A Few Thoughts on Kindness

On one of my podcasts the other day, the host was talking about the power and the peril to be able to instantly communicate with millions of people anywhere in the world through social media.

There are definitely both aspects - power and peril - but I think sometimes peril wins.

I saw an amusing series of posts on Facebook the other day in succession.

The first was one of those colored posts where people post a quote. The quote was about how the only thing that mattered was kindness.

Then there was a post by someone else with the Mr. Rogers photo and his quote about kindness.

The third post - I kid you not - was someone ranting about how the person handing them their coffee said "thank you honey."

So which is it?

I think it's easy to recognize that while there are definitely regional differences in speech, "thank you honey" is someone being kind.

How about we both give AND accept kindness in whatever form it takes.

So - if you're not a hugger, please enjoy today's card anyway. :) I mean it in a kind way. Plus, bunnies and bears.

I have spent the last week cataloging and organizing stamps (just three bins to go) in an amazing app called Airtable. If you try this app, please note, I created my own base instead of using one that they created, so that I could have a searchable database that included sentiments. Yes, I've typed every sentiment into this thing. I do that on my computer, because it's faster, but the app is great for adding stamp set names and photos away from your computer. As an experiment for today's card I searched bunnies and hugs and it returned every stamp set (with images) that contained either bunnies or hugs. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. I never could get Evernote to be exactly what I wanted and Airtable is perfection.

So the stamp I landed on is this sweet one. They have interesting packaging. The acetate the stamp is on is lightly colored in a watercolor style, which is probably why I was drawn to them. I actually ended up painting this one just like it looked on the package, with a few more hard shadows. Such a sweet image. I painted it with Daniel Smith Watercolor after stamping it in Acorn. I like the sort of vintage look I get when I stamp in brown instead of black. The sentiment is also in Acorn.

Wild Rose Studio BUNNY WITH TEDDY... [ SSS ] Altenew SINCERE GREETINGS Clear Stamp... [ SSS ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair ACORN Ink... [ SSS ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Da Vinci Cosmotop Sable Mix F Brushes... [ BLIC | ELH ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR ] Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. Cold Press... [ AMZUS ] Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# DARK... [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100#... [ SSS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR | CST ]

I was teaching people how to paint this way this weekend in Minneapolis at Junkie Fest - so much fun! I hope I took a little fear away from watercolor - there's nothing to fear! I mean - at the end of the day you end up with a bunny hugging a bear!

Loveyameanitbye.

Masked Ink Blending Two Ways + A Discount!

I went on a bit of a masking spree last weekend. It's weird how certain techniques stay around for a week or two, and then flit off to be replaced by something else.

This week it was masking.

I decided to do two different versions of masked ink blending for my final spot with Neat & Tangled this month.

First, I wanted to do a layered image that would remain uncolored, with an ink blended background.

Layered masking is a challenge for me - figuring out which image to stamp and mask first, etc. I usually pile the stamps on top of each other and then take a few notes about what goes first. I know it comes more naturally to some people. But I'm a problem child. :)

So for this first card, I put the mammoth down, then sat the boy on him, and positioned the talk bubble. So that showed me that the first image stamped and masked had to be the little boy, because he would be blocking out the wooly mammoth image. I actually picked up the whole stack on my MISTI once I got the boy positioned right, and then just removed the mammoth that was stuck underneath. Then I stamped the boy, and stamped him again on masking paper, cut that out and covered him. Then I did the same with the talk bubble and the mammoth. I used my new, LITERALLY life changing ink blending brushes and Peach Bellini, Key Lime, Sea Glass and Lovely Lavender inks for a soft rainbow background. Then when that was done, I brushed on a little shadow with Kraft. These new brushes are changing my life! When I got them and tried them out, I had to tell them they were LIFE CHANGING and so now that's what they are called on the website. :) But seriously - such seamless, soft blending and the different shapes let me do fun effects. Look for a video soon.

I removed all the masks and left the images white to let the background be the star, and stamped the sentiment. The images and sentiment are from this set, below.

Prehistoric | Neat and Tangled [ N&T ] Prehistoric - Nice and Neat Dies |... [ N&T ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Peach... [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Key Lime [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Sea Glass [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Lovely... [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Kraft [ GNK ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair NOCTURNE... [ SSS | ELH ] Avery Self-Adhesive Removable Laser... [ AMZUS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] 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 ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ] Claritystamp STENCIL BRUSHES Set of 4... [ SSS ]

For the second card, I wanted to have a colored image on  blended background, so I stamped this image in Morning Mist, stamped a second one on masking paper, and masked it. Along the side, I stamped these florals in the same ink, and cut masks for them as well. Yes, even those teeny berries. I'm crazy like that. Then I brushed on Sea Glass ink in a swath across the larger image, and then closer to the image, I added Blue Raspberry.

The reason I did that first, is so that if I spent 30 minutes coloring the main image and then somehow messed up the ink blending, I wouldn't be mad. I'd rather do my coloring last, as I'm a very slow colorer.

I colored the image with Blick Studio pencils, which are sort of my go-to these days. The cardstock is Neenah Solar White. I think that this set - it's hard to choose - is my favorite Neat & Tangled set. The sentiments are funny and the images are so incredibly sweet. I don't consider it just a fall set - I use it all year. The sentiment is from the floral set I used.

My Favorite Nut | Neat and Tangled [ N&T ] My Favorite Nut - Nice and Neat Dies... [ N&T ] Friendly Florals | Neat and Tangled [ N&T ] Friendly Florals - Nice and Neat Dies... [ N&T ] 22063-0369 - Blick Studio Artists'... [ BLIC ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Sea Glass [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Blue... [ GNK ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair MORNING... [ SSS | CST ] Avery Self-Adhesive Removable Laser... [ AMZUS ] Coloring Glove - Anti-Smudge [ AMZUS ] Derwent Battery-Operated Eraser [ BLIC | AMZUS ] Ipoint Orbit Pencil Sharpener, Turquoise [ AMZUS | BLIC ] Global Art Classic Leather Pencil Cases [ BLIC | AMZUS ] Staedtler Mars Plastic Erasers [ BLIC | JGG | AMZUS ] Sizzix - Big Shot Express Machine... [ SBC | BMS | SSS | ELH ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC | AMZUS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] 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 ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ]

My friends at Neat & Tangled are still offering you a discount for shopping from my blog - so don't forget there are only a few days left to shop with my code. 

It's been so much fun guesting with them this month, and as I said - Danielle is a stellar human, a hardworking mother of young kids, and I love any opportunity to support her with a shopping spree.

Loveyameanitbye.