Thursday, February 28, 2019

Simple Masking & Life Advice From a Mouse

Do you have anxiety? And do you like cheese? Are you allergic to dairy and miss cheese and butter? Do you like free craft supplies? Are you addicted to washi tape?

Then, strangely enough, you're in the right place for all of these things right here on a crafty blog :)

I saw this amazing checkerboard floor image and I had an idea for a card for one of those times someone is struggling with worry.

I'm Irish, so my imagination is extremely vivid. If someone is traveling, and I don't hear from them by a certain time, my Irish brain can see in FULL COLOR a 64 car pileup on a freeway, with body parts flung around, fires and zombies raging through the scene. Possibly spiders too. That mental image doesn't ever match what really happened, which is that someone stopped to get gas and were a little late.

If you have a worst case scenario brain like I do then today's project is for you. NOTHING is ever going to be as bad as you imagine if your brain is wired that way, so bring yourself some peace. Take a nap. Listen to bird calls. As this stamp says - worrying is like praying for something you don't want.

How that relates to cheese I will explain below - and it's just a funny coincidence that I'm writing about mice and cheese today. I didn't plan it.

So I wanted to paint a scene with the little mouse and this hilarious sentiment to illustrate this idea - with his big shadow filling in for his imagination. The mouse is from this set, and the floor is part of this fun scene building set by my sweet friend Tifany. I stamped the little mouse in Nocturne first. Then I used masking paper to mask his bottom half off and stamped the floor image on top of him. Then I watercolored him as you'll see in the video below. The sentiment is from this set. The woodgrain envelope you'll see in the video is this one, and it has matching cardstock.

So what does this have to do with cheese? Well what I thought was a lactose intolerance I just found out is a dairy allergy now. Dreams crushed. I loved dairy, but it didn't love me anymore. Three weeks out of zero dairy and I feel like a new woman.

But the reality is I miss a lot of things. Butter and cheese the most. Those made me sad. I thought the world was ending. There's GREAT local cultured coconut yogurt, and locally made INSANELY delicious coconut yogurt. But vegan cheese substitutes and butters are mostly gross. Until, in a group that I'm in, someone introduced me to CULTURED butter and cheese by a company called Miyoko's. Culturing is usually the difference between a cow milk dairy product and a coconut milk or cashew product. Without culturing, it's not tangy or creamy or worth eating. I tried the butter last week and I literally nearly cried - it's indistinguishable from European cow milk butter - melts the same way, same texture, incredible taste.

So then I moved onto her cheeses - holy wow. They are delicious and there are lots of flavors and style. Her Mozz cheese you freeze and grate onto pizza and I had my first pizza in YEARS this week. Food allergies suck and you just want to feel normal and eat your favorite things sometimes, and now I no longer feel deprived. She wrote a vegan cheese cookbook if you want to make your own.

Before I developed this allergy, I was meaning to tell you how I stored my cheese after a little revelation in Whole Foods one day. If you love cheese - Miyoko's or regular cheese - you HAVE to store it properly or it won't last as long and it will be gross. I would get a brick of my favorite cheddar and then just throw it in a ziploc - the worst thing you can do for your cheese. If you respect your cheese, use these magic, moisture and air controlling bags! Cheese is alive and will die and mold in a ziploc. I love these things, and I was super skeptical when I found them and bought them. So now when I get my Miyoko's I take it out of the packaging and immediately put it in one of the bags or the sheets of the paper. Also, the packaging is beautiful and elegant. You can reuse the bags for the same type of cheese for a long time. If you prefer the paper, you can buy that, or you can buy a little bundle that includes a little cheese log.

NO MORE MOLDY CHEESE - THAT WILL UPSET THE MOUSE. And see? The world didn't end.

If you find some of this delightful non dairy food near you, Miyoko's has a fun and friendly Facebook group as well. Both of these have made it onto my Food Favorites list, which you can find here. I also have a healthier version of caramel for you - my friend Jami posted this - I instantly made it, and it was very hard not to eat the entire jar.

