A Blog Called Wanda

Pretty Pink Posh August 2022 New Release - Trick or Treat Candy!

Hi sweet friends! Are you having a good week?! Are you crafting a lot this week? I've been pretty busy in the craft room this week - lots of good and fun things coming! Our weather has calmed down a bit and I can feel the light changing for fall.... I've been working on something super fun that I will be able to share next week that is alllll fall and Halloween fun too! Anyhoo! I'm here today to share my second card I made with the awesome new release from Pretty Pink Posh for August 2022!! We are celebrating with a huge Instagram Hop today - so if you have Instagram, be sure to head over there and leave a comment for a chance to win some prizes, and to see all the other card makers' inspiration!

My card today is a white A2 card base, layered with black and white and purple! I am featuring the new Candy Treats Dies, Ghost Friends Stamps, and Stars Stencil. I'm also featuring two products from last year's release - the Boo Shaker and the Trick or Treat Dies. I used TONS of bright colors on this card. I think that's one of the best things about Halloween cards - you can just use ALLLL the colors and it looks fun!

 

Here's a side view of all my layers and card construction... 

 

My inspiration for this card was a old timey trick or treat bucket! Like the ones we used to get from McDonalds with that hard plastic and the swinging handle! Brings back such good memories! The other inspiration was the CANDY that went inside that bucket! Lol! The new Candy Treats dies are wonderful. I die cut out the pieces from several colors and glued them all together. I added bits and bobs of glitter...and white gel pen accents!

 

This card has a lot going on!! To make the background I did one of my fav techniques - distress ink blending tone on tone with colored cardstock! I used purple cardstock and then used purple distress inks to ink around the edges. Then I used super dark purple ink to ink the stars stencil over the ink blending. SO cool. I stamped and die cut out the ghosties and colored them with a few Copic Markers.

 

I used the same ink blending technique on the pumpkin - orange distress inks on top of orange cardstock. FUN. FUUUUUN. The pumpkin die is the perfect size for the front of a card, and I use it a lot!

 

I used the Glitter Duster and Rock Candy Glitter on top of some of the candies - looks pretty in person!! (Kind of hard to photo)...

 

I scattered candies all around my card until I got the right look. I die cut the sentiment from silver glitter cardstock. I used glue to add the sentiment onto the bottom of the card. The silver looks pretty against that dark purple. 

Okay friends, now I need to go to Target and get some candy!! LOL. Remember, this card is from the big Instagram Hop happening today! So head over to Instagram and leave some comments!! XO

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

Doodlebug - Seaside Summer - Beach Houses & Good Vibes!

Greetings from the beach - Doodlebug Beach! Happy Monday! I'm back with another fun project made with the new Doodlebug Seaside Summer Collection! Today I made a Beach House card. One of my favorite elements from this collection is the beach houses, so I made them the feature of my card. I don't scrapbook too much and mostly make cards and other projects.... But I think this card layout/design could very easily be translated into a fun scrapbook page layout! A row of beach houses along the bottom of the page?? So cute! 

This finished card is a kraft card base, folded into a 5x7 horizontal card (A7). I layered 12x12 Seaside Summer patterned paper, and then a white layer. Then I had a good time adding all those pieces: houses, palm trees, a surfboard and of course a crab having a margarita!! (that's my favorite part!)

 

All the houses were attached to the card with foam tape. I placed the palms behind the houses to frame them. I added a Chit Chat element for my sentiment. I also added white gel pen accents onto the die cuts. This adds just one more bit of a detail and lets you customize!

 

In this photo you can see how everything is layered.... You know I love the foam tape!

 

The most fun part of this card was adding the different accents! I used Sprinkles in green, the crab is a Doodle Pop, he's holding a margarita from another Sprinkles pack... I added some hearts and the surfboard sticker. It's so fun to customize it and make it your own. I just truly love all these delicious happy colors together.

 

 

 

Cheers to the rest of Summer! Mr. crab raises a glass to you! Clink!

That's it for today's Doodlebug Project! As it always happens in August, we are going back and forth between summer and fall crafting! My next project will be another Halloween card from Pretty Pink Posh! Can't wait to show you! Have a great week. Love ya! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used in today's card! (Affiliate Links Used).

Pretty Pink Posh August New Release Blog Hop - Halloween 2022!

Hi friends! BOO TO YOU! It's mid August and I can feel Fall coming! We went to the craft store this past weekend and some of the Halloween and Fall goodies were getting unpacked and put out. Oh, how this makes my heart happy! This Fall loving girl is getting ready for her season! (I've been ready for Fall since last Fall!) One of the highlights of each August is when the stamp companies start rolling out Halloween.... And I especially LOVE Pretty Pink Posh Halloween! I look forward to it every single time. Pretty Pink Posh's new release is available now, and we're all celebrating with a blog hop this week and an Instagram Hop next week! So I have two cards to share with you made with the new collection. Yeah!

All the details about prizes, supplies, and the hop links are at the bottom of my post! Enjoy the hop!

My card for today features the new Pumpkin Stencils and the new Ghost Friends Stamp Set! I also used the new Wonky Stitched Rectangles and the new Stars Stencil. Yep, everything on this card is NEW!! My finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered black cardstock and vellum and my stenciled panel....

 

Here's a side view of my layers....

 

 

I started this card by first stenciling the pumpkins panel. The stencils set is three stencils: the pumpkins, the faces and the leaves. SO you could leave off the faces if you just want fall pumpkins! The stencils make a 6x6 panel, which I later cut down to A2. I used two different shades of orange distress inks and both my large blender brushes and my small blender brushes to make the pumpkins. I also shaded two colors of green on the leaves. This really does make your stenciling pop I think!! I splattered on some white paint. I set that aside to dry and then worked on my focal panels.

 

The Ghost Friends stamp set is the CUTEST and least scariest ghosties I've ever seen!! EEP. I stamped, colored and die cut out the ghost with the pumpkin. I die cut a Wonky Rectangle from vellum and one from white. I used the new Stars stencil to add some yellow stars around the sentiment and ghost... I attached the ghost with foam tape so it looks like he's hovering! LOL. 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay my boos! That's what I got for ya today! Thanks for stopping by to spend some spooky time with me here on this awesome blog hop! I will post my second Pretty Pink Posh Halloween card next week! If you can believe it, it's even more colorful!! XOXO

PRIZE ALERT! There are three $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 8/17/2022. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog! Good Luck!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE PPP NEW RELEASE!

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

 

PRETTY PINK POSH BLOG HOP DAY 2!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Amy Rysavy

Mindy Eggen

Rebecca Keppel

Lindsey Larsen

Wanda Guess

Kristie Marcotte

Jeannie Lieu

 

You're the ZEST! Fun, happy lemon card!

Hi friends! How are you this week so far? It's been a nice day here, kinda mellow, getting a lot done! How was your weekend? We escaped to the water on Friday and enjoyed some much needed outdoor time in the 68 degree weather!! It was AMAZING!! Time seems to be flying by the past couple of weeks and I'm so excited with anticipation of Autumn!! The light is changing and it's a bit darker in the morning and it just feels a little different. I love it! Today I sat down and made a project, took the photos, and am sharing it all the same day. I really like it when that happens. Sometimes a stamp set or product comes across my desk and I have to use it right NOW! Lolz. That's what happened with these stamps, dies and stencils I used today from Taylored Expressions. I am becoming an avid stenciler and these lemons are so fabulous! And my message to you: You're the ZEST!! 

My finished card is an A2 woodgrain card base. I layered only one layer (with the stenciling), a bit of gingham, and a bit of vellum. The lemons are the star of the show for sure. I used cream cardstock for everything, instead of bright white cardstock. Lends more of an old fashioned feel to my card. 

 

The lemons and leaves are two stencils. I used large and small blender brushes to ink the yellows and greens. I really love shading + stenciling!! The set comes with tiny stamps to add as leaf accents and lemon accents as you can see in the close up. Easy to get these pretty results. I splattered on some white paint too. The finished stencil piece was 6x6 but I cut it down to layer onto an A2 card.

 

I used the separate lemons, flowers and leaves dies to add accent pieces to my sentiment frame. I die cut them from cream cardstock and used the same colors of inks and my blender brushes to color them to match. 

