A Blog Called Wanda

Roses and Hugs!

HEY!!! How's it going? How was your week? Did you get crafty this week and have some fun? I hope you did and I hope that a fun weekend is coming your way too. I spent some quality time blog surfing late this afternoon and came upon an awesome blog post by Kathy Racoosin. I am such a big fan of hers and pretty much love anything she makes. She gave a tutorial on a technique that I have been trying to figure out... And once I read her post it was like a giant light bulb went off! Then, I had to scurry in to my craft room and make my own version of this neat technique. Thanks Kathy - you're the BOMB!  CLICK HERE to see her blog post and tutorial... 

Here is one of my finished cards (I had to make TWO!)... 

 

 

 

HOW COOOOOOL is this? You stamp your images and then die cut out of the center.... Then layer a bunch of die cuts on top of each other to make it pop! 

 

 

I adore this vintage/antique look of roses in tone-on-tone pinks. It's so shabby chic. The stamp set is from Papertrey Ink (Rosie Posie 1 & 2) and the Hugs die is a Simon Says Stamp exclusive! The colored cardstock is also from Papertrey Ink. 

 

 

After I made my pink version, I had to make another one! This time in yellow. The only thing that stopped me is that I have to get up and go to work in the morning, so I have to get some shut eye. 

 

 

I ended up stacking five layers of die cuts including the top/colored one. I could have done more, but I like the subtle effect of this. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are my steps... First, I stamped the images on my cardstock. This is two stamp sets that compliment each other in layers...

 

 

Here are my roses stamped in two shades of pink and green...

 

 

Now this is the part where I had my light bulb moment! 

 

 

 

Isn't this soooo pretty? ACK! 

 

 

Side shot of my layers! 

 

I'm so happy you came by and I hope this project inspires you to try this too! It's really fun and just think of all the ideas we could come up with! Toodles for now! XO

 

Spring Flowers - Papertrey Ink February Challenge!

Hello! It's time again for the Papertrey Ink Customer Blog Hop Challenge! This month's theme is...SPRING! Any project with a Spring theme. Yep - right up my alley right now, cuz I am totally in that mode already. I decided to ink up a new set that just came in the mail... And I tried a technique I've been wanting to try for a while too. Hope you enjoy it! 

CLICK HERE to go to the Papertrey Ink Blog so you can enter your own card in the challenge. You have all day to link up your card. I can't wait (as always) to see what everyone else made. This theme is so broad that I know the entries will be amazing. 

Here's mine!

 

 

Here is the inspiration image for the blog hop challenge: 

I really have been wanting to try this white on white embossing with Copic Coloring! I stamped my images in Versamark Ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. The white really pops when you put the Copic color down on top of it! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are my supplies... 

 

 

 

And the before photo...

 

 

 

Isn't this pretty?? Love how it looks when you start coloring! I hardly ever use purple, but that color always says "Spring" to me! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for coming by my blog today! Have a good one! 

Watercolor Thanks....

 

 

Howdy peeps! How are ya? What's new? Hope everything is just ducky in your part of the world today. Are ya ready for Spring?? I know lots of you are! I'm ready for Spring crafting and Spring colors and Easter candy....

Today's card was made for the Happy For Hexagons challenge over at Moxie Fab World! CLICK HERE to see the post and enter your card! You have until March 7th. Go on! Enter! 

I used some of my most favorite dies from Taylored Expressions and some soft watercolor techniques. (Watercolor is back, my friends!) All my supplies are from Taylored Expressions, and a fulls supply list is at the bottom of my post.  I used the Hexagon die as my focal color point and the off-set a pretty butterfly... 

 

 

 

I had fun speckling my watercolor paper with watered down Distress Inks. I flicked the color off the end of a very wet paint brush. I kinda like it! It looks like a speckled egg! 

 

 

 

The Flutter-bys dies come with two pieces. I colored the solid one with the green Distress Ink and then flicked some spots on the top one in the same color. The hexagon was brushed with color again, with a very wet brush. 

