A Blog Called Wanda

Swap time again?

It's time to make my swap cards for the stamp club I go to on Wednesdays once a month! 'Membah last month I made those little strawberries? This month I wanted to use a new Stampin' Up set from the mini catalog...such a cute set!

The cards were made with the Stampin' Up Big Shot die - large scallop square! Cut your pretty paper into a 10 x 5 inches sheet and fold it in the middle. When you go to cut it, put the card fold just under the top scallop...and voila! You will end up with a cute square card that is 4.25 x 4.25 inches.

I put a little bit of glitter on the cherry. I layered my white paper with foam tape for some dimension. I used a slightly deeper pink for the outline shape. This is a such a nice and simple card to make. You can make it in blues for a boy or use it for a Summer party invite. Love it!

Memorial Day Weekend!

It's hard to believe it's Memorial Day weekend...this year has gone by so fast. It's also hard to believe since it was pouring rain here all week and it is freezing outside! Not our typical 90 degree weather, that's for sure. I hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend. I wanted to take some time to acknowledge what Memorial Day is all about - our beloved country and those who have served or are serving her. I have some pictures to share today - and I hope you enjoy them. I love taking pictures of flags. Such symbolism and beauty. I try not to take for granted the freedom I have. Take a moment to thank a vet and have a fabulous weekend.

I am a Navy daughter. My dad was in the Navy when I was born. I was born in the oldest Naval hospital in the USA - in Portsmouth, Virginia. (That's me on the left, hahaha)

 

My husband is an Army son. His dad served in the Korean War.

We are a patriotic family.

 

Even Buddy waves the stars and stripes.

 

Air Force Thunderbirds at an air show.

 

Two great flags at Memorial Stadium - which was built to honor WWI veterans.

 

Salem, Massachusetts.

 

Chicago.

 

Nantucket.

 

Martha's Vineyard.

 

York, Maine.

 

Nantucket.

 

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

 

My hometown - Sacramento, California.

Have a lovely holiday!

Orange you glad you stopped by?

Har har har. I am cracking myself up right now... Not really, but I had to say it. Orange you glad you stopped by? Tonight I made a card using orange as the inspiration! I was blog surfing the other night and found a new challenge blog called The Pink Elephant Challenge Blog! The only criteria for their challenge this week was the color orange. I figured that should be interesting...So I joined in. I went through my craft room and dug out every orange thing I could find...ribbon, paper, doo dads, pens, ink, etc. Then, out of nowhere, for whatever reason, this cute mushroom stamp came to mind.

Here is my finished card:

 

It was hard coloring such a bright and powerful color with my Copics. I decided to just go with mostly solid coloring. I did darker shades at the bottom and lighter shades at the top. Mushrooms aren't shiny, so I didn't try to find the light source, etc. I had to rummage for my little gnome stamp because it looks like he needs to live here! Don't you love the expression on his face? I cut out a piece of red paper for his hat!

 

Some of the supplies...you may be wondering why the colored ink pads? I used them to sponge around the edge of my circle for shading. I used four shades of orange Copics for the mushroom.

 

Some little gemstones for the dots. A little birdie brad. Two shapes of nestabilities - I kind of like this look. Orange and aqua look good together because they are complimentary colors on the color wheel. Orange and Navy is also a good combination.

 

Some funky patterned papers and sheer orange ribbon. All mounted on a long, narrow kraft card. I like to make cards in this shape - more surface area.

 

 
   

Shabby Tea Room Week #11 Challenge - Polka Dots!

Howdy! Just sitting down tonight to share a card...this one is my submission to The Shabby Tea Room, Week #11 challenge! This week's 'rules' were to use polka dots and/or tea party theme.  Since my card for their contest two weeks ago was with a tea theme, I decided to go with polka dots this time around. My entire card was inspired by one little Prima flower! Once I pulled out the flower, the color scheme came to me - red, cream, aqua blue.