1 cup medjool dates (pits removed)
2 tablespoons almond butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (I used cashew milk - as you now know I can't have cow milk).
Blend in #vitamix or other high powered blender. Eat. Store in fridge *IF* there is any left for up to a week.
Via Jami Bova - shared with permission

I don't have a Vitamix - but there's one on the way thanks to a crazy daily deal on Amazon that nearly cut the price in half - so I did it in my Ninja, which is an awesome machine, but it won't get things perfectly smooth like the Vitamix does. I've heard that Blendtec is also very good and less expensive, although not by much after that daily deal - watch those things! I had no idea - but someone in one of my recipe groups shared the deal, thank goodness. We have Marie Kondo'd our kitchen recently and got rid of our old blender that leaked every time I used it. ANYWAY, EAT THE CARAMEL.

So on to the video with my anxious mouse AND a tiny, fun thing that will make you love your washi tape EVEN MORE. But see below the video for info on today's giveaway!


Ink Blot Shop Clear Stamp Set...
[ SSS | INK ]
Ink Blot Shop Clear Stamp Set GET...
[ SSS | INK ]
Flopsy Forest Friends :: 6x8 Clear...
[ INK | SSS ]
Billy Silly Goats :: 6x8 Clear Stamp...
[ INK | SSS ]
Kaisercraft - Clear Stamper
[ AMZUS ]
Kokuyo Washi Tape Cutter Karu-Cut...
[ ETS ]
Amazon.com: Staedtler Mars Technico...
[ AMZUS ]
Avery 6465 Removable Multipurpose...
[ AMZUS ]
8 1/2 x 11 Tindalo Brown Wood Grain...
[ PPR ]
A2 Tindalo Brown Wood Grain...
[ PPR ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- Key Lime
[ GNK ]
Envelopes 10 pack- Key Lime - Gina K...
[ GNK ]
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 | UNT ]
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 ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Cheese Storage Bags
[ FRM ]
Cheese Storage Kit
[ FRM ]
New Release - Ink Blot Shop
[ SSS ]


Today My Sweet Petunia and Tifany are teaming up on a giveaway! My Sweet Petunia is giving away a MISTI + Cut-align Bundle, and Tifany is giving away the four sets shown below, including the one I used! Head over to the My Sweet Petunia blog for another watercolor card I made for today and leave us both a comment to double your chances of winning! Get another chance over at the Ink Blot Shop Blog. See the rest of the release here.


Loveyameanitbye.

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Creating Background & Foreground With Coloring Style

When I attended the Artisan Expo in Santa Fe last year, I found another non-toxic pencil solvent that I was THRILLED with.

My sister (who is an oil painter) and I steer clear of chemical solvents whenever possible for obvious reasons, so I never got on the Gamsol train. I also could never stand those paper tortillons - the sound they make on the paper gives me a gag reflex. Not even kidding.

So for a long time, I used an orange oil blend from the UK, but then I went to the expo and found a company whose blends and cleaners are all FOOD GRADE plant oils.

Sign my hippie hiney UP! Take my money! The guys at the booth were so helpful and we've chatted a few times since then. Best part - it's made in New York. My sister bought the ones for oil painting and I carefully ferried the beautiful little glass bottle of pencil blend, and a little bottle of their citrus brush cleaner home from Santa Fe. And then, life happened and I blinked and six months has gone by. But today - if you don't like solvents and you don't like tortillons, enjoy the card I made with this lavender oil and these blending tools! (PS I like the bullet tip for blending - the brush tip for more delicate work.)

I just got these pencils from Japan and they are DREAMY - for both detailed coloring and for blending, so I decided to mix the two styles to give the illusion of a foreground and a background, or, if you have an Iphone - a portrait mode card - where the foreground is focused and the background is soft and dreamy. I used the same colors on all flowers from this stamp set - just a bit lighter on the background flowers, and then I blended them with this bullet point blender and the lavender oil. On the foreground flower, I added some darker darks and just kept my pencil sharp. If someone asks Kathy Racoosin what kind of pencil she likes, she says "a sharp one" - and that is the key to successful coloring. The flowers were all stamped first in this gorgeous new Amalgam Ink color - she has several new ones tonight - and you can use them with any medium to add just the right shade to your colored images. I especially like this one - I bet leaves, grass and trees in this would be stunning.

