Sending Hugs & Blessings

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

I am so, so happy to be past any risk of a freeze, I can't even express it! Finally, warm, sunny days. Makes me want to go lay out in the sunshine with a great book. 

Some of my favorite reading sessions took place outside. I read 100 Days of Solitude on a beach in Santa Barbara. I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle out in my backyard one summer. Something about hearing the birds and feeling the sun make reading infinitely better.

Now, I listen to my books instead of using paper - I put my phone in my back pocket and go about watering the plants, weeding, whatever I'm doing. I love it. 

This week some crazy stuff happened in our yard. Our red wasps went completely insane for two days. COVERED our porch and my neighbor's bush that's by our trash can. It was bizarre - thousands of them buzzing around. And then - poof - they were gone. I haven't seen that much activity from wasps in the 30+ years I've lived here. Those cycles are so strange.

So I had to build in some flowers today, so I chose these two sweet girls holding flowers for my card. I used this border set - it looks like a modern cityscape to me. 

I made this card for a Support Ukraine hop for the Stamping Village today - so you will have lots of inspiration to look through today. I colored everything simply with alcohol markers and added dots of white gel pen. I think these little girls are so sweet. The sentiment is from this set.

My sweet friend Yana is on my mind 24/7. I can't imagine having to run to a bomb shelter multiple times a day. It's just all so horrifying. You can follow her and see her latest update here. 

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See the full list of everyone participating below - many of them are making donations today.

Lydia Fiedler / Splitcoaststampers

My Sweet Petunia

Dare 2B Artzy

Tasnim Ahmed

LDRS Creative

Pink and Main

Lawn Fawn

Hero Arts

Pinkfresh Studio

Concord & 9th

Avery Elle

Studio Katia

Jennifer McGuire

Erin Lee Creative

Ink Blot Shop

Gina K. Designs

Simon Says Stamp

Waffleflower

Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES
20% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off at Sweet Sentiment with code UNDERSTANDBLUE
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
Arkon Mounts - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Signs of Life!

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

I love these days where spring just goes completely NUTS in my yard. This weekend, the mountain laurels bloomed - if you're not from Texas, this is a STUNNING dark green tree with waxy leaves that produces purple cluster flowers that look similar to wisteria, but more vibrant, and - WAIT FOR IT - they smell like grape koolaid! 

I also saw a few of my frozen plants start to come back - my Mexican petunia, which I was certain was a goner. My selloum, my seedum, a miraculous, impossible to kill jalapeno. My datura somehow is making a comeback as well, and my Lucifer Crocosmia. Right before the series of freezes, my sister gave me some irises we both thought were purple. They bloomed this week and they are a glowing bright white and are just stunning. We worked hard to protect our chile pequin bush - we built a structure, wrapped in plastic, put Christmas lights inside it and strapped a heavy moving blanket  on top. And while the top of the bush did get frozen - it's alive and well. 

I'm starting to understand why people with even small gardens can. Gone are the days I could make pints and pints of marmalade from my now dead tree. This past fall I dried a ton of herbs and froze a lot of my home grown veggies. You just never know!

I saw my first monarch today, and all the sudden the wasps and bees are going crazy. All that to say - YAY! I love the critters that come to life this time of year. So I decided to make a card that shows the business of even a suburban yard this time of year. It's funny - the name of the stamp set even matches my feelings :).

I used this gorgeous stamp set and dies - stamping most of the images in black, except the grasses, and colored them with alcohol markers. ALL the images are stamped on white, but I used a marker to edge them after die cutting so they have a little glow. The grasses are stamped in Jellybean Green, Fresh Asparagus and Key Lime, and then colored. NOTE - I don't worry about using dye inks with alcohol markers - you can see the result is just fine. 

You already know how I feel about mushroom stamps, so I was super happy to see these. 

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Beautiful Backyard [ GNK ] Understand Blue Slimline Folded... [ CTC ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #3... [ CTC ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #1... [ CTC ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #2... [ CTC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | SSS | ELH ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Storage Envelopes, Medium 25pk,... [ ELH ] CheckOutStore Stamp & Die Clear... [ CHC ] Extra Large -50 pk, Avery Elle Stamp... [ ELH ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

Go outside and enjoy your beautiful backyard. Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES

20% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off at Sweet Sentiment with code UNDERSTANDBLUE
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
Arkon Mounts - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

VIDEO: Which One of us is The Bad Influence? + Soy Free Tofu Recipe

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

For the first time in a LONG time, I had time to just noodle around and play in the studio this weekend. I chose not to spend ANY of that time on household chores, and I will defend that decision. If you know me, it's pretty weird for me not to spend my days off work cooking for the next week, but I just didn't. The freezer is going to need to provide for us this week.

Also, speaking of food, I was looking on Instacart last night, now that the weather is better and grilling sounds good, and I thought maybe ribs might be fun, now that I found a new BBQ sauce I like almost as much as my own.

And you will not believe what I saw. A SINGLE rack of ribs is THIRTY DOLLARS AT HEB. Food is getting crazy. Needless to say, we will not be having ribs any time soon. Time to eat some beans. To that end, I'm including a recipe I'll be trying later in the week. Perfect if you're allergic to soy, like I am, but miss tofu.

When I was in pre-school, I had a little friend named Scarlet. We were so tight. And, as a result, we got in trouble OFTEN. Not anything bad, just talking and laughing too much. God knows we can't have that. She was one of the very few people in my life I was willing to share food with - that has always grossed me out. I'm not one of those people who will eat off someone else's plate, or have them eat off mine. I know too much haha. But very frequently, Scarlet and I would split our lunches with each other. Back then, everyone packed a lunch, and the status symbol was your lunchbox - metal lunchboxes with images from popular TV shows, mostly. And they got rusty! And our thermoses had glass liners and frequently that glass broke, because kids. GenX realities. We mostly ate soup and sandwiches on the playground, specifically on the merry-go-round - I actually don't remember a picnic table there - we all just sat wherever. VERY rarely did we eat inside - only if it was raining. 

So Scarlet and I would scheme about various things and be highly wound up when we headed back in for the nap time that followed lunch. That was NOT a good combo, because we were not nearly done giggling and chattering. Hence, the trouble. I haven't forgotten you, Scarlet Coy - wherever you are! So today's card is for her. 

The background was created with this stencil and some gel printing, which you will see in a video in a few weeks. 

For the foreground, I stamped the pig in no-line coloring ink, and colored the pig image with markers, which you'll see in the video - nothing fancy, easy way to do reverse shading. 

Then I stamped and die cut the sentiments in the set. As you'll see in the video, I was going to go a different direction, but I didn't. The complementary colors are perfect for each other! A few sequins for garnish. I love how it looks like this piggy friend has been out doing graffiti in alleys with his bad influence friend :).

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So here's the video.

Bad Influence | 4x6 Stamp Set – Honey... [ HNB ] Bad Influence | Honey Cuts – Honey... [ HNB ] Salvaged Brick | Background Stencil –... [ HNB ] Charming | Sequin Mix – Honey Bee Stamps [ HNB ] Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05... [ SSS ] Bee Creative | Ink Pad | No Line... [ HNB ] Bee Creative | Easy Squeeze Precision... [ HNB ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #3... [ CTC ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #1... [ CTC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | SSS | ELH ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Storage Envelopes, Medium 25pk,... [ ELH ] CheckOutStore Stamp & Die Clear... [ CHC ] Extra Large -50 pk, Avery Elle Stamp... [ ELH ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

So here is the magical soy-free tofu I'll be trying this week. After I make it, I'm going to try a crispy peanut tofu recipe I've been eyeing. If it works out, I'll share it after I try it!

Hope you have a great week! Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES
20% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off at Sweet Sentiment with code UNDERSTANDBLUE
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
Arkon Mounts - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

VIDEO: Happy Fat Cat Friday + Giveaway

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

Happy Fat Cat Friday! I have an adorable fat kitty card for you today! This card was super fun to make. I have done a lot of experimenting with liquid watercolor over pastes of various kinds, as you know, and so for this card, I wanted a furry look and feel, not a slick one, so I went with fiber paste - and it's PURRFECT for this leopard spot stencil! 

I colored the kitty with Copics and colored pencils for shading, and I stamped this little dotty background under the sentiment. Thanks for the paper strips, Vicki!

I sandwiched the sentiment strip between the kitty and the die cut circle of black, and tada! Note - on an uneven surface, I like to use the little chesspiece magnets on my glassboard to hold everything while the glue dries. (You can use my coupon below for a board or magnets). 

The video of the background and foreground coloring is below.

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Here are all the supplies I used today - come back for a recipe & the giveaway!

Fat Cats :: 4x6 Clear Stamp Set – Ink... [ INK ] Accent Borders :: 4x6 Clear Stamp Set... [ INK ] Simple Sayings :: 4x8 Clear Stamp Set... [ INK ] Leopard Print :: 6x6 Stencil – Ink... [ INK ] Golden Fiber Paste | BLICK Art Materials [ BLIC ] PS321 Hero Hues Premium Cardstock... [ HA ] PD110 Liquid Watercolor Dandelion -... [ HA ] PD127 Terracotta Liquid Watercolor |... [ HA ] Derwent Chromaflow Colored Pencils -... [ BLIC ] Floral Glass Craft Mat — Glassboard... [ GLS ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #3... [ CTC ] Understand Blue Card Making Bundle #1... [ CTC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | SSS | ELH ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Storage Envelopes, Medium 25pk,... [ ELH ] CheckOutStore Stamp & Die Clear... [ CHC ] Extra Large -50 pk, Avery Elle Stamp... [ ELH ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

This card was part of a fun IG hop today - and there are four gift certificates you can win! Check that out here. 

I tried an awesome new recipe that I loved! It's a hot honey mustard chicken with a cornflake crust. The original recipe is here, but there are definitely some omissions, in my opinion - one, salt, and two - instructions for using frozen brussels instead of fresh, so I have my notes here.

It's even SO yummy left over - makes a great sandwich with pickles, and so yummy in salads. It's a keeper!

Hope you have a great weekend! Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES
20% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off at Sweet Sentiment with code UNDERSTANDBLUE
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
Arkon Mounts - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE