Monday, June 1, 2009

Case of the Mondays - The Tutorial

I supposed the one redeeming feature of Mondays is Make Me Laugh Monday. I know that despite the fact that I really didn't want another week to start and I just wanted to keep playing with my crayons, you guys will make me laugh today.

So get started! Leave the comment that makes me laugh the most and you'll win the contents of this post and maybe a little something extra!

I love design blogs.

I'm not talking about stamping blogs, I mean people who design furniture, or graphics or clothing or fabric.

I subscribe to them because I get a lot of inspiration from them. In the case of today's tutorial, I was inspired by these beautiful tiles featured on the Bloesem blog - a blog that is on Martha Stewart's blogroll if that tells you anything - and one that I learned about from one of my contacts at Mindbites.

As soon as I saw the post with these tiles I was so excited that Stampin' Up! made the set I could use to recreate it for you!!

So here we go. More fun with silhouette stamps, yes?

First, I inked up the bird from Good Friend (not to be confused with Great Friend, as I did while hunting through the bookcase for the set) in Sahara Sand, and stamped off once on my mat before stamping it onto Sahara Sand cardstock. I just wanted a faint outline to work with.

Then, I used a variety of opaque pens (got 72 of them from Costco for $6!!) to draw the spots on the bird. Is that turquoise the sassiest thing EVER??

Then, I used my white pencil to fill in the bird around the spots. The white gel pen would not be great for this technique because there would be little lines - it doesn't do a smooth fill, so I though the pencil would look better for filling such a large area.
To increase the contrast, I took my .01 black Sakura micron to outline the bird. Unfortunately, I had just had a tall coffee frappucino with double coffee so it's not as straight as it could be :) but I think it makes it crazy fun!That's it!

Such a simple and fun little ditty - very crisp and modern, and probably not like what you've seen with this little birdie.So the Monday design lesson is - never limit inspiration! Lots of people love their artistic brands - whether you are a Stampin' Up! chick like me, or you love MFT (wait - I love them too) or Hero Arts or Doodle Factory (*sigh*) - look everywhere for ideas and you will have more fun with your toys.

And is there anything we need more on a stupid Monday than FUN??? :D

Now - go forth and make me laugh!!!

LOVEYAMEANITBYE.

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22 comments:

  1. I haven't had enough coffee yet to make you laugh, but this blogger has made me laugh :
    http://barelyknittogether.com/

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  2. Are you local?? You have to join Bunny and me for coffee :)

    I am totally smitten by your adorable bird; it makes me want to be creative, but I think it's more important that I go make myself a peaceful, lovely office space (as you might have seen on Fundamental Jelly's blog).

    I can't wait to check out the rest of your site - so glad you stopped by today!

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  3. Oh this birdy is just so funky, I love it. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  4. Love the little bird. I just learned about that darned gel pen in the large area scratchy-looking thing you described.

    Being a link follower, I clicked on Mindbites and was taken to a nice tutorial video on replacing the wax seal on my commode. It does try to toddle out from the wall while I'm reading.

    Thank you for the jam-packed blog post.

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  5. I lovelovelove the bird! I hope to earn him with my Consistency Counts points next month. :-) Free is good, my Momma always said.

    Oh, and that issue about staying up 'til dawn to order out-of-the-gate for SU, like I nevereverever do? Well, at 4:15 am this morning I was wide awake, so what the heck - and I did! I am weak.

    Not funny, not even trying to be, just a regular ole comment. Trying to keep your numbers up, ya know.

    WV: tedizedu. "As she lay awake in bed, waiting for her husband, Ted, to return from his late night at the office, she heard a noise in the front room. Alarmed, she cried out, 'tedizedu?!' A voice quietly replied, 'Yes, tiz I.', and she sighed with relief." Then end.

