A Blog Called Wanda

Vintage Style Christmas Cards - it's almost December!

Hi everybody! Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st? Now Christmas is gonna be here like in a blink of an eye!! We decorated the house over the weekend and switched everything from Fall to Christmas. It looks really pretty and happy at our house and I like it!! I got down the bins (yes, bins) of Christmas apparel so I can be festive all December long! Yeah, I'm the crazy lady who wears Christmas sweaters!! I have gathered quite a collection over the years. I have one sweater still that's about 25 years old now. Tomorrow I'm going to be doing gift wrapping at the mall with our church and I cannot wait. I LOOOOVE wrapping presents! I signed up for a couple of shifts of wrapping. I'm thinking about Christmas cooking and it's like Santa's workshop here in the craft room. The entire floor is covered in Christmas stuff. Ha. I hope you are doing great this week. Sending a big holiday hug your way today!

On Sunday I had a 'free' day in the craft room to make whatever I wanted - no rules or assignments. I had some cool Tim Holtz products on my list to use and decided to make some vintage style Christmas cards to share with you. These are 'all day' cards. Hahaha. Waiting for layers to dry and adding more and more stuff to everything. Love it. I don't do this kind of crafting enough!! Both of these cards are big fat squares - more room for stuff. Let's get started.

The focal point of this card is Mr. Winston the Snowman!! Isn't he dapper in his top hat?? This is a Tim Holtz Die set called Winston - Colorize! There are tons of pieces and layers and coolness. There were a lot of different routes to go with this die set... I decided to die cut out all the pieces from Watercolor paper and then I used Distress Inks to color all the pieces. For the card I layered kraft and plaid papers and then stamped and inked another watercolor panel for the top.

 

The sentiment is from the Labels Sticker Pack - I thought he was Holly Jolly!! The die set comes with a broom for Winston. I didn't really want to use the broom so I started rummaging through all my die sets. BAM! I found it - the Tattered Florals set has a perfect branch to make Winston some arms! What do you think?? And in his hand he's holding a big fat heart!

 

Here's a close up of the snowman - you can see the die cut layers.... Everything is colored with Distress Inks. When I watercolor with my Distress Inks I used my minis and I smush some ink onto a big stamping block. I keep some water nearby and add water as I go. This is a great way to watercolor!! The ink is super forgiving and easy to layer.  I also die cut two holly branches to make some greenery behind him. Lots of Rock Candy Glitter!! I made some snow too! I improvised and mixed together some Embossing Paste and some white Nuvo drops to make a paste to look snowy. Then of course, I covered it in more glitter!! 

 

For the background, I stamped some postmarks and some snowflakes. The snowflakes are so funky - from the Snarky Cats stamp set!! In this photo you can see the scarf - it's four pieces!!!! Nice and thick.

 

The heart is an OLLLLLLD handheld punch from my stash. 

 

I love how the snow came out on his hat. He needs some cocoa!!

 

 

 

This next card is classic vintage Christmas with a big bold beautiful poinsettia!! I bought the Tim Holtz Mica Sprays and the first idea that came to mind was using them on my favorite poinsettia dies!! Guess what?? It came out so nice! I layered kraft and black paper, then Tim Holtz patterned paper. The plaid portion I stenciled with the TH Plaid Stencil onto watercolor paper in Evergreen Bough Ink.

 

The pieces for the poinsettia were die cut from watercolor paper to be nice and sturdy for lots of ink! I sprayed the petals and leaves using only the Holiday Mica Spray Stains. I let them dry for quite a while. I used Icicle Crackle Paste on top of the colors.... It's more subtle than I was hoping.... I would have done it again but it took a really long time to dry. I was looking for bigger cracks - but I don't think I put on a thick enough layer. I splattered some white paint onto the pieces....and glitter....and snow.... 

 

For the sentiment I used a Christmas word charm with some twine.....  I added some stickers from the TH Sticker Book for some more color...

 

Here's a close up of the flower. You can see the crackle effect on the petals. It's very pretty (and vivid) in person!! I love how it came out.

