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Saturday, December 5, 2020

A Little Sky Love - Blog Hop & Giveaway

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

Have you ever seen a sunset or sunrise in real life that was so amazing it didn't look real? I live in big sky country, so it happens a lot, and I've seen sunsets in New Mexico that if I painted them exactly as they are, you'd think I'd made it up. But nature outdoes us, always.

So this week I've been working on dramatic skies! Bold color combos and a little abstraction in a few mediums. Today is ink!

I grew up Lutheran, and one of my favorite things about our sort of spare, minimalist church was the seasonal color changes in the vestments and the pastor's stoles. It was so appealing to my visual little art brain. I especially loved the deep purple section of the liturgical calendar for Lent and the one pink candle that was lit on the third Sunday of Advent, amidst purple candles for the other weeks. I guess that's why this color combo came to mind this month, now that I think about it. 

My mom let us pick out the color combo of the bedroom I shared with my sister and pink and purple was the combo we chose for that too - with these adorable curtains she made for us out of this completely over the top, sort of cartoonish fabric we chose. It was the 70's and I make no apologies for my taste! But for all those reasons, it's a comfortable and familiar combo I put into my art a lot, like today. 

I created a very simple, pink, purple and yellow sky with this gorgeous sky scene stencil on a card front, alternating the colors in as non-regular a pattern as I could. I used Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed Distress inks.

Another thing about the big, empty spaces in Texas is the hundreds of thousands of miles that have to be covered with power lines in the vast distances between towns, so this stamp set stole my prairie loving heart. It has beautiful silhouettes that you connect with different sized wires for an infinity design. The little clusters of birds are arranged so perfectly for the wire images too - amazing design work here. The sentiments are all calm and encouraging and I just could not love it more.


I thought that a very abstract sky would be fun too, so I used this gorgeous watercolor brush stroke stencil for a second background, overlapping Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed inks for a bold, fun background for the same images. Does that one little bird facing the other way on the wire not squeeze your heart? This is such a familiar and appealing image to me. This brand new sentiment set is what I used - this is an all year, encouraging set.


On one of my Facebook Lives this week, I showed this ADORABLE stamp and stencil combo that is so ingenious! One stamp gives you everything you see that's in black here - the mouse and all the leaf veins. Then the incredibly well-designed three stencils in the combo - super easy to line up - create the rest of the image in seconds, giving you the illusion of masking with none of the work or planning! And that mouse!!! SO sweet.  



Now today, Waffle Flower is having a HUGE new release party of their Slimlines & Alphabets theme this month, including the stunning sentiment set I used above. Here's what the full set looks like - I absolutely love these thoughts - and it's an all year set, that can be used in any season for any occasion.



The combo of script and serif fonts - be still my heart!

And SQUEE! There's a Buffalo Plaid Stencil!!


There are also TONS of slimline, sentiment and alphabet dies and other stunning stencils - you can see the full release here.

Here are all the products I used today - and there are some giveaways below! 

Power Lines Stamp Set – WaffleFlower.com
[ WFF ]
Keeway's Sky Scene Stencil –...
[ WFF ]
Tender Thoughts Stamp Set –...
[ WFF ]
Stencil-n-Stamp: Fall for You –...
[ WFF ]
Paint Strokes Stencil – WaffleFlower.com
[ WFF ]
Buffalo Plaid Stencil – WaffleFlower.com
[ WFF ]
2020-12 – WaffleFlower.com
[ WFF ]
Stencils and Silhouettes Bundle 1 –...
[ WFF ]
Life Changing Blender Brushes: 4-Pack...
[ PFS ]
Wilted Violet, Ranger Distress Mini...
[ ELH | SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad...
[ SSS | ELH ]
Spiced Marmalade, Ranger Distress...
[ ELH | SSS ]
Picked Raspberry, Ranger Distress...
[ ELH | SSS ]
Candied Apple, Ranger Distress Ink...
[ ELH | SSS ]
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 ]
Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding...
[ AMZUS ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
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 ]
Mermaid tidy towel case and glue...
[ ETS ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]
Slimlines & Alphabets Release Blog...
[ WFF ]
Fish & Chips Stamp Set –...
[ WFF ]
Last Chance – 25% off with code...
[ WFF ]





For today’s hop, Waffle Flower is giving away $25 gift certificate to THREE lucky winners. You can leave a comment on this blog and along the hop by 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday November 9th, 2020 for your chances to win. Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the posts in this blog hop and will be announced on the Waffle Flower Blog on 12/11/2020.

ALSO - From now till December 7th, 2020, all orders over $50 placed at waffleflower.com will receive a FREE set of Fish & Chips Stamp Set (No code required; Limited 1 per customer; While supplies last).

A kind reminder from Waffle Flower:"We appreciate every order we receive but we also recommend at this time of uncertainties, reserve your resources and use what you have first! Stay positive and healthy!" This is why I used a set from last month's release with the new sentiment set - because Nina always says this and I think it's so sweet, so I wanted to give you some ideas with a little old and a little new!

For those of you who are new to Waffle Flower, they have a Last Chance section on their website that lists many goodies for 25% off until they are gone! This would be a great place to start your collection! 



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
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

60 comments:

  1. I hadn't seen that powerline set ... perfect to use with those gorgeous backgrounds.

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  2. Great cards, Lydia! My bedroom as a teenager was bright yellow & orange!