 

I heat embossed the sentiment in gold onto cream cardstock and die cut it out with the matching die. I added a few yellow enamel dots to the centers of the flowers and a few yellow hearts too, for good measure. This card just makes me smile and it was fun and relaxing to create. I really seem to get in the zone now when I'm stenciling... (Just wait until my card for Thursday!!)

 

 

 

I popped up the sentiment with foam tape. I layered a cream rectangle over a vellum rectangle for the focus area. 

I feel like now I want some lemon meringue pie!!! 

 

 

It's very hard to get a good photo of the gold embossing!! 

Okay my zesty friends! That's it for today! I hope you have a wonderful day, and week! I'll see you back here soon! XOXO

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

 

The Greetery - Wild Elegance New Release Introduction!

Hello friends! It's a VERY exciting day today! The Design Team is introducing a gorgeous new release from The Greetery!! The new release is called "Wild Elegance" and it is very elegant indeed! Of course it's filled with beautiful flowers and innovative dies, and stencils, and more! We are sharing all of the products today - only today! RELEASE DAY IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 4TH AT 10AM EST! So you don't have to wait very long to make your choices! It is such a joy and delight to craft with the new items from The Greetery. It is also a joy to bring them to you! I have three cards to share today! Prize information and blog hop information is at the bottom of my post! Enjoy!

First up is a soft and pretty yellow card made with the brand new suite called Floral Arches! There is a stencil set with matching stamps, a matching die set that cuts out the outside and the inside and has accent pieces, and perfectly lined up arched sentiments. I also used the new Arches A2 Die set. SO creative and clever!! My finished card is a white A2 card base (that will show you the scale of the floral).... I layered yellow cardstock, gingham and a bit of vellum too.

 

Here is a side view so you can see all my layers. There is a set of arches coming out with this release and I used that set to die cut my vellum arch to go under the top white layer. The sentiments stamp onto the arch perfectly. I gold heat embossed the happy birthday portion.

 

Another perfect floral stencil/stamp set from The Greetery! I had a very hard time deciding what colors to use, but I ended up with a soft pastel pink and peach combo that is really nice! You stencil all the bits and then go back in with the matching stamps to accent. I always use my MISTI for the stamping part.

 

If you know me at all, you know that blank white space unnerves me! LOL. So I used part of the stencil to add some extra leaves to the bottom corner of that top layer. It's all in the details.

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is a purple power floral made using the new Sketched Wildflower Bouquet Stamp/Stencil/Die combo. My finished card is an A2 white card base layered with purple and gingham... I used The Greetery Postal Dies for the top white layer - with woodgrain cardstock.

 

Here is a side view of my layers. I put in a bit of vellum and used pearls as accents.

 

The floral spray - I stamped it first in black ink using my MISTI. Then I used large and small blender brushes to ink the matching stencils. (SO fast and easy). I die cut it out using the matching die. I splashed on some white paint for good measure!

 

 

 

I attached the floral spray to the card using foam tape - but it is still pretty flat for mailing. I made this as a birthday card but I feel like this would also be such a lovely bridal shower card!!

 

My last card is a bit rustic and wild! I used the new Lovely Silhouettes and the new Arches dies to create this one. My card base is an A2 size, made from woodgrain cardstock. All the other paper in this card is watercolor paper. I used Distress inks and water to achieve my watercolor feel.

 

The stamps/dies in this set are wildflower silhouettes. So you could stamp them in black against a pretty background for a true silhouette - love that look. I wanted to try something a bit different though. I used Distress Inks and inked directly onto the stamps. I used my sprayer bottle to spray the ink/stamp and then stamped onto watercolor paper. Voila - watercolored! I let everything dry and then die cut the pieces using the matching dies. This is such a fun tried and true technique.

 

I also did the sentiment the same way - nice and watery! 

 

For the background I inked up a piece of watercolor paper with blue hues to look like the sky behind the flowers. I die cut an arch from the same woodgrain paper. I used foam tape to pop the arch up off the background. Lastly, I inserted my flowers.

 

 

Okay, friends, that's it for the brand new release reveals for The Greetery Wild Elegance! I hope you enjoy the new release and have fun creating your own projects! Thanks for stopping by! XO

Remember the new release is live for sale Thursday, August 4th at 10am EST! I am so excited for you to create with these pretty supplies! I know they will bring you joy as they did me. 

PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away two $50 gift cards,  To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY NEW RELEASE!

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

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION FOR TODAY!

Dana

Wanda

Angelica

Melissa

Dawn

Laurie

 

Doodlebug Seaside Summer - Travelers Notebooks!

Hello my dear crafty pals! Happy Monday (already!) How was your weekend? I hope it was great! We had a nice mellow weekend here - and it's a bit cooler so that has been nice (by cooler I mean 98 degrees lol)! I want to say THANK YOU for all the nice comments and emails and notes about my last post/project. I'm so happy you guys loved that project as much as I did. It was a joy to share it with you!! There is so much good stuff on my desk for the coming months. It's all good, and Fall crafting is starting. Yay! Today's post is my Doodlebug Blog Design Team post for this week. And I'm using a brand new collection - it's called Seaside Summer! OH GOSH! You guys, everything is so adorable. Ocean theme? Yes please! I made something I've never made before too - my own Traveler's Notebooks! It was so simple - I hope you try it. Let's get started...

Here are my three finished notebooks... The finished size measures 8.25" x 4.25" and that is the standard size for TN inserts. I made custom covers using 12x12 papers and then filled the books with blank pages, patterned paper pages, vellum pages, and some tags, etc. You could really put any pages inside. That being said, I would probably max out at around 6-7 folded pages - just so that your notebook actually closes! Each book is held closed with a decorated 'belly band' that slides off easily and keeps the books neat and tidy. Supply List Here and at the bottom of my post!

 

Here are my three books without the 'belly band' closures on them. How dang cute are those papers?? And, they're two sided of course so the inside is just as cute and colorful!

 

This is the counter in my craft room as I was deciding what papers, pages and embellishments to use for each notebook.

 

 

 

SO....just how did I make these?? The answer is easy! I cut all my papers into the same size: 8.5"x8.25". Then I used my Scor-pal to score each page in half on the long side. I hand folded each page. Then, I used a long reach/long arm stapler to put three staples in the spine - spaced out evenly. The only tricky part is that when you fold your notebooks, the pages kind of bulge out of the cover. So you have to use a paper trimmer to trim them down to the cover size. I used a corner chomper to round off all the corners of the cover and the pages. Here is a great Youtube video!!

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of my photos today are close ups of all the 'belly bands' and inserts/decorations!! I put lots of bling on them and used stickers and gems galore!! Everything is from the Seaside Summer Collection. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just feel like these would be awesome vacation mini scrapbooks, or to-do lists, or to journal on vacation...really so many ideas!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for joining me today! I feel like saying "ALOHA" because of how tropical these turned out! I really hope you will make your own notebooks!! Guess what? I'll be back on Wednesday introducing a new release from The Greetery! See you then! Happy crafting. XOXOXO

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

Botanical Shadow Box Project! TGIF - The Greetery Inspiration Friday!

Hi there my sweet crafty friends! Happy Friday! I hope you had a great week! I am beyond excited to share this project today! I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I've been waiting for the day to come to finally show you! My project is for TGIF over on The Greetery Blog today (The Greetery Inspiration Friday!) Woot! Please grab some coffee or tea because this post is long and has tons of photos! I think this is in my top ten favorite projects I've ever made!! The idea was in my head and when I sat down to make it, it came out exactly like I imagined! It was a joy and pleasure to make this! All the stamps and dies are from The Greetery and everything all worked together like a dream! 

I made this project as a present for Betsy, actually! I really wanted to make her something special to show my gratitude and love for her as a friend and mentor. It has safely been received at The Greetery HQ so now it's time to share! I hope I inspire you to make different projects besides cards with your beautiful Greetery stamps and dies! The sky's the limit!

Today's make is a botanical/entomological shadow box frame, filled with bugs and plants and wonderful things from nature.... Only it's all paper! The shadow box frame is 9"x9" and I bought it at Michaels. I used dark kraft tags as the basis for the project scale, and amount of things to put into the box. It worked out perfectly to make eight different tags. I used loads of dies from The Greetery curio collection, and pretty stamps and labels. I used the new Honey Bees and Honeycomb Corners Dies for one of the tags....and the postage stamps....and two of my other favorites - the Toadstools and the Mighty Oak!! Basically, I dumped out all my Greetery Dies and picked out all these fun things! Here is my finished box....

