A Blog Called Wanda

3 Year Blogaversary! And...my end of the year wrap-up...

Hi blog friends! Greetings for the end of the year! I wanted to take some time today to have you help me celebrate my THREE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY! Wooo Wooo! It's been such a fun ride, and it's been more interesting and rewarding than I would have ever imagined! Here is the link to my very first blog post. I had no idea where this would lead. I'm happy that I embarked on this wonderful journey - and here we are - all this time later. Blogging has been such a joy in my life. It would take me forever to write it all down. I have met the kindest people from all over the world and have been given so many great opportunities to work with the best crafters and companies out there. In a couple of weeks I will go to my second CHA Convention. Who would have thought all this would happen? I'm so grateful it did!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has made my life richer by following along with me at A Blog Called Wanda. I read every single comment and every email I get from you. The support is overwhelming. I am uplifted daily by the kindness of other people I've never even met! Blogging restores my faith in the world. It makes me happy to share with you! THANK YOU for being there for me!

Here are some fun stats... I like to put them here to share, and also so I can come back and read later too! Last year, I ended the year with 387 total blog posts, 3104 total comments and 221,000 blog hits. This year, I will end the year with 560 total blog posts (now I know why I feel like I'm always busy!), 5413 total comments and 362,000 lifetime blog hits! Also, I now have 365 email subscribers (Yeah!) and have had 104,000 unique visitors to my site (that's more than my entire city I live in!) SO MUCH FUN!

I have some New Year's cards to share with you on the 1st! Today I'm sharing (some of) my favorite projects from the past year. I saw this on someone else's blog, and loved the idea of doing a recap. It was hard to choose my favs! But here goes.... 

January's card was made with fun new products from October Afternoon in bright, happy colors. 2012 was definitely a year for butterflies...as you'll see...

 

 

 

February's card was full-on classic and vintage-y Valentine yumminess with a more is more attitude!

 

 

 

March's card had some Lawn Fawn cuteness...

 

 

 

In April I was starting to think about Spring time!

 

 

 

May's card is classic stamping, and I tried out my new Distress Markers!

 

 

 

June's card was one of my Summer projects for Taylored Expressions!

 

 

 

This July card may be my favorite for the whole year?? I love green, and I just adore how clean and simple this card came out. Yummies from Memory Box.

 

 

 

August's card was my entry for the Hero Arts Card Contest...

 

 

 

In September I had fun making this one with the new Latte Anya!

 

 

 

October's card was made with the amazing pumpkin dies from Papertrey Ink and my favorite gingham paper.

 

 

 

November's card was my entry for the Moxie Fab World contest. I really loved making this distressed leaves and then adding the yummy glitter.  

 

 

 

December's favorite was made with the super cute Swanky Snowdudes from Paper Smooches. These were really fun to make!

 

 

And, finally, a few of my favorite pics from the year. You might remember when I went bonkers over Washi tape?

 

 

And our mini vacay to Palm Springs in April....

 

 

 

And the foothills in Autumn.... 

 

 

 

One of our many trips to the City by the Bay...this particular day in March had the most spectacular clouds I've ever seen. Magical day.

 

That's it for today. Please, again, accept my humble thanks and my gratitude to you all for making my blogging journey so much fun. I hope you and your families had a great 2012!! Can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for all of us!  XOXO 

Christmas Thank You cards 2012!

Hello! Happy-day-after-Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your friends and family! We had a very nice day together. Peaceful and calm. I got a beautiful new Fossil Watch from the hubs and I love it! Did you get something fun? Anything crafty?

Now it's time to clean up and get re-organized. Whew. Saturday I spent the day in my crafty cave putting away and sorting through my Christmas stuff and then I made my 2012 Thank You cards too! It was a rainy day and perfect for hanging out. While sorting through my stuff, I came across a great Stampin' Up set from 2004 and I used that for my cards! It's kind of funky and retro and I still love it, after so many years.

 

 

 

 

Don't you always love kraft, white and red? I do! I stamped the snowflakes in white ink and let them dry while I cut out my funky sweaters and hats. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

 

 

 

Here's the set....LOVE! It's called "Bundle Up!" I stamped the mittens on the back of my card and the ice skate is on the inside. I wanted to use every image!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have much to be thankful for.....

 

 

 

And here is my "assistant" who somehow managed to find a sparkly snowflake in all the mess. I don't suppose that would taste very good??!! Silly cat!

Best wishes for lots of good times to come as we finish out the holidays! Thank YOU for coming by to see me here today!  

