VIDEO: Zebra Madness + Watercolor Smudging

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

You know how there are some categories of images that you can't resist? Here are some of mine:

• Mail themed stamps
• Leaves
• Bunnies
• Text stamps
• Owls
• Big florals
• Platypi
• Zombies
• Monsters
• Zebras

So I'm in trouble today, because this sassy little zebra is out and he's RIDICULOUSLY cute. The set he's in has some baby themed elements, but I didn't make baby cards and I could not stop putting zebras on things!!

This first card was so fun to make. I stamped all the zebras, and then used the matching die + masking paper to mask them all off. I ink blended Sprout all over them, and then at the very edges of the card, ink blended Buttercup to make the center of the card glow. EEK they are cute. The sentiment is from this set. PS - they have a sale going on ink cubes and full sized ink pads FYI.

Now the technique on the next two cards is what I show you in the video below so I won't bore you with the details - it's a technique I have another video for, using a different medium, and that video is linked in today's video. It works great with either medium! This new amazing lattice style die I cut with white cardstock and glued it onto a black card base to tie in with my sassy zebra. The sentiment is from the same set. Love the little halo created by masking with the die cut here and smudging with these watercolor crayons, too.

This card was done with the same technique, but with Post-it tape and watercolor crayons instead of a die cut. I love this look so much. The sentiment is from this set. You'll see this in today's video as well. The way I do it, there's "light" in the center of each section, making it look sort of rounded.

I love a good literary quote too - that's sort of this week's theme! So this beautiful botanical set was perfect for a clean and simple card with one of my favorite writer's quotes. I just stamped and die cut it for a little dimension and stamped the sentiment.

Here's the video - come back for an amazing quick cucumber salad recipe if you're a cucumber fan! 

Here are all the supplies I used today:

Marabu Art Crayons | BLICK Art Materials [ BLIC ] Safari Friends Bundle [ C&9 ] Seasonal Branches Bundle [ C&9 ] Triple Step Blooming Heart Bundle [ C&9 ] Plaid Card Front Thick Die [ C&9 ] Plaid Card Front Thin Die [ C&9 ] Sprout Ink Pad - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Buttercup Ink Pad - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Ink Cubes Bundle - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Adhesive Remover [ C&9 ] Scotch 3M POST-IT MASKING Labeling... [ SSS ] Avery 6465 Removable Multipurpose... [ AMZUS ] Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock [ CTC ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] 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 ] Storage Envelopes, Medium 25pk,... [ ELH ] CheckOutStore Stamp & Die Clear... [ CHC ] Extra Large -50 pk, Avery Elle Stamp... [ ELH ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

Okay - I believe you need to know yourself in the kitchen - and what I know about myself is there are some processes I don't have the patience for, and one of those is canning (with limited exceptions - I do love making marmalade.) But I found this AMAZING process for making a cucumber salad that is now a favorite. It's basically a quick and dirty pickling process - but you pickle haters - it doesn't make pickles - it makes a sweet/tart cucumber salad sort of like those you find in Japanese restaurants - or at least the ones here. I love it. This was in our old 4H cookbook from junior high, and I copied it into my "cookbook" that I really need to update - it's a notebook with page protectors that has a bunch of stuff I'll never cook from magazines and stuff - I need to just whittle it down to my faves and probably get it all into google drive.

But anyway - here's how it goes.

• Thinly slice two cukes - I've used regular cukes and English ones - just whatever you like or have.
• Thinly slice a red onion. (Don't sub another onion - onions are very task-specific)
• Season the cucumbers and onions with a teaspoon of salt (I use Real Salt - it's much less salty than table salt, so you may have to adjust) for an hour in a salad spinner or colander. I wear gloves and toss the veggies and salt to be sure the salt is evenly distributed. Toss the liquid after an hour or so.
• In a small saucepan, mix 1 C. white vinegar, 1/2 C. water, 1/2 C. sugar.  Heat on high and stir until sugar is dissolved and it's clear - 3-5 minutes.
• Pour over the veggies (yes, while it's hot), and stir in 2 TBS fresh dill, finely chopped. Cover and stick in the fridge, if you don't eat it all when it gets to room temp. So yummy.

This dish is great with something with a high fat content, like brisket or pulled pork, IMHO. Or anything fried, or with dumplings, etc. One of my fave Chinese restaurants in the late 1900s served something similar to this except with chiles in it prior to every meal.

But let's talk about dill for a moment. Despite everyone's grandmother in Texas growing dill and using it in their pickles, I have NEVER been successful growing dill - it literally dies as soon as I get out of the car after buying a plant. Is there a native Texas variety I'm missing? I have a very green thumb, so this is frustrating, and with the exception of basil, herbs do very well here - as a matter of fact, they are the only things in my yard that survived #SixDaysinTexas. So I'd love your Texas dill tips.

