A Blog Called Wanda

Happy Halloween Everyone!

BOO! Are you having a good day? Getting ready for trick-or-treating? Finishing costumes? Eating candy? Whatever you're doing, hope you are having a great day. Not too much going on at our homestead. We don't really get trick-or-treaters at our house too much, but we have candy just in case. I think we'll just hang out. I have some treat boxes to share that I made for a few of my close friends and the DH. I didn't make them, but rather, just kind of put it all together. I did make the tags using the uber cute PTI Tiny Treats set!

 

 

The loot! Vampire Pez's, spider rings, pumpkin notepads, an eyeball stress ball...which feels kinda weird actually, and of course...CANDY!

 

Here's a close up of the tags. I used my basic Halloween color palette of orange, black and green. This set is so adorable! It has all these tiny sayings that match the pictures...you could make a million things out of it.

 

 Mr. Buddy in his Halloween t-shirt waiting for a warm fire!

 

And, really, isn't this what Halloween is ALL ABOUT!!! CANDY!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

  
 

Home Sweet Home!

Today I have a card to share that celebrates a happy occasion for some of my friends! My friends KB and SB are a wonderful couple and they finally got their own house! Woot woot! No one is more deserving than they are. I am so excited for them! I haven't been to the crib yet but I wanted to send a card right away. I am anxious for them to have a party so I can check it out! 

 

 

This card came together with a pretty piece of patterned paper and matching circle die cut. I "popped" the die cut with a crisp black scallop circle around it and also mounted it on some foam tape. the salmon colored polka dot paper is the back side of the other paper so it matches perfectly. I found a nice piece of ribbon in my stash with that pretty slate blue color.

 
 

The saying is one that I love from Amuse - May your house always be too small to hold all your friends...that's a nice sentiment, dontcha think? I wish them many years of happy memories and good times in their new home!

 
 Happy Weekend everyone!

 

Just a little something for today...

Hi! I gotta say I'm tired this week. It's cold outside and I feel like being a couch potato! Not really too motivated to do much after work except sit with my hubs and kitty and watch tv (Go Giants!). Tonight, though, I did make some cupcakes to bring to work tomorrow! Not totally my best work aesthetically, but they are VERY tasty...you'll have to trust me on that! I am not that great with the frosting techniques!

Here's some cool Halloween swag I picked up at Michael's earlier in the month. Aren't those sprinkles fun? I love the Bone Appetit napkins too!

 

 

 

 

The finished cupcakes! Devil's Food cupcakes with orange whipped frosting. I ended up just putting the skulls into the frosting and skipping the sprinkles. Like I said, the don't look amazing, but they're tasty!

 

 

Tomorrow I'll be handing out cupcakes and the little treat jars I already posted. Should be a spooky day in my haunted cubicle! Do you celebrate at your office? We are having a pumpkin carving contest and a costume contest too!

 

 
 

 

 
 

A Color Cue Challenge - for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I'm taking a break today from all the Halloween and Fall projects to share a pretty pink card. Over on the WPlus9 Design Blog they are doing a color challenge for Breast Cancer Awareness. The colors are light pink, white and grey or black. I definitely want to acknowledge BCAM so I was glad for the reminder to stop and take a minute to do so. Click here to go to the WPlus9 Design Blog! Maybe you want to make a card too...there is still over two weeks left.

 

 

Here is the Trigger Image for the Color Challenge:

 

 

Here is my Copic color palette and the stamp I used. That stamp is an old favorite from PSX that was purchased in 1995!! Don't you love their images? So detailed and classy. Their stamps are timeless. I wish they were still in business. I used many shades of pink for the flowers. I started by coloring every flower the same very light shade and then added darker (tiny) parts afterwards. To get the look of galvanized steel, use your cool grey palette.

 

This patterned paper has all kinds of nice sayings having to do with gratitude. I really liked it and thought it fit nicely. I used pink bazzill doodlebug paper and of course, a pink ribbon. The heart is from a Tim Holtz package of goodness!

 

 

 

 

Does your stamping table look like this after you make something? I mean, you would think I made 50 cards...but no...just one! It looks like a hurricane went through there! I have this big table, but I end up stamping in a tiny 6 inch square of space! hahaha. Have a great week everyone! My thoughts and prayers to our loved ones who are breast cancer warriors.
 
  

TSG 77 Color Challenge - Halloween Card! Spooky Potions....

Today's card was inspired by the There She Goes Clear Stamps Blog and their Color Challenge #77. The colors for the challenge are orange, black and green. Perfect Halloween colors. I had this spooky potions stamp I've been wanting to use so it was a great match! There are only a few more days to make Halloween stuff! Can you believe Halloween is next weekend? It finally feels like Fall here...and we just turned on the heater for the first time (Buddy is very happy about this development!) and we are all snuggled in for the night.

Here is my card for the challenge entry:

 

 

There She Goes Clear Stamps...Color Challenge!

 

My Copic Palette:

 

 

 

The stamp is from Whipper Snapper...and it's called "Halloween Grocery List" - funny, huh? I colored it with my Copics and then added some glitter glue to the tops of the bottles and jars! I don't know where those funny shiny bats came from. They were a sheet of stickers in the Halloween bin! I like that little furry spider!

 

The patterned papers are from a cool collection from Stampin' Up!

 

 
 

 

I have something else kinda cool to share tonight! I am a Red Cross volunteer and sometimes that means I get invited to neat events. Today was the kick off for Sacramento's volunteer week at Sacramento City Hall. City Hall is just down the street from my office and the event was at lunch time - great! To make it even better, Captain Sully Sullenberger was the keynote speaker and he was given the key to the city! DH drove down and we went together along with another friend.

He gave a great speech about what it means to be a hero. His thought is that he was just a guy doing his job when an incredible situation presented itself. He is so humble and modest. He talked about how we never know what we are capable of until given the opportunity. He thanked all the other people involved in the incredible plane landing. It was super interesting that he talked about how he felt that day and what happened in the moments right after the landing. His wife and kids were there too. (He lives about 90 miles from Sac-town). The cartoonist Rex Babin, who drew a great cartoon, was there, and presented Sully a signed copy of it. What a totally uplifiting and inspiring event!

 

 
This is Sully and the Mayor, Kevin Johnson. He used to be an NBA basketball player...and he lived in my same dorm in college! Fun factioids for you! haha. You could tell the mayor was thrilled to have Sully here in our town - rightfully so. 

  

 Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Some Exciting News to Share!

Hello my chicadees! I have some news to share today! I have had to keep it quiet for about a week until it was officially announced...drum roll please... I have been selected to be on the EAT CAKE GRAPHICS DESIGN TEAM! Yay! This will be my first design team assignment/commitment and I am so anxious and excited to get started. I will be making 3-4 projects each month for the next four months! WOO WOO!

I know you will fall in love with the images (if you haven't already!) I'm a big fan of Eat Cake Graphics and am so looking forward to making neat-o stuff to share! The owner/artist, Holly, draws the stamp images and is also an illustrator for Children's books. Her designs have a sweet quality to them which I love. To look at and order stamps CLICK HERE.

The new design team projects will be featured on the Eat Cake Graphics Samples and Techniques Blog: CLICK HERE TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE BLOG.  I hope you will go and check it out!

 
I have already put in my first order to make cute and fun Winter-y projects out of the newest stamps in the lineup. I'm just waiting for them to arrive. Stay tuned!

 
 

Scream Awards 2010!

Hi peeps! I am super excited to share today – our fun weekend in Los Angeles! I hope you’re not all tired of hearing about it already. It was a big deal to us and I feel like I keep talking about it. I promise, after today, no more yammering about the Scream Awards! But, today, I have pictures! That makes it more interesting…right? We had a really fun weekend together attending the 2010 Spike TV Scream Awards at the Greek Theatre! We drove down and back in 36 hours, whew. It was worth it though. For the back story – check out this post on my blog from June. The Scream Awards are for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Comic Movies and TV shows…think Lost, Twilight, Spiderman, etc…It is like a big party and not too stuffy and serious. Everyone is dressed up crazy and having a good time. 