Merry Christmas 2012!

 

  A CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Loving Father, 
  help us to remember the birth of Jesus, 
  that we may share in the song of the angels, 
  the gladness of the shepherds, 
  and the worship of the wise men.

  Close the door of hate and 
  open the door of love all over the world. 
  Let kindness come with every gift and 
  good desires with every greeting.

  Deliver us from evil by the blessing 
  which Christ brings, and teach us to 
  be merry with clear hearts.

  May the Christmas morning make us happy 
to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening
  bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, 
  forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!

Wanda, Mark and Buddy

Merry & Bright!

Hi there! Happy Saturday! Hope you had a wonderful week! It's getting close to time to settle in and be done with the craziness of the season...and relax a bit... Each year, one of my MOST favorite things to do during the holidays is to have the DH drive us around in his big truck and go look at Christmas lights! Usually we get a hot chocolate or a latte first and then we put on the Christmas tunes and just spend some time together. In fact, that might actually be my favorite holiday thing to do! So, that's what inspired today's card.

Today's post is my last Taylored Expressions post for 2012! I'm happy to say that I renewed my contract with Taylor and I'm looking forward to more crafty fun with the Baker's Dozen in the new year...and CHA in three weeks! WOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!

Here's my Merry & Bright card!

 

 

 

 

I used the beautiful new Stacklets 3 dies for my focal part of my card. Then I got out the retro Tall and Skinny Alpha dies for the word 'merry.' The stamp set is called, appropriately, Very Merry! And the lights, of course are pretty dies from this set.  

 

 

 

I used a white pencil to color in my highlights on my light bulbs. Then I took some pretty Doodlebug twine and made it my string... Popped up the lights on some foam tape. I like the graphic nature of this one. So happy!

 

Here are my Taylored Expressions Supplies:

 

 

It's a Furry Christmas!

Hi friends! Wow, the days are winding down and Christmas is right around the corner! Are you ready!? I think I've given up. I am definitely NOT ready! The important things are done, the presents are mailed and the cards are sent. I guess everything else will have to wait until next year! It's time to enjoy the season before it gets away. This morning when I left for work it was 26 degrees!!! In Sacramento? Brrrrr. We are wimps, and lemme tell ya, it was COLD! That puts me in the mood for Christmas! I hope you are having a great week!

Tonight I'm sharing a card I made with the SUPER cute special edition stamp set from Simon Says Stamp...and it's called Furry Friends! Love that! I got out the Copics and had fun coloring this adorable image. Of course, I had to make the kitty orange like Buddy! Here's my card:

 

 

 

 

Turns out my Buddy is Copic color YR14 - Caramel! LOL. I added some stripes in a darker color. He even has a white tummy just like Buddy, and pink ears!

 

 

 

I added a green pom pom to the doggie's hat and a little heart to the sentiment word bubble. Just a few touches of Stickles to complete it... 

 

 

 

Here are my supplies:  

 

 

 

And my Copic palette:

 

 

 

I kept the layout clean and simple and used that cute Doodlebug paper and twine...

 

 

 

Buddy and I wish you joy and love to you and your furry friends this Christmas!

 

 

Tonight after work we went out to scope out some lights... Here is an instagram shot done with my iPhone of the CA state Capitol building and tree. It's so beautiful!

 

 

 

Here's a gorgeous house we saw on our travels... 

 

 

And here's me being silly with my iPhone apps! Adding hearts and sparkles and words to a bokeh shot of the lights from the Capitol tree. Can't get enough of those cool apps...

 

 

 

TE December Studio Challenge!

 

Hi Friends! It's that time again...time for another Baker's Dozen Studio Challenge! I really look forward to this each month, because I love it when the whole design team does the same theme. I love seeing everyone's creativity. Each month, Taylor comes up with a new crafty question for us.

The question/theme for December is: "Inspiration is all around us. Many of us learned to stamp by CASEing other stampers we admired. (CASE = Copy and Share Everything) We want everyone to know that not only is CASEing perfectly okay, it's actually pretty flattering and lots of fun! It can also be helpful in the midst of the busy holiday season when it's hard to think straight! So, take some inspiration from your fellow Baker's Dozen team-mates, and show us how you can turn a great inspiration into a fabulous holiday card!"

I am drawing my inspiration from Taylor for this challenge! Taylor has always inspired me with her bright and cheery color choices and her AMAZING card layouts! Her style is just like her - happy and pretty! I scoped out her gallery and found so much to CASE!