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  6. Ok here is my comment to try and make you laugh, it made me laugh....
    An older lady is in the grocery store and calling out Crisco, Crisco, Ccrrriiissscccooooooo. So the store manager tells her Crisco is in aisle 7. She says no not that Crisco, I am trying to find my husband and I call him Crisco when we are out in public. The manager asks what do you call him at home??? She replies "Lard Ass".
    Candy Diaz
    cd6224@att.net

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  7. Cletus says stupid spelled backwards is diputs.

    What is it about the bird that I am totally loving these days? Must be the way you use them to create fabbie things, Lydia!

    Cletus says Lydia spelled backwards is aidyl.

    Just some random thoughts on a totally stupid Monday.

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  8. I totally LOVE the bird! Too cute! And sad to say I have no jokes today! congrats on your winning!!!!

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  9. oh my - candy cracked me up!

    here's mine - it happened awhile back and was the one I was saving originally.

    A few weeks ago I went out of town for a business meeting and was returning home late, late at night. It's about 1 am and I'm still about an hour away. About 5 years ago I started having a bladder that just has inpatient fits. When it needs to go -- it alerts me like right then - and will not wait. Despite preparing before I left town, I need to stop. In the middle of the TX Panhandle. With nothing around for miles and miles except for cows sleeping quietly under the full moon. The next town is about 10 mins away and I assure myself that I can make it.

    But then, no - rebellion from my bladder! Being as there is nothing around and my only other option is quite unappealing, I pull over. We're all girls - you know what I'm doing! There's nothing around. And then - a LIGHT is headed my way. It appears to be on the other side of the road so I assume it's a semi. NO worries - I'm hidden by a car door. But then --- no, not a semi --- a TRAIN - with tracks that run RIGHT BEHIND me!! {pee faster, pee faster} has become my mantra. But NO!

    And as the engine passes me he lets out a long, double whistle. I guess MY full moon was better than the one nature provided!!

    SO COMPLETELY MORTIFYING!!!

    I've not had to pee on the side of the road since being knee high to a grasshopper. Just a few guys on a train that I don't even know and don't know me.

    But I find it interesting that this experience is more humiliating to me than the one I posted a few weeks ago when the little man threw up all over me in the restaurant.

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  10. o no, not the Eskimo joke! .....

    Why do the Eskimos all wash their clothes in Tide?

    Because it's too cold out-tide!

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  11. Hi there!! I read your blog daily and enjoy the pics of your kitties and card creations.

    I do have a funny for you though. My landlords live next door and are the best you could ever have. Anyway, 5 weeks ago today, their daughter came running over saying that their cat was having kittens. So I change from my work clothes, to some dingy old clothes. We go over there and little Ms. Trixy is underneath their deck (which you have to belly crawl, just to get to her) having her kittens. She had already had two and was literally dropping the third one of the ground as I got to her. Their two kids and I laid under that deck until dark waiting on her to have the rest. But was starting to get chilly and was supposed to rain all week long. I volunteered to help Trixy with her newborns, so we get the three babies out first, then had to drag her out tooth and nail, then get them all in a box and take them to my house. We brought in my baby pool for the dogs and put it in my extra room, put down a few towels and her three babies, and by midnight, she had had three more. Now to jump ahead from that point until about a week ago. I came home from work during my lunch hour and stuck my head in to see how the babies were doing. Well I have two cats or my own and my youngest one, had figured out to jump on the door handle, hang on, kick with this feet and get the door open!!! So when I got home, the door was wide open and two of the kittens were gone. They were just starting to open their eyes, but couldn't really see yet, so I knew they couldn't have wondered on their own. I tore the house apart from one end to the other. Finally found them, both snuggly bundled up on the top of my bed!! Now knowing how they got there, I took them back in the room and put them back. I come home that evening from work, same thing and the same two kittens were on my bed again. Later that night I was in my living room with one of the babies and saw my youngest cat, which is a male by the way, caring one of the same kittens again, off to the bedroom!!! I took her from him, then he goes back in the room and grabs the other one!! Now I thought the males were kinda of aggressive to new kittens. Well to continue this story a bit further, my male cat, goes in the baby pool with all babies, and cleans every single one of their little butts, giving Ms. Trixy a break. I've never seen such a thing. He's our Mister Mom, even though he is not the daddy if these kittens. And he clearly has hit favorites, the black and white female kitten and the striped gray and white kitten. Its so funny to watch him carry them around and put them where he wants to lay, then to clean them up just like mom is too much!!!

