A Blog Called Wanda

Seashells...

Hi crafty friends! I'm super excited to share my project with you this afternoon! I have been in the crafty cave creating a mess and having a good time! I am so inspired by the ocean lately! Today I'm showcasing some new stamps from Tim Holtz - stamps that I have been SO wanting ever since CHA back in January! Sketch images of sea life and sea shells! Can I get a woot woot!!?? So fabulous, really. I got out my new stamp sets and some watercolor paper, and ALLLLLL my distress inks... And this is what happened! 

 

 

 

 

The #journey stamp is from a new Tim Holtz set called Hashtags! LOVE. I stamped all my images, including the sentiment, with dark brown Memento Ink. For the little banner, I hand cut it out, with a rough edge and watercolored it to match the rest of the card. 

 

 

 

I found this cool new product at the most recent Rubber Stamp Convention....sand in a jar! I spread some around and let it dry at the bottom of the card. You might also be seeing a glimmer of "spun sugar" distress glitter! A pretty, soft pink. I put that on with my finger and swirled it around so it would be 'messy' like sand also.

 

 

 

Here is a side view so you can see how I layered my pieces. The sand dollar and sea horse are popped up with foam tape. Everything else is glued down with crystal effects. 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the sand....

 

 

 

I started this project by stamping everything on nice thick watercolor paper. Then I used a water brush and my Distress Ink pads to color all the images. After everything was dry, I hand cut out the smaller images. 

 

 

 

Here is a shot of the sand container and the spun sugar glitter... yummy! 

 

 

 

I like to call this "girly grunge" because I love the look of grunge but I loooooove color too! This is my take on combining the two styles. I probably used twenty colors of ink! I kept adding more and more and more! One trick with watercoloring - let it dry! Sometimes I will really not like how something looks, and then when it dries - I love it! Leave it alone for a minute and then come back to it. 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog!
Best wishes for a happy week ahead! 

 

 

It's happy hour somewhere!!! Two challenges in one!!!

Hey friends! Woot woot! It's already Thursday, which is one day away from FRIDAY! Whew, this has been kind of a bad week and I have a head cold to add to the fun. I knew that I wanted to stamp tonight but I didn't know what I wanted to make. I started surfing some of my favorite challenge blogs and came up with a great combo to share with you! I combined the Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge and then used Retro Sketches #111 to make my card. YEAH! 

So I went through all my Paper Smooches stamps and the "Happy Hour Somewhere" sentiment jumped out at me. I wish it was Happy Hour right now at my house! LOL. Anyway, I used lots of stamps from the "Get Outta Town" Paper Smooches set and came up with this fun card....

 

 

 

I looooove to color my Paper Smooches images with my Copics! They are the most fun and cute stamps. For my background paper I used the little palm tree and stamped it in Linen Distress Ink. I hand cut out my little drinks. 

 

 

Here is the awesome sketch! 

 

The drinks are popped up with a little foam tape and then you know I had to add some diamond stickles to the images! SO FUN. The papers are all from Lawn Fawn. 

 

 

 

So, wherever you might be, and whatever you might be doing.... CHEERS! Best wishes for a great ending to your week and a fun weekend ahead! XO

Scenes from a nice weekend!

Hi friends!! I had the most fabulous weekend and I thought I would share some photos with you from it! I don't have a card made and ready to post at the moment, so I hope you won't mind a little photo essay instead. I seriously have not had any quality time in the craft room...and I need to remedy that situation! I am not sure where my mojo is? Have you seen it??

Anyhoo...on about my weekend... Maybe you saw my post last Thursday where I posted a blue and white wedding ensemble for my bride-to-be friend? Well, she is no longer a bride-to-be! Now she is officially a wife! The hubs and I went to the beautiful wedding this weekend in Carmel and we made a weekend out of it. Cool ocean breezes and rest and relaxation. We drove down on Friday morning and came home Sunday night. I did not realize how much I needed a change of scenery. Sometimes I need the ocean so much I can feel it in my bones. It totally restores and renews me. Do you have a place that does that for you?