Taylor's cards are always bright and fun, and full of color. She almost always uses pink and is a master with the patterned paper. The other thing I noted is that she makes lots of fun shaped cards. SO... I tried to CASE her overall style with my color choices and my cheery mood of my card. I found THIS CARD on Taylor's blog and it got the ideas flowing... So I turned that card into a Christmas card!

 

 

 

I used the SUPER fun Woodland Winter Stamp Set and the Trim the Tree Dies!! A perfect, cheerful Winter combination!  

 

 

 

My card base was cut from a giant scallop circle Nestability!

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project...

 

 

 

Taylor loves blings and Copics....so I had to use those too! 

 

 

And here is a picture of Taylor's card that inspired me! The link is above. 
Some thoughts on inspiration... There are so many ways to get inspired when you're feeling low on mojo! The TE gallery has sections by designer or by stamp set! Check it out! Sometimes for me it's a color combination, or a certain stamp used a unique way, or a die I haven't gotten out in a long time. Or, if you're a new stamper you can copy exactly until you get your confidence up! Here's the main Gallery Page...and here's my Gallery Page! Have fun!

Here are the product photos for today's card:

 

Here are today's FUN LINKS to the rest of the Baker's Dozen!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

My attempt at "chalkboard" stamping!

Well, hello there my crafty friends! How was your week? I hope you had a fabulous one! Another week is long gone and my to-do list is just long! I have more to-dos than I have time left before Christmas comes! I'm trying to slow down and enjoy the season, but who has time for that!? LOL. This weekend is time for friends and visiting and maybe some stamping too. What do you have planned?

Today I'm posting a card made with a new technique I discovered on Pinterest! It's called chalkboard stamping! I'm not quite sure if I love my card or not, but it might grow on me. CLICK HERE for an awesome tutorial by the amazing Betsy Veldman. She gives a nice walk through of her technique and her cards are wonderful (aren't they always wonderful?) She inspires me. A lot.

So here's my take on it....

 

 

 

 

The trick is to make it look like a little chalkboard! I stamped and embossed in white, and then stamped again a bit off center to look like a shadow. Then you smear some ink on it to look like something was erased!

 

 

 

I used my stamp positioner for this project. The Merry Christmas and happy new year stamps are two separate stamps. The pretty holly branch is from Penny Black.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first I didn't put on enough smeared ink. After I added more, I thought it looked better. I also kind of smooshed it around with my finger. That's a hard task for this OCD stamper!!

 

 

 

Here's a good side view. I kept my color palette sort of vintage - by adding a pop of light aqua and some silver snowflakes.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so what do you think? Have you tried this? Are you going to? Lemme know. Have a super weekend everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

 

The BIG 5-0!

NO! Not me! Hahaha. Today is my wonderful husband's 50th birthday! Wooot Wooot! Hey, how did I get married to an old guy? All kidding aside, I met the hubs when he was 30 and now, here we are, 20 years later! He's a good man and I'm very lucky to have him. For his birthday he got a new laptop and some clothes, which is just what he wanted. And, we spent the day on Saturday in San Francisco shopping and taking pictures. The hubs was born in San Francisco, so it was a perfect place to spend his birthday weekend. I thought I would share his birthday card today. Do you guys remember his 49er card from last year? 

We all know I'm a total girlie girl, so masculine cards are sometimes hard for me! My card for the DH was inspired by this cool camera paper. It's kind of retro and funky and cool...and the hubs loves photography... I went around the craft room picking up things to put together and came up with this!  

 

 

 

The number dies are from PTI, the swirl die is from Lifestyle Crafts and the hearts are dies from Tim Holtz for Ranger. I picked out a nice sage green and used lots of distress ink and black to pop the contrast.

 

 

 

I had to put some hearts on there - to represent us! The birthday sentiment is one I've had for AGES! I used my edger distresser thingee on the papers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots and lots of layers on this one! Check out that cool camera brad!

 

 

Saturday was my first time trying out my new camera. It was a hard photography kind of day, filled with all sorts of lighting challenges...indoors, flourescent, outside at night....whew. I want to share my favorite shots from the day with you!

Life is like a box of chocolates.... 

 

 

 

San Francisco Centre Mall

 

 

 

Bloomingdales

 

 

 

Dome at San Francisco Centre Mall...They were projecting different colors and snowflakes onto the dome and it was gorgeous! My favorite was this blue/purple combination!

 

 

 

My new camera has some cool creative filters that you can use directly while shooting. Yay! One of them is this neato star filter. This is a Christmas ornament on a tree in Bloomingdales.