 

Here's a side view of the finished box under the glass. I reeeeeeeeeeallly love how it came out!!! Each tag is like it's own little art piece in the frame. 

 

 

To start this project, I die cut everything out of watercolor paper first. I really wanted an illustration type of feeling. And watercolor paper always looks so rich. I laid out all the plain pieces on the tags to decide which items to use. Once I had my layout set, I used my favorite watercolor paints to color all the elements. It was really fun to paint all the die cuts, and bring them to life! Every tag has a bit of green on it to tie everything together. 

Here are some of the tags before I placed them in the frame. I got the dark kraft tags at Michaels also. (All my supplies are listed at the bottom of my post)...

 

How adorable is that tiny snail?? I used the Plucked Dies for the greenery on some of the tags. I think it made it look nice to start with all white watercolor paper + watercolors instead of die cutting the pieces from colored cardstocks.

 

I set the all painted elements aside to dry and went to work on the tags themselves. I splattered on some black and white paints. I used Pretty Postmarks, Destination and Curio Labels stamp sets to stamp on the tags and also stamp the small banners. I let everything sit overnight to dry, and finished the project the next morning. In this photo you can see all my tags lined up on the frame backing - so I could make sure to get them all lined up correctly. I used a clear sewing ruler to lay them out as pictured. 

 

I can't decide which tag is my favorite one....but it might be this bee one! I am literally obsessed with these Honey Bees Dies!! And I love those golden yellow watercolor tones. It just makes me happy!!

 

And what about these Toadstools??!!! OH MY. Betsy gives us such amazing things to play with, doesn't she?? For this one I used lots of vivid red paint!

 

This tag has bits and bobs of stamping, and a tiny word banner....

 

And that sweet bird's nest...

 

Here is the finished frame standing up straight. It would look so nice on a bookshelf or hanging on the wall. Maybe I'll end up making another one for my studio?  I used foam tape to attach the bugs and plants and other pretties to the tags. I also used foam tape to attach the tags to the shadow box backing piece. I added a few clear drop embellishments onto some of the tags and also a few bits of twine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Mighty Oak Dies get used a lot around here. I always use olive green tones for these dies, to mimic our mighty California Oaks in my neighborhood. Heck, my town is called Fair Oaks! The oak trees have a special place in my heart.

 

Just a wee garden snail rolling by....

 

Beautiful feathers and more oaks.... Some twine, and a compass from the Destination stamp set!

 

And this moth from the curio collection....

That, folks, is my project! I hope you liked learning about how I made it! And I hope I've inspired you to get out those watercolors and play! So... I'm totally laughing because I want to say "think outside the box" but I literally made A BOX! Ha. If you don't want to make a shadow box, you could definitely make some of these watercolor tags and put a few on a card front, or into a scrapbook, or tie onto a gift!! No limits on art!

Thanks for spending part of your day with me! Have a wonderful weekend, and happy crafting. From my studio to yours! See you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S SUPPLY LIST -

OR CLICK THE GRAPHIC BELOW!

 

Pinkfresh Studio July 2022 New Release Blog Hop! Fall Foliage and Pretty Florals!

Hi everyone! Hope your week is going GREAT so far! Guess what? It's still hot here! LOL!  I've been staying inside and laying low.... Like a cat laying on the hardwood floor!! Soon it will be August, and then it will be FALL!! I can't wait! Our first fall out of lockdown and I am excited to get out do some fun seasonal things! Thank you for all the nice comments and stories on my last post! It was so fun to read about your favorite places!!

Today is the date for the beautiful brand new July new release from Pinkfresh Studio! Another gorgeous release, with touches of pretty Fall stamps, dies and stencils... We are doing a big fun HUGE blog hop today and I can't wait to share some projects with you. The new release is available now. The blog hop link list is at the very bottom of my post! Enjoy the hop - thanks for stopping by! 

