VIDEO: Little Blue Car & Part 2 of Texture Video

I had every good intention of doing Christmas cards this past weekend and I couldn't get to it. I worked for part of the weekend, and then the rest got away from me. Not sure it will get done this year, even though I have a stack of cute ones like I'm going to show you today!

My last video was part one of two, so today you get part two. The process is similar, but I'm starting with patterned paper, which makes a huge difference - it just does a lot of the work for you.

I started with this wood plank embossing folder, which is a 3D folder with lots of detail that's perfect for this easy technique. Also - mixing the paints makes a HUGE difference in visual interest as does adding a complementary color. 

The focal point is this little car that has matching stencils - the little flames and checkers are so cute. I colored it just with ink blending.

Before I put it down onto my background, I masked a little triangle and ink blended white ink to make the headlight glow. The sentiment is from this set.

Here's the video:

Have a great week!

Loveyameanitbye

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Springy Thoughts + Giveaway

One cold snap and I'm already done with winter - how about you? I saw that some areas of the country are having a colder than normal start to winter. Always no to that!

So it was fun to do some springy things this month and look ahead a tiny bit, even though I'm supposed to be putting up the Christmas tree. 

First up - this month's studio release - it's so bright and happy. I am starting with these gorgeous, modular butterfly dies that cut into a card panel but stay attached so you can lift the wing. I cut one wing, and then I cut the body of the butterfly which also stays attached, but I snipped it out and drew antennaes on. The scripty hello is from the main kit. I taped off the area around the wings and ink blended them. The black card base shows through the area under the wing. Fun interactive card!

Next up - a fine art mashup. A little Monet background with acrylic paint over a masked Matisse style ballerina in a Degas pose!!

After you mask the ballerina, if you are using paint, especially - leave the stamp in your MISTI so you can overstamp the image again in case any paint gets past the masking paper. Works like a charm! This image is from the main card kit.

I used the actual die as a stencil to create the shadow. I have a whole class on creating shadows and reflections HERE.

This is a beautiful release! Get in a spring mindset by visiting the hoppers today - leave comments for your chance to win a $50 gift card and go shopping!

Hero Arts

Hero Arts Creative Team:

Channin Pelletier

Charlene Madrid

Ilina Crouse

Jeannie Lieu

Jennifer Kotas

Kailash Naidoo

Karen Brown

💙💙💙Lydia Fiedler 💙💙💙

Michelle Short

Natasha Polite

Natasha Vacca

Rachel Kleinman

Rosie Lopez

Seeka

Special Guests:

Mindy Eggen

Nichol Spohr

Kelly Taylor

Loveyameanitbye!

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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Critter Chaos Christmas + Giveaway

It's critter chaos Christmas! It's also kit release day so I'm going to show you two of my faves. 

First - this adorable fox tag! This little guy is the perfect size for the tag stamps in the kit so I put him on a circle die cut that I ink blended with Key Lime. I blended the back side as well. I colored the fox with OLO markers and added some twine!

I actually did partial die cutting on it so the back of the tag is one piece but I forgot to take a picture.

I LOVE this next card! I feel so proud of myself hahah. 

I created a "room" by using my classic floor/corner technique, and then I took a really sticky piece of tape on top of it to lift the top layer of the cardstock, so I could peel it down like it was wallpaper for my chaotic kitty!

Isn't that a hoot?

Join the hop to enter the giveaway!

Hero Arts

Hero Arts Creative Team:

Channin Pelletier

Charlene Madrid

Ilina Crouse

Jeannie Lieu

Jennifer Kotas

Kailash Naidoo

Karen Brown

Lydia Fiedler

Michelle Short

Natasha Polite

Natasha Vacca

Pocono Pam

Rachel Kleinman

Rosie Lopez

Seeka

Special Guests:
Mindy Eggen

Kelly Taylor

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

VIDEO: Realistic Brick & Wood Textures + Giveaway

Hello friends! I don't know if you're aware of this, but cats don't know anything about time changes, so I'm yawning while typing this. I think it's harder for those of us that already get up insanely early - I'm just conditioned to wake up between 4 & 5, so backing that up an hour by a confused cat or two is rough. 

You know how much I love mixed media embossing, so today I have part 1 of 2 of a texture video where I'll show you the pieces below with a 3D brick and 3D wood embossing folder. 

I am THRILLED that there's a Feliz Navidad die! Great news for us Texans - it's one of many holiday sentiments in the die set. 

I took part of the red brick piece above and some glitter paper and made a little chimney. The paper in the background really looks like brocade, with shiny, embroidered stars. 

The turquoise piece was so fun and so pretty - wait till you see how I made it!! I didn't want to cover too much up so I used glitter paper and this Merry & Bright die.