 

 

 

Flags on Market Street

 

 

 

Carolers in front of Nieman Marcus

 

 

 

This is truly the contrast between old San Francisco and new San Francisco!

 

 

 

Flowers for sale on the street. I love these fresh bright tulips...pops of color on a foggy day!

 

 

Christmas window beauty!

 

 

 

Look at these delicious clouds! It was foggy all day and then right before sunset the sky cleared. This was taken from the 8th floor of Macy's at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant up there.

 

 

 

Our table for dinner was right by the glass partition. LOVE this reflection of the clouds in the glass!

 

 

 

My absolute favorite time of day is right before it gets dark, when the sky is blue, and the lights come on. Here's a view down onto Union Square, with the ice skating rink, and the giant tree. Can you spot the famous Transamerica pyramid in the background?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always have to have at least one cable car shot!

 

 

 

Here's the view back towards the City from Treasure Island. GORGEOUS night! The Bay Bridge is to the left. The four lit up buildings are the Embarcadero Center. The Pyramid had a bright blue light on it...

 

 

 

Here's my cool star effect again!

 

Thanks for coming by to check out what's up today! Hope you are enjoying everything great about the season! XO

The reason for the season...

Hi bloggy friends! It's only a couple weeks until Christmas now! Wow-this year is gonna be gone in a flash. Tomorrow is the DH's 50th birthday! Whew. I'll be back tomorrow to share his card and some of the pictures we took on his birthday outing. Today is one of my days to post for Taylored Expressions. Ever since this beautiful Nativity Die came out I have wanted to make something with it. It's amazing - so pretty and it cuts perfectly. I kept my card simple, to feature the scene. I combined it with a couple of my favorite stamp sets too.

 

 

 

 

I used a pretty cream paper for my card base. The layer and the die are cut from a metallic, burnished gold Stardream paper. It's hard to photo the exact color of it. It's very rich. Isn't this die wonderful?

 

 

 

This sentiment is from the stamp set called "Rejoice." It's a nice big font that I use a lot. It's the best choice for this card, dontcha think?

 

 

 

I used the little sunburst stamp from the "In the Word" stamp set! I wanted something behind the Nativity scene for just a pop of color, and this worked great! I used my stamp positioner to get it just in the right spot.

 

 

Here are my supplies...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rejoice indeed! Have a beautiful day!  

 

TE December Petite-a-Palooza Release - Whimsical Wishes!

 

Remember that all the products are now available in the TE STORE! Today's spotlight day features stamp sets from Nancy McKinney's stamp line called Whimsical Wishes.

My final project for the week uses my other favorite stamp set from this release! It's called Bonjour Couture (with matching dies) and it's so pretty and feminine! I just HAD to make something shabby chic as soon as I saw the stamps! I used the new MME Paper pack called Lavender too.... OH! And my fav new border die...the Lace Chain Border!

 

 

 

 

 

The seniments for this set are so pretty! You can see the close up of the border die and the papers I used. I also added some paper roses.

 

 

 

I could totally picture using this set for bridal shower invitations or Mother's Day cards...all kinds of girly things!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, friends, that's it for December 2012 Petite-a-Palooza! What is your favorite new stamp set? Did you buy them all? LOL! Leave me a note and let me know which ones you love. Have a fabulous weekend bloggy friends! XO

Here are your links for today:

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Kerri Michaud (Guest Designer)
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

TE December Petite-a-Palooza Release - Embracing Grace!

 

Remember that all the products are now available in the TE STORE!  Today's spotlight day features stamp sets from Emily Burger's stamp line called Embracing Grace.

Today I'm using a new Petite set called Hoot Hoot Hooray and matching dies! I also used the new Stacklets 3 dies to make my background for my little owlies! I made a clean and simple card design that would be perfect for a friend...

 

 

Can you see how perfectly the matching dies cut out the owls? Love that. For my branches, I cut them from kraft paper and then edged them in brown ink.

 

 

For my feature panel, I used the new Stacklets 3 die and then embossed my blue paper with the Clouds Impression Plate!

 

 

 

  

 

 

Sadly, tomorrow is the last day of release week for December 2012.... I hope you come back one last time to check out the new Petite stamp sets! Until then, here's your linky list for today!  

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions December 2012 Release Day!

Taylored Expressions December Release Day!

All of the new Taylored Expressions products are now available in the Fresh Out of the Oven Department! YEAH! Be sure to go and check out all the new goodies and don't forget that we are having more inspiration the rest of the week. Are you loving Petite-a-Palooza? I am!

