VIDEO: Simple Lunar Reflection + Deerstravaganza

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Living in a tent with poor little Maddie is rough! Tile floors are amazing until you have to sleep on them. And - thankfully - she has been eating every hour or so since her surgery, so I haven't gotten much sleep. But I'm really glad about that because she is so, so, skinny and tiny - she's well under 6 pounds now. Other than being super depressed that she's in a tent for two weeks, she's really doing better. She's a tough little kitty. ❤

She's also an expert at escape, so we've had to lock the zippers - that's really fun in the dark in the middle of the night if you have to pee! I'll be glad when next Monday rolls around. So will she.

I have a new video for you today, featuring this gorgeous set of deer dies. They are so spot on to our beloved white tailed deer here in Austin & the Hill Country. 

I used the doe for the video and I ink blended her in shades of Distress ink before assembling her. I designed the whole placid scene around the sentiment, with the moon taking center stage.

Other than the deer die and the sentiment - the supplies are super simple - circle dies, a paper cutter, ink and blending brushes - but look how much atmosphere you get for such a simple process. 

And you still have time to get in on the $50 giveaway on my Instagram post if you want with this card! This is the same die set, but the buck - and I assemble him in today's video - and I used this embossing folder two ways - the replay of this process is available on Patreon for the blue strip. 

Here's the video!

Loveyameanitbye.

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Hill Country Deer

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Hi friends!

I will have a video on this card on Halloween, but wanted to share it with you tonight because I'm in love with these beautiful deer dies. We love our deer in Central TX, and these are so realistic and perfect. I filmed the process for the doe card, but I HAD to make a Patronus with the buck in all white! What's great about these deer is they will absolutely not eat your plants!! 😂

Anyway, still chaotic here - Maddie's pre-op is tomorrow and there's a lot going on, so I'll be brief - but there's lots more beautiful winter/holiday stuff out this evening here. 

Loveyameanitbye.

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VIDEO: Teddy Bear Texture With Our Friend Pooh Bear

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You know those studies that talk about how reading and writing on paper improve your retention of what you are reading or writing?

You know how I know this is true?

I don't remember what I had for lunch today, but I VIVIDLY remember certain days reading Winnie The Pooh, The Silver Nutmeg, our Peanuts books, Little House on the Prairie, and yes, Helter Skelter. 

There's something about holding a book in your hand and shutting out all else. 

I read the Pooh Bear books MANY times over. I loved them so much. Like Nancy Drew and Alice and The Hobbit, I loved the in-book illustrations so much. These books are the perfect bridge between your left and right brains. 

There are a lot of different ways to do fur textures, and I have many lives and videos on this process, but today's video is new. I wanted to recreate that sort of matted texture stuffed animals get - you know what I'm talking about. 

I used the same Pooh Bear stamp for both cards, but did two different backgrounds. This first one - I used this grid tape and ink blendedn aqua ink. The second one will be a video soon. I colored both with OLO Markers. I hand cut the images out because they were such simple shapes. When I do this I always color the edges black - it makes a big difference when you are looking at the card up close.

The second bear I did in a similar way, but I did some blending - you can do as much or as little as you like. The background will be in an upcoming video. The sentiment is from this set.

Here's the video:

Hope you have a great weekend! Loveyameanitbye.

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VIDEO: Painted Patina Two Ways + The Treasure Found in old Notes

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It pays to save your notes, y'all. Or to be a notebook hoarder and then just run across them unexpectedly ten years later - whatever!

I don't remember exactly what CHA show I saw this demo in - but it was a long time ago because I think it was when either 3D embossing folders or regular embossing folders were being introduced. Back then, my handwriting was legible, so I took copious notes, which makes me think it was in the pre-iPhone days, because after the iPhone, I just snapped photos and promptly forgot all details. Another reason notes are better. 

But anyway, I found the steps and paint colors for this - I had them written down with DecoArt paint, but I'm using Studio Paints and a fluid acrylic in my version today. It might surprise you looking at the photo to see that with the exception of the burnt sienna color - the colors in these two samples are the same! I used a turquoise, a light blue, transparent yellow oxide, and a burnt and raw sienna. I finished both with this shimmery copper paint.