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  3. Love the color combos and reading about how you find these colors familiar and comfortable!! :)
    Beautiful cards!

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  4. A really great Waffle Flower release! I do love buffalo plaids so that stencil is awesome and the sentiments are beautiful!

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  5. Love the vibrant colors! So pretty! The paint stroke stencil sure made an awesome background!

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  6. I love that buffalo plaid too. The sentiments are a must have for sure. love your work.

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  7. Ok, so I am not sure why this post is making me weepy, but I think first it was that little bird facing the other direction. Then I came to the sentiment set with some of my very favorite sentiments and lastly the sweet quote from Waffle Flower to use what we have. How very sweet. I adore birds on a wire and clouds, clouds are my all time favorite. Well, no cats are my all time but clouds are second and I LOVE your colorful clouds. The abstract sky is stunning and lastly, that mouse! Oh! So cute! Hugs!

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  8. Your wonderful backgrounds are really fun, Lydia!!

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  9. These are breathtaking!

    isabelzito at verizon dot net

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  10. Amazing skies! I love your backgrounds.

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  11. Howdy, I'm new to Waffle Flower thanks to Vicky P. These are too cute for words. A must "go check it out" - Congrats on the line. Beautiful cards!

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  12. Love your cloud card! So pretty.

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  13. I am loving the WF release! The colors on your cards is so bright and fun, just what we need right now!

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  14. The silhouette images pop beautifully against the rich bold palettes on your cards, paired with these gorgeous script sentiments.

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  15. This sentiment set really is fantastic! It is on my wish list! I love your cards and that the sky is inspired by real life. My childhood bedroom had foiled butterfly wallpaper that I chose and probably belonged in a dentist’s office! I am a child of the 70’s too. I think I was 7 when I chose it lol!

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  16. Oh my gosh! Your cards are so awesome! I want one of each of them please!

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  17. These are all so fabulous. I can see that powerline set in my future for sure.

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  18. Your backgrounds are simply gorgeous! What stunning cards.

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  19. Gorgeous backgrounds! I love the buffalo plaid too!

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  20. Your cards are great! I love the little mouse lounging in the leaves.

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  21. Funny, when I see those power lines, I always think they are crosses! Such vibrant cards you've created with encouraging messages, too

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  22. Your sky is amazeballs! I love this stamp set!

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  23. Lydia, thank you for sharing a beautiful part of your life in the beginning of your blog post. Your sky really reflected the colors you were talking about. By the way, all of your cards are just gorgeous! This is such a wonderful release to work with and I can't wait to get some of them for myself. :)
    Angie
    abcammack@comcast.net

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  24. Wow, these cards are something else.. love them!!!

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  25. Lydia, I am just blown away by your gorgeous sky coloring! The Power Line cards briught tears to my eyes as my late husband spent 30 some yrs working on lines like that. I can still picture him up on the pole working away! I need that set for sure. Thanks for the memories!!

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  26. I’m assuming you meant December 9 not November 9 to comment on this post... Love the first card especially with the purples pinks and yellows definitely reminds me of Advent and Lent! It’s all fantastic as usual Lydia❣️💞

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  27. I like your nice bright cards. The new sentiments are great, printed and script. Thanks.

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  28. The sky in the first card is
    spectacular. We also have
    power lines running through
    town and along the highways
    so they are appropriate for
    use in our cards. thanks
    for sharing.
    txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  29. So many awesome items in this release! Great cards and stories!

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  30. Wow, these are so lovely, beautiful blending & backgrounds!

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  31. I love the bright colors on your cards- beautiful backgrounds!

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  32. I love the bright colors you used on your cards- beautiful backgrounds!

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  33. I especially like the leaves. The colors look cool. And the way you placed them, it makes me think of the wind storms we have been having, which I love. We have very little "weather" in southern California, so I enjoy those times when we have something happening :)

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  34. I love the skies and I have been trying to get that autumn leaves and mouse stencil!

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  35. Beautiful background skies. Love the colors!

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  36. Thanks For Sharing Your Beautifully Made Cards 😊
    So much goodness with this release 💕

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  37. Three fabulous cards, Lydia! I love the vivid colours!

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  38. Gorgeous scenes and great pairing with the Tender Thoughts sentiments! Perfect match-up!

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  39. Beautiful color combos on these awesome cards! Love the stamps and stencils you used!

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  40. I love your creativity! The powerline stamp, definitely a must have. Great backgrounds

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  41. Love every last one of these cards...that sky...that mouse....Lydia, you have the brightest, most magical eye!

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  42. I think these are gorgeous. Lovely inspirational sentiments. I am leaning towards those a lot these days. Such uncertain times. Thanks for these and Happy Holidays

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  43. Lydia you never disappoint. Perfect!

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  44. I love your bold and bright colorful cards! They are so amazing!!!

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  45. Always fun to see how you use different products from each release. I especially like the cloudy purple pink sky card.

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  46. The little mouse nestled in the bright colorful leaves is my favorite!
    You can really feel the love that went into this card!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  47. Lovely cards! The font with script and serif are my fave too!

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  48. Lydia, your cards are absolutely amazing!!!

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  49. Such beautiful, colorful cards! Thanks for sharing

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