The last piece today before part 1 of the video has this freaking adorable vintage reindeer die. So adorable and very simple to assemble. The sentiment is from this set.

Here's the video - and be sure and click "More" on the description under the video to enter the giveaway!

Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

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Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Realistic Brick & Wood Textures - Video Sneak Peek!

Hey peeps! 

I'm coming to you with a video sneak peek tonight of a quick and easy mixed media technique that will help you create realistic wood and brick textures with these two beautiful 3D embossing folders - wood grain and small, distressed brick. This is a sneak peek, so you can see it all at 8 PM Central today 10/28 here! 

The video I will break into two parts, but the techniques are similar for all!

I wanted to show you the full sheets before cutting one down into this adorable chimney. Sorry you can't see it but the snow and layers on the sentiment are glitter paper. 

Look closely at the background paper - it looks like embroidered stars! So pretty. 

The bricks actually have a rough texture like brick! So fun!

You will be able to see the video a week from today and there will be prizes! 

Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

VIDEO: CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

Howdy friends!

I'm coming to you today with one of my absolute favorite types of holiday posts - the CASE Me a Christmas Card series with Michelle Lupton. 

If you haven't seen this before, what she does is invite a series of guests to do a mutual CASE - I pick a card of hers, and she picks a card of mine and we use those as our inspiration. 

I always prepare for my CASE by scrolling through Michelle's Instagram account - it's beautiful. 

This year, something caught my eye as a theme in her account - and that is that she is a master of using analogous color. As I tend to gravitate towards complementary color combos, this intrigued me - because her cards have this really beautiful harmony!

So I selected one of her combos that she uses frequently for holiday cards - and that's blue and green - an analogous color combo I don't use that often - so that's a fun challenge for me!

I chose the fun two piece tree tag die and ink blended them separately with reactive inks - blue, purple, green and a blue green. I lengthened the tag as well with a die cutting trick you will see in my video. I used glitter paper and an alcohol marker to finish the scene. 

When you look at this with a little collage I made of the inspiration pieces - I think you'll see how skilled she is in this part of the color wheel in every conceivable medium.

Here is a list of her inspiration cards included in the collage:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxYBfDigqy3/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrOKbsDH-Qg/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcaZFkmAhkZ/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIDvHUZASr2/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BHxp9zwALOu/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF3MAUBkvOY/

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6PMEJQJLgr/

You can click here to see Michelle's CASE - we will be seeing this together! You can watch my video here at 3 PM Central!:

Enjoy - loveyameanitbye!

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

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Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Shine Bright + Giveaway

Happy kit day friends!! Even though I'm in my spooky season, the crafting world has some holidaying to do, so this month's kit is all about Christmas!

I wanted to do a bright and happy card to start today off with - whatever the opposite of two hurricanes is - I want that.

So I grabbed this fun Mondrian style Christmas stencil and just three colors of ink, and I taped off stripes and ink blended - letting the overlapping areas create the rainbow effect.

The sentiment is this month's clear set - and it has matching dies - but I didn't use the die here - I wanted a clean one layer creation.

Here's what the full kit looks like - and LOOK at that die cut washi! That's what was in my sneak peek Saturday - it's so beautiful and looks so pretty on kraft cardstock.

Speaking of kraft cardstock - I wanted to use the background cling from the kit in a tone on tone here for the tag images from the kit - and I used primary colors in the background of these as well.

Here's that stunning washi card again. I just love these images.

To be entered in the giveaway today - leave me a comment, and then head over to the full inspiration hop here!

Stay tuned tomorrow when I will have a video using the kit for my collab with Michelle Lupton on her CASE Me a Christmas Card Series. You can sign up for the video premiere here: 

You can also see the full release there! Enjoy!!!

Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Warm Washi & A Countdown!

Is it just me, or did September drag on? Maybe it's because we have two moons now! I'm not joking - our moon got lonely and picked up a friend.

Anyhow - I'm happy to see October and of COURSE the Card Kit!!! I have a bunch of cards and a video this month, so be sure and come back here on Monday - but today I'm giving you a little sneak of one of the extras - a stunning scripty sentiment and die set. 

But don't sleep on the STUNNING washi die cuts you are going to see! I put mine on kraft because it's such a warm image and I wanted to keep that warmth. I also added the new clay peppermints around the sentiment. Tip - to align these - put your card lined up on your sticky mat grid. Then line up a ruler along one of the grid lines and pop the mints on! Even round shapes are easy this way! I thought this cabin looked like a gingerbread house!

Want to see more inspiration? Head HERE to see the other team cards - and then come back on Monday!

LYMIB

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

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Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

VIDEO: Spooky Scarecrow on Dark Cardstock

Hey friends!

