A Blog Called Wanda

Happy Birthday to Teadub!

Today is my friend Teadub's birthday! I made her some goodies and sent them her way earlier in the week...but now I can post them! Now...Ms. Teadub is allll about pink! So her card and prezzies needed to be pink and girlie and sparkly.

Here is the matching card and gift tin:

I decorated the tin with patterned paper and then some rub-ons and some stamped letters. Oh...and don't forget the bling! Pink and brown is the way to go.

 

Before and after... One of my favorite projects for prezzies is to take these short Pepperidge Farm tins and decorate them specifically for the person. (Oh and it doesn't hurt that I have to eat the treats first!). They can hold a gift card, a little jewelry prezzy, some candy, or STAMPS!

Here is the card. I tried a new technique with the cut out. I used my Creative Memories oval cutter after putting the layers of patterned paper together. Then I used my oval punches to make a center piece and hooked it all up with ribbon!

Some cute little pink cupcakes in the background...

 

 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Happy Birdie Birthday!

Today's card is a sweet litle birdie birthday card! This stamp is part of an OLD Stampin' Up set. I can't even remember how long I've had it. Isn't it adorable? I've been in dire need of a big stack of birthday cards, so that's what I've been working on.

I finally figured out to pick out my patterned background paper BEFORE coloring in my images...hahaha. That way everything matches nicely. I'm always coloring in stuff and then rummaging through all my paper trying to find a match! This way is much easier.

 

 

I like how the soft blues and greens went with the kraft paper background. I thought it had a country feel to it so I added a button and a nice big bow.

 Have a cheery day! 

TESC #122 Challenge card!

I am trying to use some different color combinations in my cards and I found this pretty patterned paper from Crate Paper in my stash to use for inspiration. I love doing the challenges for Taylored Expressions and this card is my entry for Challenge #122. Hey...I used orange...and purple...and brown! Hahaha...and take note...no polka dots!

 

 

The sketch image is below. I tried to use different items for the accents, but ended up using butterflies because it looked the best and stayed true to the sketch.

 

The butterfly punch is one of my favorites from, where else, Martha Stewart. I used some gingham ribbon and tied a lavender button on with some twine. One of my favorite tricks with the butterflies is to glue down the center only and pop the wings off the page.

 

I just love making these butterflies pop up off the page!

  

Dinner and a movie review...

This weekend was full of good times at our house! We cooked (and ate), did lots of crafty stuff, got some chores done, and went to a movie! I wanted to share a recipe I came up with for dinner and also share my movie review for Inception.

In the Summer I love to eat fresh fruit and veggies whenever possible. I love how fruit tastes when combined in different ways with protein. Friday night I made Chicken Shish-ka-bobs with pineapple, red bell peppers, and purple onion. I used giant chunks of chicken breast and then cut the other items into large wedges.

If you use wooden sticks, be sure to soak them in cold water first. This prevents them from catching on fire (!) and also keeps the food from sticking. I used our Cuisinart Grill to do the cooking. A grill pan would work just fine too.

Before...

After...

MMMMMMMMMouth watering...

 

 

On a bed of wild rice...

 

Add the teriyaki sauce at the very end after the cooking is done...

 

Root Beer floats for dessert!

 

We went to see "Inception" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page. I'll first warn you that it is a L-O-N-G movie - over two and a half hours. It was action packed and also full of really cool special effects and international scenery. The premise is pretty interesting and has to do with Leo's character trying to get into other people's dreams in order to change their thoughts. The side story has to do with the death of his wife. They did a good job of explaining the process so that the audience wouldn't be confused. I don't want to ruin it by saying too much. I'm still thinking it over and I'm not sure I loved the movie. It was entertaining and worth the time to go. Not too shabby to look at Leo for two hours either...Just sayin. It is sci-fi to some extent. Mark didn't like it at all. I'd say overall I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Shabby Tea Room Challenge #19!

Saturday! Glorious Saturday! Hi everybody...hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I've been holed up in the craft room all day with Mr. Buddy. We're watching Mad Men Season 3 on DVD getting ready for the Season 4 premiere tomorrow night! That Don Draper is dreamy...and a total cad! Does anyone else remember the office party with the tractor? Just sayin' - brilliant television!  

I finally got my craft on this week! Yay! The first card I made today is my entry for the Shabby Tea Room Blog Challenge #19. It's been too long since I entered their challenge. Glad to be back! The theme for this week is "From the Garden" using Red, White, Yellow and Green colors. I got the idea instanty to use the PTI Friendship Jar set with the pretty daisies...fresh from the garden. Hope you likey.

 

 

All the stamps are from Papertrey Ink...love that company, don't you? Lots of cutting on this one...the label, the top flower, the scallop red lining on the jar, the bee...