 

I stenciled the plaid stencil using a blender brush and Evergreen Bough ink. Then I used Vintage Photo Ink and a sponge dauber to go around the edges of the plaid panel. I splashed on some ink splatters too, to make it look aged. 

 

I used Doodlebug Sprinkles in gold for the center of the flower.

 

 

 

Close up of the pretty vintage stickers!!

That's it for my vintage inspired cards! I hope I've inspired you to use something new and/or try a new technique! What are you making lately? Do you have something on your desk calling your name?? I hope you have a blessed, happy and creative day! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

The Snow Squad says hello!!

Hello there friends and crafty people!!! Are you having a good weekend!? I hope so! After a very quiet Thanksgiving, we have managed to completely tear the house apart decorating for Christmas! LOLZ. We bough fresh greenery garland at Home Depot and I'm putting it on the windows and mirrors in the house. WHAT A MESSSSSS! It looks so pretty, but it kinda short circuits my OCD tendencies! It's going to be great when we're finished, but the in between is messy! My husband has gone full Clark Griswold in the front yard and it's quite festive around here. I love winter the best (After Fall of course) and I've got all the crafty bins down, and trying to cook, and dang I'm tired already!!

Today's card was made with some new supplies that have been on my desk. I combined them all into one card - I love it when that happens - when the new things go together! I used the cutest dies/stamp combo set from Taylored Expressions - called Snow Squad! (it's on sale right now too).... Then I used some cool new items from Lawn Fawn.... The finished card is an A2 card base in white. 

 

The focal point of the card - those adorable critters and snowman!!! I gave them colorful scarves and little pink cheeks. They're so happy and festive. The background is a die!!! It's the Simple Stripes and I die cut it from bright red and crisp white to make a candy cane background. I layered some vellum over the stripes. I also added white paint splatters for some snow.

 

The Snow Squad Dies are easy to use. They fit onto a tag too - but I decided to group them together on my card. I added white gel pen accents. Their scarves are die cut from cardstock, and then I used Copic Markers to add shading. A few enamel dots give some shimmer....

 

The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn and I die cut it from the matching die set. The cuties and the sentiment circle are affixed to the card with foam tape.

 

Here's a close up of the stripes - the die has a pretty stitched edge too. I'm so glad I got this one! I'm already envisioning black and orange for Halloween next year!!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a little glimpse at the beautiful greenery we're putting around the house. It smells divine!!! Like a forest! I love it!

 

That's it for today! Cheers to a happy Sunday and a great week to come! Sending lots of Holiday Cheer your way! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

TGIF - The Greetery Inspiration Friday - Colorful Christmas Trees!

Hi crafty friends! I'm excited to craft and share today for TGIF on The Greetery Blog! And of course, I love to share here too! It's always fun to share a project on The Greetery Blog!! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. We had a super quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving at our home. Lots to be grateful for, that's for darn sure. Now, it's time to finish up our Christmas crafting and creating and start the holiday season in earnest. Today I have a suite of projects with a jolly, merry, holiday theme: A card, a gift card holder, and some pretty tags. I used the same Greetery stamps and dies for all the items so it all matches and would be perfect for giving a gift to a special friend. Let's look!

 

I started by choosing a bright and happy color palette of mid tone colors: Greens, pinks and aqua....then I used some vellum and silver too. It's all icy and sparkly. I used the tree die from Christmas Time in the City to die cut out about 20 of those fabulous trees. That was my main element. I used the dies from the Snowflake Soiree suite to die cut silver snowflakes. I die cut tags using the new Tag Team Duo Dies. I laid out all the designs first and mixed and matched elements until I liked it. I splattered everything with white paint (snow!) of course. Here's a close up of the card. A mix match of trees and a few snowflakes. Then that pretty sentiment in black to set it off! My layers are aqua, vellum and white. I love these colors. (I'm really into pink this year for Christmas already)

 

The trees were affixed to the card with foam tape to pop off the paper!!