I have a super fun spooky card for you today on this super soft and silky black cardstock that behaves really differently from the kraft cardstock and the pastel paper I normally use - and it was really fun. It ends up almost looking painted.

I used my normal colored pencils on my scarecrow, and I cut him out with the matching dies, and framed him against this spooky tree so the black edges of the die cut really don't show against the tree at all - such a fun effect.

The sentiment is from the same set and I just die cut a circle. What did we do before simple shape dies?

Here's the video!

Tuesday we get to start the REAL Halloween countdown! Can't wait.

Loveyameanitbye.

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE15

OLO MARKER

10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Philatelic Inspiration & Important Update

*Compensated affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. No posts here are sponsored or paid.*

I have a very meta project for you today! It's a card, which will be sent through the mail with a stamp, that is inspired by stamps!

I'm still in my spooky season, so it has a little Dia de los Muertos flair too. 

Before I get into that - I have an important update for you! My Glassboard Studio coupon code has changed! You can now get 15% off, including  this adorable pet paw board and their larger magnets with a soft covering and easy to grab handles. My code is UNDERSTANDBLUE15 and I've updated the footer of my blog posts with that info.

Here's what I did for today's card.

I started with these nesting postage dies, and I cut three stamps. I carefully masked the edges of these with Post-It tape around the edges and across the middle to create a horizon line. I used pink, orange and purple ink to create sky and ground. Then I used pieces of the haunted house stencil to create the little marks on the ground that match my inspiration piece below. I used this punch I found recently - that has a deep reach when you are punching farther into cardstock - and I punched a hole in masking paper to use for the moon. 

Next, I cut apart the stamps from the little mariachi grouping, and stamped them on each colored scene. I mounted these three stamps onto black cardstock.

Here's my inspiration from the USPS:

Aren't those beautiful?

I hope you've enjoyed this - don't be afraid of stamp surgery - it helps you get a whole lot more out of your stamps!

Loveyameanitbye

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

15% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

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Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

VIDEO: 3D Journal Cover With Layering Dies

*Compensated affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. No posts here are sponsored or paid.*

Hello my spooky friends!! Only 44 days till Halloween!! I can't wait - so I have a fun spooky project for you today. 

I bought a little watercolor journal and transformed it into a spooktastic book with a 3D bat on the cover!

I love this little bat so much - he's so accurate and detailed and this was so easy to do as you will see. All you need is some somewhat glossy black paint and some white paint. You will definitely need the Precision Glue Press for this.

Isn't he great??

Here's the video!

Hope you enjoy it! 

Loveyameanitbye!

CURRENT COUPON CODES

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

20% off anything at Glassboard Studio  - UNDERSTANDBLUE.

OLO MARKER

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Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

The Sad Story of the Video that Never Was

*Compensated affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. No posts here are sponsored or paid.*

I come to you today with a sad tale. I have a video for the first half of this card, but not the second. Streamyard freaked out on me and went black halfway through my coloring of these gorgeous pumpkins for Stamptember. 😭😭😭

So maybe I'll color them again. We will see. 

But anyway - here they are with the tree embossing folder that I have the video for.

Isn't that a fun combo with black? So dramatic.

This stamp set has oodles of other beautiful pumpkin images, and I'm sure it will sell out fast, so grab it if you want it!

Happy to report a serious drop in temperature today - I guess it really is fall!

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 the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Spooky Magic + Giveaway

*Compensated affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. No posts here are sponsored or paid.*

I sat down to make some FUN spooky stuff over the long weekend - wait for a very fun video that's coming - and I realized I have Halloween color combos that I almost never vary from, so I knew RIGHT where to go for inspiration for today's card - and that was Kristina Werner's combos. I picked this out right away with reactive Key Lime Fizz, Licorice and Purple Galaxy. I picked reactive because I wanted it to interact with the heavy body gloss gel I used - and you can see that best on the purple, where it almost turned pink. 

I used this awesome stencil with the clear paste - I love these spooky words - and the contrast of the shiny letters and the matte ink is SO pretty. 

The woodcut, etched style of the stamps in this month's kit is so cute and old fashioned - and you know I love these critters. Really cute. 

So here's a closeup so you can see the shine.

It's heard to see it flat, but here you go. 

And we are pushed back one day for the kit because of the holiday - BUT WE HAVE A HALLOWEEN KIT. LOOOKKKK at the raccoon!!!!

The layering house stencil is super fun and spooky. 

Here are the add-ons, including the fun stencil I used.

Want to enter this month's giveaway? 

Start by leaving me a comment, and then do the same on today's cardmakers' posts!

You can start here where the full list is on the 

Hero Arts blog!

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 the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE