A Blog Called Wanda

Sunday Cards!

Hi everyone! I made some cheery, happy cards for this day. Feels like Spring outside. My hydrangeas are going crazy - there is even one tiny flower already! Love it. After the rain on Friday the air is crisp and clear.

I am in LOVE with this tiny checked paper! It just seems to go with everything and is a nice patterned neutral - if that makes sense. That checked paper is the common element for these three cards. I also tried to keep it simple and sweet.

The first card is made with some cute trees that I colored with my Copics. Each tree has three shades of green ink. One is with the Green color family and the other with the Yellow Green color family. I kind of like the contrast and visual interest that gives. The tiny birdies are colored with two shades of blue and then coated with two coats of diamond glaze to make them pop off the trees.

 
 
The second card is made with this beautiful new stamp I got last week from Stampendous. It reminds me of a California winery with the poppies in the foreground. I also made this my first easel card. I have been admiring others and finally made one! You should try it! Super easy. Directions are on Splitcoast Stampers.

 

The third card is made with some Martha Stewart bee/hive stickers I got at Michael's a long time ago. I added glitter glue (diamond stickles) to the wings to jazz them up a bit. I always like black and yellow together for cards. Very striking. Another easel card. Maybe I'm hooked...

 

 

 

Thanks for buzzzzzzzing by my blog today! 

East Coast...West Coast...

Nothin' crafty going on today...just another day at work. A Friday. And me, with a serious, big time, Olympics hangover. I have stayed up until midnight every night this week. This would be fine, except that I have to wake up at 5:15am and go to work and function like a grown up! (Did I mention I'm not a morning person? I think I did.) I am SO tired right now. Today was a sunny, rainy, windy, day all in one here in Northern California.

On my way home from work, while stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, I was treated with a beautiful rainbow the entire way. At one point it was even a double rainbow. And me, without my camera. Funny thing is, on the way out of the house this morning I almost grabbed my camera - because the sunrise yesterday morning was so gorgeous. But, then I thought, nah...it's gonna rain. That'll teach me to throw the camera in my purse!

However, I am always in close contact with my iphone. I took the following pictures while driving down the freeway. NOT recommended! But, hey, I was only going 20 mph. It was just too pretty to pass up!

Here's the other side. I did not find a pot o' gold. Or a leprechaun.

 
Earlier today I had received an email from my friend Amy in Pennsylvania. Her world looked like this today! Isn't it beautiful and peaceful? Such a difference from the photos above!

I absolutely adore this picture of her sweet kitty Ashley sitting in the window. Sets such a mood...

I often think how amazing technology is these days that you can take a picture 3000 miles away and instantly share it with someone. Or, how you can take a picture with your phone from your car and put it on your internet blog the same afternoon. No more waiting a week for the pictures to come back from the photo lab!

Talk amongst yourselves. Have a fantabulous weekend!

A Happy card for today!

I LOVE this new line of paper, stickers and rub-ons from American Crafts...It's called Abode. Hot, fun, bright colors and adorable images of books, vases, cups, etc. I used it to make a housewarming card for a friend who just moved into a new apartment. I had fun playing with these colors, because they are not the norm for me. I am addicted to my nestabilities now that I finally figured out the best way to use them with my Cuttlebug. Hope you likey!

Inside:

  
The finished card is 6x6 square. I wanted to make it a big card to use more of the images from the paper in the background. Toodles...

Stamp Show Finds...

Spent the day on Saturday with my dear friend Caroline at the Rubber Stamp Show in Vallejo. It was a small show, as those things go, but very fun nonetheless. Ran into a lot of stamping friends there and found a few bargains.

Here is the loot along with the projects I made yesterday:

In the upper left corner is a GIANT clear block to go with the gorgeous new background images from Impression Obsession. Love this! On the upper right are two new Judikins sweet Geisha girls. Lower left is a new funky stamp from Unity. Lower right is a Kodomo stamp from Hanko and a necklace I made using the stamp. So pretty! Also bought the five petal flower punch I've been trying to find for a while.

Here is the Geisha card...colored with Copics and cut out...layered with Nestabilities...some sparkly shimmer in their hair to make it shiny:

 

Here is the necklace that I made using the bird/branch stamp. I used my crop-o-dile to punch a hole and set a large eyelet for the chain. Stamped with Memento Ink and colored with Copics. Sponge the edges with Distress Inks. The edges are super tape with brown metallic foil folded over! Add some bling... and voila!

 
 

I hope your week is off to a great start! Enjoy the day!  

An Artsy Day in Berkeley!

Yesterday I spent the day in my second home town...Berkeley. This is where I went to college and where I feel most at home, except for actual home! It's a crazy town full of life and learning and art and beautiful things. I want to share my little artsy day with you!

There are three must-go-to art stores all right near each other on 4th Street, just off University Avenue.

My first stop -Dick Blick Art - they have EVERY SINGLE color of Copic Marker....yeah baby...

Next stop - Paper Source - Heaven on earth for this paper lover...

Beautiful window displays with giant paper flowers:

OOOOOHHHHHHH....

AAAAAAHHHHHH....

You never know when you might need a Gnome soap-on-a rope...This is where you could get it! Handmade even! Hahaha.

Next stop is Scrapbook Territory. By far the best overall scrappin' and craftin' place in the entire bay area:

 

Owner, and fellow Cal alum, Diane, with store dog #1 Wilbur:

This place is HUGE...and always has the latest and greatest stuff. Good thing I live far away so my shopping is curtailed somewhat.

Awesome ribbon selection:  

  

Here are some gorgeous tree blossoms I found along my way:

And here is the part where I show you the most amazing, breathtaking, spectacular, gorgeous view of San Francisco that you have from the hill above the football stadium...

But not on this day! Just some good old fashioned FOG!

 

My day ended with dinner with my sweet friend Patty. A perfect day. It's Friday again, and my week off from work flew by in what seemed like a nano second. I did sleep in every day and generally was crafty and lazy. Tonight is stamping with friends and tomorrow is a Rubber Stamp Convention. Enjoy your weekend everyone!  

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Card for this week

When I saw this week's Tuesday Trigger challenge over at Moxie Fab I instantly had an idea. I really love the cheery color combo of the yellow and red...and I knew I had some yellow gingham ribbon. I combined it with October Afternoon 'Farm Fresh' paper and voila!

Here is the Trigger Image:

Here is my creation:

 
Here is the inside:

And a close up of just the front:

I'm going to email Cath right after I post this and send her my own idea for a Tuesday Trigger challenge card! I hope she likes it so you can see me on the AWESOME Moxie Fab World Blog!!

A Trip to Lake Placid!

One of the places the DH and I went on our honeymoon was Lake Placid, New York. We stayed two nights in this beautiful hotel called the Mirror Lake Inn. It was amazing! The town of Lake Placid is tiny - with just one main street. The famous hockey arena is at the end of the street. I cannot imagine how this town fit all the Olympic athletes and spectators. The town of Lake Placid sits at the rim of Mirror Lake... Lake Placid is actually about 10 minutes away! Go figure?

We were able to have a tour of the Olympic areas and to watch some ski jumping action. Since we have been home watching the Winter Olympics, I decided to get out our honeymoon pictures and have a look. the pictures are not great and they were taken with this strange thing called film! Anyone remember that? The pics are from early October 2001. Hope you enjoy!

The entrance to the facilities:

One of the ski jumps:  

One of our Olympians practicing:

Practicing:

Perfect Landing! You can see there's no snow so they practice jumping into a swimming pool. The water is kept moving so they don't hurt themselves hitting a solid mass. Very cool indeed.

We were able to take the chairlift up to the top. The view was absolutely spectacular:

This last shot is for the ladies! This is the official medal podium used in the 1980 Olympics. Seems a lot less fancy than nowadays. This is the guy that we watched jumping. He came over and talked to us about his experiences.

 
 Wouldn't it be awesome to go to the Olympics one day in person?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you are spending the day in the company of people who love you - spouses, friends, family... Also a good day to watch the Olympics. I have lots of Valentine's stuff to share and I'm sending some blog love your way. Hope you eat too much chocolate today!

First off...My Furry Valentine...Mr. Buddy looking quite debonair on the craft room counter:

Some cupcake treats I brought to work on Friday:

 
I made the little doo dads for the tops from the Stampin' Up "Love Bandit" set and some other VD stamps I had around. Scallop circles, and voila! Cupcake toppers!

A cool Vintag-ey Valentine I found at one of my favorite stores. I thought it was so pretty and old fashioned:

And Finally, the last of my Valentine Cards for this year:

 

Year of the Tiger - Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2010 is Year of the Tiger! Gung Hay Fat Choy friends! This year the date for Chinese New Year happens to fall on Valentine's Day so I'm posting a day early. The date is set by the moon. Read more about the history here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year.

