The Lost City of Atlantis, Lemon Bars and a Giveaway!

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

When I was little, my little buddy David & I spent a lot of time in imaginary pursuits. One day, much to the chagrin of his parents, we spent the day digging a hole to China between his house and the neighbor's. By the time we were apprehended we had probably destroyed 7 cubic feet of St. Augustine. 

OOPS. 

But I remember all that with great fondness. We played hot lava, we watched a lot of Jason and the Argonauts, and we talked a LOT about Atlantis, Pompeii etc. I really, truly believed in imaginary worlds - the world of the Hobbit and Alice and Wonderland. I also believed in Sea Monkeys, but that's a bitter story for another day. 

Atlantis was a standout because it was at odds with the Poseidon Adventure, which it seemed like aired weekly on David's TV set. I bet I've seen that movie hundreds of times as a result of summer breaks and very limited TV offerings.

And I don't think I've ever seen an Atlantis themed stamp set - UNTIL NOW. I'm super duper excited about this month's Hero Kit - which you can see here. I have a video on the card I made with the kit below, but here's what you need to know. The main layering image in the kit is a stunning, very easy to line up three-step image that creates the little sandbars and plants. There is a matching edge die and a ton of other dies. So after I used alcohol inks (Purple, Gentian, Caribbean, Turquoise and Aqua) on mineral paper to create a watery background, I stamped and die cut the layering scene, glued it to the mineral paper and then die cut it all with my circle infinity dies. The sentiment is from the main kit.

The rest of the release has an underwater theme too. This gorgeous window die I just left white, and did another alcohol ink background (Aqua and Turquoise) on mineral paper, and stamped the images from this stamp set with alcohol lift ink, and then added the frame and the ombre ocean sequins. The sentiment is from this set.

This last one made me laugh. Such a cute little fishy! I stamped this Atlantis background stamp in Soft Granite on my card base - there's so much detail on this stamp - it will be fun to color later. 

I used Circle Infinity Dies to cut a piece of watercolor paper. I misted the paper and then used Indanthrone Blue and New Gamboge watercolor to carefully create the glow from the lantern fish in this set. I stamped and die cut the fishy and colored him with Copics, adding a few white dots with my pigment pen, and putting a little yellow glow on the front of his face. I love him! I stamped the hearts from this set in Unicorn ink on top of that. The sentiment is from this set.

Here's what the full kit looks like. This is available while supplies last. Love the dude with the trident so much!

So now for a quick video on the very first card! 

My Monthly Hero July 2020 [ HA ] Get Them All July Add-Ons [ HA ] School of Fish Bold Prints [ HA ] Underwater Pattern Bold Prints [ HA ] Deep Sea Background Cling [ HA ] Deeply in Love [ HA ] Deeply In Love Frame Cuts [ HA ] Need a Hand [ HA ] Need a Hand Frame Cuts [ HA ] Sea You Soon [ HA ] Sea You Soon Frame Cuts [ HA ] Deep Sea Messages [ HA ] Porthole Fancy Die [ HA ] Underwater Pillar Window Die [ HA ] Submarine Fancy Die [ HA ] July Word Fancy Die [ HA ] DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies... [ HA ] Marabu Alcohol Inks | BLICK Art... [ BLIC ] Yasutomo Mineral Paper Artist Pad |... [ BLIC ] Lift-Ink Pad, Ranger Alcohol Ink -... [ ELH | SSS | ACH | HNB | RNG ] Derwent Paint Pens | BLICK Art Materials [ BLIC ] CH300 Ombré Ocean Sequins - Hero Arts [ HA ] AF249 Unicorn Pigment Ink Pad - Hero... [ HA ] AF226 Soft Granite Shadow Ink - Hero... [ HA ] Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock [ CTC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors -... [ BLIC ]

Of course, they're giving away a $50 gift card, so be sure and leave me a comment, and comment on the other artists in the hop today as well. The winner will be announced HERE the week of July 20th. 

Just a note - they are catching up on shipping, so please remember to be patient - the wait is worth it!

Before I go, I wanted to share that I made the BEST lemon bars of my LIFE this weekend! 4th of July weekend I had gotten someone else's groceries from Instacart in addition to my own and I felt so bad, because they were clearly making a pretty dessert with blueberries and strawberries and lemons. When that happens, Instacart just gives that person their money back - they can't take the groceries back because that violates health department rules. So I gave half of it to my neighbor, and was determined to use the fruit to dampen my feeling terrible for the person whose groceries I had. 

The last batch of lemon bars I made were just okay. I was excited about them because there was both coconut flour and coconut in the crust which sounded amazing. But the lemon curd wasn't exciting and neither was the crust. 

So, determined to give these mistake lemons glory, I made some modifications to a few recipes I assembled over years of dedicated lemon bar research, and ended up with a dessert that should be in a dessert museum somewhere. The crust was crispy perfection and the lemon curd was DIVINE. There's literally nothing anyone could do to improve on these babies, so try them and enjoy! My version is dairy-free because of my allergy, but you can use dairy butter. I want to try this with limes!

Crust:

1.75 oz. white sugar

8 TBS Miyoko's Butter, melted

1/2 tsp. Real Salt 

5 oz. all purpose flour

Mix that all together and press it firmly into an 8x8 pan. I used a glass pan lined with foil. 

Bake at 350 until golden brown. For me - about 22 minutes. 

Filling:

2/3 C. + 4 tsp. Fresh squeezed lemon juice. I think this was three lemons for me - but they were big.

7 oz. white sugar

2 TBS flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

2 tsp. lemon zest from your lemons

Whisk that all together and cook it in a saucepan to 160 degrees and it's thick and custardy. I strained it to make sure there was no lemon pulp, but you don't have to. When I made lemon bars for a 4H competition in elementary school, my recipe called for straining and I've never gotten out of the habit - it is my base lemon bar recipe to this day. Stir it the whole time - roughly five minutes. Pour it onto the hot crust and bake it until it barely jiggles - for me about 12 minutes. 

Let these cool completely before cutting them. I don't add powdered sugar on top - I think it has a gross, metallic taste and I'm generally opposed to powdered food, but you do you!

Enjoy this fun, cool summer treat. Loveyameanitbye.

Enjoy some inspiration too from these lovely people!

Hero Arts
Amy Kolling
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jenn Shurkus
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman
Laurie Willison
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Mariana Grigsby
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Nichol Spohr
Seeka
Yana Smakula

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
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
10% off sitewide at Arteza here with code Understandblue6 through 7.31.2020
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE