VIDEO: The Plant Clock Concept + Gel Press Hope Ribbon Printing

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I heard a promo for a plant podcast the other day, and what they said stopped me in my tracks.

I have added a lot to my garden this year and made a lot of changes - it has taken the place of the things that I used to leave my house to do - all the traveling time, vacations, etc. - I've spent nearly all of that time on my plants.

A lot of my friends have too - even people who are very new to gardening. And the observation by this podcast was absolutely fascinating. They said that the reason this is so fascinating right now is because plants mark the passage of time in a visual way. SO TRUE. And in a year where all other temporal markers have been erased - trips, holiday get togethers, birthday parties - plants are proof that time goes on, in its normal linear fashion, despite all of our feelings to the contrary.

It reminded me of a study that was done at my alma mater on the different ways that men and women navigate (with exceptions of course - I am an exception because my dad taught me to navigate via compass basically as a toddler). We had these tunnels under all the buildings at my university because it was in such a frighteningly cold place - and we used these (steam) tunnels to get to classes all winter. The school let us graffiti the heck out of them too, so they were colorful, if a bit creepy - and stiflingly hot. 

I was a part of several experiments by our psych department, but missed this one. They cleared out the tunnels and they put men and women in them and gave them certain destinations and then questioned them about how they got there. What they found is that men primarily navigate via orientation - typically compass direction - and women primarily navigate via visual landmarks. How do you navigate? I'm a compass girl all the way - I grew up on a prairie landscape, so that does you zero good in the landmark department - you need to know where the sun is if you're on a flat, somewhat barren vista. 

But this comment about visual timekeeping via the garden made me think of that study - because it's very hard to shift from one method to another. And that's what we've had to do with the calendar this year. So, so interesting. 

Anyway - I have some cool info for you today. Gel Press has an amazing new plate - an awareness ribbon - that's PERFECTLY sized for cards! So I have a few cards and a video for you - some mixed media prints with this super unique plate. All of my cards feature this stamp set, which benefits breast cancer research. All prints were made with Golden Open acrylics and Ranger alcohol inks. 

The second one I kept super clean - and in a rainbow style it can be an awareness ribbon for any cause you like. The sentiment echoes that.

On this last card - I loved the distressed look of the print, so I stamped the sentiment, and was about to re-stamp it because it wasn't totally inked and then I thought about it and thought it matched the overall style, so I left it! 

Want to watch the video? Click here if you don't see a player below.

Here are all the supplies I used today.

Awareness Ribbon [ GLP ] Courage Stamp & Die Set (Fundraiser... [ ELH ] Golden Open Acrylics and Sets [ BLIC ] Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks | BLICK... [ BLIC ] White and Ivory A2 Discount Card... [ CTC ] Amazon.com : Hammermill 102467 Copy... [ AMZUS | AMZUS ] Gel Press 5 x 7 REUSABLE GEL PRINTING... [ SSS | BLIC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer... [ AMZUS ]

What are you up to this weekend? I'm prepping for one virtual retreat and doing some SUPER fun design work that you'll see Monday. I'm starting to feel the holiday spirit descend! :) It will be a weird, different holiday, but it will still be a holiday!

Loveyameanitbye.

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

Water What Matters + Coupon Code

As we all know, you can't effectively give people with developing brains all the wisdom you've accumulated. They have an immunity to sound advice until some chemical transformation happens to their little brains at a certain age.

I know because I've been given lots of great advice too that I was immune to.

And sometimes now I give myself outstanding advice and then have conversations with myself about how awesome my advice to me was.

One particular piece of advice I have today thankfully has always come naturally to me.

It came in handy when I started working for Splitcoast - managing that online community. Managing an online community can be challenging, because - well, because people are involved. People you can't see.

My approach to that job has been the same as my approach to my life - a zero tolerance for drama. It's just not necessary. I have always believed that I should let people personally disappoint me - meaning, not let someone else's opinion of someone I don't know shape my treatment of them. If they then do disappoint me, then I've given them a chance and I can go on knowing that I did, which is important. Also, then you know whether the person that advised you gives sound advice - and we all need those people in our lives.

When I look around Facebook and other social media, I see little hotspots - maybe in groups for common interests (food allergy groups and cooking groups are most of the groups I'm in aside from true crime and craft groups) where regular drama occurs. And I see a philosophy that is true no matter what in life you apply it to. And that is this - what you water will grow.

Do you love peace? Humor? Water those. They will grow. Simply don't water anything else.

I don't remember when I started applying this with real vigor in my life because I'm old and can't remember things anymore - but it's been years - more than ten.

I very, very deliberately chose to only spend my energy on things I really loved. Art, making my house the way I wanted it to be (not living in it for the eventual buyer or any other assorted people who don't live here every day), learning activities like online and in person classes, gathering cardmaking friends regularly.

I deliberately didn't water things that didn't bring me joy. Nextdoor, for example, where America keeps all the crazy neighbors. Politics. The news. Any online drama.

You don't have that many minutes on earth. Why in the world people want to spend them arguing with strangers about Instant Pot settings on Facebook is really mind-boggling to me. Especially with the sheer volume of cat photos and hilarious memes virtually everyone has access to.