Here's my card:

I am crazy about scallops! Can you tell?? Hee hee. Something about these Shabby Tea Room contests that makes me get out the sewing machine! I sewed on the top layer and then distressed it on the edges to look shabby chic. Found some old crystals...and isn't that stamp funny? It's a new image from Hero Arts that I got in Berkeley on Sunday.

 

 

The Inspiration piece...

No stories for tonight...I'm tired and getting ready for bed time early!

 

TESC #114 - Sorry it took me so long to get back!

Hi friends in blog-land! I'm back after a super busy, super fun weekend full of crafty goodness. Sorry to have gone so long without a post! I'm back today with my entry for Taylored Expressions #114 challenge! For my entry, I made a thank you card! On a side note, my card for TESC #113 came in THIRD in the voting last week! If you voted for me, thank you! What an honor - there were so many cute cards.

Here is the sketch:

 

Here is my thank you card:

 

I used the stamp set "Enjoy the Ride" from Papertrey Ink to make my cute little VW car. The saying is a stamp from Impression Obsession. I used about 7 shades of green to get my car to look kind of old and beat up but still shiny. I had these funny clear bubbles that fit perfectly as headlights! Added a band of chartreuse ribbon and some buttons....

 

 

 

Okay, so I have to tell you about my weekend! Friday night after work I headed over to the site for the Annual Rubber Stamp Convention put on by my friends at A Stamp in the Hand. Kat, Wendy and Joyce came in from LA and I was anxious to see them! We went out to dinner and gabbed and caught up. Saturday morning I went over early to get situated at the Rubber Stamp Concepts booth. Harry  hired me this year to do demo's and make-n-takes for him. Cute necklace project with ecoboard and foil! You guys are not going to believe that I didn't take ONE picture at the stamp show! It was so crazy busy the entire time that I barely had time to go to the bathroom. The day flew by. I went out to dinner with ASITH gang and Judikins gang and we had Thai food. The best part was this amazing coconut ice cream with toasted almonds and caramel sauce. OMG. My "I don't want any dessert" turned into "yes, please!" THANKS KAT! Got home around 9:30....

I got to meet some of you that follow my blog on Saturday and that was wonderful! I was amazed that some people recognized me because of my new apron! Yay! Nice to meet all of you - and thanks for your support. Leave me a comment if you have time!

Woke up early on Sunday morning and went out to a nice breakfast with the DH and then he dropped me off at my friend LG's house. So, four crazy stamping girls headed off to Berkeley for a day of paper shopping! Whew. It was a perfect day. Beautiful weather, good company, and great shopping.

I think that's the weekend in a nutshell. Well....this morning this is what was waiting outside at 5:30 am!!! Three big deer in the street! I know these pictures are terrible...but it was still practically dark out. I'm surprised they came out at all. Usually the only wild life on our street is skunks, raccoons and the crazy turkeys!

 

Okay...it's Monday...go and have a great week!

Coupla Things...

Hi gang! Coupla things for tonight... First, I haven't really been feeling well this week and as a result I have no mo mojo. Say that three times fast. Anyhoo...I do have some stuff to share, just not any cards tonight.  

First of all I love Ebay! Cool crafty stuff for a good price - right to your door.  Here is a pic of the box o' goodies I got in the mail today! WOO HOOOOOO! I am diggin' October Afternoon's new stuff. You can bet your sweet bippie when I'm feeling good again there will be some cards with this new loot:

 

I also wanted to share something I worked on a few months ago. My friend Fonda Jo is a talented and passionate esthetician with her own business here in Sac-town. She does facials, treatments and makeup. She just finished setting up her new website. And...I took the pictures for it! My first photo gig for a website. I am very excited about it and I think her website came out great! Check it out...and if you need some of her services, that would be fantastic. 

 

Here's the link to Fonda Jo's website: finishesbyfondajo.biz

 

 

Everyone have a fantastic weekend! We're on the downhill side of this week!

Taylored Expressions Challenge #113

Hello Everyone! Today's card is my entry into the Taylored Expressions Challenge - #113. I liked this sketch - cuz there's a lot going on! I had purchased, but not used yet, a new paper pack from Die Cuts With a View. It's called Songbird and I got it at Michael's. It has some really cute little sentiments and the colors are great. It also has some sparkle to it!

Here is the sketch image:

 

Here is my take on the challenge!

 

A side view and a little peek inside! I added lots of dimension with all the layers and my favorite foam tape. Isn't that bird the cutest thing? The sentiment only said "Happy" so I added "Birthday" with a PTI stamp and some brown ink.

 

Close up of the flower embellishments:

 

The inside:

 

One thing I do a lot is make my own embellishments out of patterned paper. This paper pattern scale is way too big for a card. But, the flowers individually are perfect for adding on to a card! I cut out three of the flowers and popped them with foam tape. I also cut out extra leaves to add to the top part of the card since I liked that little extra green for balance.

 

This is an extra card I'm throwing in - just a simple card with a nice sentiment - not too busy but nice nevertheless. I colored the Stampin' Up image with my Copic markers and then cut the shapes with my nestabilities (LOVE them). I cut the card out of the giant sizzix square - also from Stampin' Up.

Have a fab day!

 
 

Shabby Tea Room Challenge - week #10 - Stars and Stripes

Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain...for purple mountains majesty, across the fruited plain...America, America, God shed His grace on thee! What a great song and what a nice sentiment as we enter the most patriotic of seasons - Summer! We have Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and then Labor Day - all purely American traditions.

Today my card is my entry for The Shabby Tea Room, Week #10 Challenge. The "rules" were to use either Stars & Stripes or Red, White and Blue. So, of course, I did both! Funny that I had just made a Red, White and Blue card a week or so ago...hmmm...must be something on everyone's mind. It's a great combo - how can you go wrong?

 

Here is my card for today:

 

I started by making the big flag in the background. I simply tore strips of bazzill paper to make a rough flag. I used silver star shaped brads to make the blue part. Reminiscent of one of our first flags. I had the old travel tags that say New York and Boston. I stamped the sentiment in Denim blue Adirondack ink. The background is kraft paper with stars stamped in white pigment ink.

 

The stars and stripes flying proudly in our front yard! God Bless America!

 

COOOOOL stuff I got in the mail in the past week!

I am the luckiest crafty girl in the entire world! And I have the most generous, wonderful crafty girl friends! I had a bunch o' stuff to post today that I've been working on, but I decided to scrap all that and share some of the amazing things I got in the mail in the past week. I loooooove getting looooooove in the mail. Thank you eveyone!!!

A package from the Netherlands! And two from closer to home!

 

This card is from my International pen pal Holly - made with Dutch stamps! Isn't it lovely? So much work and each tile is set with UTEE to look shiny and beautiful. I am absolutely in love with this card. The inside is just as special and detailed. It's my first card from overseas - how wonderful!

 

This card is from Teadub...my partner in crime...It is expertly colored with her Copic markers and is a sweet and simple looking card...but...

There was a surprise on the inside!!! I wasn't expecting this at all!!! I think I actually made a noise when I saw it - a squeal of delight! LOVE it.

 

The final item is a handmade bracelet from my crazy friend Corky! We have been pen pals since we met at San Jose Rubberama about 15 years ago! Yes....she made this! Who knew shrink plastic could be this incredible? How cool...and how lucky am I?

 

 

 

 

 THANK YOU BESTEST CRAFTY FRIENDS IN THE WORLD.

LOVE YOU GUYS! 
 

I'm back - with a neat project!

Hi everybody! It's been a busy weekend and I cannot believe it's Sunday night again. Dang. Where does the weekend go? It was a nice weekend full of activities. Friday  night the DH and I went to the movies after work and saw Ironman 2. It was great - and I must say I am a huge Robert Downey Jr. fan! It was nice to be out and about on a Friday night. We don't usually do that.

