A Blog Called Wanda: March 2014

Taylored Expressions April 2014 Sneak Peeks - Sketched Blooms & Various Vases!

Yowza! How fast is this year flying by? You know how I know how fast a month goes by?....because it's time for Taylored Expressions Release Week again! Yep, it's time for four days of fun and sneak peeks and contests and all kinds of good stuff, courtesy of the Bakers Dozen Design Team and Taylored Expressions! Are you ready?

Today I am sharing two cards with you. They are totally different in styles, and showcase at least six new products that will be released on Thursday morning. (All the April Release items will be available in the TE store at 7am on Thursday!)

First up is a clean and simple watercolor card made with the new Sketched Blooms Stamp Set and new Labels Stacklets 8. I am really into watercoloring right now...and these flowers were the perfect thing to watercolor with Distress Inks.

Pretty and sweet and feminine! I love these flower stamps. I used the new Labels Stacklets 8 to make my layers. I popped the focus layer on some foam tape instead of doing the traditional layering. I kinda like it. Here you can see that my watercoloring was free and messy. No need to be a perfectionist here. I used my Distress Ink Pads and a watercolor brush.

This would be pretty as a set....so maybe I need to make some more of them! LOL. Perfect for any occasion with that sweet sentiment.

My second card for today features the cool new Various Vases Dies.... It's funny...when I get ready to sit down and make all my Design Team Projects each month, I lay all the new products out on my table and kind of stand there and see what 'speaks' to me. As soon as I saw these vases and the new Silhouette Stemps dies...a whole Palm Springs, Mid Century vibe came to me... That's what I tried to create in my card - a retro vibe. What do you think?

I used the Spotted Cutting Plate to make a cool background and then made the vases out of fun and funky 70's colors.

I layered two vases in order to avoid them being bumpy because of the circles layer. I put foam tape in between my layers. I lightly inked the edges of my vases with some Linen Distress Ink. This helps them pop off the page a bit more.

Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with some fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE Blog Sneak Peek Day this week for details on how you can enter to win!

Here are your links for today's Sneak Peeks! Have FUN!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (14)

Super Sized Hug!!

Hey!!! I'm here today to share a SUPER fun card with a SUPER sized hug! LOL! Last weekend I had time in the stamp room to sit and color and it was wonderful! I made this card to enter the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge CLICK HERE. I love it when the theme is "Anything Goes" and I got out all my Paper Smooches stamps to see what I wanted to make. Well, with the warmer weather, I thought picnic! I got out the "Think Fast" set and the "Alfreso" set and colored up some cute food!

I am loving this trend that I'm seeing on blogs and Pinterest - to set your top layer of your card at an angle - and decided to give that a try. Of course I chose some red and white gingham to go with my picnic theme. I kinda like it all together! Clean and Simple and FUN. My food images are mounted with foamt tape onto the card. If you look close, you can see that I added touches of glossy accents to parts of the images.

Um, yeah, I used a LOT of markers on these!! It is so therapeutic for me to sit and color and concentrate. I really love that.

SUPPLIES:

InLinkz.com

Posted at 05:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (6)

With enough caffeine...

Hi Friends!! It's time for my Taylored Expressions Die Focus post for this month...and this month I'm featuring the versatile and fun File Folder Die! It's perfect for all kinds of work projects, top secret memos and other things. I work full time, and I like to make cards for my co-workers so I love mixing and matching the office related stamps and dies. (Full Supply List at the bottom of my post). And, of course, I love coffee! LOL.

Here's my card:

I made a stack of files and mounted them on my card with foam tape. Then I did some paper piecing with the coffee mugs...and added a notepaper!

The papers are perfect for work! They are from the March Key Ingredients Kit!

I love this sentiment! Now...off to get a cup o' coffee! Have a great day!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (9)

Go with the flow! And...Winner Announcement!

Hi there my sweet crafty friends! How are you today? Hope you're been having a great week so far. I am here today to share a fun card and also to announce the winner of the awesome prize package from Ellen Hutson that went with Saturday's blog post!

Let me tell you...the winner of this prize package is LUCKY! So...without further ado...the randomly selected winner is....Comment number 14 - which is Sharon Hayes! I will be passing on your email address to Ellen Hutson so she can work out the details with your address, etc. CONGRATULATIONS SHARON! WOOT WOOT WOOT! There were 104 total comments - thank you everyone!

