A Blog Called Wanda

Comforts of Home...Shabby Tea Room challenge card!

FRIDAY! GLORIOUS FRIDAY! We made it! Whew...had to get that off my chest. Lots going on with me this week and here it is FRIDAY! Today's card is my entry to The Shabby Tea Room blog contest #7 titled The Comforts of Home. They had a lovely soft image to work from that I fell in love with instantly. Can I just say that I adore this color pallette? MMMMMM. It was easy to get the old creative juices flowing for this challenge.

Here is the beautiful image! Could you just die? That stack of pretty quilts all piled up like that contrasted with the weathered wood. Go-jus. Really. It sets a mood for sure.

 

Here is my entry for the challenge combining the image with the sentiment "Comforts of Home." I incorporated most of the colors with the patterned paper and gave the feel of the stack of quilts via using different patterned papers.

 

I stamped my images in brown ink. Then I grunged up the edges of the paper with my distresser and some light brown ink. I took the image of the house and the sentiment and crumpled the paper a bit to make it less "perfect." I mounted the house with foam tape. The little flowers were part of a giant hydrangea silk flower....then I put some soft pink brads in the center. 

 

I am in love with this new edge punch from EK Success!!! Giant scallop - perfection.

 

 

 
   

Before I sign off for today - I want to let you know that I probably won't be blogging this weekend. I am holding my first ever Copic Camp weekend at my house! Classes from 10-3 both days talking about Copic Marker techniques, tricks and tips. I have 14 people coming and I am really excited about it. I love to share my, um, obsession about Copics! I'm making a nice lunch and we're doing two card projects too. I taught classes for four years at one of my local stamp stores, but it's been quite some time ago. I forgot how much fun it is to get ready and teach/share with other cool, crafty women. I will take pictures and post all about it on Monday!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Tuesday Trigger Time again!

It's Tuesday Trigger time again over at Moxie Fab World! Check out the blog here. This image called out to me....SUMMER TIME! Couldn't you just walk right into the scene and sit down with a good book and a tropical fruity drink with an umbrella?? I think I need a vacation because that's all I've been thinking about!

The card I made used the color scheme and sort of the layout of the photograph. I was inspired by the feel of the scene. Lounging poolside. Also, I love green! Without further ado...here is my card:

And here is the trigger image from Moxie Fab:

 

I tried to pick up that bit of aqua there in the pool in the foreground. I made the little throw pillows by drawing squares and circles onto some PTI patterned paper. I have the PTI couch sets, but those pillows were too tiny for these big beach chairs. I stamped the chairs in white ink and then went over them with a white prismacolor pencil to add some more pop and depth.

 

I am having a lot of fun lately decorating the inside of my cards. Here is the inside of this one!

Have a lovely day one and all!

Challenge Card! TESC #110...

Today's card is my entry for Taylored Expressions #110 sketch challenge. You can find her blog by clicking here. Seems as though everyone is into squares lately! Good thing I have a square punch so I didn't have to try to get all those squares perfect!

Here is the sketch layout:

 

Here is my card! I tried to make it sort of country and fun at the same time.

 

 

Something I have been wanting to try for a long time is using my Copic markers on kraft paper. This is my first attempt at that! I had thought I would use darker colors to make up for the darker paper...but the opposite turned out to be true. I used lighter colors! For the birdhouse I used two shades of mustard yellow and then made hatch marks with my blender pen to make it look weathered. Lastly, I got out the white gel pen to add some highlights.

 

 

For the inside I just stamped the front image again and didn't color it...added a happy hello!

 

Here's another quick and simple card I made - thought I would throw it in too! Love those stamps from Cats Pajamas! How cute is that little cowboy??

 

Gotta run...too much good tv on tonight. Lost and DWTS results show...and Biggest Loser... Ack! And I still have some chores to do...and eat dinner...bye!

 

My Craft Studio!

Hi everybody! For the past two days we have been cleaning and doing yard work non-stop. Whew. I'm about done with all the chores for a bit. It's beautiful outside and it was time for a good old fashioned Spring cleaning at our house. We even did the windows. How great does that feel? I love it - afterwards! haha. Everything is in tip top shape and sparkly.