 

This was my tree lot! LOLZ. I did red trees too, but when I started to put all my items together, the red didn't look right to me... So I'll save those red trees for something else! This makes me happy.

 

Here are my matching tags. I used the new Tag Team Duo dies to cut out two white tags from super thick cardstock (See supply list)... I used aqua ribbon, Nordic Circles, vellum...and all the pretty winter things.... I got the pastel bells from Amazon! 

 

I stamped just a few snow flurries in aqua ink onto the tags.

 

 

 

I can't wait to tie these on a package!!

 

I also made a gift card holder out of vellum! The die for this is about 15 years old! It's a big Sizzix die for Jillibean Soup! It's the perfect size. I tucked in a matching Starbucks card and voila -done!

 

 

That's it for today! Happy Friday! Happy shopping and decorating and baking and wrapping season!! Wishing you all the very best. See you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE to shop The Greetery Store!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's projects (affiliate links used)

Happy Thanksgiving 2021!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2021!

FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!

HOPE YOUR TABLE IS FILLED WITH LOVED ONES

AND YUMMY FOOD AND GRATITUDE!

 

Happy Fall Home Decor with Doodlebug!

Hi my crafty, Doodlebug loving friends! Happy Thanksgiving Week! I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday together! It's my day to post over on the Doodlebug Blog, and of course, here too! Today I'm sharing a Fall themed project made with the awesome Doodlebug Great Outdoors Collection! Fall is my favorite season (as you already know!) and I try to make it last as long as possible. We decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Until then, it's Fall at my house! Today's project is a wall hanging I made as a decor piece for the house. I modeled it after a 12x12 Scrapbook page and it would make a great scrapbook page too! Just add a few photos! One of the many things I love about being on the Doodlebug Design Team is that it has pushed me out of my creative comfort zone. I love making decorations and party items and all kinds of things other than cards. Today's project is along those lines. I never make 12x12 projects.... But you know what? I loved it! That big canvas, with lots of room to play! 

I started my project by gluing a sheet of yellow buffalo check paper to a piece of chipboard. Then I used the Great Outdoors 6x6 paper pad to punch out a bunch of 2" circles with a circle punch. I adore all the fall colors and patterns in this paper pad. The circles were hand folded into the shapes for the finished project. I used a cardstock square to fold the circles up. More on this below....

 

Once the circles were all folded, I centered them onto the middle of the large paper and glued them down using clear liquid glue. After all the circles were attached I splashed on some white paint for visual interest. My focal point is that adorable little squirrel! I die cut a white piece of cardstock and then used the Bon Bon Abigail Stickers to write Happy Fall. A few leaves add more accents. I also used a few Bon Bon mini doilies.

 

 

I attached pretty Doodlebug Buttons and hears and other embellishments to some of the circles. I really like that pop of teal blue in this collection, with all those warm colors. It's so pretty in person!

 

 

 

 

 

My work in progress! Circles punched out and folded - so easy - but such an impact visually. To fold up the circles, I cut a square of cardstock out and used that as my template. I centered it onto the circles and folded up the pieces with my fingers. Really easy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How adorable is that happy little squirrel? I love him! He makes me smile!

That's it for today! Hope you liked seeing something a bit different from me today! And, I hope I can inspire you to get out of your creative comfort zone and try something new. Heck, you might just love it too! See you soon! Happy Thanksgiving!! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's project! (Affiliate Links Used)

Lawn Fawn Sweet Christmas Gingerbread House!

Howdy friends! Happy Friday and happy weekend! Whatcha up to this weekend?? We have some fun things planned but nothing crazy. Feels good to be out and about again doing things. The weather here has been nice and cold and foggy - my favorite. Feels like the holiday season! One more week until Thanksgiving time and then I'll switch the house over from Harvest to Christmas! It's a process, right?? Our church set up this humongous ice skating rink and it's so beautiful. Can't wait to go to church Sunday and see it all finished with happy skaters.... 