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

VIDEO: Me, If I Were a Handmade Card... + Giveaway

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

Were you excited after my sneak peek, you little bookworms? If so, put your seatbelts on, because it gets even better! I'm SUPER excited about all this book-themed madness, and I had some fun. I have a video for you on this first card, which is basically a picture of me in the 70's, reading alone in a cozy spot, barefoot. I really think that growing up with books instead of a TV gave me what I consider to be a skill - and that is the imagination never to be bored. I've been in situations I didn't like and wanted to get out of - like every meeting I've ever been to in my life - but I've never had a moment of boredom. I am always thinking of the next thing I want to try, and I really do credit reading for that, as well as a childhood with no electronic inputs, which can overwhelm your mind with busy-ness, and squash your imagination. 

So I created a fun, die cut reverse masked shadow for the little me child from this glorious kit, using masking paper and this beautiful text background stamp and some Soft Granite ink. The image is colored with Graphit markers (coupon code at the end of the post). I used post-it tape to create my corner. There are several images in the kit like the one I used to come out of the book - so awesome. 

So before I show you the rest, here's what all comes in the kit. If you're not a subscriber, I encourage quick shopping! I think a lot of readers will jump on this - and a lot of people with a little free library! See what I did with the add-ons below. LOOK AT THE KITTY.

Probably my favorite add-on is the library card one! In addition to a library card and die, it has a little folder to put the card into - SQUEE! It also fits a gift card. If I'd had this when I was nine I would have put library cards in every book in our house! Think how fun this would be for a little free library though! I am going to put a stack in the nearest one.

So to create this card, I first stamped the center card in Indigo, and used the matching die to cut a piece of masking paper. I masked that one and brushed Soft Granite ink around it to create a drop shadow so that it looks 3D. Then I repeated that process for all the other cards so it really looks like a stack you could reach out and grab. I stamped the Overdue in Red Royal. What a cute late birthday card!

As usual, the fancy dies are stellar this month. This sweet little tree with its 3D leaves was calling to me. I colored the books with the world's best watercolor pencils - I have a video on why they are the best here. The sentiment is from this literary quotes stamp set, and I cut the circle with my infinity dies.

The second fancy die is this awesome stack of books, which I colored lavender with my Graphit markers. Super quick & simple card.

The third fancy die is a book window - I love the single bookmark, so I colored that red with Graphit markers and left the rest white, but used my oval infinity dies to make the focal point shaped.

The sentiment is from this set.

Then yesterday's card from the main kit! I loved the tree die, so I cut a book page with it, before adding the image from the kit. And yes, that page is from a Nancy Drew book! Don't flip out - I bought it used for a quarter :). I colored the image with Graphit, and used the blender to distress the image so the book looked worn, and the boy looked like there was sunlight shining down.

Finally, I colored and die cut the adorable little kitty from the kit with Graphit markers and their fine point nib and used the slimline bookmark dies - it comes with that die that cuts the hole - to create a bookmark that I stamped with the text background stamp. The twine in the kit is a rainbow ombre, so I chose a yellow green section to mask! I used a sentiment from this set for the story time. 

Here are all the add-ons this month - and they come in a bundle for a discount!

I know my friend Rita is probably salivating over all this book goodness. Probably Jana too - they are both voracious readers. The typewriter die is SO cute - I didn't have time to play with that yet. The slimline bookmark dies make bookmarks of any size, but also slimline layers! The little bookworm set is sized for those bookmarks, and the hemp twine in the kit is for those as well.

I'd shop here before you watch - I do predict a sell-out, but I have a video - I LOVE this technique and I hope you do too. It's like part four in my shadow series! I've added a Master Class with all my shadow and reflection videos, so you can check that out here. 

Here are all the supplies I used today!

My Monthly Hero Kit March 2021 [ HA ] Get Them All March Add Ons [ HA ] Novel Prose Bold Prints [ HA ] Stacked Books Fancy Die [ HA ] Library Card Stamp & Cut [ HA ] Literally The Best [ HA ] Literary Quotes [ HA ] Slimline Bookmark Infinity Dies [ HA ] Peek-a-boo Books Fancy Die [ HA ] Tree of Knowledge Fancy Die [ HA ] Typewriter Fancy Die [ HA ] Book Window Fancy Die [ HA ] Book Stacks Bold Prints [ HA ] Bookworm Messages [ HA ] Bookshelf [ HA ] Hero Arts Oval Infinity Dies [ HA ] DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies... [ HA ] Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle Pencil... [ BLIC ] Graphit — Marker Universe [ MRK ] AF435 Intens-ified Black Ink Pad -... [ HA ] AF225 Red Royal Mid-Tone Shadow Ink -... [ HA ] Soft Granite Shadow Ink - Hero Arts [ HA ] AF341 Indigo Bold Ink - Hero Arts [ HA ] Amazon.com : Post-it Labeling &... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com : AVE6464 - Avery... [ AMZUS ] My Sweet Petunia [ MSP ] Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock [ CTC ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] 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 ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] Hero Arts Blog [ HA ]

As usual, you can win a gift certificate by checking out all the inspiration on the hop! Start at the Hero Blog!

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Special Guests: Nichol Spohr
Jennifer McGuire


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