I have to really take a minute to reflect on the very lovely, kind and wonderful comments you guys left for me here on my blog and also in the CLASSroom. It was so touching to me to hear from so many people, and I read EVERY comment. You guys sure know how to make a girl feel good! And I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is why I blog - right here - kindness and creativity. Thank you for taking the time to write and I will be working on some of the ideas you suggested. Guest Designing for Ellen was such a nice experience.

Without further ado...I have a fun and whimsical card for today made with a CUTE new stamp from Hero Arts as the focus. A whale! You guys know I loooooove nautical, anchors, whales, shells, etc. etc. I combined all that into one card! (I even have a separate area in my craft room that has all my nautical stuff!!)(Maybe a little obsessed) This little whale carries a good message too...go with the flow...

I had so much fun combining papers and textured on this card! The whale was embossed with a dark gray embossing powder and then cut out and mounted with foam tape on some circles. The layout is a sketch by the wonderful Jen Shults and I used it to enter her Deconstructed Sketch #142 challenge!

I adore these teeny tiny word stickers from Studio Calico! I edged everything with Linen Distress ink, including the stickers.

I made a bow out of some thicker twine and then glued a pretty silver shell on the top! The shell is an old embellishment from Making Memories.

Here's a side view to show how I mounted everything onto the card...

My supplies! Isn't that stamp the CUTEST thing ever??

Here is the sketch layout - it's a keeper for sure!! Thanks Jen, for always making such great sketches for us...you ROCK!!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 12:05 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (7)

TE Stamp of the Month - part 2!

Hello! Welcome back for another installment and creation for the Taylored Expressions March Stamp of The Month! All month long, the Design Team will share projects with you on our blogs to showcase the newest edition to the Stamp of The Month! Today I'm sharing a birthday card! I am really into anything with arrows right now - no particular reason why either - I just think they're cool! LOL. CLICK HERE to go to the information page to learn about SOTM!

Here is my funky birthday card! (I LOVE that heart paper don't you?)

Now the arrow die isn't really that long, so I created an optical illusion.... I cut the arrows in half and then glued each half just underneath the circle!

I also really like this new skinny striped washi tape from Doodlebug! Comes in every color of the rainbow all in one package. Yummy...

SUPPLY LINKS!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 PM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (4)

St. Patrick's Day Cards - CAS style!

Top O' the morning to you my crafty friends! I hope that you find a pot o' gold at the end of your rainbow today! Best wishes for a fun and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My St. Pat's cards for this year were inspired my lovely and talented friend Shannon White, who is one of my fellow Design Team gals at Taylored Expressions. She made THIS CARD for release week and I just loved it! Today I'm sharing my version of her cute card!

Here is my card:

The cute little shamrock die and the Lucky word die and the tiny leaves are all from Taylored Expressions! The ADORABLE little pocket is from WPlus9!! EEEP! I popped the pocket on some foam tape and then added my greenery, then glued the word partially on the pocket. SO fun!

Well, I made a bunch of cards....so I was die cutting teeny pieces for quite some time! Here are my die cuts all ready for assembly.

And you know my trick for perfectly matching pearls....get your Copics out! These are YG25! Color them right on your backing piece and then they are easy to just peel off when you're ready.

Tiny jean pockets! I used Tim Holtz Kraft Core cardstock and then sanded part of the die to make it look like denim.

Thanks for popping by!

I'm LUCKY to have you as my bloggy friends!

Wanda

Posted at 01:00 PM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (7)

Big Fun - I'm the Guest Designer in the Ellen Hutson CLASSroom!

Today is an exciting day for me! I am the Guest Designer in the Ellen Hutson CLASSroom! How fun is that? Big fun - that's what I say! My project and tutorial feature fabulous products from Taylored Expressions and I think you're going to like it! A bright and cheerful card for Spring. If you're hopping on over to my blog from the CLASSroom - thank you, and welcome! I'm happy to see you here!

If you didn't come over from the CLASSroom, here's a sneak peek at my card:

To see all the photos of my card and the tutorial about how to make it - CLICK HERE to head over to the CLASSroom!

AND, in honor of my guest designer gig, Ellen Hutson has very generously allowed me to have a contest for an awesome product giveaway so you can make your own window card! Thanks Ellen!

All you have to do to be eligible to win the prize package is leave a comment here on my blog any time between now and midnight on March 19th. On the 20th I will announce the winner here! Sound good? For your comment, I would love it if you would let me know what techniques or tips you would like to see me post here on A Blog Called Wanda. Thank you and GOOD LUCK!

Here is a photo of the prize:

I hope you have a wonderful day my crafty pals! Don't forget to leave a comment to win! Thank you!

Posted at 12:01 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (105)

Hey Sugar!

Hey Sugar! Hee hee! What's happening? Spring is in FULL bloom here in Northern California and I have the itchy eyes to prove it! I'm not complaining, though, because it's been so gorgeous outside the past few days. Last weekend I organized a little stamping shindig at my local stamp store. Well, I never show up empty handed to see my crafty friends - so on Saturday I decided to make some lemon cupcakes to bring. Well...I also never make anything without decorating it! LOL.

I knew right away I had to decorate my cupcakes with some super cute stamps from Paper Smooches! I picked (get it) this adorable lemon from one set and the sentiment from another set (supply list at the bottom)! I use cake pop sticks when I make my little cupcake decorations. I like using those because they're white and they're sturdy. They are also inexpensive and available at Michael's!

Seriously...how can you NOT smile when you see this stamp? It's fruitastic! I'm smiling again just writing this right now.

Here are my little cuppies just out of the oven in all their goldeny goodness. Man, I love me a cupcake. Don't you?

Stamping and cutting....

And coloring....

And coloring some more...

Here are my Copic color choices for this project...

EEEEEP! A sweet lemon with some red lips! I cut the white circle out of a punch and then mounted my lemon and leaves with some foam tape. I used yellow circles for the back side of the image and then glued them together around the sticks.

Oh...and then you know I had to add some sparkly stickles!

I used my fabulous cupcake wrapper die from Taylored Expressions to wrap the bottoms of some of the cupcakes. SO easy...cut and wrap! No gluing needed.

Here is the die and some of the cuts... Perfect, right? Love this die!

And I leave you with a shot from our front yard right now! The tulips are blossoming and they make me so happy with their cheery faces each morning. They don't last nearly long enough and I'm enjoying them while I can. Have a sunny day my friends!

SUPPLIES:

InLinkz.com

Posted at 04:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (9)

Taylored Expressions March 2014 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

It's that time!! Taylored Expressions Blog Hop to introduce the newest, latest and greatest Stamp of the Month and Key Ingredients Kits! This month is a cute spinner stamp set with matching dies. Oh, and I adore the paper collection for this month too! TOO fun! I made an easel card which is always a favorite and it's just a happy, cheery hello card! Hope you are having a great day and hope you enjoy our combined Bakers Dozen and KI Team Hop today!

The Key Ingredients Kit comes with these neat wooden pieces. I stamped right on the word bubble one and I really like how it looks! These colors are awesome and everything matches so nicely.

Here are the links for today to everyone's amazing blogs! I know I'm excited to see what everyone else made! Have a good time checking 'em out...and take care until we meet again! XO

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (11)

Retro Sketches #104...I like you!

Hi there my crafty friends! I'm so glad you came by today! it's FRIDAY! WOOT WOOT! Every chance I get I try to do a card challenge, and one of my favorites is Retro Sketches! I LOVE their sketches and get so much inspiration from their awesome team. The other night I was sitting at my stamping desk surrounded by my F-U-N new stamps and dies and papers from Lawn Fawn and I saw this sketch - and a card was born! CLICK HERE to go to the Retro Sketches blog to see all the other cards! I am just getting mine in under the wire....whew!

Here is my entry!

And here is the awesome sketch!

In this close up, you can see that the sun and cloud dies have stitch marks! EEEP! I put a sweet smiley face onto the sunshine!

I created my own sentiment using one of the stamps from the "Let's Roll" stamp set. (Stamps, dies and papers are from Lawn Fawn - click the links at the end of my post).... I do that a lot - customize word stamps. It's so easy with clear stamps.

The stamp says I like the way you roll! I stamped just the I like you part! Use a small ink pad to get just into the area you want to stamp.

You would never guess that the stamp set is sushi! LOL. I used the tiny smile, the heart, and the sentiment. This set is totally adorable.

Trying to figure out my card, based on the sketch...and here are all the pieces. AND how cute are those teeny rainbows on the paper!!!

This makes me happy....

Have a super fantabulous day my friends! XOXO

SUPPLY LINKS!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (10)

Taylored Expressions March 2014 Release Day - Welcome Home!

It's Taylored Expressions March Release Day! WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO! Everything is now available in the TE Store! I hope you will go and shop and buy some pretty new stamping things to inspire you! I'm ending the week with one last project - made with new dies and stamps. The stamp set is called Welcome Home and the new dies are called Build a House. OMG tooooo adorable!! I made a sweet scene for a housewarming card and used some bright fresh colors from Doodlebug.

