VIDEO: Adding Texture & Lighting effects to dies + Giveaway

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It's video day! And today's video has a little bonus preview in it with this fun embossing folder. It didn't work with my crow, but it's cool as heck! 

And be sure and expand the video description box - there are two $50 gift cards on the line! Enjoy!

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

Hanging with My Crowmies

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So you know I've been working on luring some crow friends this year - and I've been successful - they come every day - a mated pair - and I love them so much. 

So imagine my surprise when the Halloween lineup this year included this dark lovely!

One thing I've noticed about my crows is EVERYTHING is shiny - their feathers, their beaks, their feet - they are so shiny and pretty everywhere. So I have a video coming for you on Monday on how I made this bird shimmer and shine, because a photo doesn't do it justice at all.

You can see the feather texture a bit better here. But the sparkle you'll have to wait for the video for. I used this sentiment stamp, which cracks me up!

Are you ready for spooky season? I've been ready since November 1, 2023!!!

I've got my black cat, 2 crows, three owls - I'M READY!!!

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

WHOOO is Ready for Halloween?

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Me - it's me. I'm ready. I've been ready for a month! So today I'm bringing you some sweet spookiness with my favorite colored pencils on pastel paper. I love this combo because it makes the pencils just glow.

I started with this grey toned paper - it has a rougher surface that grabs the soft pencil well - it's sort of like cold press watercolor paper. 

I stamped the little cauldron first and then masked it to stamp the adorable witch. I added the two kitties stamped in black and just added tiny white marks on their eyes. 

I started with white pencil as I almost always do to color the cauldron and witch - that's what makes even black pencil glow on dark paper. I chose a magenta pencil that matched my cardstock - it's easier if you just start that way, rather than trying to match paper to an already colored image. 

What are you doing for spooky season? I wish my yard was big enough for one of those giant skeletons! I'd totally do that! My neighbors always go all out. 

Have a great rest of your week!

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

Black Stencil Foregrounds + Giveaway

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

Hey friends - I hope you had a good weekend! We actually got a little rain, which was a nice surprise - I'm hoping it knocks this Saharan dust out of the air - it's killing me. 

It seems fitting that my first card has an African vibe, but is completely dust-free!

I used this multi-scene stencil that is so gorgeous! It has a combo of little vignetted scenes and patterns that can be rotated for overlapping designs. 

But when I saw it, and the way that the silhouettes were the masking portion of the stencil, and the background was the stencil portion, I KNEW it had to be black and gold. I took this gold paint and a mini ink blender and carefully patted on a thin layer after taping off the scene I wanted. My tip here is less is more. If you get too much paint on the blending tool, it will get goopy and paint will go underneath the stencil. So keep the paint sparse and try to pounce straight up and down.

When I was done, I cut out the images and mounted them on gold foil cardstock and put them on a black card base. The sentiment is from this set. The cardstock is Pitch Black.

This month's Studio kit has such a fun, tropical vibe - look at that sticker paper! And the stencil in the kit has fun edges -  see how they are the positive and negative of the opposite side? I love it. And I LOVE the little beetle die - wait until you see the samples with that on the giveaway hop!

I took the dies from the kit and cut them out of cold press watercolor paper. I sprayed the pieces with water and then dropped in Teal, Pink, and Dandelion watercolor. I finished them with paint pen dots.

I used the Press 'n Seal trick after arranging them on my card to pick them all up. I added glue to the little fronds with my Precision Glue Press and then was able to transfer the whole scene to the card. I trimmed off anything that went past the edge, and used the sentiment from the kit.

Here are alllllll the extras, including the beautiful stencil I used above:

Of course there's a blog hop and a giveaway - so be sure and leave me a comment and visit the other stops to be entered to win a $50 gift card!

START THE THE BLOG HOP 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 the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10

Arkon Mounts -  - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

Sneak Peek: Taste of the Tropics!!

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

Is it just me or does it feel like three years have gone by since my last kit peek? Time is weird this summer! I've been measuring time in trials - as a few cases I've followed have recently come to trial in quick succession, and so I think that's part of the temporal issue. 

But at long last I have a Hero Studio kit peek! And I think you might *think you can guess what this month's release looks like from my peek, but when you see my cards Monday I think your mind will be blown. 

Today - I'm using the dies that come with the main kit, and as they are big, bold, tropicals, I had to watercolor them. For the foliage I only used Dandelion and Teal, and just mixed them until I saw what I liked. I used Pink and Dandelion for the hibiscus, again blending them. Then I added white acrylic paint pen dots and the sentiment! I thought about doing an ink blended sky behind the plants, but there's SO much color, it popped best on white.

Want to see some more peeks? Head over to this post to see them all, and I'll see you Monday! 

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