 

 

 

Here are my pieces, and my color choices. I blended just a smidgen of the mustard in with the green. VERY SPRINGY!! I love this shade of green...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This card is for my super super sweet boss! Last week she took me and a group of my work friends out to lunch to celebrate my work anniversary and it was so nice. She rocks. 

 

 

So, I tried something different with my card photos this time - and I took them outside on the front steps... Not sure yet if I like that better or not. Thoughts? But, when I was done with my pix, I caught this pretty flower out of the corner of my eye...click click! Our city is the Camellia City and they are in full bloom right now! We have a red one, a pink one, and my favorite - this white one - in our front yard. Maybe this sprinkles a little Spring into your day! 

  

 

InLinkz.com

CHA Product Review - We R Memory Keepers Flower Punch Board!

WOW! I'm sooooooo excited to share this post with you today! Ever since I got home from CHA I have wanted to show you this - one of my very favorite things from the entire show! Trust me, you are going to want this! I am totally crazy about anything that comes from We R Memory Keepers - including all their other punch boards (I have 'em all)! But, they've outdone themselves with this one.... A FLOWER punch board! Yeah! It makes 7 different sizes of flowers! They are so innovative and creative!

Here's a shot of my finished flowers... The polka dot paper is from the We R Memory Keepers Hello Life 12x12 scrapbook kit from Theresa Collins. That's new too, and it's beautiful! 

 

 

What could be more cheery than a polka dot flower with a bright yellow center!? 

 

 

 

The paper sizes are printed right onto the punch board so you always know what size paper to cut for the size of flower you want... 

 

 

It works similar to all the other boards...punch score, score and then repeat the steps until you get to the end of your paper strip. 

 

 

After your paper strip is scored, it's just a matter of folding along the score lines until a flower takes shape! 

 

 

There is a small tool included that helps you roll the tips of your petals to make them rounded... GENIUS I tell ya! Perfect. 

 

 

Here is my completed flower. If you want the flower to lay flat (for a scrapbook page or a card, you leave all the petals in. If you want the flower to pop up like this one, remove one of the petals and glue it together! 

 

 

And, really cool, you can add stems and centers!! Here is a photo of the pieces to complete a flower on a stem! The stems are soft and have a wire inside so you can wrap them around something or bend them to your liking. 

 

 

Here's a shot of the back....

 

 

And my flower is done....almost! See that nice flat green center? Well...We R Memory Keepers made beautiful glossy dots to go on top of them to finish it off just right! More in a second...

 

 

The scoring tool and the petal rounding tool fit into the back of the punch board for storage and to make sure they don't get lost. 

 

 

Here are the pretty dots for flower centers!!! LOVE. Serioulsy right?? The dots come in three different color packs. I chose the sunny yellow for my flowers. 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this product review as much as I have enjoyed sharing with you! The punch board will be available later in the Spring so keep your eyes open at your favorite craft store. I am so excited to see all the fabulous ideas that are sure to come from this neat new tool! Have a wonderful day everybody! 

Taylored Expressions February Stamp of the Month Cards!

Hey there friends! I'm back today to share some more cards I made with the fabulous Stamp of the Month and Key Ingredients kits from Taylored Expressions! It's all about birthdays this month with the TE Kits, and that means stamps and papers perfect for every month of the year!  CLICK HERE to read about all the different kits, and how you can get your stamp of the month! The matching dies are perfection. 

First up is a birthday card made using both kits! I absolutely am crazy about these tiny present dies with the ribbon dies so you can make a different color!! I had a lot of fun cutting them out and assembling them for a nice big present stack!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is a one-step-stamping card that is soft and pretty! How cute are those polka dot balloon stamps! EEEK! I chose some pretty Spring ink colors and some pretty lavender paper....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for coming by! Make sure to check out the Kits page over at Taylored Expressions - you're gonna love 'em! 

  

 

    

 

Happy Valentine's Day 2014! Sharing some treats today!

Happy Heart Day!! It's another Valentine's Day again! Hope you have a sweet and lovely day filled with treats and hugs!! The hubs and I will be going to an early dinner at PF Chang's after he picks me up from the office and I cannot wait! YUM. Just a low key celebration for us - our 21st Valentine's Day together! 

