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Saturday, June 20, 2020

Crafty Friends - June Edition + Coupon Code!

*Compensated affiliate links used where possible at zero cost to you. No posts are ever sponsored or paid.*

The other day, I scored some local artichokes. 

Artichokes are the lobster of vegetables. They are prickly and difficult to cook, even more difficult to eat, and so, so worth it all.

You get such a tiny amount of food for all that work, but oh my word is it heavenly.

But the plant itself is a work of art. All the symmetry, the fractal look - the STUNNING plant while it's growing, with the showy flower. I've always had a weakness for thistle-type plants. Must be my Scottish bloodline. 

My friend Kathy and I have colored this artichoke stamp countless times - during the Coloring Challenge Road Trip, and on our Color & Connect Sessions. It had the characteristics we always tell people to look for in a stamp to practice and enjoy coloring with: the size of the image, the structure of the image, the opportunity for dark and light, the lack of detailed shading. It's an ideal image to practice no-line coloring, shading, blending. 

Also, it's just beautiful.

I've colored it traditionally here, masking it so that I could do a little still life. That one reminded me of my annual trips to California with my dad in the summer. We always stopped in Castroville and feasted on artichokes in a million forms: fried, soup, steamed, and yes, ice cream. There's no artichoke like a Castroville artichoke. 

But one night on Color & Connect, Kathy & I both decided to paint the artichoke non-traditionally. It really doesn't matter what you do with this stamp, because the structure of the image allows for so much room to move.

So I went with a rainbow. Because that's never wrong. 

This is Daniel Smith Watercolor (from the Lydia Split if you're in my split group), and was so relaxing and fun to do. I used Fabriano watercolor paper. And I grabbed the beautiful thankful layered die cut from my UFO pile to finish it.


Your artichoke doesn't have to look like anyone else's artichoke! :)

Our sweet friends at Concord & 9th have given us a Crafty Friends Code you can use today too. 20% off when you shop here and use code CRAFTYFRIENDSJUNE20. Or click the banner & use the code and you'll be all set! 


Vintage Artichoke - Concord & 9th
[ C&9 ]
Vintage Artichoke dies - Concord & 9th
[ C&9 ]
Gina K Designs Thankful Die
[ GNK ]
Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors...
[ BLIC ]
Escoda Versatil Brushes | BLICK Art...
[ BLIC | UTR | BLIC | INK ]
Fabriano Extra White Cold Press...
[ BLIC ]
Lanaquarelle Watercolor Blocks |...
[ BLIC ]
Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock
[ CTC ]
Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473
[ SSS ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring...
[ SSS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets...
[ CHC ]
XL Stamp Storage Pockets
[ ELH ]
Mermaid tidy towel case and glue...
[ ETS ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink
[ INK ]
Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two...
[ SSS | MFT ]
Arteza® Art Supplies – Arteza.com
[ ARTZ ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]


Want some more inspiration? See what my other crafty friends are up to today here!


CURRENT COUPON CODES
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10 
10% off at Arteza with code Understandblue6 through July 4th
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Loveyameanitbye.

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