phenomenon?
I don't know who invented it, but I love it.
I do it myself often at my Starbucks.
On the drive through sign, there is sometimes a little bird that sits there and sings, and every time the bird is on the sign, I buy the order behind me in line. I've very frequently had my order bought by the person in front of me too, which is amazing.
I like to think that every time that happens it starts one of those big chains where everyone does that for hours, because if there's one thing I know - it's that kindness is contagious. In my youngest child's heart, I also like to think it's more contagious than meanness is, which I also know is contagious. I just will always believe that good wins. But only if you do good.
So when this RIDICULOUSLY cute little Paper Layering Hedgehog arrived in my mailbox (I counted the days), I just so happened (because cleaning is for serial killers) to still have the May My Monthly Hero Kit on my desk. And just like the historic moment when chocolate and peanut butter came together to form God's one true candy - the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - these two things merged into complete, perfect awesomeness.
Behold. The Hedgehog of Kindness.
Ha! I laughed when he was all put together. So cute.
Bahh! Isn't he hilarious? I added googlie eyes just to make him quirky, but approachable. :).
Today I'm lucky enough to be hopping around with the Hedgie of Kindness for the Hero summer release if you want to check it out. As per usual, there are prizes for the commenty types, so do partake by May 15th. All these goodies are so fun.
I HAD to have the Destination Texas stamp - they have a bunch of fun destinations, and I bet you'll see others on this hop. I love the graphic, modern look to it, so of course I had to try something different, so I did a little no-line watercolor with my Mijello Mission Gold Watercolors. It is painted on Strathmore Ready Cut watercolor paper, and stamped initially in Daffodil Delight ink. I used one of the card bases and vellum overlays from the May My Monthly Hero Kit - it perfectly matched one of of my colors and it was still on my desk - this is one of my favorite design techniques - the "it was on my desk" technique. I used the sentiment from Hello Gorgeous because I felt like it evoked that postcard greeting style that I was going for on this card.
Be sure and peek at all the amazingness, and also stop by my Facebook page this week for impromptu live broadcasts from arty and crafty places :)
I also wanted to announce my MISTI Maynia winner!! Congratulations to Larissa!! Larissa if you do not already have an account on mysweetpetunia.com, please open one and then send me your email address so I can give it to them for your prize! I thought it was so fun to read all your responses - thank you to everyone who commented - I read them all!
This might be the earliest I've ever started holiday crafting. I'm going to take this as a sign that I am becoming more organized, since no other visible signs of this exist anywhere in my environment.
Since Texas is offset from the rest of the country in terms of weather, it's always fun to play with images that are wintery - just because we never really experience that. It's probably how northern people treasure beachy images.
But one of my FAVORITE images that to us Texicans isn't a wintery image, but to the rest of the world can be, is DEER and other things antler-y.
We live in very close contact with deer here. Billions and billions of deer, and they are such pretty little things. It's pretty common where I am to have momma deer leave their babies on porches while they go eat during the day - they are all over our neighborhoods, and you just learn the various ways to live with them, be careful around their fawns, help them with water during a drought, and plant plants they won't eat in your garden. In real life, as well as in stamp imagery, they're just some of my favorite things.
One deer in particular has caught my little crafty eye this year, and that's the Color Layering Deer. HE'S SO PERFECTLY DEER-ISH!
So, thanks to this sweet deer being in my house, I'm hopping with some friends today to celebrate Hero Arts Winter Catalog, in which my adorable deer resides. I love every single person on this hop - I hope you check them all out after you leave here - they are amazing people!
And since you know I don't normally like traditional Christmas colors, I made this sassy deer in warm pinks (Pink Pirouette, Flirty Flamingo, Watermelon Wonder, Cherry Cobbler) and acidic green (Green Apple). He is cool because while the layers make him very realistic, the style of the artwork is also very poster-y and graphic. So I think my modern colors speak to that modern look he has. I paired him with the Delicate Petals Stencil for the bright background, which I made by lightly brushing Green Apple ink through the stencil with the Clarity Stencil Brushes for a deer-y glow. And since he's sort of a funky little hipster deer, he wishes you nothing but peace, man. Peace. (Sentiment from the Color Layering Cardinal Set.)
And while we're on the subject of deer, I had to play with another, very different little deer, who also speaks to my deer-loving heart. This little guy is from the Origami Happy Holidays set with a sentiment from the Color Layering Snowy Tree set.
I loved him in black and white, so I just stamped him and cut him out, and then cut up a Gelli Plate print I did a few weeks ago with my sister, using Dylusions paint and the Bold Floral Stencil - because lo and behold - MY PRINT WAS RED AND GREEN! :) After I just got done telling you I never do that for Christmas! I'm apparently a liar. But my deer is super cute and festive! So try to overlook that.We're all sinners, right?
So if you want to see the beauties some of my fellow professional shoppers have made with the Hero Winter goodies, hop along, and comment for a chance to win one of three $25 shopping sprees! Who doesn't want a crafty gift card for Christmas? Crazy people, that's who - and I know y'all aren't crazy.