    I know you like kitties, so I hope you see the same humor I saw when my Meko is carrying around and cleaning the kittens. And the fact that he was smart enough to figure out how to repeatedly open the door!! Whoever said cats were dumb???!!! Not!! I do have a picture of this, so I'll send it to you in an email.

    Happy Monday!!

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  12. LOL! Cassie, are we related? It seems that we have lives that are well, hauntingly familiar. You see, I woulda done the same thing. That was THE best hilarious story. Used to live in Lubbock and yeah, land stretches WIDE out there and you think nuttin's gonna happen then a train is approaching out yanderso (WV) you have to have a pity piddle.

    happens to me ALL the time:)

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  13. A splotchy bird! Oh, I mean spotty bird. I LOVE IT!

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  14. Ok, I have nothing funny today to make you laugh, however, Candy made me LOL. Oh, and Lisa Page or whoever else wants to answer this question....Who is Cletus? I am suffering from a huge case of curiosity about this!

    Oh, Lydia, I almost forgot....Awesome Bird card! Make another one with that funky big bird. I don't have that stamp set yet, but it's cute.

    Lisa A.

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  15. Love the funky bird (that is NOT a chicken). Oh and I updated my email addy AND added a super kewl pic to my profile. Thanks for the reminder (previous post)

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  16. I have nothing of note after that train story from Cassie. Was gonna tell ya that Bailey has a new way to tell me she has to go outside...she barks at her butt.

    Gotta love her.

    Amy

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  17. Amy-

    Has your Bailey ever farted and then looked at her butt like WTH? Is that not the funniest thing on the planet or what? They think it's an alien form of communication and then make you think so too! hee-hee!

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  18. I love this card you're amazing!!!

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  19. oh lisa - maybe! i've always felt i had a long list sister out there - kinda like parent trap, you know?!?!

    and chris - LOVE the story! that's so fun and awesome and cute!

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  21. My 3 almost 4 yr. old granddaughter Sierra and I were playing outside around 4:30 one Saturday afternoon when the neighbour (who was having a birthday party for her daughter at the time), stopped by. Seeing Sierra playing without any other kids, she asked me if Sierra would like to come over and play on their new trampoline. Well of course! I said yes, and away Sierra went to jump on the trampoline with a pile of other kids. Sierra was wearing a skirt (this is an important detail to remember as I move along with the story).

    My daughter was inside dealing with my other granddaughter Brooke who is 2 and was throwing a temper tantrum. I came in and told my SIL and Daughter that Sierra had gone next door to jump on the trampoline. My SIL went into the washroom, came right out and exclaimed:

    “Where did my daughter go?!”

    My daughter and I thought he was upset, so we tried to reassure him that she’d be ok… He kept trying to interrupt us. Finally he said:

    “She’s not wearing any underwear!”

    “WTF? What do you mean she’s not wearing underwear?”

    He pointed to the bathroom - my daughter walked in and sure enough in the washroom, along with an unflushed toilet with a present in it, was a pair of little girl panties. The ones she had dressed Sierra in this morning. It seems Sierra had gotten a little ummmm… comfortable while taking care of business.

    She ran over to the party as fast as she could, but she was too late.

    Sierra had managed to flash everyone at the party: her friends on the trampoline, and all of the parents on the patio.

    I thought I would die laughing especially when my daughter told us that Sierra greeted her by holding up her skirt and saying, "Mommy, I need underwear!"

    Now, if that doesn't make you laugh, I don't know what will!

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