Today I'm sharing some treats I made for my sweet work friends. I used some gorgeous and cool chevron treat bags I got at Paper Source. I filled them with Hershey's kisses and had fun decorating then with all kinds of red and silver goodies. I really love to make treats like this. So pretty and kind of old fashioned. 

All the kisses were on my crafting table, so I couldn't resist getting my camera out and taking some close ups. They are so shiny and bright!  

 

 

Here are a few of my treat bags...I didn't photograph all of them - but they are all similar and used the same stack of supplies. Don't you love those chevron bags???? I have them in hot pink, and blue too!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 BIG HUGS AND BIG KISSES TO YOU

MY BLOGGY FAMILY!

HAPPY HEART DAY! 

 

Stencil hearts Valentines!

It's almost Happy Heart Day! Valentine's Day is gonna be here quick, and I still have lots to share with you for this most fun holiday! Today I am sharing some cards I made using a new Hearts Stencil from Tim Holtz that I have been wanting for a while. I bought some beautiful Cherry Pie Dylusions Spray Ink and got myself messy! LOL. I also just bought this pretty new die set from Amy Tangerine...and it was a match. These cards are not my usual style, but I am trying new things lately and trying to get out of my creative box. Let me know what you think! 

 

 

 

The 'red' one is with the ink undiluted straight from the bottle, and the 'pink' one happened when I diluted the ink with some water. They are both pretty I think...just different. I could have some real fun with this technique!! (I should not be left unsupervised with the spray ink!). 

 

 

In that pretty die collection is this AWESOME die that is X's and O's in a row. OMG I am crazy for this! I used some very sparkly gold paper for one and some rich black paper for the other one. The dies are mounted on my cards with foam tape. 

 

 

I like how the ink sort of spattered and speckled like this and it's random and funky. My card bases are made from watercolor paper to absorb the ink. I sprayed the watercolor paper with plain water first and blotted it dry so that the edges would bleed out some. 

 

 

 

Here is the ink bottle - and my mixer bottle with the water. This ink is the prettiest shade of red! 

 

 

I taped the stencil down with some washi tape and spattered away! I was going for an ombre effect but I think I was too heavy handed on the top ones... Warning - this is SUPER messy!! I had to completely clean my craft table with bleach after!! 

 

 

 

This is what my paper looked like right after I took the stencil off. OOOOOHHHHHHH! 

 

 

Now to clean up the crime scene...LOL...

 

 

I ended up making four versions - just to try out different things. The one on the upper right of the photo is extra wet! I sprayed the hearts after I took the stencil off too - kinda like it! 

 

 

Here is something else fun I wanted to share! If you CLICK HERE ON THE RANGER WEBSITE you can download a printable color chart for your Distress Inks. I printed it out on some really heavy cardstock and had a blast stamping on it. Now, I thought I had every color...but it turns out I'm missing eight! Need to remedy that! LOL. I use a white Sharpie marker to write on the edges of my ink pads so I can find the color I need, when they are all in a stack. How do you store your ink pads?? That's a never ending thing at my house...

 

 

Here is my pretty chart!!

Have a great day everyone!! Thanks for coming by my blog to say howdy! XO

Taylored Expressions January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

 

Hi bloggy friends!!! It's that time again - time for the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop from Taylored Expressions. Don't ya just love it? I do! The Stamp of the Month for this month is all about birthday fun. The Key Ingredients kit is awesome and the colors are perfect for a guy or gal, and for any age group. Fab. Here's my card for today: 

 

 

Had lots of fun stamping the candles and then making a POW embellishment with the awesome Pinking Circles dies. I added some fun banners and stars.... 

 

 

 

Here are my layers! 

 

As you know, I LOOOOVE playing along with the Key Ingredients Team - THEY ROCK! Here is your link list for all the great projects for today! Have fun! 

• Amy Crockett
• Cassie Trask
• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Monika Davis
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Tracy Clemente
• Wanda Guess

  

InLinkz.com

Clean and Simple Valentine...