My first card features the new Fall Foliage Stencils and Dies and the new Gazebo Die! OOOH LA LA! The die set up for this is genius!! You stencil an entire panel of the wonderful leaves, then die cut them all out at ONCE! One bit die does all the leaves together. Pinkfresh is always innovative and creative. My finished card is a white A2 card base, layered with white cardstock and vellum.... I love to pop a little teal with my fall colors! Supplies are at listed at the bottom of my post!

 

 

 

My sentiment was made using the Perfect Sentiments Hot Foil Plate and dies... I used gold to accent my card - both by using gold paint splatters and by making my sentiment in gold foiling... My stenciling was done with warm tones of Distress Inks and blender brushes.

 

I die cut the Gazebo twice from dark brown woodgrain cardstock and glued them together. I layered some vellum around my card and glued the gazebo onto the front. The die cut background was made with the pretty Sparkling Diamonds Coverplate! Just a hint of texture and interest. I also layered in some vellum leaf clusters.

 

I added some brown gems as accents onto the finished card. Here's a close up of the leaves.

 

 

 

My second card today features the brand new Inky Floral Stencils and Stamps! A pretty Summer Floral with a big background stamp and stencils to fill it in. It's very modern and classic at the same time. I think this suite would be beautiful for weddings, showers and other girlie cards. My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with the stenciled panel, a wrap of aqua, and some circles.

 

After I stenciled the panel, I splattered on some white paint over the florals. I used the Pinkfresh Studio Ink Cubes to do the stenciling. I used my MISTI to stamp the big background stamp. I die cut the pretty Intricate Stitched Ovals background die with aqua cardstock to make a wrap of color around the top panel.

 

 

 

For the sentiment, I die cut two circles (vellum and white cardstock). I inked some yellow ink on the top circle and then stamped the sentiment in rich black ink. I added black jewels also. 

 

 

Thank you so much for joining me today on this fun blog hop day! 

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel! They will also be giving away a total of TEN $25  gift cards along the hop. As per usual with blog hops - the winners will be picked from the comments left on each blog!! Pinkfresh Studio will pull the winners & post them on August 5, 2022 on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. Remember, you must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks. GOOD LUCK!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PINKFRESH STUDIO RELEASE!

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

 

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE ALL THE BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS!!

 

Honey Bee by the Sea!

Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Hope you are enjoying a wonderful Sunday afternoon.... Today is so peaceful at my house! We got up and went to early church because of the heat and got some yummy breakfast.... Now everyone is hanging out quietly and peacefully. Oh, and having ice cream too! My husband was in Los Angeles all last week for his work, and he got home late last night. Lucky is so happy to see him! (Me too!) Our little family is back together and all is right with the world again. I got some much needed time to myself last week to think and read and study and rest, and NO news or emails. I'm sure lots of you can relate - the hubs and I have been together in our house 24/7 for two and a half years!! Like not even one day apart. I needed a moment shall we say. Hahaha. Twenty Nine years and counting, and we're still best friends! I'm very fortunate to have such a good husband! (I'm the weird one for sure!)

When we came home from church today I came in the craft room and just started playing with no plan in mind. Well, I ended up making something pretty and thought I would share it with you, and maybe some stories too. I live in Sacramento California, which lately is as hot as the surface of the sun for lord knows how many days in a row. I'm delirious and my brain is melting. Whenever we get a heat wave like this all I can think of is OCEANNNNNNNN. I am an ocean person through and through. I started thinking about it, why do I have such an attachment to the ocean?? I guess lots of reasons. Everything good for me in my life happened at the ocean! I was born on the ocean to a dad who was in the Navy (Norfolk, Virginia). My family is from Carmel, California and I started my school years there. I got married (twice) at the ocean (One Pacific - Carmel, and one Atlantic - Cape Cod). I lived in Half Moon Bay for a while and saw the ocean every single day.... I went to college near the ocean... I worked in San Francisco for several years... When we go on vacation we always end up at the ocean or on a boat!! So many good times! My childhood got kind of wonky when my mom left for a new life, but I always had my grandmother's house in Monterey. Every good and pure childhood memory I have came from there and it was always misty and foggy and salty at her house... and I can easily conjure up the most wonderful scent in the world: Fog + Eucalyptus Trees. I wish I could bottle that scent and share it with you!! If I ever win lotto, I'm buying a big beach house and you can all come and craft with me! Doesn't that sound amazing!?  Anyhoo, I'm rambling and sharing, probably over sharing. But dang it, it's hot, and like I said all I can think about is the ocean!!! We are only about 75 miles from the ocean here, a day trip really, but it's been hot there too! I keep checking the weather for a good 50 degree foggy day and I'm outta here! LOLZ. 

Where do you feel the happiest? The Lake? The Desert? The Mountains? Ocean? Leave a comment and let me know what your favorite place is!! I'd love to know! 

Which finally leads me to my project! Ha! Last week I received the most wonderful and generous package of goodies from my friends at Honey Bee Stamps and guess what? It was full of Ocean-y Things! It's like they read my mind! Honey Bee has wax seals and wax melts now!! And Layered Dies of Seashells! OH YEAH! Everything is so pretty and I'll be making some more projects. But here's the first one! I have always loved wax seals. I have acquired a pretty good collection over the years and I have maybe 25 or so. I really love the look of them and the pretty designs and the details you can put on your projects... I created a plain card with a pretty vellum and paper wrapped envelope....sealed with a kiss shell. I used the new Wax Melts and Wax Stamper along with the new papers and dies. All the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post. 

This is an A6 envelope in Kraft from Paper Source. I splattered on some white paint and let that dry. I cut an A6 notecard (my letter is on the other side). I wrapped the envelope with the new Vitamin Sea Paper and also some vellum. I wrapped twine around it. This part is like a belly band. It comes all the way off. I just have it like this for the photo. I die cut some sea grass from the new die set and then made my wax seal...

 

The sea grass is cut from green paper and then gently inked with Green Distress Inks. Here's a close up of that gorgeous seal and the paper. I'M IN LOVE.

 

I made three different wax seals in different colors.

 

I used the Vitamin Sea Wax Melts! Have you ever done a wax seal before? It's so easy! These little melts are so much easier than using the stick kind that has a wick. I put 3-4 of these little pieces into my melting spoon and hold it over a small tea light candle. They melt nice and evenly and you can see they make such a nice appearance. I encourage you to try it sometime! It's fancy! 

 

 

 

 

That's it for this Sunday afternoon! So nice to see ya! This week we have some fun projects coming up! A new release blog hop from Pinkfresh Studio on Wednesday and a Greetery project on Friday! I have to say that my project for Friday is in my top ten favorite things I've ever made!!! I cannot wait to share it with you!!! Have a good week and I'll see you soon! Love you guys. XOXO

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

Doodlebug My Happy Place - Easel Card! You Brighten My Day!

Hello my creative friends! Happy Doodlebug Monday! Hope you have a great week this week! Today I'm sharing a fun easel card made with the Doodlebug My Happy Place collection! Cheerful colors and a cheerful message on this card. Perfect for a thank you or a just because card. It folds flat for mailing! Have you ever made an easel card? I like it because the recipient can easily display it and it can cheer them up! This is a super simple card with one score/fold but it packs a punch in impact. To find directions - Google "easel card" and many links will come up. You can make a round one, square one, or in my case an A2 size. The ideas are endless!

My card base is white cardstock folded into the easel. Then I added lots of papers and stickers from the My Happy Place collection. I also added Flower Garden Doodle Pops and some gems for good measure. This card folds flat and fits in an A2 envelope! It's been a while since I made this type of card, but I need to do more!

 

The key to a good easel is that you have to place something on the bottom part for the card to 'hook' onto. I used a pretty sticker and mounted it to the card with foam tape. You need a bit of height to hold the card up. I added a word sticker and some hearts to the bottom also.

 

Here's a side view so you can see the logistics! I added pretty gingham to the bottom part.

 

A close up of my little embellishment cluster...gems, flowers, stickers...all the good things!

 

The main image is a rectangle cut from the 12x12 My Happy Place paper pack. I added a heart to the vase and I also splattered on some white paint. I layered black and pink, and a wrap of the same gingham from the bottom panel.

 

 

My friends - YOU brighten my day! And I thank you! Cheers to Monday and a fantastic week! I'll be back soon with some more fun stuff. Until then, happy crafting! XOXO

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