I used to purchase stamp sets primarily for the images. But now that I'm well into my stamping career, I'm more drawn to unique and interesting sentiments, like the one I'm using today.

It just spoke to me, as it's really something I wholeheartedly believe, as a human and as a gardener.

I have a video for you below, but the process is simple. I used my dimensional gel pen to mask out the beautiful wildflowers from this set, and then colored the background with my brush markers on this hot press paper - so far this is my go-to with these markers. I have a few more I want to compare, but they blend beautifully on this paper and it's a very luxurious soft hot press. This stamp set does have a really pretty, intricate matching die.

I really love how these colors blend like watercolor. Makes for such happy coloring sessions. And guess what? I have a coupon code for you! Good on these markers or any other brand on the site!

To get your discount - click here and use code UNDERSTANDBLUE at checkout!

So here's the quick video, with the supplies below - and I have a great soup recipe for you today! Stay tuned after the video!

In the Weeds by Brandi Kincaid,... [ ELH ] In the Weeds By Brandi Kincaid,... [ ELH ] Amazon.com: Sakura Pgb10c51 Aqualip... [ AMZUS ] Karin — MARKER UNIVERSE [ MRK ] L’Aquarelle Canson Héritage... [ BLIC ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] 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 ]

So I have a lifelong obsession with soup. When I was little, three hundred years ago, canned soups were actually good. I have fond memories of Chicken and Stars and tomato soup, all of which are awful now. After I moved to Austin, I started making soup frequently, until I had perfected some of my favorites - tortilla soup, split pea soup and my nearly world famous beef stew. These became part of my regular rotation. Over the last few years, I've added a yummy vegan Tom Kha that's amazing, as well as a lot of squash-based soup - I love butternut squash.

Having a local service like Farmhouse Delivery lets me eat what's in season, and soup is a fabulous way to get the most out of your vegetables. Watching Salt, Fat, Acid Heat helped me understand better what a new soup recipe is missing and I can quickly jazz up something that's just not quite there. If I were only allowed one food genre for the rest of my life, I'd most definitely pick soup. Yes, even in my hot climate. I find the longer process of making soup and developing flavor very satisfying as well.

So I came across a vegetarian version of tortilla soup last week, and I created my own vegan version (since I have a dairy allergy), and holy cow is this delicious.  So here is a link to the recipe, and my modifications are below. If you can have dairy, I'm sure that version is delicious - I used to love half and half in soups! My mom made delicious lentils, which was pretty unusual back then - and I love adding lentils to anything I can.

Here's my actual first bowl of soup.

And here's my version.

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 tsp oil (or if you're oil free, heat pan to medium for two minutes. Add veggies and stir. Use water or broth if anything wants to stick)
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 2.5 cups vegetable broth (More like 3.25 C.)
• 1 TBSP tomato paste (I use Mutti Verderine)
• 1 can Hot Habanero Rotel
• 15 oz can black beans (drained + rinsed)
• 15 oz can pinto beans (drained + rinsed)
• 2 C. Frozen super sweet corn
• 3/4 cup dried red lentils
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (generous)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (scant)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. Real Salt
• 1 can coconut milk (Unsweet, no guar, full fat, Native Forest)

Saute onions and bell peppers until soft. Add broth, Hot Rotel, beans and spices. Bring to a boil and add lentils. Simmer covered for 25-30 minutes. Add coconut milk and frozen corn and bring back to a simmer and serve.

I hope you try it! If the habanero is too hot for you, use mild Rotel or a can of tomatoes and a can of mild green chiles.

Loveyameanitbye.

Crafty Friends October + Coupon Code

It's Crafty Friends Day!

This month's featured friend is Ellen Hutson! Ellen is an amazing woman, and a dear, dear friend. I always tell her she has a podcast voice - I love hearing her talk and laugh.

I was thrilled when she hired Julie Ebersole - it was like peanut butter and chocolate finally got together!

Julie's CAS style changed cardmaking, in my opinion. No one was doing what she was doing back in the day, and she's influenced much of what we see in the design world, in my humble opinion.

I love that her design style is translated so beautifully in her stamp designs. You may not know this, but I was in the lighting industry for nearly 20 years. So I have a thing for light bulb stamps, and Julie's light bulb set makes me so happy. It's cute and simple in her style and has great sentiments. There are dies you can cut each bulb out with. All I had to do was make the middle one glow with some Wild Dandelion ink and Life Changing Blender Brushes.

As usual, we have a coupon for you! 20% off your purchase at Ellen Hutson of any Essentials By Ellen products! Click here and use code CraftyFriends20. This is a first just for our readers, so we are super excited and honored that Ellen did this for us!

Conductor of Light by Julie Ebersole,... [ ELH ] Conductor of Light by Julie Ebersole,... [ ELH ] Life Changing Blender Brush - 4 Piece... [ ELH ] Crafter's Companion Gemini Junior -... [ ELH ] Wild Dandelion, Gina K Designs Ink... [ ELH ] Stamp Shammy, Lawn Fawn - Ellen... [ ELH ] Starry Stamp Shammy Case, Lawn Fawn -... [ ELH | ETS ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] Scor-Buddy Mini Scoring Board 9x7.5 -... [ ELH ]

Loveyameanitbye.