Here are my ocean pictures from Saturday and Sunday. The waves were HUGE! Maybe the biggest I've ever seen here in these parts. The photos are from Big Sur and also from Pacific Grove. Enjoy. Wish I could make it to where you could hear the waves too.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wedding was so nice and genuine and plain old awesome. I loooooooove weddings! What's not to love? Happiness, loved ones, food, dancing, flowers...it's all good! I captured just a few photos at the wedding. You know, you don't want to be THAT girl that snaps photos the whole time, right? 

My favorite moments at a wedding are always THE kiss... And the moment the bride and groom walk away from the aisle and they are just soooooo happy that they are married. What are your fav moments?  

 

 

I was lucky enough to snap this one as the happy couple were walking away from the ceremony. So sweet. I think I'm tearing up again! 

 

 

And one shot of the gorgeous (and yummy) cake! The colors were blue and white and there were pretty shells everywhere...and hydrangeas. Sigh. 

 

 

 

Here are some more ocean photos I took on Easter morning! See what I mean about those waves? Yowza! They are not normally curling at this spot! So awesome. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a most beautiful week my beautiful bloggy friends! 

 

HAPPY EASTER 2014!

Best wishes for a joyous Easter from my family to yours!

I hope the peace and love of the season fill your hearts with happiness!

HE IS RISEN! 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Ensemble!

Hello friends! Happy Good Friday! It's Easter weekend and a time of reflection and peace. I love Easter and all that it represents to me as a Christian. I hope you and your family have a delightful holiday weekend. Tonight we will be going to church in Carmel for Good Friday Service. 

We are on our way to a wedding weekend for one of my sweet and lovely friends. I'm looking forward to it very much. We're driving down to Carmel today, the wedding is tomorrow, and then we'll drive back home on Easter Sunday. I love weddings... It's just a completely joyous and happy time, and I love getting dressed up and seeing the beautiful bride, and the flowers,  and having some fun! Can't wait! 

My project to share today is the wedding ensemble I made for this weekend's wedding gift. I made a card and matching envelope and gift box to bring with us - in the colors of the wedding. It's so much fun to totally personalize something like this. Makes it even more special! The project also appears over on the Taylored Expressions Blog - since all of the stamps and dies are from Taylored Expressions! Nice! 

Here are the finished pieces: 

 

 

Here is their wedding card. How fabulous is this cutting plate?? It's seriously the most gorgeous die I have ever seen. The PERFECT thing for wedding cards. I also love how it pops with the white and the bright clear blue underneath. 

 

 

 

 

I combined two stamps for the sentiment on the inside of the card....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you know that you can make a box by using your scoring tool? Yep! CLICK HERE for the link to the tutorial I used to make it! Easy peasy!

 

 

 

 

Vellum is always nice for wedding items...

 

 

Here I am using my fabulous envelope punch board to make the matching envelope for my card...

 

 

And designing the label for the envelope....

 

 

 

 

 

Take care my friends!!! XOXO

 

 SUPPLIES: 

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Happy Easter Week!

Happy Sunday everyone and Happy Easter Week! I hope that you are having a great weekend and I hope that you have great plans for the week ahead and for Easter with your friends and families. I always try to get myself in the right frame of mind during this holiest of weeks. Try to slow down, ponder, and reflect on what is important, and the sacrifices made for me. My life has been so hectic (too hectic) the past couple of weeks. This afternoon I had some time in the craft room and thought it was about time I made an Easter project for this year! 

My card for today features the awesome Bunny die from Sizzix (Tim Holtz) and a pretty new sentiment stamp I picked up at my local Paper-Source store. I used the grass border die from Taylored Expressions and a nice polka dot embossing folder.... Hope you like it! 

 

 

 

I used this beautiful aqua blue paper and some bright spring green to offset the brown and white gingham. I used my tiniest oval from my Nestabilities to make the eggs and then used a speckle stamp and some Linen Distress Ink to make them look like robin's eggs! 

 

 

I just totally adore this sentiment stamp! I used Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. I edged everything with Linen Ink. I made one version of the sentiment using lots of color but it just seemed too busy looking so I left it in all brown. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so so much for stopping by today! I hope to get back on a more regular schedule of blogging and crafting in a couple of weeks. My first Taylored Expressions Blog Team post will go live later this week too. XOXO 

A Great big THANK YOU - and an announcement!

