Groovy Christmas

Vintage VWs are fun. They were simple cars that were easy to work on for one, but quirky enough that you had to work on them. I think even when they were new, people knew what they had, which is why there are still so many on the road. Sort of how we all knew what we had with John Lennon and Green Apple Now & Laters.

Some things are magnificent in their own time. Some things, like VanGogh and a good Irish cheddar, take a little more time. 

This fun VW stamp reminded me of my childhood, so I had to do a little no-line watercolor. 

I made the background a fuzzy riot of colors with my Daniel Smith watercolor - to make it feel like things did at the time - a colorful, flower-filled hippie vibe cloud. :) I first stamped the van in Fadeout Ink, watercolored, and then stamped the sentiment in Nocturne.

Groovy Christmas, set of 2 -... [ TCH ] Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink [ INK ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH | SSS ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] Da Vinci Cosmotop Sable Mix F Brushes... [ BLIC | ELH ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | MFT ]

You can get a discount on this stamp with my coupon code if you think it's as groovy as I do. This one is in the Christmas stack now and will go out with my other cards. I'll have to pick someone of just the right age :).

Loveyameanitbye. 

An Ink Closeup for Inktober

Back when I was on Periscope, I loved Inktober. I met the most interesting artists there, and even bought some original art that was created live during Inktober by one of my favorite Periscopers - Punching Pandas.

I had to let Periscope go eventually in favor of some other things I needed to spend time on, but I will always be fond of Inktober and the talented people who participate.

Since I use ink daily, I was thrilled to be asked to do a little Inktober collaboration between Hedgehog Hollow and Inkon3.

I've made no secret of my love for Fadeout Ink for my no-line watercolor, and they asked me if I'd do a product closeup video on that ink to celebrate Inktober so of course I said yes.

Working with this new stamp set, and the companion stamp set here, I did a quick masking and watercoloring project - well, if you consider a half hour watercolor session "quick" - I do, because it normally takes me hours to paint things.

I stamped the poinsettia in Fadeout, masked it with this masking paper, stamped the leaves, masked them, and then finally stamped the cross over that. Then I removed all the masks and painted, which you'll see in the video below. I stamped the two separate sentiments (I cut the "a" off "wishing you a" to keep just wishing you) in Nocturne.

Poinsettia 3x4 Clear Stamp Set [ INK ] Poinsettia Coordinating Die Cuts [ INK ] Blessings 4x6 Clear Stamp Set [ INK ] Blessings Coordinating Die Cut [ INK ] Holiday Blessings Stamp Bundle Special [ INK ] Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink [ INK ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH | SSS ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] Da Vinci Cosmotop Sable Mix F Brushes... [ BLIC | ELH ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] Avery Self-Adhesive Removable Laser... [ AMZUS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | MFT | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ] Alcohol Marker Pens — Tonic Studios USA [ TNC ]

Isn't that fun how those two sets work together? Plus the cross is big enough to color. I'm hoping she comes out with other companion sets for this - like an Easter drape, or spring flowers, lilies, etc. So many possibilities. This fun bundle is available too.

Now the good folks at Tonic have a little Inktober sponsor gift for all of us - 20% off all their Tonic alcohol markers if you shop here with code MARKER20 at checkout.

So you ready for the video? Here you go! :)

This Old Barn

Do you have subjects that you photograph over and over again?

I do. And now that I do a little watercolor sketching, I do even more of this.

One of my favorite subjects is the largest barn on the ranch. It sits in an open area up from the house a bit, and so if you stand down by the house, you get a framing with a big swath of big sky, and the best photos are on stormy or cloudy days, because the house is downhill from the barn, so the sky and barn loom extra large. I have a few photos of it around my house. There's rust on the extremely weathered wood from the hinges and nails and so it's actually quite colorful without a speck of paint.

When I saw this stamp set, it immediately called this barn to mind, and I had to have it. I stamped it with Morning Mist ink (waterproof) watercolored it with Daniel Smith watercolor, and I stamped the sentiment in Nocturne.

Clear Stamps- Rustic Autumn [ GNK ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair MORNING... [ SSS | CST ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH | SSS ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] Da Vinci Cosmotop Sable Mix F Brushes... [ BLIC | ELH ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | MFT | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ]

It's such a timeless and beautiful image, which is sort of a specialty of Gina K., in my opinion. I can see me using this a ton. It could be like my water lilies - I could just paint it 100 times with all different types of light and sky.

There's just not enough time for all the fun things. I'll be back with a video on Thursday!

Loveyameanitbye.