Given that we have been cleaning and doing chores...I have not had time to stamp anything this weekend to post on the old bloggy blog. However - I thought it would be a good time to share pictures of my craft studio! What the heck, it might not be this clean again for a while!

This is the view from the door as you walk in. The table on the right is a new addition and I like it for extra stamping room and for when someone comes over to stamp with me! The bins right in front on the main table hold all of my necessities: scissors, adhesives, glue, bone folder, exacto knife, etc.

The shelves were all here when we moved in. The people who owned the house before us worked from home and this was their office. The only drawback of my room is that there is no window in here. I have track lighting above and some flourescents under the cabinet.

My 'office' area with my laptop and my printer.

The main stamping table area up close. Love the pink phone from Pottery Barn kids! Gotta have tv to watch movies while stamping! My colored pencils, brads, and embellishments are right above.

This was the closet for this room! Now it is stamp, paper and photo storage. On the bottom rack are all of our family photograps by year and event. The next shelf up has all of my Stampin' Up sets from the last 16 years. I don't really get rid of them. You never know when you might want an oldie!

My craft studio is actually two rooms combined into one big room. Again, this was like this when we moved in. Love that long counter and also there is a sink! The door leads out to the backyard. This was a porch and the former owners enclosed it to make their office larger. The opening is for a sliding glass door. On the right in the clear bins is all of my 12 x 12 paper stored by category. My friend JRR made the beautiful Welcome sign that hangs in the doorway!! Love that!!

That's a LOT of paper!!

P.S. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE the Container Store???

This is my die cutting and paper cutting area. I have my Cricut and my Cuttlebug out where I can use them often. The dies and such are stored right there too. I love my giant steel edged paper cutter!

When we moved into our house every room had shag carpet! EVEN THE KITCHEN! No, I'm not kidding! Cootie factor was high. Needless to say, we replaced all the carpet before we moved in. I picked out this patterned carpet for my craft studio to make it pretty and feminine. I didn't realize it at the time, but it also hides the dirt very well!

Stampin' Up sets and photo storage:

I keep all of my ink together here. That way I can always find what I need. Each drawer has a different brand of ink. Top drawer is for Memento and Brilliance. Next drawer is for Versamagic, etc.. On the top are the ink pads I use all the time.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my craft studio! I spend a lot of time in here. In fact, if Mark isn't home I have been known to spend the entire day in here - lunch and all! There is a 1/2 bath right outside the door, so technically I don't have to leave! I just need a mini fridge and I'd be all set! I am so lucky to have such a great place to stamp. I remember back to when ALL of my stamping supplies fit into this little red toolbox I bought at Target. Those days are over!

I would love to see what your stamping/crafting space looks like! If you leave a comment, link me back to a picture of your room!   

Cute & Sweet

This week has been kinda hectic, but for no real reason...just feel like I'm running around all crazy. Lots going on and not enough time to do it all. Such is life. The weather has been sorta funky - right now it's freezing in our house, but then it's supposed to be 80 by the weekend. I don't know - I am just taking it one day at a time. What else can ya do? Maybe it's the hormomes. I never know anymore. Got my hair cut after work at this cute, funky new place downtown. Not sure if I love it - right now there is toooo much 'product' so we'll wait until tomorrow morning for the final verdict. I think it's good, though! Enough rambling...on to some stamping...I have two sweet little cards to share.

Not sure who this card is for yet - love the blue and yellow together -

 

 

 

One of Buddy's girlfriends, Mocha B, has been feline under the weather (yuck yuck) so he had me make a card to send her his love. Good news is that Mocha is feeling much better now - yay!

I love these Sandra Boynton characters - don't you? So expressive and adorable!

I hope wherever you are - that you are having a great week! Mwah.

Baby shower card!

Hi! Hope everything is going well in your corner of the world! Today I am posting a baby shower card that one of my friends commissioned. She needed a card for a jungle themed baby shower. I immediately thought of this adorable Denami monkey stamp! I love this for so many occasions. The monkeys are fun to color and so cheerful.

 

I didn't have quite the right sentiment, so I made one on the computer using the font called catsup! I used my nestabilities to cut out the ovals. Used a slightly lighter shade of green for the border. The leaf stamp is also from Denami. I stamped it off twice, before stamping it over my saying.  

 

 

The inside of the card:

   

Random stuff on a sunny Saturday...

Hi there! It's a beautiful sunny Saturday here at the ranch. Went stamping last night at Jilli's stamp group and made some super cute cards and had wonderful, necessary girl time (thank you Jilli!) Slept in really late this morning - darn allergies.

I have a thank you card to share with you today - kind of a Mary Engelbreit feel to it. Hope you likey! the stamp is from Penny Black.

 

Here is a close up of the coloring/shading:

 

From the side you can see that I popped up the entire image on foam tape. I colored a second set of the top flowers and put them on the bottom near the bee hive - I go through A LOT of foam tape in my stamp room!

 

My Copic color pallete for this project:

 

This afternoon/evening we are heading out the the park for a big BBQ for my brother's 30th birthday party. I made a Mediterranean pasta salad to bring to share. It is yummmmy! I use cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, cucumber and feta. The dressing is Bernsteins Cheese/Garlic Italian. I let the veggies soak by themselves in the dressing first so they get the flavor. That way the pasta doesn't get too soggy. The feta goes on at the end.

Some wise advice today from Buddy the Cat....He says if you only put HALF your body on the scale, you will only weigh HALF as much! Good advice! Hahahaha.

 

 Best wishes to all for a fantastic weekend!

Hip to be square!

Today's card is my entry for the Shabby Tea Room blog challenge titled: It's hip to be square. Click here to go to their blog. The challenge was to create a project using squares! The inspiration image was of a pretty old quilt. Which got me to thinkin'...

Here is my creation!

 

The background paper and ink are dark chocolate brown. I'm not sure why I can't get brown paper to photograph correctly. Lots of square layers and of course, quilt squares!

Some extra shabbiness, distressing, sewing, lace, ribbon, etc. etc.!

 
At first I got out a square card base - start there. Then I ransacked all my paper and found lots of paper with squares...but I didn't like any of them (of course). Then it dawned on me! I'll make my own paper quilt! Voila!

This stamp has a story. Drum roll...This is THE FIRST STAMP I ever bought! Sixteen years ago! It is a PSX stamp. I kind of think it should be under glass, or in a museum or something, right? Ancient artifact from the vault...Do you remember when Country was all the rage? They used to have the Country Folk Art Show come to the fairgrounds and we would go and buy dried flowers and cute wooden signs and other decor stuff? That's where I found this stamp - someone had a little booth. I remember I bought this stamp, a bow stamp and an embossing powder kit. How fun. The DH was with me and I'm thinkin' he's thinkin' we shoulda gone to a movie that day instead...

Here is my color pallete - beiges, pinks and light reds. I wanted my 'quilt' to look like it had been tucked away in the attic for 50 years and that it was tea dyed. I like how it came out.

 

This picture is not related to anything other than I liked it and wanted to share it! This pretty still life was taken at a restaurant by my office earlier in the week at lunchtime. LOVE the sunflowers. The light was very soft that day. Like I always say...keep your camera with you at all times!

 

Masculine Birthday Card...

Today is my baby brother's 30th birthday! Oh Man, does that make me feel old. He was born when I was 15 and I remember that day clearly! He is a good man, with a great wife and three sons now. I am really proud of him and wanted to make him a cool, manly card to celebrate the day. I got out my Cricut to cut the letters and the numbers. I realized how few birthday stamps that I have for a guy. Need to work on that.

 

I used some champage colored crystals to add a pop of shine, but again, not too feminine.

 
 
I used the patter on the paper to make a nice clean edge of argyle on the bottom. Love this paper! And I could choose from all those rich colors for accents.

This is a picture from my college graduation in 1986 (!!!!!) That little guy on the right is Chris - who is 30 today! Dan is on the left. I tried to find an older picture - but couldn't...need to work on that. Have a great day everyon!

Another Embellish Mag challenge card!

The challenge for this time around on the Embellish Magazine blog is red, white, black, and kraft with a party theme. I decided to make a card that could also be used as a fun party invitation for a special event. I keep an idea book where I jot down things as I think of them. One of my ideas said "white ink, damask stamp, kraft paper." I decided this would be a perfect fit!

Here is my challenge entry:

 

The design challenge image:

A close up of the tiny dangling birthday cake! To do this, simply mount your image on double sided foam tape and then put your charm on a jump ring to hang down. I used to do this a lot on my cards, but haven't for a while.

 

 

The inside of my card:

Whew - Finally...

I finally made a card I like this weekend! This card is for Taylored Expressions Challenge #108. It is a sketch challenge. Perhaps my no mojo phase is over? We'll see what else happens. I do like this card. Probably because I am crazy for this new paper from My Mind's Eye - It's called Quite Contrary. Do you love these colors? Yummy.

Here is my card entry for the challenge:

 

 

 

The sketch layout:

Buddy is patiently waiting for someone to email him!

No Mojo today...

My crafty mojo has left the building. I got nothin'. Zip. Zilch. Nada. I tried to make several cards today and didn't like any of them. The crafty equivalent of the computer black screen of death. This happens from time to time and there ain't nothing I can do about it. Gotta craft through it...til I get to the other side. I've been on a roll for a while so it was bound to happen. I think I'll just go vegetate and watch tv instead. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with something good. I need to make a card for my brother's birthday, a friend's birthday, a graduation card... Happy Saturday! Bye!

If you have any ideas for how to get out of a creative slump send them along!

Shabby Tea Room Challenge #4

Hi! I have a quick post for you...nothing too fancy. It's late Thursday night right now so I'll just say Happy Friday and we'll call it a week...okay? Okay. The card I made tonight is for the Shabby Tea Room Challenge #4. The challenge was to use only white/cream and one other color. Let me tell you...it was a challenge! You know I have 175 colors of markers, right? So to use only one color was a test! I decided to use blue since I am still in a Spring time mood.

Here is my card:

 

I took these pictures on Easter Sunday when we went for a little drive up in the foothills near our house. Can I just say that the clouds lately have been magnificent!

 

 
 

Thank you for stopping by - go out and make someone's day!

A hint of Summer...

Hi everybody! Now I'm not a Summer person...I love all things Fall. However, right at this moment, as my eyes are watering and I have a constant urge to sneeze my brains out, I am ready for Summer to arrive with the Xtreme heat to kill off all that icky pollen. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. However, today I have a card with a hint of Summer. I do love all the bright popsicle colors of Summer time.

Remember this post about Friends Rain or Shine - with the umbrella image? Click here to see. My friend Reba (gurl!) saw that card and came up with a fun idea - why not color the umbrellas to look like beach umbrellas!? I never would have thought of that!! GREAT idea. So...you know I had to do it and then I had to give her the card!

 

 

 

 

 

My Copic Palette for the card - Three shades of each color for blending.

 

The Inside of the card. Don't you love that Fiskars wave punch??

The beach chair is from Annette Watkins (Printworks). I cut it out with an exacto knife and then mounted it to the card with some foam tape. The saying is also from Printworks.

 

Close up of the coloring/shading. Notice I put grey and blue in the "white" area to give it some definition. Start with your dark color first then go to the lighter colors.

Tonight at my stamp club meeting (shout out to the girls!!) I am doing a demo/discussion about Copic Markers! Yay! My fourth favorite thing in the world...after DH, Kitty, Iphone...then comes Copics!

 

This is my stamp room... My "Calgon take me away" happy place. On the side (behind me) where I'm taking the photo from is my computer/printer work station. To the left is my stamping table and tv.

I think he looks guilty....what do you think??

Greetings from California!

Hi! I hope you had a wonderful Easter and a great weekend. It was pretty cold here on Easter Sunday...but luckily the rain held out for most of the day. We had a nice day at church and then breakfast out. The afternoon was spent cleaning up the old stampin' room.

I made this fun card to say "Greetings from California!" I started off with the main image and then I did some digging around and found all those old stamps of stamps! I had taken some pictures of our State Capitol a couple of weeks ago and I thought they would make a nice combo blog.  

Here ya go...