 
Now, I like a celebration of any kind, and since I have many Chinese friends, I always make cards for this special occasion. I absolutely love the vivid red set against black and gold. Gorgeous. This year my creation is made with the popular joy-fold card concept. I hope you enjoy looking at this post.

This is the full card when it is closed:

And partially open:

and further opened:

 
Stamps from Kodomo and Papers:

Copic ink colors:

Close ups of the coloring process:

This chart helps me when I am making/coloring more than one of the same image. I can check the colors until I get exactly what I want.

Using the darkest color sparingly only for the center of his back and brow:

 Four shades of green...oh how I love green...

   

 Thanks for stopping by today and Happy New Year!

Thoughts on a week off from work...

This blog has nothing to do with photography, or cards, or yummy treats. Sigh. Today all I can think of is that I have next week off from work. I'm just trying to make it through the day until the whistle blows and I can slide right down that dinosaur's tail to get in the car and go home (old enough to remember the Flintstones??).

I have been sick for two weeks and generally disagreeable and not fun. The thought of a week off from trying to put on makeup at 5:30 in the morning and then get on the freeway and have people tailgate me at 80 mph before I'm even coherent is just about enough to make me faint from joy!

In the photo below...I am the one of the far left...and I'm really not exaggerating. Just ask my hubs. He'll tell ya the truth.

 
I am going to try to regroup, reorganize, restore, rejuvenate and relax for a week. Hopefully I will return to my normal cheery self. I hope to blog some cool things and get crafty. I hope to read at least part of the ginormous stack of books piled next to the bed. But what I really want...is to sleep in!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Signs of Spring...

It stopped raining long enough for me to get out in the front yard and photograph the first signs of Spring at our house!

The daffodils bloomed about a week ago and I have been waiting for some nice light ever since - to show off their wonderful sunshine color. They are the first cheery signs of a change in the season...

See the nice, even, bright color? Contrary to what you would think, wait for an overcast day with nice even light. Bright sunlight would not have worked here. These pix are straight out of the camera.

 Some Spring bokeh for Pioneer Woman:

I love the contrast of the bright yellow against the brick and the green:

Here is a close up of one of my prized Nikko Blue Hydrangea blooms left over from last year. They say not to prune them...so I didn't. Love love love the texture of this:

The sure sign that more gorgeous blue hydrangeas are on the way! Yippee!

So, all this Spring folly sparked my creative juices in the craft room. I have been waiting for the right opportunity to use my new bird/branch punch from Stampin' Up and the new Memory Box Papers. The key to this card? Lots and lots of layers....

  
  Close up of my little birdie friend:

Some of the supplies:

 
I hope Spring is headed your way too - especially my friends on the East Coast. Have a wonderful week ahead. Take care. 

Emboss Resist Card Challenge!

Here is my entry for the "Capture the Moment" card challenge - Emboss Resist Technique! As you can see, the stamp is a paisley heart. I wanted to do a double emboss resist - to pick up the paisley pattern inside the heart and then the entire outside of the heart too. I used clear embossing powder and I covered over just some of the words on this cute patterned paper. I clear embossed it TEN times!

I wanted it to be super shiny and jump off the page. Here goes:

See the paisley print inside the heart?

 
All I have to say for today is TGIF! It's been one of those weeks... I hope you all have a great weekend!  

It's February Already? Valentine Stuff, Part One!

The year is flying by already and it's February 1st! Whew...almost time for Valentine's Day! And...if you live in Northern California...time for allergies to start. Spent the weekend with a gnarly sinus headache. Start the Claritin I.V. stat!  

I have two Valentine Cards to share today. I will have more as the day approaches. I've also been cooking up some cute cupcake toppers for my work treats.

This first card is for my monthly stamp club swap cards. Our meeting is on Wednesday night:

LOVE the new cuttlebug embossing folders for Valentine's Day! Took my white gel pen and made a little accent on the heart in the middle of the "O". The heart stamps are from an old Stampin' Up set. The black border on the card is a Tim Holtz background stamp.

This card has a totally different color scheme and feel to it. It's based on an Amuse card I saw in my local paper store. The awning is made by folding the paper and then putting pop dots underneath!

The little birdies and the glass are colored with Copic Markers. The whip cream is filled in with fine prisma glitter. I use Copic BG000, BG10 and G0000 whenever I want to make something look like glass.

 
More Valentine's to come. Stay tuned.

I have to mention that my favorite band - Green Day - won a Grammy last night! Wahooo! The song they performed was from their musical version of American Idiot, which we saw at The Berkeley Rep Theater late last fall. We recognized a lot of the cast - and now they're Broadway bound!