Happy Sunday my bloggy friends! How are you? It's been raining cats and dogs here for three days and we are super glad it's finally raining. It's been very very dry here all Fall and Winter and the water is a welcome sight. Yesterday we were out shopping and running around in the rain and today we are home with a fire in the fireplace and some coffee. Ahhhhh Sundays.... 

One of my goals for this year is to get back into entering card challenges...to, well, challenge myself! And I love the comraderie of everyone blogging and creating together. I have always admired all the cards on the CAS-ual Fridays blog. So, I decided to enter their current challenge. CLICK HERE to enter your own card! 

Here's my Clean and Simple Valentine! 

 

 

A close up of my elements...I like the shabby chic elements against that bright white! It's really different. Normally I would use a kraft, or even a patterned paper....but it's all about trying new things today! 

 

 

 

And a side view... My heart is popped up on foam tape and then the love word die is lightly tacked down with some clear Tombow glue. 

 

 

 

And, the top down view! 

 

 

Here are my supplies that I could link to... The Love word die is from Stampin' Up and the White Woodgrain paper is from The Paper Garden Boutique. The clip was in my stash! Everything else, just click on the links! 

InLinkz.com

 

You've been framed! A fun frame project!

Hi friends! I have been absolutely dying to share this project with you! But, I had to wait until the recipients all got their packages this week! This was truly a labor of love and I am so happy with the result. You know how every once in a while something turns out exactly like you wanted it to? Yeah, that happened here! This idea was in my head even on the drive home from CHA! I had the best time with my amazing friends from Taylored Expressions and I wanted to make everyone a present to remember the week! I ordered prints of the great photo someone took of all of us in the TE Booth that first morning of CHA...

This project happened in stages, and it took me a while. First off, it took a while to find the exact frames I had in my mind. I wanted the whole shabby-chic thing going on. I found my frames at Aaron Brothers finally and they turned out great! Then I chose the right shade of aqua blue spray paint... Well, you'll see! Here is a photo of the finished frame and matching tag....

 

 

 

Here is just the frame...

 

 

And just the tag... I love these mini wallet prints!! 

 

 

 A close up of my flowers and banner....

 

 

 

 

 

Here is what the frames looked like before I painted them!!!! (I think we are cuter than the couple in the frame, don't you??) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after some Blue Ocean Breeze....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to clean all the glass and put the photos inside! 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut out tons of flowers using my Tattered Floral Die from Tim Holtz....that's always a favorite!! I use this die so much! I chose some pretty gingham and a soft floral in the matching colors. I chose this color scheme because it is the Taylored Expressions color scheme and all our shirts match! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glued all my flowers together with some pretty button centers...

 

 

 

Now for the tags! I cut some of the paper into strips and then edged them with my FAVORITE scallop scissors... They are for fabric, and they cut paper like buttah! 

 

 

 

Next up, cut out the tags on the big shot using the Taylored Expressions tag die...

 

 

 

Here are my tags ready to decorate!

 

 

 

I put some eyelets on the holes and mounted my mini photos, and then added a teeny banner...

 

 

For the banners for the frames, I printed them out on the computer using a nice clean and simple font. Then I cut them out with a banner die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made Taylor's frame an 8x10 size. The rest are 5x5 size. This big frame came already painted the perfect color and I loved it right away! I think it looks like the TE logo! I didn't have to paint this one either.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making projects like this is exactly why I love being a crafty girl! I love being able to make the perfect thing to give as a gift and to make other people smile. I hope that you enjoyed this photo tutorial, and hope I've inspired you to try something like this! The possibilities are endless really! Have a super duper weekend everyone. Lots of love! 

 

Taylored Expressions February 2014 Release Day - Moka Shannon!

Hi! It's RELEASE DAY! Yeah! The Taylored Expressions February Release products are all now available in the TE Store! Have fun shopping today. Don't you want it all? What is your favorite thing? Are you crazy about all the new cutting plates? I am! I have one last project for the week and it's a fun one. Remember last year when Taylor came out with Moka Wanda? The crafty girl named after me? (smile) Well....now there's a cute new Moka Shannon named after our very own Design Team gal Shannon White, and she's ready to party for St. Patrick's Day!