No matter how much 'ugliness' is going on inside there...the building is beautiful! Those clouds were to die for and that crisp blue sky...oh my.

A close up of the focal image. I colored it with my Copics of course. This is a stamp from Carmen's Veranda - memba them? They used to be at all the stamp shows. Cool stuff.

I'm including the next two pictures to show that I went to the vault for this card! I remember buying this stamp set at this tiny little stamp store on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland - back in the day. Everyone had this set. I have loved Hero Arts for a long time. I hardly ever get rid of my stamps - each one is like an old friend, or a memory of something.

  

Yes, I  bought this stamp set in 1995! EEK.

I don't know where I got these two stamps!

A few more shots of the Capitol. I work just a few blocks from here and sometimes I need to take it all in and go for a walk at lunchtime. It really is remarkable.

 

 

Have a great week ahead everyone! Thanks for stopping by today! 

He is Risen!

Luke 24:1-12 

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but He is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Best wishes for a glorious Easter from the Guess Family

photo by Wanda Guess

A new color/sketch challenge card...

Again, I managed to find two challenges that caught my eye. One is a color challenge from Color Q and the other is sketch challenge #107 from Taylored Expressions! When I first saw the colors, I thought - piece of cake! I love those colors. Well...several attempts later I realized it wasn't that easy. I rarely put that many strong colors together and it really did challenge me! Teal, Celery Green, Lavender and Lilac...gorgeous pallette.

Without further ado...my card...

 

Here are the two challenge images!

 

A close up of the central image - colored with my very lightest Copic marker shades of green, blue green, blue violet and blue.  

 

I handmade each of the little lavender flowers

 

 

I think the hydrangeas are a perfect match for the color challenge, right?? I can't wait to show you all pictures when they are in full bloom. Makes me happy. 

 

It's Buddy's Birthday!

On the occasion of his third birthday, I will tell you all the tale of Buddy, the wonder cat. The most special cat in the entire world. This little, um big, bundle of fur has my heart and did from the moment I laid eyes on him at the SPCA. Before Buddy came along, I had a beautiful gray tabby cat, Isabella, for 16 years. She had a great life and was never sick a day. One day she had a stroke and did not recover.  I was heartbroken and thought I did not want another cat. However, after coming home to a pet-empty house for a couple of months, I needed to get a new kitty. Stat. Enter Buddy.

Mark and I went to the SPCA after work the Friday night of Memorial day weekend 2007. I saw him from across the room, our eyes met, and then he mewed at me! I was in love! At first sight. The bad news is that he was so tiny, they couldn't give him his, um, operation. So we couldn't take him home. He only weighed ONE pound! We left and we were sad...our little son in a cage all alone... So, the next day we went back to the SPCA to visit him! Finally they told us to take him home and get him healthy and then bring him back to get fixed. We guesstimated his birthday to be 4-2-07 because of how small he was.

Fast forward to three years later...and Buddy now weighs 16 pounds! He is our best pal. Doesn't like to be alone, ever. He is a heat seeking missile - that loves the heater vents on the floor. He comes when he's called (mostly) and is a wonderful addition to our house. I hope you have fun looking at all these silly photos. He is one of a kind, that's for sure! Buddy even has his own facebook page!

Here is the story of Mr. Buddy's life in pictures!

The top two pix are of mom and son at the SPCA. Could you die? The cutest thing ever.

Here he is getting to know his new surroundings...

His first bath! Look how big his paws are...the sign of things to come!

Adolescense..and the development of "the pose"...

Celebrating the Holidays in style...

General mischief...

Hanging out...

And finally, a close up of that face I love...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!!!

Stampin' Friends!

Today's card was made for the Taylored Expressions sketch challenge #106. Click here to go to her blog.  I made a few attempts before I got an idea that I liked. I pulled out this super cute stamp from Denami with the stamping/scrapping girls. I tried and tried to find the right patterned paper and ended up with my old standby favorite of the mini checks! I wanted it to be feminine so I accented with a bright salmon pink and some glitter.

 

This is the design/sketch for the challenge:

 

 

 Have a great day all my Stampin' Friends!! It's almost Friday!!