Today's card is a candy confection made with lovely supplies from Lawn Fawn! I do love me some Lawn Fawn!! I had some new supplies in my stash that I haven't used yet...and some old favorites.... I decided to make a cheerful little Gingerbread House! The finished card is an A2 white card base. I covered it with those pretty candy cane stripes (LF Paper) and white, and icy aqua....

 

I started by die cutting out alllllll the pieces! I used four different die sets for this one! After I cut them all out, I used Distress Inks to add some shading and depth. Then I gave everything a good dose of Rock Candy Glitter! I wanted it to look like everything was covered in yummy sugar! Like you could eat it! LOLZ. I kept the colors simple: Kraft, red and white with just a bit of green and pink. So pretty!!

 

My little gingerbread friend is popping out the front door to say hello!! 

 

For the background I used the GORGEOUS new Stitched Snowflake Background Die!!!! OOOH LA LA LA LA LA!!!! FRESH! 

 

I used Kraft paper for my house and inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then some white pigment ink, then splatters!! Does it look like a cookie!? I put a tiny piece of vellum behind the top window. And a few little hearts.

 

I stamped the sentiment onto black banner with white embossing powder!

 

 

That's it for today! Have a blessed and happy weekend, everyone! See you Monday with a Doodlebug Project!! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

Honey Bee Stamps new holiday release - WOW!

Hellllooooooo! Monday again already! I was super busy this weekend crafting and creating and photographing all kinds of crafty projects! Looking forward to sharing everything with you! Hope you had a great weekend! Only a couple weeks until Thanksgiving and then the rest of the year will be gone in a flash. Whew can't believe we almost made it through this hard, weird year. I always think - thank GOD for crafting! To keep me occupied and busy, and keep me from losing (all) my marbles. Creating and sharing definitely keeps me sane. Thanks for being here with me to share and enjoy our love of papercrafting!! 

Today's post features new items from the fantastic new release from Honey Bee Stamps! Their new collection is called Vintage Holidays and it's perfect. I literally wanted EVERYTHING!! Snowmen, flowers, mailboxes, word dies, snowflakes....all the good things for Winter Holidays!! I have three cards to show you. Let's get started!! 

First up is a card made featuring the new Anemone Dies and the Post Perfect Stamps and Dies. OOH LA LA LA LA LA!! You know I am already obsessed with Honey Bee Flower dies!! Well, the newest one is a gorgeous Anemone. So easy to put together and get a perfect result. I made a vintage postcard inspired card.... The finished card is a horizontal A2 card base made from woodgrain paper. I layered cream cardstock and then my design elements. 

 

I die cut the flower pieces from blue cardstock. Each flower has three petal pieces and three center pieces. We used to have blue Anemones in our yard, and they were so pretty. So I knew right away I wanted to make blue ones. But these flowers come in almost every color!

 

I used Distress ink to ink the centers of the flower petals and glue to attach them together. I only glued the very center, and then turned up the petals with my fingers. Super easy!!

 

I looooove that postcard stamp!! Vintage and fancy and perfect. I stamped two little postage stamps too - with my sentiment and a little heart.

 

I made the background using one of my favorite dies from The Greetery - to make it look even more 'postal'! 

 

The leaves that come with the Anemone Flowers Dies set are GORGEOUS! I am going to use them a lot - with other things!! Such a pretty shape.

 

Next up is some Merry Mail! A pretty red mailbox filled with letters and packaging and a sweet red Cardinal perched on top! The finished card is an A2 white card base. Then layered with gingham, white and kraft. I used the Merry Mail stamp set and dies, and the new Bitty Buzzwords Holidays stamps and dies.

 

I stamped white snow onto the kraft layer using white pigment ink. I stamped and die cut out all the images and then colored everything with Copic Markers. I added bits of white gel pen accents.

 

I love how the mailbox looks like it's open and all the mail is spilling out!! 

 

 

 

For the sentiment I stamped Merry in black ink and then die cut the word Christmas from red and vellum... SO classic!!!

