Crafty Friends

Back in the olden days, we used to have JFF challenges - "just for fun." We'd pick some random theme and a group of people would blog their project on the same day. No rules or restrictions other than the theme.

That is being resurrected with a small group of friends of mine, and it's giving me happy memories of those old JFFs.

We decided we'd pick a day each month to all post using one company's products - just someone we love and want to support. It's not about the latest, greatest new stuff. It's a dive into our stash of brands we adore.

I picked a stamp set that had a characteristic that I love - it has images that can be switched out for each of the four seasons. I just think that makes a stamp one that doesn't get filed away after the first time you use it.

This gorgeous bird set is a builder set, where you can change the way you color the bird for a season, and you can add seasonal items onto the branch - leaves for summer, spring and fall, berries, evergreen sprigs, berries and pine cones for winter, flowers for spring and summer. It has a total of 21 builder images in the set, which makes it a steal for the price. The main image is big enough so that it can dominate and A2 card, so it also makes for quick cards, unless you're someone like me who likes to take a whole day to paint something.

I sat down this weekend and watercolored it. I stamped it first in Fadeout Ink on cold press watercolor paper, and then stamped the extra leaves on the branch. I watercolored it with Daniel Smith watercolor, painting the leaves like I remember them from Rochester, and Ultramarine for the bird, like the buntings I used to see there on my walks through Mt. Hope cemetery. This bird could also be painted like a cardinal - they've kept the bird form one that could represent lots of breeds. You could even paint a little crest onto his head!

I found while I was painting these that I liked the color I had added to the leaves, but I didn't love it. So I decided to glaze all three with Indian Yellow when I was done, and that made them really POP, and be the fiery leaves I remembered. (All the colors I used today are from the "Lydia" split in my watercolor split group.)

The sentiments in the set are also builders and really flexible for many types of cards.

I can't tell you how satisfying it is to go back and take a deep dive into a set I loved so much when it was new. It's the little things that make us bloggers happy! :) Stay tuned below the card for how to get this set at an exclusive discount!

To get those blended leaves, wet the whole leaf first with just clean water. then drop yellows and oranges and a few spots of brown and green in and let them do as they wish. When dry, add the finer details in brown with a detail brush. Easy, I promise! And, on the way to the final details, you WILL think it's ugly and you ruined it. KEEP GOING.

So since we decided to use Concord & 9th for our inaugural month, those sweet people were nice enough to give our readers an exclusive discount! Click the banner or here and use the code to get 20% off! YAY!

Songbird [ C&9 ] Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink [ INK ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -... [ ELH | SSS ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Zots™ Singles • Medium | Therm O Web... [ THR ] The Ultimate Mixing Palette: a World... [ BLR ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | 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 ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | MFT ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ]

Want more inspiration? First - head to this blog post for a completely different way to paint this bird! On this one, I used markers. Then, check out what my friends have done! There are no giveaways, you don't have to comment - this is purely for fun, and for sharing our favorite companies and some discounts with each of you! We will do this each month on the 20th. 

Jenny Hall

Tanya Boser

Ilina Crouse

Maria Willis

Becky Roberts

Sandi MacIver

Sue Plote

Sara Finkey Sherlock

 You are here >> Lydia Fiedler << You are here

Jill Hilliard

Jen Timko

Loveyameanitbye.