I had tons of fun coloring her in with my Copics and then giving her a nice bright background of green and yellow from the Doodlebug Day to Day paper pack! Here is my card:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, that's it for the week I'm afraid... I always hate to see Release Week come to an end. It's a fun, frenzied week and I love it. Be sure to hop on over to all the other Design Team blogs and see what they made to share today. Have a happy day!

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 Supplies:  

InLinkz.com

 

 

Taylored Expressions February 2014 Sneak Peeks - Wispy Wishes & Big Bold Easter!

WOOT WOOT! Day three of Taylored Expressions February Release Week is here! Happy dance! Have you been enjoying everything so far this week? You only have to wait one more day until everything is available for purchase in the TE Store. Can you stand it? I love this release! So many cute things for us to create with.

I have two projects today - both are cards - and I'm happy to share with you again. First up is a classy and subdued birthday card and the other is a bright and cheery Spring card. First up....drumroll please...Taylor has come out with a feather stamp set with matching dies! YAY! It's called WIspy WIshes. I cannot even tell you how PERFECTLY the feather dies work with the stamps. Love at first sight really....

Here is my birthday card:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next card for today was made with the Big Bold Easter Stamp Set and it has gorgeous sentiments. I chose one and made that my focal point...then had loads of fun using lots of dies for a collage effect. Also, you are going to LOVE the new Floral Eyelet Border Die featured! Check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

I just kept cutting out pieces of patterned paper and putting them together different ways until I liked it. I used lots of foam squares to pop up different parts of the card. This was a fun one to make!

 

 

 

 

Here are your links for today's fun!  

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

 

 

Taylored Expressions February 2014 Sneak Peeks - Spring is in the Air!

Hi There! Thanks for coming back for Day 2 of the fantastic Taylored Expressions February Release week! We have lots more sneak peeks for you today! I am so excited to share a cute card with you. I had so much fun making this one. Squeeeee! New matching dies for a previously released stamp set - gotta love that! The stamp set is called "Hello Spring" and it has the most adorable images. Now you can perfectly cut out the stamps with the matching dies. And I did just that! Here's my card.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for joining me today! Two more days of projects tomorrow and Thursday - be sure to come back. And...for your crafty pleasure....please be sure to go look at the inspiration from the talented ladies I am so proud to work with!  

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Regina Mangum
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

Supplies for today:

InLinkz.com

 

 

Taylored Expressions February 2014 Sneak Peeks - Graphic Greetings St. Patrick's Day & Sack-it Chick!

Hi there my crafty and creative friends! It's the first week of the month...and you know what that means! It's time for the awesome Taylored Expressions February release! Yay! Thanks for coming by today, and please remember to come by each day this week until all the new products are up for sale on Thursday morning. Fabulous! This month's release has fun stamps and dies for St. Patrick's Day and Spring and Easter. There's something for everyone. The Baker's Dozen Design Team has so many things to show you!

Today I have two projects to share. First up is a St. Patrick's Day card - and my other project is a happy chick Spring tag that would be perfect on an Easter basket.

Here is my St. Patrick's Day card:

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are FOUR new cutting plates being released this month! YEAH! For my St. Patrick's Day card I used the one called "Scribbles" to make an interesting background for my sentiment image. The sentiment of course is from the Graphic Greetings line of stamps - which are a total fav. I used the tiny shamrock from the Tiny Toppers Dies set to accent my sayings.

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is my fun Spring Tag made using the Sack-it Chick! There are several new Sack-it items this month too. I know a lot of you really love these! I do too! I put together my chickee and added a nice saying from the new Eggstra Special Stamp Set!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the links to the Baker's Dozen blogs so you can see allllll the projects we're sharing. Have fun hop hop hopping! Until tomorrow....

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 Here are my supplies for today (without the new stuff - ya gotta wait til Thursday!)

InLinkz.com