 

I really wanted the flowers to look like white daisies but it seemed strange to leave them all white. I used my lightest yellow Copics to barely color the petals. I put some prisma glitter in the centers. I used a MS edge puncher and the red paper is also from PTI.

 

 

 

I felt that it needed something in the bottom corner so I added the bee. Notice that I popped up several parts of the card with foam tape to add dimension. I couldn't live without foam tape! I may later add a sentiment on the very bottom also. But for now I just liked it as is.

What a week!

Here it is...Thursday... Or as I like to call it...Friday Eve! One more day to the work week and then it's time for a little rest and relaxation. It's been quite a week. Tonight it took me over an hour and a half to get home from work. A total of 28 miles. Ugh. I think I might be traumatized by this. We'll see.  

Last night we signed the loan documents for our home refinance...which is a complete blessing! I am so grateful to all the peeps who helped in the process. Part of our loan doc signing was electronic! Can you believe that? Well, our poor notary (very nice lady) wasn't 100% sure of the situation so it took two hours! Anyhoo...very happy that is done and very relieved to have a lower house payment! It's a good thing.

Not too much time for stamping this week...I made the card for Taylor's challenge and that's it. I thought I would use today to post some silly and/or fun pictures that have been hanging out in my camera just waiting for the right post!

I hope to get in some stamping time this weekend...and maybe a movie too. I really want to see "Inception." I hope you have a wonderful weekend and hope you like the pictures. Take care!

 

What? How much? No way I weigh that much! Really?

 

This was just plain weird. We were out at the little strip mall getting a coffee...when this happened. It was the day before Easter...but I don't think that's a good enough excuse! Wh-aaat?

 

Got any good gossip?

 

Hi Mom! Extreme close up!

 

A pretty scene at the Crate and Barrel at the mall...

 

Our pretty little impatiens in the front yard early in the season!

 

TESC #121 Challenge Card!

Today's card is my entry for Taylored Expressions Challenge #121! I haven't entered Taylor's challenge in a couple of weeks and it's fun to play along again. There's still time...why don't you make a card and enter too? After making this card, I realized I need to stop with the yellow and the polka dots! Hmmmm. What will be my next obsession? Anyhoo...here is my card! You best be appreciatin' all the cutting involved in this one! hahaha. This is a great layout. The finished card is 6 inches square.

 

The sketch image from Taylor:

 

Supplies - October Afternoon stamps, Copic Markers, Dotted Swiss paper from Bazzill, Amuse cloud paper, Creative Memories circle cutter, and blossom nestabilities...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chirp Chirp!

 

Amuse Marigold Card

Hello chicadees! Oy, it's still roasting here in Sac-town and I'm in the craft room trying to stay cool...

The DH just went up to Target to get the Season 3 Mad Men DVD set so we can get ready for Season 4 which starts next weekend. He got the LAST copy!!! Thanks honey!!! He said he only had to hurt one person! Just kidding! If you have never watched that show, I highly recommend it. I would start from season 1 and watch the whole thing. It's my favorite show - like a wonderful, beautiful movie each week. So well made, I can hardly believe it's television. Sunday nights on AMC. Check it out.

The card I'm posting today was inspired by Julie's Amuse flowers class we took last week at Paper Garden. I made a round card inspired by one of her cards and used the new marigold stamp I bought - which we used on another card in class. I kept it sweet and simple, too. Hope you likey.

I used my large scallop die from Stampin' Up in my Cuttlebug to make the card bases. One tip Julie gave us is to score the back circle instead of the front one - so your card front is a solid circle. I punched two small holes on the side for the bright yellow riboon.

This marigold stamp is very versatile...you can stamp it in any color and it makes a nice crisp image. I used Adirondack Ink in Sunshine Yellow. The "Thank You" is a Stampin' Up image.

 

Notice the tiny clear rhinestones in the center of the flowers?

This is the inside of the card. The bee is from PTI and the saying is from Paper Source.

 

Pretty little Thank You's all ready to go!

 

Lemons and Limes!

A couple of months ago we did a stamping marathon at Jilli Bling's house. It was my first time ever doing shoebox swaps! Do you guys know what that is? I didn't! It's where everyone brings a box full of all the supplies to make a project...then you pass them around and everybody gets to make some gorgeous cards to take home! Brilliant! Well...Miss Donna B brought the most scrumptious lemony-limey-orangey card to make. I had fun stamping all those citrus fruits! I think this card layout is so pretty...simple but not simple at the same time. The colors are sublime...yuck yuck...couldn't resist.

 

Not as much work as this looks like ... I used circle punches! All of the supplies are from Stampin' Up and the stamp set is called Tart and Tangy. I got it last year, but I think it's in the newest catalog too!