 

 

 

And last, but not least, adorable sweet snowmen!!!! I used the Build A Snowman dies set to make my happy snow-couple!! This finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with teal, then more white and some vellum. I am OBSESSSSSSED with the Fancy Flakes background die!! Look at those gorgeous pierced flakes on the teal!!! 

 

The snow people are all separate dies so you can make them however you want! Several different hats, scarves, arms....all totally customizable! I used fun bright colors to keep it super cheery!!

 

A close up of those flakes! OH MY!

 

For the center piece I die cut a scalloped rectangle and the laid it sideways. I put a strip of vellum across it. 

 

I used a couple of shades of aqua Copic Markers to shade the snow people bodies and then added glitter to them so they look icy! I used Copics to add some shading to the scarves and hats also.

 

They are SO CUTE!!! 

Okay - I think that's a good way to start the week! Have a great one. I'll be back soon - not sure what's next - but I'll think of something! Sending hugs your way and good wishes for a blessed day! XO

CLICK HERE OR ON THE GRAPHIC BELOW to see the supply list for today's cards! (Affiliate Links Used)

Jaded Blossom Stamps: Coffee and Birthday cards!

Hi friends! Happy Crafturday! Are you creating and crafting today? It's foggy here and chilly out, and I've got my coffee and I'm so content! Taking lots of pictures for upcoming blog posts and doing some stitching. It's a good day! Today I'm popping in to share some cards I made a while ago using the most adorable stamps and dies from Jaded Blossom Stamps! Oh gosh - they have the best stuff! They just had a new release this week, but I haven't ordered yet. I have my eye on some CUUUUUTE gingerbread items!! CHECK OUT their website here!

I'm sharing two cards today - and guess what? No holidays! LOL. I have a fun coffee card and a super cheerful birthday card. Let's look! First up is a mason jar card featuring my favorite thing- coffee! I used some new add ons along with some of their older stamps and dies to create this card. You might remember a while back I made two other mason jar cards (THIS BLOG POST) and today's coffee card is the same layout as the strawberry one. When you find something that works, use it again, right?? This finished card is an A2 kraft card base, layered with teal and white. I like brown and teal together - and always a pop of red, too. How ya bean?! Love it.

 

Here's a close up of my paper layers: kraft, teal, white, vellum, then featured elements. And also a close up of the tag element. I really love these mason jar stamps and dies. I use them all the time. My next idea is to make some tags with them!! I love that you can pop in a bit of gingham always. 

 

I colored those yummy coffee beans with Copic markers and added white gel pen accents. 

 

I die cut the coffee word from dark brown woodgrain cardstock. I love that texture.

 

I used matte silver cardstock for the top of the jar. And two kinds of pretty twine.... A few clear enamel dots and some hearts were my finishing touches. Now I need to go make some more coffee! LOLZ.

 

Next up is a bright and cheery birthday card sure to make anyone smile. The finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with aqua and white. I used the awesome Balloon Letters stamps and dies as my feature element. A month or so ago I bought the first set of the brand new ink pads from Simon Says Stamp - and they are wonderful! I love the bright, saturated colors and they stamped like a dream. Crisp and clean. I definitely recommend them. And, they just came out with new colors!! CLICK HERE to check out the ink pads.

 

I stamped the balloons and die cut them out. Then I stamped and colored that pretty cake and added some glitter (of course!)... I used the birthday word dies to add the sentiment. I kinda like how there are so many different fonts happening here. That's one of my fav things- fonts/combinations.

 

 

 

 

 

I added a few sparkly gems around the card to make it even more festive!! Wish big indeed!

That's it for my cards for today!! I hope I've brought a smile to your face and some creativity to your computer!! Wishing you a happy and peaceful weekend. Lots of love from my studio to yours. XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP JADED BLOSSOM!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the full supply list for today's cards! (Affiliate links used)

Happy Friday! The Greetery Release Day and SALE!

Hi Guys! Just popping in this morning with a reminder!! The Greetery new release goes live TODAY, FRIDAY NOVEMBER 12TH AT 10am EST!! And, The storewide sale starts at the same time! Happy Friday! Happy Shopping! Can't wait for you guys to create with this new release too. XOXO

CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING!

Thank you for always supporting me!

 

The Greetery - Tags & Toasts - New Release Reveal!

Hi everybody! How's your week going so far? I hope you're having a great one! I've been busy in the studio a lot this week trying to get some pretty things made to share with you! And, today is a very exciting day! It's new release reveal day for The Greetery! This new release is called Tags & Toasts! Love it! It's a smaller release with two main product suites: Tag Team Duo and Year In Year Out. The new release will be live tomorrow, Friday November 12th at 10am EST! The Tag Team Duo line has stamps, dies, hot foil plates and stencils - everything works together to make gorgeous tags!! (I could have made 100 tags - so many ideas!) The Year In Year Out line has a fantastic 2022 die cut that you can use for New Year's cards and also for 2022 Graduations!! It also has stamps and stencils. I think you're gonna love it all! So happy to be part of the team today!

ALSO - BIG NEWS!! The Greetery will be running a 15% off storewide sale for two days - November 12 & 13! YAY! (Thank you Betsy) The sale will begin when the new release items go live in the shop at 10am EST on Friday, November 12, and ends on Saturday, November 13 at 11:59pm EST. 

First up - my tags! I used the Tag Team Duo Dies, Stamps and Stencils to make four Christmas tags. I used the same classic color palette for all four and I think these would make a nice boxed gift for someone. I love kraft, red, and black together. Something cozy and homey about those colors together. And pops of green and gingham too....  I always seem to need a tag for a gift or a bottle of wine.... These came together easily and quickly and what a fun time too!

 

 

Here are all four of my tags together. I also used a few previously release stamps and dies - that you probably recognize! All the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post!

 

The greenery and such is all stamping and the stripes and dots are stencils! LOVE IT. I die cut my tags from kraft cardstock. I die cut two for each tag and glued them together to make my tags nice and sturdy. I did the stamping in red and green first. Then I went over the stamping using the stencils. I inked harder on the edges and softer over the stamped parts. I kinda like how this turned out. For the tops, I used a small stitched circle die cut in red. A few splatters of ink.... The sentiments are all heat embossed in white onto black cardstock.

 

I used some gingham ribbon from my stash and tied on some buttons and bells to make it pretty!!

 

One of my tried and true favorite ways to wrap a present is in kraft paper with twine and greenery. I think it's just lovely - and perfect for anyone. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up today is my card made using the Year In Year Out supplies! I created a bright and happy New Year Card! Black, gold and teal - oh so pretty!! The finished card is an A2 teal card base. I layered one layer of white cardstock and then the pretty festive supplies. I used the Year In Year Out 2022 Die Cut, the 2022 Stencils and the Year In Year Out stamp set. I also used the wonderful Pinwheel Party Stencils and Dies.

 

I die cut the large die cut from white cardstock. I used the stencils to brush teal ink onto the numbers. I used my blender brush and yellow ink to fade some yellow onto the shooting stars part of the die.

 

I die cut the Pinwheel Party Dies from black cardstock and used my favorite gold ink pad to stencil gold over the black. SO CLASSY!!! I used matching teal enamel dots for the centers. 

 

 

 

For the sentiment I used the Year In Year Out stamp set. I used the small banner from the Cake Pop Banner Dies to heat emboss the Happy New Year words!

 

 

 

REMEMBER THE SALE STARTS FRIDAY AT 10AM EST!!

 

As usual, Betsy will generously be giving away two $50 gift certificates for the blog hop. The winners will be selected from comments left on all the blog posts! Good Luck!!  

CLICK HERE OR ON THE GRAPHIC BELOW FOR THE SUPPLY LIST! (Affiliate Links Used)

 

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION FOR TODAY'S RELEASE REVEAL:

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Angelica Conrad

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess