A Blog Called Wanda

Linda's about to POP hop! (Correction - Linda has POPPED!)

Hey friends! Today is a fun hop day! Our sweet friend Linda has had a little baby girl!! So, we decided to have a HOP (a blog hop that is) in her honor today! Too much fun! This hop was supposed to be a "ready to pop hop" but then she went and "popped" in the meantime! Linda has welcomed a sweet little bundle of joy named Olivia. We love her and wanted to send her good bloggy wishes. We all made baby cards and will share them for her today on our blogs. 

I don't really make a ton of baby cards, so I don't have lots of baby stamps. I tend to make my cards for babies sort of shabby chic and vintage. I don't know why - just seems more cozy to me. My card for Linda was made with all Papertrey Ink supplies. Hope she likes it! :-)

 

 

 

 

I used cream and a soft shade of raspberry pink for my baby girl card! I made slight texture on the cream background and added some tiny scallops at the bottom. Isn't that pink doily the yummiest thing ever? 

 

 

 

For my umbrella I cut the image out of pink gingham and made two - and layered them....Couldn't resist adding a heart and a tiny pearl... You know, all girly things! 

 

 

 

 

 

BEST WISHES LINDA!!!!

WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LITTLE BUNDLE OF JOY!!!!

NEXT UP IS THE AMAZING JENNIFER MCGUIRE!!!!

 

SOOOOO many FUN bloggers are joining in the HOP today - I hope you will look at ALL the AWESOME cards! Have a great day everyone! 

Mary Dawn Quirindongo
Chari Moss
Danielle Walls
Leslie Hanna
Sue McRae
Melissa Shea
Stephanie Britt
Kelly Latevola
Lisa Spangler
Lucy Newton
Cristina Martinez
Michelle Lupton
Tina Basa
Michelle Liimatainen
Cheiron Brandon
Libby Hickson
Wanda Guess
Jennifer McGuire

Penny Black Guest Designer Week - wrapup!

 

 

Woooooooh! It's been such a fun week! I loved being a part of the Penny Black blog this week as their guestie! So fabulous to meet new friends and share what I love to do. BIG thanks to the amazingly talented and lovely Jill Foster for inviting me to join Penny Black for a great week of stamping! 

Today's post is a wrap up of the week with photos of the rest of my cards (the first one was posted on Monday). I have four cards to share today, as we head into Labor Day Weekend and FOOOOOTBALLLLLLL! Thanks for coming by! 

FIrst up is a vintage inspired card using the beautiful Dahlia stamps. I had a great time layering these flowers and coloring with my Copics. The tags and butterflies are brand new dies from Penny Black.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is a sweet little birthday owl! Whooooose birthday is it? I layered him on foam tape for dimension in this CAS design. The red really pops!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, how totally adorable is this stamp!?  A kitty with a camera? Shut the front door!!! I colored him with my Copics to look just like my sweet Buddy! Oh snaps!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last, but not least, is a shabby chic card made using the new larger butterfly dies from Penny Black! I love how they are uneven and kind of funky! Really cute. This color combo is a winner. Perfect for summer or fall. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again for a great week!

Hope you have fun weekend plans! XO

I'm the Penny Black Guest Designer this week! Yeah!

 

 

Hello my bloggy friends and happy Monday! Happy Monday?? Well, this Monday it is! Because this week I am the guest designer on the super fab Penny Black Blog! Yeah, so excited about this! You guys know how much I adore Penny Black images! Each day there will be a different card on their blog...and then on Friday I'll do a recap post here on my blog with all the cards. Fun, yes? Yes! Looking forward to sharing with you and the rest of the Penny Black fan club. If you're coming to my blog for the first time - Welcome! 

Today's card is made with the new Penny Black Balloon dies, which are the perfect size for cards. I am going to get lots of use from these, I can already tell. I kept the card clean and simple with a bright color palette. 

 

 

 

 

I die cut three big round balloons out of some fresh colored papers! I added a bit of white pen and then a touch of glitter to them as you can see in the photo. I made my embossed background for a bit of visual interest. The twine was pushed through a hole in the paper right under the balloons and then secured with some tape on the back! 

 

 

 

Here you can see my layers! I like this card because it's just happy - and it's perfect for any birthday occasion, for any age person! The heart accent on the card is actually a heart shaped balloon, and then I cut the bottom off. 

 

Here are some sneaky peeks at my cards for the rest of the week! Yipppeeeee! Please hop on over to the Penny Black blog too and check out everything over there! 

Have a great week! 

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - Nuts for YOU!

Good morning and happy Sunday! I'm sippin' coffee in the craft room and making up this blog post to share! Usually I have too much other stuff going on, to enter the awesome Papertrey Ink blog hops, but this time I am able to play! Yahooo! Click Here for the 4-1-1 and more details so you can enter, and see everyone else's projects too. For this hop, you have one day to make a project inspired by a color combination AND a sketch. Love it! 

There were so many beautiful color palettes this time around, and I surprised myself by using the one that had all neutrals! I also gave myself a third challenge - to use only things that came in my new PTI order that arrived on Friday....

 

 

 

Here is the inspiration image - with the colors and the sketch. I placed my diagonal stripe on the opposite side of my card because I didn't want Mr. Squirrel looking right off the card. I thought he looked better on the other side! 

I used Rustic Cream Cardstock to emboss the new Burlap embossing plate....YUM! So rich. I colored my adorable squirrel with my Copic Markers....and gave him a gingham tummy. 

 

 

 

This little leaf comes with the Nuts for You stamp set, and I had to use it! 

 

 

 

A close up of my layers....

 

Thanks for popping by! I hope you liked my project...Now I'm off to check out everyone else's cards on the PTI BLOG HOP! Have a blessed day. XO 

Happy Harvest - First Fall card of 2013!

Um...Happy Harvest?! Yup! It's time to move on to Fall stamping I think! It's been a good Summer, but Football starts next weekend and Fall is everywhere you look already. Guess I'd better get with the program! LOL. I am ready - I'm always ready for Autumn. Today's card is a fun and happy little scene I created using a bunch of elements from different stamp sets! I love that little squirrel the best - up there in the tree! So cute. 

 

 

 

 

Here's my Autumn Americana scene. I love when I see these things...fall leaves, pumpkins, white picket fences, and American Flags. The best. I always wish our house had a cute little fence around the front yard. We do always have a flag flying though! 

 

 

 

Here's Mr. Squirrel protecting his acorn harvest....up in the tree tops! LOVE that birch die, don't you? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a side view of all my layers. Whenever I make a card like this, I stamp and cut out everything first. Then I kind of lay it out on my paper and then color everything. The best part is putting it all together at the end! In this particular case, I decided to add some touches of ultra fine glitter after the card was all put together. 

Happy (almost) Autumn everyone! Have a super day! 

 

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions August 2013 Studio Challenge - Sky!

 

 

Yay! It's time for our Taylored Expressions Monthly Studio Challenge! I love doing this every month with my fellow Baker's Dozen Team Mates! It's so much fun to see everyone's interpretation of the challenge. Each month Taylor and Jami come up with a fun question for us to answer as a way for us to share tips and tricks and ideas.

The question for August is: "The Sky's the limit! There are so many ways to create sky backgrounds for our cards and projects. Often, our blog readers are left staring at a beautiful sky and asking 'how did she do that?' So please show us your sky techniques Baker's Dozen!" 

Here is a close up of my sky background! I almost always use the TE Cloud Border die and a sponge dauber to make my sky backgrounds. They always come out fluffy and perfect! I love this sentiment - perfect for this card. Supply links are at the end of my post.... 

 

 

 

What goes better with a beautiful blue sky? Sunshine! (What did you think I was going to say? A margarita? That too!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the easy peasy steps to making a soft blue sky background for your cards.... First cut out a cloud border die with some colored paper (makes it easier that using white paper). Get your favorite blue ink and a small sponge dauber. 

 

 

 

Line up your cloud border die on your paper, and start sponging. VERY important tip - sponge up and down, not in circles or in lines.... This will make a big difference in your inking...

 

 

 

Move your template down a little way and sponge another section, and keep repeating this. You'll be amazed when you see your clouds come to life! 

 

 

 

Pretty soon this is what you have! 

 

 

 

And, my final background paper! Yipppeeee! Don't you want to try this right now!? What is your favorite technique? I'd love to hear! 

 

 

 

Here's another card I made using the exact same technique. Here, I placed a circle down first, to make a moon in my evening sky. I also used two colors of darker blue ink. Love it! 

 

 

 

 

Here's your linky list for the Baker's Dozen Blogs - to see what everyone else does! I'm excited to see too! Have a lovely day! 

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess 

 

InLinkz.com

Fond Farewell to A Blog Named Hero!

Hey friends! Today's post has some sadness to it, as this is my last post as a member of the super awesome A Blog Named Hero Design Team. How fast did those last seven months go by?? It has been such a fun experience to stamp with these fabulous ladies. The whole design team is so funny (hilarious actually), generous, creative, talented, crazy, and just plain old awesome! Thank you to Linda and Mary Dawn for allowing me to be a part of your journey. I'm so happy to have joined you! I will always be a fan (and a blog stalker now) of A Blog Named Hero! I will miss you! XOXO 

Today's cards are made with a fun technique of making your own background text paper. I love combining sentiments and I love text papers. They are the perfect neutral background. Today I took a bunch of different stamp sets from Hero Arts, that have the same font, and stamped away. I made a couple of retro 'friend' cards perfect to send our gal pals. Love the cute typewriter and phone!

 

 

 

 

Aqua and olive green always mean retro to me. I really like the "typewriter" font for an old fashioned flair too. 

 

 

 

This first card is stamped with black ink...

 

 

 

And this card is stamped in brown ink... I couldn't decide which one I liked better! 

 

 

 

This technique is cool and creative. You can be as wild or as mild as you want. For today's cards I chose all the same font. This is also really fun when you combine colors and different font types. I got out my background paper... my stamps...

 

 

 

I just started stamping away! 

 

 

 

And more stamping....

 

 

 

And more stamping....

 

 

 

Then when I got it the way I wanted it - I cut it! LOL. All that hard work just to make it into an oval! Isn't that the crafty way? I used one of the sentiments to stamp hi! on my typewriter paper too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope that you enjoyed this little project and idea - and hope you'll give it a try! Thank you so much to everyone at A BLOG NAMED HERO for making this such a fun Design Team Opportunity! Love you guys!  

 

A Blog Named hero - Challenge Time - Vellum!

Hi there my friends! Can you believe it's time for another challenge from A Blog Named Hero!? I can't! This time around the challenge is Vellum. I can't wait to see what all the other design team members have to share today and also what YOU are going to make and enter! I love vellum and always have. It is so classy and cool. I had a good time coming up with this card to share with you today. All the supplies, and everyone else's cards are over at the ABNH BLOG! This is also where you should go to enter your creation!

I sat down at my desk and tried to think of something new and fresh to do with vellum. I almost always use it to put a sentiment on a card, or to make flowers. Hmmmmm. I went through my stash of Hero Arts stamps and came up with a map! Here is my card!

   

Here is a close up of my vellum map, and my sentiment! All stamps are from Hero Arts of course! The anchor die is from Simon Says Stamp. LOVE.

 

 

I stamped my map in black Memento Ink onto a sheet of vellum. Then, I took my Copic markers and colored the BACK of the vellum in different shades of blues and greens...

 

 

I sandwiched my vellum panel in between a sheet of cream cardstock and my cut-out layer to add some dimension to it. I added some travel stamps and an anchor. Oh, and don't forget the hot air balloons too!

 

 

Here is a close up of my layers! Hope you have fun using your vellum and hope you share with us in our challenge!

It's always so much fun to share with you! Have a fabulous, crafty day! Thanks for checking in. Click here to go over to A Blog Named Hero for my supply links and to enter the challenge.   

Summer Sundays....

Hi everyone! Ahhhhhh Summer Sundays.... Don't you love it? Kind of lazy and quiet and peaceful.... I can feel the light changing in the mornings and it's just a bit colder when I wake up. Fall is on the horizon and we will all be so busy in the coming months scurrying around. I'm trying to slow down and enjoy this bit of calm. It's been a rough few weeks emotionally for me and I truly must say again how much it means to know that people are sending me good thoughts and prayers, not to mention the beautiful cards and letters. I'm so grateful and really can't put it into words how uplifted I am by the kindness of all my friends, and so many sweet people I've never even met. Restores my faith in the world and I am humbled. 

I had some time in the craft cave this weekend and I made a fun Summer-y card to share with you. Do you ever have those times when you make a card and it comes out EXACTLY like you hoped? And then you're like...man I love this card!? This is one of those cards for me!! Hope you like it too. 

 

 

 

I cut the die cut out of the manila tag and the turquoise paper and then put them together! YEAH! Totally doing this more. I put some funky chevron paper underneath it and it came out so cool. I made the paper daisies with two craft punches (supply links below). 

 

 

 

I put some 'goosebumps' blings on my bicycle tires...ya know...just cuz. Added some pretty washi and a ribbon....

 

 

 

This beautiful washi tape came from my AMAZING pen pal in the Netherlands!!! I barely got it out of the package before I had to use it. It matches perfectly. Thanks HS!!! XO

 

 

 

You can see the flower layers in this photo. I layered two daisy punches with foam tape (what else?) and then layered a circle punch on top. 