These dies are entirely too adorable. You can make an entire village! Trees, fences, houses, lamp posts, eeep! The stamps match the dies too.

I stamped and die cut my sentiment banner and then added some soft matching color with my Copic markers. Lots of foam tape on this card!

Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with some fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE Blog each Sneak Peek Day this week for details on how you can enter to win.

Okay friends! That's it for me for Release Week! Here is your link list for today. We have our fabulous guest designer Jami joining us this week!! Yay! Have a marvelous day!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (9)

Taylored Expressions March 2014 Sneak Peeks - In Flight Cutting Plate and Big Bold Thanks!

Hello friends! TE March Release Week rolls on! It's day three of our fun week and tomorrow is the BIG DAY! All the new products go for sale in the TE Store tomorrow morning. Are you excited? What are you liking the best? Today I'm using my favorite product from this release - the In Flight Cutting Plate! OOOOOH, you know I love butterflies and this is the coolest thing ever! The new cutting plate has matching butterfly dies so you can add colors and patterns to your card.

I cut out the cutting plate in nice thick white cardstock and then cut out lots of colored butterflies with the matching dies. Then I had fun creating a butterfly rainbow! How neat is it that the cut out butterflies pop off the page. I think Taylor knocked it out of the park with this one.

The sentiment is from the Shade Tree Sentiments set. It is a long sentiment so I masked off each word separately and stamped them on top of each other so it would fit in that spot. And, then you know I had to add some bling! LOL.

In keeping with the bright and colorful theme for today, here is a second card using new flower dies called Bloomin' Stacklets 2. These are going to be a staple for sure! I love this citrus green with black - so graphic. This was a fun card to put together. HAPPY!

Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with some fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE Blog each Sneak Peek Day this week for details on how you can enter to win.

Here is your linky list for today - be sure to check out everyone else's blogs!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (13)

Taylored Expressions March 2014 Sneak Peeks - P&P April Script!

Welcome to Day Two of Taylored Expressions March Release Week! More new products to showcase and more projects from the Bakers Dozen Design Team! Yeah! Today I am sharing a happy Spring card made with the new Bloom Where You're Planted Dies (LOVE) and the new script word dies for April - from our Pockets and Pages collection.

I made this cute and funky flowers with the new dies and popped them up on some foam tape. The Doodlebug sprinkles make the perfect flower centers! Don't you love all this color!!?? I combined part of a word stamp with the script die...fun!

Here is a side view of my layers. I gently turned up the flower petals with my fingers to make them pop! This paper pad is a new favorite! It's from Pink Paislee and it's already available in the TE Store. All the new stamps and dies go for sale on Thursday morning!

Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with some fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE Blog each Sneak Peek Day this week for details on how you can enter to win.

Here are your link lists for today! Hop around and see what's up on everyone else's blogs! Have a great day, and thank you for joining us for TE Release Week!

InLinkz.com

Posted at 07:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (8)

Taylored Expressions March 2014 Sneak Peeks - Shade Tree Scripture and Chunky Alpha!

Hi and Welcome! It's time to kick off another fun and fabulous Taylored Expressions Release Week! We do this every month - four days of sneak peek projects brought to you by the Taylored Expressions Design Team. On Thursday, all the new products will be available for purchase in the TE Webstore! I hope you will come back each day and check out all the projects!

Today I'm sharing two projects made with new items! The first project is a sympathy card made with the beautiful Shade Tree Cutting Plate and new Shade Tree Scripture sentiment stamps. I love this new font and you'll see more of it during the week.

I love to watercolor with my Distress Inks! Just put a little ink on your craft mat or on a stamping block, add water, and paint! It's that easy! I used watercolor paper here. In order to get my sentiment I embossed it first in clear embossing powder. That way it will resist the color! Easy and fun!

When I finished the card I thought it needed just a tiny pop of color - so I made this pretty pink butterfly with the new dies.

My next project is a clip board that I made for one of my friends. She has lots of stamping ideas so I made her a pretty clipboard to keep in her stamp room! I just took a plain clipboard and covered it with some red cardstock. I added some of the awesome new Chunky Alpha letters and a flower! Such a cool project.

Taylored Expressions is celebrating Release Week with some fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE Blog each Sneak Peek Day this week for details on how you can enter to win.

That's it for me today! I hope you will hop on around to all the other designers' blogs and see their projects too. Lots of inspiration today - and the rest of the week.