The embossing folder is my old favorite - this 3D clover folder I've used in like eleventy thousand blog posts but I love it for this because it really looks like a tin tile pattern. I finished them both with this copper paint as you'll see in the video. The photo blew out the embossed details on my little frame die, but it's this one - there are little pinecones and leaves on each end. The sentiment for the blue card is from this set - and if you missed my holographic fish process, that video is here. The sentiment for the fish card is from this teacher set.

Here are the supplies, pretty much in the order you'll see them in the video.

3D Embossing forlder [ HNB ] Fancy Fall Layering Frames - Honey... [ HNB ] Sentiments [ HNB ] Sentiment Dies [ HNB ] Lucky Lures 6x8 Stamp Set – Honey Bee... [ HNB ] Fish sentiment dies [ HNB ] Fish sentiment set [ HNB ] Metallic Copper [ BLIC ] High Flow Yellow Oxide [ BLIC ] Burnt Sienna [ BLIC ] Raw Sienna [ BLIC ] Light Blue [ BLIC ] Turquoise [ JGG ] Fan brush [ BLIC ] Sea sponge [ BLIC ] PS323 Hero Hues Premium Cardstock... [ HA ]

Here's the video:

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Loveyameanitbye.

Andddd I'm Senile + The Lengths I'll Go To To Save Glitter Paper

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I'm bringing you the rest of the weekend crafting today along with some complete senility. I didn't post my fave card yesterday! I'll put that at the end after my Sunday creations.

I love a good bird, as you know, so I picked a bird and sunflower combo for this card, with a layering word die. It's hard to see but that one branch that looks brown is gold foil, so I used gold glitter paper over vellum with the layering word die. 

All of the things I'm using except for my senile card are here, to save you time.

This is all from a beautiful layering stencil, and yes I used the same greeting dies. I'm weird like that.

This is actually my favorite card. I showed it on my live yesterday because the photo doesn't do it justice. It's so shimmery and amazing. It uses a 3D embossing folder, embossing ink, and copper and gold pastels. 

But here's where I prove how crazy I am about using every scrap of glitter paper  - see the little leaves flying out away from the sentiment? Those are the pieces from the inside of the letter die cut! YES I AM THAT CRAZY.

Photographing this card almost did me in. I LOVE white on white cards with embossing, but holy cats my camera will not cooperate. It REVERSES the texture - so bizarre. I don't have time for  the physics of it all. Instead, I went outside to the fencepost where I feed the squirrels (see my neighbor's roof peeking through?), and took a few snaps with my iPhone. Luckily I had some sunlight. So it's not the best photo in the world, but at least you can see this stunning poinsettia embossing folder. It has a die - so I cut a piece of white cardstock with the die, and then just taped it into the EF and embossed it - I love this - I've never had a folder with a die like this before. And yes, I cannot stop using that sentiment die.

And, because I'm senile - I FORGOT THIS CARD yesterday! What a ding dong!!

I love this desert scene and I piled ALL the little scenic dies into it. So cute.

In case you missed my update - I'm taking a week off my lives, starting tomorrow to get some things done before Maddie's surgery. However, I will be scheduling premieres on YouTube during my normal slot, so we will still be able to chat live. FYI those two embossing folders are a little delayed, but you will see them here.

I hope you have a great week. 

Loveyameanitbye.

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The Lost Cartoon + Fall Cards.

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I'm off work today, so I will be catching up on editing videos, etc. I'll be updating my podcast list on Patreon too - I binged a lot while I was working this weekend - I worked all weekend so I had a lot of quality podcast time. I'll also be adding a few recipes today. I'm trying to get motivated to cook something - I did make my banana coconut bread this weekend, but haven't been inspired to cook any real food. It's been all survival food - hummus and whatnot. I need to get it together. 

The weather is glorious right now - cool and dry and we are looking forward to the eclipse - we will be right in the path, and supposedly it will be clear skies. 

My mom sent me these ADORABLE mini cast iron pans - I'm trying to think of all the dishes I can miniaturize. You know those restaurants that serve a little apple pie in a cast iron skillet and they are always WAY too big? These seem perfect. also perfect for a single egg, or a little individual cornbread, which I only make in cast iron. And these are made in the USA. So cute.

I was playing around with this texture plate this weekend, and I wanted to die cut quilting again, since I haven't done that in a while, and I have some tips for you.

This die is so fun because it's got such a tight texture that it's perfect for quilting. But since I wanted to use florals that were layering, the most important part was the gluing. Look at the stems for example - see how the little hashes go all the way across the stem in some places? I used my Precision Glue Press to make sure each stem was totally covered with glue before adding them to the panel. The larger sections - like the flowers and leaves - were not likely to be cut in half, so you can apply glue normally - but in general, when quilting die cuts, the more glue the better. And be sure it's dry. PS - the florals are from this year's calendar bundle - so if you like to give calendar gifts - now is your moment.

To prep the die cuts, I ink blended them with Peacock Feathers, Crushed Olive and Fired Brick distress inks. I love this combo - it's perfect for fall. Then I glued them onto the white panel and cut it with the cover die. Note - the cover die will cut a full A2, but I cut my panel down for layering. I love how this just unifies all the die cuts with the background just like quilting. I added the Hello die AFTER cutting the full panel. 

My favorite set I played with this weekend though was these hilarious modular birds that you make with a stencil, and then you add their legs etc. with a stamp - there are three sets of them and then a big bird and they are all hilarious. I used the "wall" from this set for the bottom. I like how that one ADHD bird is all - LOOK AT THIS BRICK.

Finally - I made a pie! Pumpkin of course. This is where we get to the lost cartoon. 

In the early naughties - maybe 2009 when social media was just kicking off - I saw this cartoon that I've never been able to find again. I'm so mad because it was my favorite! It was about how Virgos love pumpkin pie. It was so cute and so true. I *think* it was from The Oatmeal. I searched for years and never found it online again. If you see it - please send it my way.

So of course I started with a brushed silver pie tin and server. The handle on the server is a separate die so you can make that look like wood. I put that on the little tablecloth and then onto this wood paper. The sentiment dies are from the same set. 

And PS Happy belated Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

Loveyameanitbye.

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VIDEO: Precision Foiling & How Not To Make Mistakes

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I made a few of my favorite recipes this week because I have a really stressful rest of the month coming up. I'll spare you. But now I have food for a bit.

I made my beloved sheet pan kimchi fried rice with a local vegan kimchi I get from the Farmer's market. Y'all know I hate shopping, and I have not been inside a grocery story since 2014 when Instacart launched in ATX. 

But I can shop outside at two places - nurseries and my local farmer's market, and I love that, so those are the only two places I truly shop. This past weekend was the first time I've gone to the FM in a while because this summer has been so very brutal that no one could grow vegetables. But I went back Saturday and grabbed my favorite kimchi and this PHENOMENAL marmalade. 

Kimchi - if you think you don't like it - it may be the fish. I never liked it until I tried vegan kimchi. I hate fish in general and fermented fish can die in a fire. I never knew why I hated Worcestershire sauce so very much all my life, and it's the fermented fish. So now that I've found vegan kimchi and vegan worcestershire, I love them both. 

Anyhoo - let's get to the crafting. As you know - I had a prototype of the Precision Glue Press for a year before it was released. And I have not had to cap my glue in a year. I have a how to video coming, but today, I want to share with you an idea that was one of those half asleep inspirations I had that resulted in this technique. It's the perfect tool for it. I've waited a month to show you this so I sort of feel like I deserve a cookie. The beautiful stencil is this one. 

The video for this is below!

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Loveyameanitbye.

Magical Forest Inspiration

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Be still my forest loving heart! This month's Hero Arts kit is so very sweet - and I'm back with the full reveal. The little peeking animals are so cute with the layering woodland die - I can't stand it!

I ink blended the base of the card, and then added a black layer before doing the other layers in white - it gives it that telescopic feel. I colored the little fox with one OLO marker and then added colored pencil shading. This whole thing is so quick it's crazy.

Here's what the full kit looks like:

THESE ADD-ONS THOUGH. LOOK at this stencil! OMG. I have a video on how I foiled this coming out on Wednesdy. This is SO cute I can't stand it.

You know how I am about symmetrical background stamps, and there's a new one this month - this magical circle bold print. I masked half my card and stamped it with on-stamp ink blending - but with a more rustic, distressed technique - you can see a video on that here. Look at the deer - the yellow parts are a yellow lacquer. The stamp set has images that are like the ones in the stencil - adorable. And look at the die cut sentiments!

Here are all the add-ons - look at all this goodness!! The letterpress!

So back to yesterday's little sneak - this little peeking bear stole my heart. I think every blog post I've done for a month has had a bear in it - don't know what's up with that. But I love bears!

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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Leave me a comment to be entered to win this month's gift card, and then BEHOLD all the inspiration before you!

Hero Arts

Hero Arts Creative Team:

  Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka

Special Guests:

  Essie
Jennifer Kotas
Kelly Taylor
Meg Brooks
Natasha Vacca
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

Hope you have a great week. Loveyameanitbye.

VIDEO: Coloring Snow for Michelle & A Holiday Card Roundup

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If you've been with me for a few years, you know I've participated in Michelle Lupton's CASE me a Christmas card series, and Michelle is a dear friend. This year she's had some life challenges, and asked us if she should take a break this year, and we all encouraged her to take a break. She certainly has earned one. 

But being the sneaky people we are, we colluded to get together today and honor her by CASEing her cards and posting them - I'll link you to the hop - to honor her and her incredible contribution to the designer community every year. So I CASEd a very recent card of hers, as we have a shared love of gnomes! I used the same gnome stamp set she did and then just did a technique for the snow I learned in one of my earliest marker classes - it's so easy even I can do it! I used OLO Markers. The video is below.

Thank you so much Michelle for including me in this series - it's been such an honor! I hope this brings you a little cheer as you enjoy your break!

Since it's always such a festive holiday series I thought I'd add a few more of the holiday cards I've been working on. 

First - I will have a video on this background soon, but this is a very Scandinavian feeling 3D embossing folder I just love. The sentiment is from this set - I know I've used this a lot lately, but I like how mix and match it is. I used these transparent liquid watercolors and a little acrylic paint.

I haven't done white on kraft in a while and I wanted to do it for these little mice. I get this extra thick, extra warm colored kraft cardstock for colored pencil that I just love and I realized it's been a LONG time since I did something I used to do all the time in the late 1900s - simple white on kraft - I just used my studio pencils - but where their eyes and drumsticks are extra white I added white gel pen. I like the contrast. The ink for the image is Acorn, and the sentiment is black.

And in an experiment that worked beautifully, I just used regular white pigment ink with my Betterpress die and it's perfect! I absolutely could do all my Christmas cards like this. So simple and so elegant. - and even with pigment ink, so crisp. 

Finally - another one I'll have a video for soon - this adorable Santa die - I've hidden half of him in my DIY Chimney but what's cool about this die is that every piece that's a different color is its own die - so you can use colored cardstock and be completely done in seconds. The little sentiment is actually part of a flag you can have him carrying when he isn't A over T in the chimney!

Here is the video!

Here are all the products I used today:

Gnomes [ HA ] DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies... [ HA ] Dr. Ph. Martin's Radiant Concentrated... [ BLIC ] 3D Embossing Folder [ SPL ] Holiday Sentiment [ SPL ] Drum Line [ SPL ] Kraft coverstock [ AMZUS ] Acorn ink [ SBC ] Studio pencils [ BLIC ] Christmas Tree BetterPress [ SPL ] Santa [ SPL ]

Check out our super secret hop on Instagram - Start HERE.

Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES

10% off stamps, stencils and dies at TRHD here with UNDERSTANDBLUE

20% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

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

Bujo/journaling supplies - 10% off with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

10% off everything at Acorns & Twigs with code UNDERSTANDBLUE