Yesterday morning I went to a monster craft garage sale. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look. There were so many peeps there, that I had to park almost two blocks away! After that it was time to do errands (purchased items for today's project among other stuff). Last night was a pool party for Jilli's husband's retirement celebration. It was a fun party and it was nice to meet the rest of her family.

Today I have been crafting up a storm and doing laundry. It's hot here! All of sudden it went to 80 degrees! I will just say, hopefully for the last time, allergies suck. Okay, got that out of the way. Achoo.  Achoo. Achoo.

For the past 6-7 years I have worked at the Rubber Stamp Convention here in Sacramento. It is put on by Kat from A Stamp in the Hand Company. It is something I look forward to every year. I have become friends with the awesome gals there and even visit them when I'm in LA. I can't wait to see them next weekend when the show comes to town for 2010.  Holla! For several years I worked the register for ASITH booth. Last year I worked at the Denami booth. This year I will be demo'ing for a stamp company in their booth. SO...this is a long story leading to today's project!

I have not been able to find my stamping apron. I used it for many years when I used to teach classes all the time.  I've looked high and low and it's nowhere to be seen. DING. Light bulb! Make a new one! The idea came to me to have a denim one this time. My old one was pink. The ideas just kept popping int my head, and after a trip to the kitchen store and Joann's - voila!

The supplies...

 

The blank canvas...and the planning stage...

 

The templates...I drew the branch and leaf templates free hand. The bird template is copied from a piece of chipboard I had. I didn't end up using this pretty green ribbon.

 

The first few pieces are starting to come together!

 

I put my name in the center with some bling! Here the leaves are on and some pretty aqua flowers...

 

This part took forever! I sewed the aqua rick rack on by hand to the part that goes around my neck...

 

Here it is...almost done! The flowers on the pocket are a set of iron on patches that came in a package with the small aqua flowers. SO pretty and they matched exactly. I picked out all the fabric first and then just happened to get lucky to find the flowers.

 

 

I couldn't resist this iron on patch! It's on the bottom in the corner. Sometimes we all need to remind ourselves that we are rock stars! {smile}

 

Some close ups...

I was working all spread out on the dining room table - not in the craft room. Mr. Buddy always wants to be by my side when I'm at home. This is Buddy on the good sofa about one minute before getting his bootay kicked off the good sofa! He knows he's not allowed on there...but he was trying to look cute and get away with it. Not!

I hope you have enjoyed my little project for today! If you come to the Rubber Stamp Convention, you can see me wearing it in person! It's all day Saturday the 22nd at the Scottish Rite Center on Carlson Street, right next to Sac State! 

I found a new challenge! Stacey's Curtain Call #29 with a birthday card!

Hi guys! I was blog surfing tonight and found a great blog that has color challenges! It's called Stacey's Stamping Stage. Click here to go to the Challenge - it's called Act 29. I didn't have the exact color blue that is used in the color pallette so I substituted a close shade. I needed to make birthday cards anyway! I love blue and orange together as a happy color combination. These colors are opposite on the color wheel for those of you studying color - so they will always go together.

Here is the color image:

 

And here is my card:

 

The word stamps are from the new Amuse Anniversary Set! LOVE IT. Yes. THe flower stamp is from a Stampin' Up set. I used my bright colored Adirondack Inks. YUM. I had just enough orange gingham ribbon in the bin to make a bow. 

 

The paper is embossed and kind of glittery - not sure if you can see that in the picture or not.

the inside is stamped with orange and yellow too!

 

Okay, now for something completely different....from my front yard! The hydrangeas are blooming!!! This makes me VERY happy! Only God could make this color. It is perfection. I stopped counting at 50 flower heads getting ready to explode - and that's only on one bush. Wow. They are loving all of this late season rain we've been having.

 

Could you die? I did not photoshop these pictures at all!

The next few days are super busy for me, so not sure how much blogging I will get in. I have lots of fun stuff planned with my friends and the DH. I will try to get some stamping in too. If I don't get back on here - have a lovely weekend!  

Shabby Tea Room Challenge, week #9!

I must say that I am having a shabby good time with these challenges from The Shabby Tea Room Blog! The challenges are putting me back in touch with my shabby chic side! I love the combination of a big floral print with a stripe with a checked pattern all in a beautiful muted color pallette. Does anyone else remember when shabby chic was all the rage? I loved loved loved Rachel Ashwell and her show and her books.

So, another week in the Shabby Tea Room contest for me! You can find their blog by clicking here. Go check it out...or better yet...enter a card too! This weeks rules only called for the use of chipboard. I went through my giant bin of chipboard shapes and found...a teacup! Also a cute little heart. That got me started, and served as my inspiration.

Here's a close up of the chipboard tea cup and heart. I covered the tea cup shape with patterned paper to look like an antique. Then I inked the edges with brown ink. I painted the tiny heart with salmon colored craft paint and then covered it in glitter to add a pop of sparkle. I had the button, ribbon and the rose in my bag of tricks already.

 

The process begins...

 

I am in LOVE with this blue paper. It is actually flocked and furry!! MMMMM.

 

 

 

TESC #112 Challenge! A masculine card!

A friend at work commissioned some Father's Day cards - which put me to the test. Masculine cards are something I don't do that often. If I do, it's usually leaves or trees or something made with the Cricut. I dumped out lots of stamping bins and found some good masculine images of boats and lighthouses. I wanted to enter the TESC challenge so this is one of the cards I came up with! You can find the sketch over at Taylored Expressions Blog! 

 

 

The Sketch Image:

 

I really wanted this card to have a vintage feel to it. I crumpled the cream paper with the central boat image and then flattened it out again. I distressed the edges with brown ink. I tore some of the blue paper to look worn also. The background paper reminded me of old mattress ticking or sail cloth. It already had the vintage look to it. Added some Scrapper's floss to mimic rope. You can never go wrong with red, white and blue as a color scheme. I like how it came together! The sentiment was printed on the computer.

  

A Tuesday Trigger card...and photos from a drive!

Sitting here on Sunday night - hardly believing the weekend is gone again. Are weekends in another time/space continuum? Cuz, to me, the time goes by much faster than during the week. I kind of have the Sunday night blues...you know what I'm talking about, right? Trying to cram in some more fun before going back to work. Dreading waking up early. I got some stamping time in this afternoon and so I have some things to share.

The Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World was a funky one this week. The image is a bright handbag in greens and pinks...as you know, one of my favorite color combos. I got an idea instantly! Here is the trigger photo:

 

Here is my card! I punched out all the flowers from three shades of pink bazzill paper. I put flower brads in the center of some of the flowers. I cut a curve in the bottom of the card to show the dark green underneath. Some of the flowers are attached with foam tape, and others are flat - just to give some depth. 

 

 

 

Here is the inside of the card:

 

What a mess!

 

 

Last night the DH and I went out for a little early dinner and then for a long drive afterwards. It really has been gorgeous weather and we decided to take advantage of the longer days. After our drive we went over to the bookstore and read and heard some local singers - a very nice evening indeed. The sky completely washed out of this picture, but I wanted to include it anyway because the river is so pretty.

 

Foresthill Bridge - the tallest in California!

 

A pretty waterfall we saw by the side of the road. 

 

I love the contrast of the soft bright yellow flowers against the hard rock.

 

  

It's a banner day!

How are you this lovely breezy day!? It is so beautiful today that I am uplifted and energized. Have you seen all the supah cute banner cards posted on the interwebs and blogs lately? I love that look because it's so cheerful and happy. Well... I've been wanting to make my own banner card for a long time...and lo and behold...it finally happened! One of my sweet friends just earned her Master's Degree and that calls for a HOORAY! Here is the card I made for her:

 

I attached the flags onto scrapper's floss and then popped them off the page with foam tape.

 

Here's the side view with a peek inside - there's a little birdie flying by!