Last week I was honored to be the Featured Stamper over at Splitcoaststampers! That was super fun! I loved seeing everyone's cards and feelin' the bloggy love! Thank you to everyone who made a card!! AWESOME. CLICK HERE to see the thread if you're a member of SCS!

 

 

Before I forget, I have to mention my FAVORITE new iPhone app! It's called Flipagram, and it turns your Instagrams into a video!!! ACK. LOOOOOOVE this! I made my first one last night, and then realized it was my 500th post to Instagram! Woo hoooo! Please follow me over there (stampcatwg) so I can see your pix too! I hope that you are all having a great weekend and I wish you a good week ahead! Take care and as always, thanks for spending a little time here with me! XO

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions August 2013 Release Week Spotlight - "Zinnia Bouquet!"

Happy Friday everyone! Sadly, this is the final day of Taylored Expressions Release Week! It's been a blast sharing with you all week. Did you go shopping yet? What is your favorite thing from this month's release? It's hard to pick a favorite this month! I have one more thing to share with you this week - and it's another in our series of Bouquet Stamp sets. This one is called "Zinnia Bouquet." And I paired it with a new labels die set. 

It's been a while since I made an easel card, and I always love a good easel card! This one is a five inch square easel. You can make them any size really. PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE TUTORIAL on how to make one!  

 

 

 

I gave this card sort of a Fall vibe with my color choices. I picked out my patterned papers first and then matched my Copic Markers to the paper. I used cream cardstock as my base. 

 

 

 

Gotta decorate the bottom half too! 

 

 

 

To give it a vintage feel, I distressed the edges of my papers before gluing everything together... This paper collection was one of my favorite things from CHA this year! I bought all these papers in 6x6 and 12x12! YUM. 

 

 

 

Here is the side view of my card. It folds up flat for mailing...easy peasy...

Here is one more linky list for you! The Baker's Dozen Design Team is always so happy to have you visit us! Click over to the TE Store if you haven't already checked out the new items! 

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jami Sibley

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

 

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions August 2013 Release Day - "Build a Scene Dies!"

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!! Have you gone shopping yet in the TE Store? All the new items are available for purchase now! Look at my card first, though! Today's project is featuring an uber cool new concept that you will love. I can't believe we never had this before! It's a set of dies called the "Build a Scene" collection. Yowza. Perfectly made dies for rolling hills, clouds, mountains and sunshine. I had a bunch of ideas in my head, but decided to go with this beach theme since it's still Summer! 

 

 

 

 

All the papers are from the Pier Collection that has a vintage beach vibe. I had so much fun combining all the different patterns to make my rolling sand hills. The clouds are AWESOME swirly clouds. I used the Beach Border Die, cut in pieces, for my palm trees. 

 

 

 

Here's a close up of those awesome clouds! My card base is cream, not stark white, and I distressed teh edges with Linen Distress Ink. Distress Ink makes everything better. 

 

 

 

Aloha! 

 

 

 

Are your creative juices flowing yet? This set of dies ROCKS!! 

Here are your RELEASE DAY links! 

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Heather Jensen

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

 

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions August 2013 Sneak peeks, Day 3 - "Chalkboard Elements" & "Classroom Cuties!"

Yowza! Day Three of Sneak Peeks is here! Are you enjoying seeing all the new items from Taylored Expressions? Tomorrow is the big day, when all the stamps and dies will be available for purchase! I hope you've found some things that you MUST have! Today I'm showcasing two more new stamp sets. 

This first card I'm sharing is made with the "Chalkboard Elements" stamp set and the "Blackboard" die. Wait until you see this stamp set! There are a bunch of different elements and swirls and words...and then you design your own look. It's awesome! I went a little crazy on this card... 

 

 

To get a good blackboard look, don't be too careful and perfect. Stamp in nice gooey white ink (I used Brilliance White) and then take your finger and smudge it all around. I used linen finish paper also for some more texture. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know me....I kept adding stuff! Love this color combo!! This card is heavy! LOL. 

 

 

 

My next card for today is a happy, cheery to do list! I used the new "From the Desk Of" dies along with the new "Classroom Cuties" stamp set. I adore that little clipboard! 

 

 

 

 

 

Definitely buy more stamps should be the first thing on the list! LOL. 

Thanks for stopping in today! Be sure to check out everyone else's blogs for more Taylored Expressions fun today. 

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Heather Jensen

Jami Sibley

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions August 2013 Sneak Peeks, Day 2 - "Workplace Wishes!"

Hi friends! Welcome back to Day 2 of Sneak Peeks for Taylored Expressions August 2013 Release! So glad you're here with me. Today I'm sharing projects from the other stamp set that I concepted for this month! Woo hooo! This set is called "Workplace Wishes!" For a long time, I have been wanting a stamp set that I could use to make cards for work situations...and it's finally here! You guys know I work in an office and there are times when you need a card that maybe isn't too personal or a card from the whole gang.... Hope you like it! 

First up is a fun coffee card to give a gal pal! There are little sayings to put on the coffee cups! So much fun. I chose the flower and the I hate Mondays ones for my little scene.  I made a background of black outline mugs by masking and then cut out two and popped them on foam tape. 

 

 

 

Clean and Simple design...

 

 

 

I think this saying is pretty funny! We drink A LOT of coffee at my office! LOL. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next card is perfect for my office too! Papers and files everywhere! It's like the last day of school and you can throw all your papers and jump for joy! (The older version of that!) I cut out a bunch of the little papers and scattered them around my card. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so that's day TWO only! There are still three more days of Taylored Expressions Release Week to come! Here are your links for today....

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

 

 

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions August 2013 Sneak Peek, Day 1 - "Butterfly Parade" & "Hey Sweet-tea!"

Hello and welcome to Taylored Expressions Release Week for August 2013! SO glad you're here to play with me this week. There is so much good stuff this time around. Wowza. Really excited to share with you. This month there are TWO stamp sets that were my concept! How cool is that? The first one is featured today here and is called "Butterfly Parade (matching dies too)" and the other one is called "Workplace Wishes."  

Let's get started! First up is a fun and bright butterfly card I made using the new dies called "Butterfly in the Sky" and there are three dies in the set. The sentiment is from "Butterfly Parade" and the stamps match perfectly to the dies!

 

 

 

I thought the cool "Ride the Wave" border die made a cool swirly background for my butterflies...It's from a sheet of paper in the same collection, so it all matches beautifully. (See supply links below).

 

 

 

 

 

My trick for butterflies is to gently fold them in half (I use my bone folder to make a crease first) and then I put a tiny bead of clear Tombow glue on the crease to glue it to the paper. Then I use my bone folder edge to gently hold it in place until the glue sets a minute. This way they are nice and secure and don't get lost in the mail! 

 

 

So, I couldn't make just ONE butterfly card! You guys know me better than that! This one took a different direction into modern shabby-chic territory! If there was only one patterned paper that I had to use for the rest of my life (gasp) it would be this Vintage Bliss Collection. I just kept layering and adding...

 

 

I think this quatrefoil butterfly stamp is my FAV! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots and lots of layers and dimension on this one...

 

 

Next up for today is the CUTEST set called "Hey Sweet-Tea!" OMG love this one! And I love these cute paper straws Taylor sent us to use! ACK. So much fun to color and play with this set. 

 

 

I very lightly colored the glass and ice with Copic BG000 to give the hint of cool glass and water. The little yellow pearls are from Doodlebug... and here's a tip... If you only have white pearls, you can color them whatever color you want by using your Copic Markers! Yeah! 

 

 

 

Let's Chill! 

 

 

Okay, so that was a whole lot of stuff to share...but you're not done yet! Be sure to hop around to all the other Design Team Blogs to see what they have for ya! XO

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Heather Jensen - Guest Designer!

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin   (YAY! Welcome Joan as our newest BDDT Member!)

Kerri Michaud

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess 

InLinkz.com

Shabby Chic Baby Card!

Hi everyone! Thank you so very much for all of your kind thoughts and wishes on my post from Wednesday and thank you to everyone who sent me an email. It helps to know that people care and are thinking of you. Thank you!   

I got some time in the craft room yesterday and it did my heart good to relax and get out of my head for a bit. Especially since I was making a card for a happy occasion. My hubs needed a baby card for his friend at work and I was happy to have something to do. It's been a long week. 

I think maybe I went a little over the top! (ya think?) I kept finding cute pink stuff in my craft room that I wanted to add to the mix. I started by combining some pretty papers and then stitching them to a piece of pink paper. My card is five inches square. Then I started die cutting and stampin and distressing...

 

 

 

Isn't Lila a pretty name!? I was glad her name isn't Stephanie, since it wouldn't fit on that heart! LOL. I added some tiny scallops in pink, and then some pearls. The sentiment stamps are from Taylored Expressions. 

 

 

 

 This butterfly is from Memory Box....

 

 

 

These papers were in my stash, but I think they are from Webster's Pages....

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping in to say howdy. Next week is Release Week for TE, so there will be posts all five days. I have two stamp sets that I designed this time around! Yippee!