I paired this card with a Key Lime envelope (these have a peel off strip - no licking and dying from it like George Costanza's fiance) and an adorable sentiment from this set. The sentiment for the floral card is from this set.

The pencils are actually a hybrid - they have both oil and wax, hence their butteryness, if that's a word. I love them. Only available from Japan right now, but mine came quickly and perfectly packed. And don't freak out over the price - there are smaller sets available too, and the pastel one is gorgeous. Poke around on Ebay and find one that's right for you. That's where they are until US retailers sell them, but the sets are brand new.

I used Gina K's Artist's Choice cardstock - this is my favorite pencil paper. It has more "tooth" than her ultra smooth white cardstock. She's kind of a pencil fiend so she gets it, and had this paper made specifically for that. I like to use a coloring glove when I color FYI so I don't smudge my work.




Doesn't that make your eyes happy? It does mine.

Next up in my lime envelope trio - this giant craft themed set has the sentiment on the flap, and then I used this die, which doesn't have an open center, and a circle die, to create a sweet heart frame. It's sized perfectly for the images from this set. I stamped the flower first in Amalgam ink, then I masked it with masking paper. Then I stamped the leaves on top of that, and masked them, and finally the jar. Then I colored them with Copics. The sentiment is from this set, and the cardstock is Innocent Pink


For one brief moment while I was photographing the next card, the sun came out. That didn't last long. But you'll get a truer sense of the envelope color here.

This new crafty set is so much fun. It comes with matching dies for each little tool, so I stamped them all in Amalgam ink, colored them with Copics and arranged them on the card. One tip for you when you're doing this - when you get the arrangment the way you like it and before you glue it down - take a picture with your phone. I can't tell you how helpful this is when you get the perfect arrangement and then a cat walks across it, or you knock them all off while grabbing one to glue. The sentiment is from this set, and the one on the envelope is from this set.




Clear Stamps- Watercolor Flowers -...
[ GNK ]
Clear Stamps- Vibrant Blooms - Gina K...
[ GNK ]
Vibrant Blooms Die Set - Gina K Designs
[ GNK ]
Clear Stamps- You Make Me Happy -...
[ GNK ]
You Make Me Happy Die Set - Gina K...
[ GNK ]
Clear Stamps- Crafty Notes - Gina K...
[ GNK ]
Crafty Notes Die Set - Gina K Designs
[ GNK ]
Heart Circle Die - Gina K Designs
[ GNK ]
GKD Amalgam Ink Pad- Skeleton Leaves...
[ GNK ]
Clear Mini Stamps- Crafty and...
[ GNK ]
Holbein OP945 Artist Colored Pencils...
[ EB. ]
Chelsea Classical Studio Oil Painting...
[ BLIC ]
04852-1105 - Chelsea Classical Studio...
[ BLIC ]
Tsukineko FANTASTIX COMBO PACK...
[ SSS ]
Artist's Choice 110lb White Card Stock
[ GNK ]
Tall Cut Card Stock- Innocent Pink -...
[ GNK ]
Avery 6465 Removable Multipurpose...
[ AMZUS ]
GKD Amalgam Ink Pad- Jet Black
[ GNK ]
Envelopes 10 pack- Key Lime - Gina K...
[ GNK ]
Circle Infinity Dies (H)
[ HA ]
Connect Glue - Gina K Designs
[ GNK ]
Copic 12 Bold BASIC SKETCH MARKER SET...
[ SSS ]
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 Gray and...
[ SSS | ELH | BMS ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC | AMZUS ]
What's New Archives - Gina K Designs
[ GNK ]


So now you know all my feelings about pencil blending. What are your feelings about coloring with colored pencils? Do you like blended or unblended coloring? What are your favorite pencils? Let me know in a comment! And go check out the rest of Gina's release!

Loveyameanitbye.

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