 

Here are some of the materials I used! The giant cloud stamp is from Hero Arts (do you love that?)...The punch is from Marvy. The alphabet I used to spell hooray is an old rub on set from Making Memories. The little birdies are (what else) Martha Stewart punches.

What do you have to celebrate today?

Sweet Strawberries!

Tonight is my monthly stamp club meeting! Yay! it's a group that gets together the first Wednesday of every month to potluck, stamp and gab and it's wonderful. I look forward to seeing those crazy gals each month. We do card swaps too - woohoo! Tonight instead of a card to swap, I'm bringing little paper strawberries that I made. Stephanie at Paper Garden had these as a make-n-take a long time ago and my little berry has been sitting in my craft room ever since - and now finally I made a whole bunch!

I cut the strawberries out of different red papers and the tops out of green polka dots! The sentiment is from Amuse stamps and the strawberry is an old Stampin' Up image. I colored the strawberry stamp with my water based markers from SU! in Rose Red and Green Galore.

 

My little strawberry patch is ready to go! Inside are dark chocolate kisses....mmmmm.

Close up of the sentiment.

 

Have a sweet day!

Some random stuff for a Tuesday...

Today I have a little story, a card and a funny picture! Over at The Shabby Tea Room Blog I got an honorable mention for my last entry!!! Woo hoo!!! I love that blog and the entries are always beautiful and amazing. I was honored to be mentioned! Get it...snort snort. Anyhoo...I was excited about this development. It's the card I made last week with the pretty Victorian house and the shabby flowers.

My card for today was commissioned by my best customer - TJ. She needed a new home card for her gal pal in New York. We decided on a cool retro color scheme and then the ideas started flowing. Okay - how much, seriously, can you love the PTI couches, chairs, etc.??? Oy. Three Cheers for Chairs! (This is also a Moxie Fab Card Challenge!)

This little cozy scene used SEVEN stamps! LOVE it! I used my Copics to color in the rays of light from the lamp, the photo on the wall and the vase.

This is the inside. Both the sentiment on the front and the one on the inside were printed on my computer using a font called Annual. You know I had to make one more chair!! I really enjoy paper piecing these projects. Not too much detailed cutting.

 

 

The last thing for today is a fun photo! This picture proves that, if you want to badly enough, you can stamp ANYWHERE! My adorable friend Jilli Bling stamping in the car. CLASSIC! Had to share this with you guys.

 Hope your week is good so far and that it keeps gettin' better! 

OH! Okay, one more thing. This is a totally random reference and I know ONE other person out there is gonna crack up. I am a Bravo tv junkie. I'll just admit it right now. I also have recently become a DWTS junkie. Think of these two voices: Chad from Million Dollar Listing and Evan Lysacek... Am I right?? If you are the one other person that gets that - email me! I want to be your friend! Okay - bye now.

Copic Camp was a success!

Hi everyone! I am so excited to report that Copic Camp weekend was a success! It's Sunday night and I'm taking a moment to sit down and let it all sink in. I'm re-acquainting myself with my boys who have been inundated by women all weekend! We had a great time of stamping, laughing, eating and learning together at Copic Camp. I taught two 5 hour classes on the techniques, tips and tricks to Copic Markers. There were 6 people on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. I know I had a great time! I'm pretty sure I got everyone hooked on Copics. Thank you to everyone who came! Your enthusiasm is contagious and I enjoyed spending time with all of you - and making some new stamping friends along the way. Stamping chicks rock! Okay, here are some pix to share...

Saturday's group:

 

 

 

This was Shauna's first card EVER! Good job girlfriend!

 

Caroline brought this beautiful cake to share with everyone. She is a fantastic baker/cake decorator. Um, only thing is, I forgot to take a before picture! Here's the after! It was delicious and didn't last long.

 

Shauna brought these gorgeous roses from her garden. Look how she put that pretty doily underneath the flowers to make a sweet bouquet. I am enjoying these flowers so much!

 

Here is Sunday's group!

This looks pretty serious... Markers everywhere and deep concentration...

 

 

Here's to a great week ahead - cheers!