 

Everything's better with glitter, right?

So I thought these next pictures would go nicely with my theme for today. Last weekend the boyfriend took me out to dinner at Olive Garden where I drank the most delicious lemon-lime-pomegranate concoction! Dang that was good. So refreshing. I love this picture of the bubbles.

It is about 150 bazillion degrees here in Sac-town today and I would love to get my hands on one of these right this very minute. However, I don't want to change out of my yoga pants and put makeup on again...so the picture will have to suffice. Hope you're staying cool, wherever you are!

  
  

Cards for little ones...

A friend at work hired me to make some cards for her recently. One card for a little girl turning one and the other card for a little boy turning two. I don't often do cards for the wee ones! I don't really have a lot of images or paper to fit this scenario. I thought I would share my ideas in case anyone else has this dilemma. I am pleased with how the cards turned out and hope you like them too.

What is sweeter than this pink and white checked paper? I made some banners and stamped her name on them. Added some little daisies and a big number ONE!

 

 

A really great color combination for boys is blue and orange. Since these are complementary colors on the color wheel, they look great together. To me they imply fun and activity. I can't explain it but I think in color that way. I used Basic Grey paper and letter stickers for this card.

The boy image is from an October Afternoon clear stamp set. I colored him in with my Copic markers to match the paper exactly. I used a small TWO from the letter stickers to put on his t-shirt. I got some new nesties and used them too!

 

Supah Fun Weekend! Class with Julie Ebersole...Visit from Teadub!

Hi y'all! Whew...just had me some fun this weekend! It went by in a flash...maybe the fastest weekend on record. Lemme tell ya about it! Julie Ebersole, Amuse teacher extraordinaire, came to our local stamp store, Paper Garden, this weekend to teach classes! I have followed her blog for a long time and love her style and her cards and photographs. I was really excited to get to meet her in person and make some great projects. My friend Teadub, also a big fan, came to stay the weekend at my house and take a class with me. I was also very excited that my friend Shauna was in class! We made some new friends along the way too - Erna and Joy and Renee (shout out to ya gals!)

Julie is just as lovely and fun in person as I imagined and also very funny! The cards we made - five in all - we just so cute. We made this one card using some supah cool five inch wide ribbon she found! We stamped on the ribbon for a very soft effect. Also made some poofy paper flowers. The whole class had a flower theme. Great time!

 
Later on Saturday we did some power shopping at Paper Garden. Love the Copic Marker display to take pictures! Sunday allllll day we stamped in my studio and had grilled cheese sammiches. MMMM. I tried to accurately document the tornado that occurred in the studio with TWO crazy crafty girls!! You can see Mr. Buddy in the background. He LOVES Teadub! They are new BFF's.

Aren't crafty gal pals the best? What would we do without 'em? Luckily we don't have to find out.

10,000 BLOG HITS!!!!

Thank you to every single one of you who reads my blog and shares my love of photography, stamping and general silliness. I am very pleased to announce that this weekend I got my 10,000th blog hit! My goal was to get to 10,000 by the end of the year. I am so excited to have reached this goal early. It means so much to me to know that you are all out there and checking in. Can't wait to see what happens next. THANK YOU!

Woof woof! Cute Scotty dog cards!

One of my favorite gal pals recently adopted two brand new tiny baby Scotty Dog Puppies!!! I have seen some pictures and lemme tell ya...they are uber cute! Well...I'm never one to miss an opportunity to make a card so I decided to make "new baby" cards for her.  My friend shares my love of all things vintagey and preppy so I had the idea pop into my head to use kind of an old rose shade of pink for one card. The perfect stamp set from Pink Persimmon. Ugh, I seriously can't stand it.

Well...I made this girlie card ahead of time and set it aside to save for when the new girl baby came home...then I got an email saying that she went to pick her up and ended up with a girl and a boy! I had to quickly go and make a second card! Hahaha. I can't wait to meet the new kids!

 

 

With this super cool stamp set you can stamp your doggy and then either color in the sweater or use one of the patterns provided. Also, you can use the tiny bow stamp to make the bow match in the same color. I found some of this herringbone paper in my stash and it was PERFECT! I added a tiny pink rhinestone for just a touch of bling.

 

 

And here is the boy card! I used the same herringbone print...in baby blue of course. I then put on a tiny blue rhinestone for the bow. I did not have blue herringbone paper (sad face) so I used some aged vanilla paper to keep the same vintage feel.

 

 

This weekend my bestie Teadub is coming to our house for the weekend!! WOOT WOOT! We are taking a class from Julie Ebersole (of Amuse fame) at my friend Stephanie's Stamp Store (Paper Garden) and then attending a party at the store later Saturday night. Sunday we are planning to stamp the day away. I'm so excited! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  

TESC #119 with a fun color inspiration!

Today's card is my entry for the Taylored Expressions #119 Challenge. Check out Taylor's blog by clicking here. I was having a hard time coming up with an idea for this card. I tried all kinds of colored papers and different stamp sets. Then...as I was eating my recent favorite snack...it came to me! I used the fun color scheme inspired by the Coconut M&M's package! The colors are bright kelly green, chocolate brown, white and a pop of hot pink! Perfect.

I tried coloring in all the images but I thought it looked better leaving the images in the panels simple and just coloring the main coconut image. Below is a picture of some of my supplies! The cute Hawaiian set is an old set from CTMH.

The sketch image:

The coconut was colored in with my Copic markers and then I put some ultra fine glitter on the accents. I used my Marvy punches to add the hot pink scallop around the image.

 

MMMMMMMMM. You can find inspiration anywhere!

Fireworks!

We had a very nice 4th of July evening at my brother in law's house! This first picture is of the loot that three brothers will come up with for a fireworks pyrotechnic extravaganza! The weather was amazing. It was a hot day, but cooled off to a perfect temperature right at dark. Our nephew had a blast picking out which fountain to do next. The DH and I experimented with taking pictures of fireworks and I think I got a few nice shots. I hope your 4th was a happy and fun one!

The arsenal...

Getting ready for the show to begin...

 

First the sparklers...

 

Then the main event...

 

I think this one is my favorite shot of the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you soon with a card to share!

Art from the Heart

Happy 4th of July!!! Hope you are having a nice holiday weekend and enjoying time with friends and family today. I got in some stamping time this morning - before we get ready to head over to my brother in law's house for fireworks later! I made a card using PTI's new sets "Friendship Jar" and 'Friendship Jar Additions." Really cute stuff!

The jar, label, paintbrushes, and cover are all separate clear stamps. I cut out the label and the cover to add some dimension. I colored in the paintbrushes using colors of the rainbow in bright primary shades. Used my Copics...of course.

The ribbon is also from PTI - Poppy is the color. Here are my Copic colors. I didn't do shading since I wanted the color to look rich and bright. I did a little shading on the label with two shades of yellow. I used the lightest blue green color around the edge of the jar to make it look like glass.

 

I added diamond glaze to the paint to make it look like wet paint! I colored the bristles with warm grey and the handles with cool grey. You could do so much with this set! I can't wait to make stuff in different color schemes.

    Bye everyone! And again...Happy 4th and God Bless America!

Something a little different today...book reviews!

As referenced earlier in the week, I haven't had lots o' time for stamping this week. (insert sad face here). I was trying to think of what else I could blog about and it came to me - like a frying pan to the noggin. Books! I will write about books today!  I have loved to read for as long as I can remember. One of my best childhood memories is about going to the (original) Tower Books store with my dad to pick out books. It was like a book smorgasbord! I was allowed to pick one book a week. The love of reading has stayed with me throughout my life. I have already referenced my magazine addiction in an earlier post too!

A coupla months back I went a stampin' at my friend Teadub's house where I met two of her gal pals. One of them very accurately advised me that I would like Jen Lancaster's books and blog. I don't really like to think that my personality is so quickly and correctly assessed...but I guess that's the way I am. I am a very "what you see is what you get" kind of girl. Not shy in the least and always trying to be funny and upbeat. Teadub's friend had pegged me on the nose and she was right...I bought, read, and loved three of Jen Lancaster's books already.

       


These are the three titles I've read so far: Bitter is the New Black, Pretty in Plaid, and My Fair Lazy. All three have been extremely good, funny and charming. I would recommend them to any 40-something smart alec female who likes a good story. The stories are all based on her life happenings. They have all hit the NY Times bestseller list.

I feel like I have a lot in common with the author and many of her specific references to 80's fashion, tv and music hit home with me. She lives in Chicago - one of my very favorite cities; she is a prepster from way back as am I, she has a love of pearls, purses and shoes, she is married with no kids and lots of pets, and has a dry sense of humor and easily laughs at herself. My kind of girl.

"Bitter is the New Black" is about her fall from the top of the corporate ladder to unemployment, and then eventually to writing. "Pretty in Plaid" explores her love of fashion and how it developed. The stories are hilarious. "My Fair Lazy" details her quest to become a 'better' person by not watching so much reality tv and, instead, experiencing actual reality in the form of new activities.

I think I am officially a fan of Jen Lancaster. I will read the rest of her books as well. Her blog is called Jennsylvania.com. She may have inspired me to get out my old Lacoste shirts and starch up the collars and/or plan a trip to Chicago, stat.

I hope you enjoy your holiday weekend - maybe with a good book? If you have a favorite author or set of books, leave a comment so we can all share! TTFN.