My new card for today features Plane Awesome and the matching dies. These dies are so perfect and crisp. These images are small, and every detail comes out perfectly. Taylor really knocked it out of the park...you'll see in my close up photos! Plane Awesome is from the Apple Doodle Ink line of stamps drawn by Doug Applegate. This one is just plane  F-U-N!

 

 

 

 

See what I mean about the matching die? This cut out on the first attempt - and it's perfection! The banner die is from the Blimps and Banners die set. Taylor made it so the sentiments fit inside.

 

 

 

To make the cloud background for my little red plane, I cut out the Cloud Border Die from a piece of scrap cardstock. Then I carefully sponged light blue ink in layers using the border as my template. Easy peasy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this card is just the right thing for a cheery birthday greeting!

 

  

 

 

 

There's more exciting news....because the "You Take the Cake" stamp set is now available to everyone! When it was released, it was only available with a qualifying purchase. Now you can get your crafty hands on it! LOVE this set. Here's a card I made back when it was released...

 

 

Here's your link list for today's projects!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

Taylored Expressions December 2012 Release Week - Day 1!

 

It’s sneak peek time at Taylored Expressions! Do you remember last year when we did our first Petite-a-Palooza?! Well, we're doing it again! Taylor is releasing TWELVE new petite stamp sets and nine of them come with matching dies! Wooot wooooot! Taylor is also releasing a new Stacklets die set and the "You Take the Cake" stamp set which was formerly available only in September! Lots of great stuff this week.

Petite-a-Palooza - featuring sets from all our illustrators, they make great gifts for crafty friends, and are a great way to get started with TE if you're new. They are also a great way to add to your collection if you're already a fan!

We have inspiration to share Wednesday through Saturday this week and all of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, December 6th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.

Today I have two projects to share, using two of the new Petite sets - Sunny Days (which I think is my favorite) and Splish Splash! Sunny Days is from the Whimsical Wishes line of stamps drawn by Nancy McKinney and Splish Splash is from Emily Burger's Embracing Grace stamp line! Both are simply delightful!

 

 

 

 

I have always wanted a little rainbow die....and this one is PERFECTION! Yep, I cut out six rainbows and very carefully put them together into one...and then drenched the whole thing in superfine glitter! YUM! Rainbows have to sparkle!

 

 

 

Isn't this font the sweetest?

 

 

 

A perfect little cloud... The Notepaper die and matching stamp are from Taylored Expressions too - remember these?  

 

 

 

I'm telling you...you are going to want this one!! SOOO happy and fun. :-)

 

 

 

My second project for today uses Splish Splash and matching dies! I made one of my calendar pages using all the TE Calendar supplies...and made a sunny page for May. These little birdies are so tweet!

 

 

 

AWWWWWW....

 

 

 

These little guys make me happy...and I love the sentiments with this set...

 

 

 

 

That's it for me today! I hope you will hop around and see what everyone else made...and come back tomorrow for more TE release fun! Here is your linky list for today....

• Charmaine Ikach
• Jen Shults
• Jodi Collins
• Karen Giron
• Kerri Michaud (Guest Designer)
• Melody Rupple
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Snowman Greetings!

Hi everyone! Today I'm happy to share cheery snowman greetings made with some ULTRA cute Paper Smooches winter stamp sets. Oh, man, how I love Paper Smooches! These snow peeps are the happiest creatures ever! They make me smile, and what a joy to work with such fun stamps. I used the sets called Swanky Snowdudes and Warm Hearts. Love. Sigh. Got out my Copics and cool new paper from Simple Stories...and went to it! Hope your week is off to a good start!

 

 

 

 

Love this color combo for Winter - red and green, with just a pop of an aqua blue - for snow. Went a little crazy with the Stickles...

 

 

 

Lots of dimension on this one - each piece is mounted on some foam tape!  

 

 

 

Adorable sentiment....

 

 

 

I hand cut a little snow hill for my snowman to stand on. I adhered the white paper to the polka dot paper before cutting out the circle with my Nestabilities.

 

 

 

This new paper pack is AWESOME! So bright!

 

 

Um, do you s'pose I have a problem with Stickles???? LOL.

 

 

 

Here are my Copic choices for this project...

 

 

 

My card bases, waiting for the other pieces to dry...I had to walk away....because I ALWAYS touch the Stickles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for popping in today! Be sure to come back later in the week, since Taylored Expressions Release starts sooooon! XO