I don't even know how to start to write this post...I am filled with mixed emotions and some real sadness... This month is my last month as part of the super fabulous Bakers Dozen Design Team over at Taylored Expressions. I have been a part of the TE Design Team for three years! 36 wonderful release weeks! The time always flies when you're having a great time! Taylor is making the announcement on the TE Blog today also. The demands on my time at my job are increasing and I do not have as much crafty time as I used to. 

But, with this sad news, comes some happy news! Whew. I will be transitioning into a fun and cool new opportunity with Taylored Expressions starting this month. I will be one of the members of the newly formed TE Blog Team! YAY! This is a new challenge and a great new way for me to showcase all the TE products that we love. I'm very excited and really looking forward to this new chapter. My projects for April are already done and I know you're going to like them! 

Before I get too far, I want to say a few public words to my sweet friend Taylor. THANK YOU for the opportunity to be on this amazing team, with these amazing women. THANK YOU for ALL the wonderful products you have so generously given me. THANK YOU for letting me design stamp sets and dies and see them come to life. THANK YOU for your kindness and friendship and support. THANK YOU for being you - because you are just plain awesome. My time on the Bakers Dozen has been a completely positive experience. I am so grateful! 

I thought it would be fun to post some photos of my projects over the years with this post! Three years is a LOT of projects! LOL. Thank you to all of you who have been fans of my TE work! Your comments and emails truly uplift me!

This was the card I made in April 2011 to announce on my blog that I was going to be on the Baker's Dozen Design Team! I still love cuppie after all these years...

 

 

Remember Fruity Friends? I designed this stamp set! 

 

 

I also concepted Moka Wanda - a stamp named after me! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Beach Border Die was also my idea! YAY! Love how it came out. On this card I cut it into sections to put amongst the sand dunes...

 

 

 

 

One of my very favorite TE stamp sets....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for strolling along memory lane with me today. I can't put into words how much the past three years has meant to me. Every ending is a new beginning....let's see what happens next! Mwah! 

Crafter's Companion - Spectrum Noir Markers and Paper Review - and a Birthday Card!

Hello my crafty friends!! I'm here today with a fun and cool thing...a product review! The people at Spectrum Noir were kind enough to send me a set of their Spectrum Noir Art Markers to test out. WOWZA! They were very generous and gave me lots of choices in ink colors, and also some wonderful paper. These markers are alcohol based so the colors blend easily and nicely. They come in color families also, so you can buy one color family at a time, which is a neat way to package!

I got out one of my favorite images from Taylored Expressions to color - the pretty pansies in a teacup - and went to town! I found that the markers were very easy to match and use. They come with a bullet tip and a large, broad tip. You can buy brush tips and change them out if you like. I found that I liked the small bullet tip for getting into those tight areas of coloring. And, I LOVE the paper they sent! The ink sort of glides on top of the paper for a second, so that you can blend before the ink dries. Very cool indeed. 

Here's my finished card:  

 

 

 

The pansies were colored with a few shades of purple and lavendar and I chose a nice aqua shade for the cup and saucer. The sentiment was stamped onto vellum with Stayz-on ink for a crisp look. When I color, I put down my lightest shade of color first. Then I go back over that with at least one other darker shade. Then, I use the lightest shade to blend over the image. 

 

 

 

I cut and colored a second one of the big flowers and popped it on some foam tape to add dimension and interest. I thought about adding glitter, but decided no... Can you see the nice blending of the marker colors? 

 

 

 

I hardly ever use purple....and every time I do I think "why don't I do this more!?" Such a soft and feminine look. I added some Doodlebug Sprinkles to finish off my card. 

 

 

 

Here are all the markers in their stand (the greys are in the smaller package) and the paper pack...

 

 

 

The Spectrum Noir markers come in color families for easy blending. The FS colors will all have the same shade and depth of color...so will the CG, and so on. This is a great system for beginners or experts both! 

 

 

 

I always use Memento ink pads when I color with Alcohol based markers...

 

 

 

Here is my color chart - I do this often when I am trying to pick colors for a project...

 

 

 

And my final marker color selections....

Thank you so much for coming by today! Have a great weekend! We are busy as little bees in our hive this weekend. In between some things we have planned, we are turning our guest room into a home gym! We ordered our treadmill last night and also picked out paint color... The hubs is in there right now getting the room prepped. Can't wait to have it done! XO

 

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Taylored Expressions April 2014 Release Day - You Wonderful Thing!

HELLLLOOOOOOO! It's Release Day for Taylored Expressions! All the new April goodies are now available for purchase in the TE Store! GO shopping! (First look at my card, though!)

We have a new illustrator this month here at TE....and she used to be on the design team! How fun is that? Answer - really fun! Danielle Lounds designed some new stamps this month, and I've used two of them to make today's card: You Wonderful Thing and Cherish Every Moment. Fist pump to Danielle!!

For this card I used a technique that I remember from time to time - coloring with my Copic markers on Kraft Cardstock.... First I embossed my images using white embossing powder and Versamark Ink. The Copics on the Kraft give a really soft and natural look, that I thought matched these images...

 

 

 

 

I cut out my images and put them together. Then I used a white gel pen to add some dots for interest and to 'ground' my pictures. 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for sharing another FUN and FABULOUS TE release week with me! Have a wonderful day everyone! 

Taylored Expressions has been celebrating Release Week with fabulous giveaways! Visit the TE Blog to see the WINNERS announced today!

Here are your links for today! 

• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Danielle Lounds
• Jami Sibley
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kendra Wietstock
• Kerri Michaud
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

 

InLinkz.com

Taylored Expressions April 2014 Sneak Peeks - Stroke of Genius & When Your Heart Speaks!

It's our final day of Taylored Expressions Release Week Sneak Peeks! Tomorrow is RELEASE DAY! We have lots more fun to share with you today and tomorrow, you know, to keep this party going! Are you enjoying all the new stuff? This is an awesome release.

I have two more projects to share today and they both have kind of an 'artsy' theme. There are some great new art-themed stamps sets this month and I used them today. LOVE.

First up is a cream and brown monochromatic card using the set called When Your Heart Speaks. I was going for an old fashioned look with this...and you guys know how much I love text paper!!

 

 

 

 

I used an impression plate on cream paper to make my background. I wanted a little something back there instead of plain paper. I layered my main piece onto some text paper. It was HARD not to color this image!! I'll be coming back to do that on a different card later! 

 

 

 

These flowers are the perfect size for cards! I added Doodlebug sequins for the centers....

 

 

 

 

 

My next project today is a cute and fun mini canvas and easel and a matching note card. This is a fun little gift for a crafty friend I think! The mini easels are already in the TE Store (CLICK HERE) and you could make all kinds of fun things with them! I was thinking they would be really cute for place cards at a dinner or something.... 

 

 

 

Here's a side view so you can see that adorable mini easel and canvas! 

 

 

I want to shout it! Art! 

 

 

The paint spatters in this stamp set are sooooo cool! These could have so many fun uses! I stayed with a primary color palette to make it seem more artsy. Really had fun with this project. 

 

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.

Hop around and see what the Bakers Dozen has to share with you today! 

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

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Taylored Expressions April 2014 Sneak Peeks - Sunshiny Day!

Hi friends! Welcome back to Day Two of our Release Week party for Taylored Expressions! More fun and sneak peeks today and tomorrow, followed by Release Day on Thursday! YEAH! Thanks for joining me here to see what I have for you!

I'm very excited to share today's card - this was SOOO fun to make. This new stamp set is called Sunshiny Day and all the stamps in my card are from that set! I also used some of my favorite TE scene borders - the grass and the fence. (Are you humming the Brady Bunch Sunshine Day song yet???)

I wasn't sure how the final card was going to come together, so first I stamped and cut out all my pieces. Then I colored them in. Then I played with the pieces like Colorforms! Haha. I rearranged everything and finally came up with this layout: 

 

 

My trees and almost everything else are popped up with foam tape squares. And, yes, I cut everything out by hand! 

 

 

 

In order to give some 'shape' to my trees I swept the brush tip of my Copic Marker around the rounded parts of the outline. Can you see that? For the clouds I put just a bit of B21 on them and then swirled the color around with my Blender marker (0). 

 

 

Here are my pieces while I was still deciding on my layout...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Mr. Birdy!! 

 

Thanks for coming by for Day 2 of Sneak Peeks! Be sure to click over to the TE Blog to see what's up over there! Have a great day!

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 fabulous links for today!

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

InLinkz.com