We were so lucky to have been invited to attend the awards and were given the VIP treatment. SO grateful to the people who arranged this all for us. I don’t want to name names, but they know who they are! We had a blast and appreciate everything that was done for us. We drove down Saturday morning – it takes about 6-7 hours from our house. Checked into our hotel, had some lunch and then got all dressed up. I put on tons of makeup and glittery nail polish and we headed out to the Greek. Got there early and got our VIP passes and tickets…and after-party tickets!!! (Can I get a woo woo?). Our tickets got us into an area where we had drinks and appetizers and we were able to watch the “Black Carpet” and see the stars arrive and pass through all the photographers!! While standing here having a drink, we look over and there is Joey Buttafucco standing right there! That was weird!

 

 

 

It was a foggy, damp, dark night…perfect for the Scream Awards…and the event is outside. The set was amazing! Like a cool city with a giant full moon off to one side. It was interesting to see behind the scenes – the equipment, the giant cameras on their booms, the set up for the next shots, etc. They put on a fun and classy event. We had good seats and could see everything. Some of the highlights for us (old folks) were – Bill Murray, in full Ghostbusters gear, Rainn Wilson, Anthony Hopkins, cast from Lost (we loved that show), James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, and Halle Berry! Too many other people to think of them all! We also got to see a bunch of world premiere movie trailers!

 

 

 

   

 

Kelly Osborne!

 

My pix are a somewhat blurry since it was so dark. I think you can tell who everyone is though. After the show was done taping we drove back to our hotel to freshen up (at 11pm!) and then we took a cab over to the after-party location! It was a club in Hollywood and we were again treated like VIP’s. Drinks, food, dancing, DJ’s, etc. It was everything you would think it would be. We stayed for a few hours and then cabbed it on back to the hotel…where it took me ten minutes to remove my eye makeup…and fell into bed!
  

 

 

 

  

 

Overall, what a fantastic experience!! Sunday morning we woke up and scouted out some breakfast (thanks Yelp!) and hit the road towards home. It was nice to spend the time with the DH talking and laughing and having a shared experience. I must say he looked mighty fine all dressed up! We never do that anymore and I loved it. The story of how all this came to pass is just awesome. It started off as a good deed (Mark bought the statue and the money went to charity), and ended with a good reward. Thank you again to M and C for everything!

The show was broadcast last night on television and we watched it and had the best time re-living the night all over again! Did you see it? Have a fab day today everybody!

Dreadful Edibles and Deadly Morsels...

Spooooooooky Treats in store for you today here on the bloggy blog! I work with a small group in my office, so it's fun to be able to bring in treats and such for holidays. Before this job, I always worked in a giant office with lots of people. I never wanted to bring treats because I wasn't able to bring enough for everyone! Now that I have about 10 co-workers I bring in stuff all the time. I had fun making these spooky candy jars for the peeps! I will make some kind of cupcakes too...just haven't found the right idea yet. Do you make treats for Halloween?? Share!

 

 
 

The little treat jars I found at Michael's a while ago. I filled them with candy corn and pear Jelly Belly beans to look Halloween-ish! The labels are (again...I know) from the Martha Stewart collection for this year! I love them! They are really thick and the writing is metallic! Just a really simple and quick project but a fun one.

 
 

 

 

 
 

We had a crazy whirlwind weekend! We drove to Los Angeles and back in two days (900 miles on the car!!!) and attended the Scream Awards show!! I will have lots of details to share, but I want to wait until after the show airs tomorrow night. It was a fabulous, weird, fun, wild time!!!

 

Halloween Hedgie!

Happy Friday everybody! This was a long week even though I am not working today. I started to feel bad yesterday like I'm getting a cold. Really tired and achy...slept 10 hours straight last night. I stayed home from work today, and I'm still in my pajamas. I need to get better because we have a crazy weekend ahead of us (more at the bottom of my post).

Today's card is made with a fun Halloween Hedgie! I am in love with Penny Black stamps again! When I first started stamping 17 years ago I used to buy tons of Penny Black stuff. They used to have a booth at our local stamp conventions too. Remember when country was in?? All the stamps were so CUTE and COUNTRY! I still have a lot of those stamps even though that's no longer my style. Recently I re-discovered PB images at one of our local stamp stores. I bought this adorable Halloween Hedgie along with some cute Christmas images I will show you later.

 

 
 

I really had fun coloring this image with my Copics! To make the fur I used a bunch of different shades of brown and gray. No particular method, just kept coloring until I got it the way I liked it. His tummy is done in E000 and his cheek is RV10. Those are my two favorite colors for skin on people too.

 

I stamped, colored, and cut out a second balloon and then put some bling on it! The ultra fine crystal glitter is a fav! Then I put the second balloon over the first one to add some dimension to the front of the card. I didn't add a bunch of other elements because it's too hard to mail out. Keeping it simple and clean lets me mail out Halloween cards, easy peasy.

 

 

 

The "Flying by to say hi" image is a clear stamp from the Hero Arts Halloween words set. I think it was meant to go with a witch, but I thought it was perfect for our little hedgie too! The inside sentiment is from Amuse.

 

Okay, so I gotta tell you about our crazy weekend ahead! For part one of this story see this post from June! Part two of the Silver Surfer statue story (say that three times fast) is that tomorrow we are driving to Los Angeles (Greek Theater) to go to the Spike TV Scream Awards show! The producer of the show is the man who bought the SS statue! He has been so nice and gracious to us - unbelievably so. He invited us to be his guest at the awards show: VIP backstage access, parking, drinks... We are meeting his assistant tomorrow so she can show us around! It is bound to be an interesting evening! I'm still not sure if I'm allowed to bring a camera. You know I NEED to take pictures! DH got a new outfit (foxy!) and I just finished putting three coats of glitter nail polish on my nails. I think we're ready! I will have a full report on Monday. Take care everyone!

More Vintage Halloween...and Taylored Expressions #131!

Today I'm back with more vintage-y Halloween stuff! I had everything out to make my card for this weekend's challenge and just kept going for this week's Taylored Expressions #131 Challenge! I love all this yummy Martha Stewart product! And I always love doing Taylor's challenges... Check it out!

 

 
 

Here is the sketch image:

 

I have never made one of these accordian circle thingees before! It took me a few attempts to get it right. I ended up cutting a strip of paper 1.25" x 12" and then scoring it at each 1/4 inch on my scor-pal. That seemed to get it the right size for a card. 

 

 

 

 

 
 

I wonder if this leaf bouquet is the reason Mr. Buddy had a tummy ache this week??? I found him munching on it. Of course he stopped and posed all cute when he was busted! 

 
 

My San Francisco Pictures!

Howdy! Monday already? Yup. At least it's over! hahaha. As I've mentioned before, this old gal is NOT a morning person and getting up at 5:00 every morning for work is just uncivilized! Mondays are the hardest...but I made it. It's all easier from here. Another busy week too... I have been doing College Fair nights at local high schools on behalf of my University (Go Bears!) and it is really fun, but exhausting. Wednesday night is the last one.

Today I want to share some of the pictures I took last weekend in San Francisco when we went on our little anniversary rendezvous. Believe it or not, I did edit substantially. Also, you will note my fascination/obsession with the pretty red Chinese lanterns.  I hope you enjoy the pictures, and that you have a wonderful week ahead of you.

First stop in the morning was the beatiful Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park. I wanted to take my pictures while it was still foggy. One of the tricks to getting pretty, bright, even color is to shoot your pictures when it is not super bright and sunny outside. This seems contrary to what you might think but it works! No shadows and not harsh spots. The only down side to this is that the sky will look white. Not good for roaming landscapes and photos with a lot of sky.

 
 

 

 

 

 

I opened my shutter for about 1/8 of a second in this one to make the water appear soft and flowing. However, it was super windy, so the leaves are moving too. I kind of like the effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next few shots are just random things in Golden Gate Park. We walked around a while after our tour of the Japanese Gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

I was trying to take a picture of this weird, cool plant...but there was this little yellow birdie in there too!

 

Famous Coit Tower and Bay Bridge view from the top of Lombard Street.

 

Another famous shot of the cable car and Alcatraz...looking down Hyde Street from Lombard.

 

City Hall enshrouded in fog in the afternoon. See what I mean about the white sky? I still like the serene image of this great building.

 

 

Chinatown! Good luck cats - I have a thing for Good Luck cats and I collect them, and Good Luck cat rubber stamps too! I bought a really pretty gold one on our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coolest fabric store on the planet! Britex on Geary. I bought the most beautiful raw silk in a perfect shade of periwinkle to make my wedding outfit here...There is an entire floor of ribbon, buttons and findings! Heaven.

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you enjoyed our little tour of San Francisco today! I will be back soon and I do believe I have some kinda big bloggy news to come shortly. I will share soon, I promise. Mwah.

Boo! Shabby Tea Room Vintage Halloween Challenge!

Well hello there!! Today I'm posting my first Halloween project! I'm also continuing with the vintage theme. The Shabby Tea Room Challenge #30 this week is Vintage Halloween! I knew I had to make something. I happen to really love old Halloween stuff! I busted out all the black and orange and all the stamps and just sat there...overwhelmed... It was hard to get started. So, I decided to put the challenge inspiration image up on my computer screen (see below) and just let it speak to me! Voila! Chandelier pattern paper! and Spiderwebs! That got the creative juices kicked in. Hope you likey. Are you ready for the spooky holiday?

 

 

 Here is the Shabby Tea Room challenge inspiration image - so fun!

 
 

I decided to use the fun black and orange chandeliers to make my own background paper! Luckily I had a small-ish size chandelier clear stamp (Martha Stewart) so it was easy-peasy to alternate the black and orange!

 

  

 

The inspiration image also has spooky cobwebs so I thought I would add some! The final touch, that I think makes the background paper seem vintage, was to sponge black ink all around the edges.  I think it turned out kinda cool, if I do say so myself.

 

This card ended up with tons of different elements on it. The large focal image is a stamp I've had forever from Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. Do you remember them?  After I stamped the image in black I distressed it with walnut ink stain and a sponge. Then I added this neat glitter glue that is black with flecks of green in it.  The other two stamps are also from Martha Stewart collections. I think the ribbon is too. That girl Martha loves her some Halloween goods!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was making this card I had the internal dialogue (again) about hoarding craft supplies... Some of the stuff on this card I have had for years! I threw caution to the wind...and used it all up! Know what? Nothing bad happened! I think I'll survive! I don't know why I do that. Oh well, just rambling. Hope you are having a great weekend!  

 

Vintage-look Paper Flowers!

I have a fun project to share with you today! I hope this post inspires you to make some pretty vintage paper flowers to use on your craft projects. I had so much fun making these and if I didn't have a job and chores, I would have made many more! They are time consuming, but easy. I have seen these made before by many stampers and I've been wanting to make some and put my personal twist on them. I really would like to make some Fall colored ones next...with glitter...hmmmm...

Here is a picture of the finished flowers, once all dry and ready to go!

 

 

This collage image below shows the steps I used, The fist picture, in the upper left, shows my favorite paper choice for the project (from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Collection). It is double sided! Perfect! I used my Stampin' Up scallop circle paper punch to punch out all the flower pieces. You can see them all in stacks before assembly. The next trick, in my opinion, is the get them pretty much soaking wet. Spray them with your mister and then crumple them up in a ball and gently unfold them...

After they are all wet and crumpled, stack about 7-8 layers, then poke a hole in the center and add a pretty brad... Once they are all put together the way you like, you need to let them dry for a while. I put the whole tray out in the sun to make them crispy! You can see all the water in the pictures. Fluff them up and mess with them to get your desired effect before drying them. The possibilities are endless! 

 

 

A good view from the side to show the layers and the fluffy bits...

 

 

 

The paper will fray and start to break apart - giving the perfect touch of shabby chic-ness...

 

Mr. Buddy got his mits on this one...or maybe it was his teeth...I guess he was just helping right?

 

 

 

 

Debbie Mumm inspired Fall cards and Curtain Call #50

Inspiration can come from anywhere... Sometimes I pick out a stamp first. Sometimes it's a piece of patterned paper...or a die-cut...or a color scheme. Could be just about anything. Today's cards were inspired by a package of thick cardboard stickers from Debbie Mumm that I've had in my stash for a long time. I liked the images, and the colors, and decided to build my cards around them...and they also fit perfectly for the Curtain Call #50 at Stacey's Stamping Stage Challenge!

 

 

Here is Stacey's pretty inspiration image and color scheme:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pretty leaf border is one of those giant EK Success flat punches... Instead of making a border on the paper it makes a strip of cut-outs! The plaid paper is from a 12 x 12 paper pack I got last year at Michael's and is from K & Company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Happy Anniversary to us!

Yesterday was our Wedding Anniversary! Nine years ago on 10-3-01, we had a very small, sweet evening wedding in a beautiful gazebo on the beach in Cape Cod. It was marvelous! Just the two of us...  When we got married, we had already been dating for eight and a half years, so it just didn't seem like a big fancy wedding was the right thing for us. We decided instead to use the money to go on a wonderful Fall vacation touring New England for 17 days. I have the best memories from that trip (and about 800 pictures! hahahaha). It still, to this day, is the best time I've had in my life.

I am very lucky to have such a great and supportive husband. He really is my best friend and my most favorite person in the entire world. He truly wants the best for us. I admire his character and his values. He is not bad on the eyes either and still makes me happy every time he calls me on the phone. That's why his nickname is "boyfriend." I think it's important to take the time to reflect on the peeps that matter most to us.

For our anniversary we went on a mini-getaway to San Francisco. We go there a lot (about a 90 mile drive away) but this time it was a romantic trip instead of a crazy - busy trip. We took pictures, and ate, and shopped and slept in and just enjoyed conversation. I will share some of the pictures later, after I get organized! Got home late last night and just crashed.

Earlier in the week he brought home the most gorgeous autumn tone roses! You know I had to whip out my camera and take some snaps! For our anniversary DH got me a Kindle (and a hot pink case)!! I have been wanting one for a while and I can't wait to download some books and check it out. It will be perfect when I start traveling for work again. I'll give you guys a review later on.

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll have a card to share soon! Have a great week everyone...Thanks for stopping by my blog today! 

 

 

 

Hello Pumpkin!

Hey! It's October! I went to Target last night and I witnessed the Halloween-o-rama first hand! We are in full-on Fall mode now peeps! Yay! Now, if the weather would just realize it.

I just have a cute and simple card to share today. Sometimes you don't need to use everything in the craft room to make a card. Hee hee.  Sometimes, less is more. The images are super adorable Amuse stamps - what else? Hope you like it! The hubs and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary this weekend - nine years - on Sunday. Looking forward to spending some quality time with that guy! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 

 

I want to share an idea I got from Julie over at her blog - Paper Trufflez. Holla Julie! She did some pumpkins on her card and I just loved the technique. I stamped my Amuse pumpkin in a nice pure orange dye ink. Then I got out my dark orange prismacolor pencil and colored over the image to shade it! Isn't that cool?

 

I didn't want my card to seem like a Halloween card, but rather just a hello for Fall. If you use orange and black, automatically is says "Halloween." By adding a pop of green (Stampin' Up Kiwi Kiss) you don't get that effect.