A Blog Called Wanda

Wherever you go...

Hi crafty friends....Happy humpday! How are you this week? I'm having a good week and we are having beautiful weather where I live - so grateful right now to live someplace warm. Good wishes going out to all of my East Coast friends right now. Today I'm sharing a card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog! The theme last week was "Hearts" but I never quite got my stuff together to get a card made for that one... Well, this week the theme is 'Anything Goes' and I decided to make a heart/love card! Everything in my craft room right now is all about hearts and red and pink and cute stuff for Valentine's Day! My card is made using fun stamps and dies from Mama Elephant! LOVE. 

Here is my card - a fun love note or just a general cheer up greeting! How adorable is that red bus?? Yikes, I love these stamps. I added some clouds made with tiny heart printed paper from Lawn Fawn. 

 

 

Be sure to click over to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog to enter your own card this week...and to check out the other awesome entries! 

 

There are matching dies for the bus, the flags and the wheels on the bus! ACK. I raised the flags and the bus with foam squares to pop off the page a little bit. At the last minute I added some tiny hot air balloons in the sky!

 

 

This pretty cloud die is also from Mama Elephant and I stamped my seniment right on the patterned paper.

 

 

I think this is such a nice saying...Wherever you go...

 

 

 

One last view from the side. The card layers are made with the Femme Frames dies from Mama Elephant. Full supply links below.

 

 

Remember....

 

Thanks for popping in to see me today! I'll be in the craft room all weekend this coming weekend! The hubs bought me the DVD's for Season 5 (the current season) of Downton Abbey and I intend to watch the entire thing!! Also, I have been blessed with some really neat guest designer opportunities next month and I need to work on my projects. Can't wait! Hope you have a wonderful day. XOXO 

 

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Papertrey Ink January 2015 Blog Hop - Hearts!

Hey friends! Happy weekend! What are ya doing? I'm having a super busy weekend (spending part of it at work boo) and I'm so excited to be hopping along today in the Papertrey Ink Customer Blog Hop for January! The theme for this month is "hearts" and that is right up my alley at the moment. I really enjoy making Valentine projects - they are so happy and feminine. When I saw the theme for the blog hop I got out one of my most favorite PTI stamp sets of all time - With all my Heart. Man, I love this stamp set. So, it's funny with this one, because I made the glassine bag envelope first! Then I made the card to go inside! I flipped the colors of the hearts and flowers to make it match.

First up, here's my card - kept it flat and clean/simple to go inside the envelope. I chose my colors to be red, pink, cream and kraft. Kind of vintage...

 

 

And here is the glassine bag envelope with the card inside! I folded the top of the bag over and wrapped it with kraft polka dot ribbon. Then I totally went to town adding decorations, stamps, and paper! I love the doily in kraft paper!!

 

Here is the challenge inspiration graphic....Hearts!

I cannot wait to see what everyone else made! So many ideas! 

 

Can you see why I love this stamp set? The hearts, the leaves, and the flowers are all different stamps so you can mix and match the colors easily. For the card I made the heart red and for the envelope I made the heart pink. LOVE. I used an edger die to make the bottom of my cream layer. All the supplies for this post are from Papertrey Ink. 

 

 

I found some pretty pink/cream gingham paper in my stash. Love it with the heart...I stamped my sentiment in rich red ink. I layered another bunch of pink flowers on top of the stamped ones - to add a pop of dimension.

 

 

This card finishes up relatively flat - so it would fit into the envelope. This could also be a good card to mass produce for mailing in a regular envelope. The color possibilities are endless!

 

 

Back to the envelope...can't decide which I like best...the card or the envelope! LOL. I really like to use these glassine bags. They are such a pretty and cool canvas to make any sort of treat. For this I just dumped out all my PTI dies on my table and picked out things that spoke to me.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Here you can see how that nice edge on the card shows through at the bottom of the bag. I did that on purpose to have a pretty compliment to the outside!

So that's it for my PTI Customer Blog Hop entry! I'm going to head off now and see what all the other crafty ladies made! You have all day to enter yours too...why don't ya? It's really such a fun event. Have a great day and a blessed week ahead. Until we meet again... XOXO 

MFT Color Challenge #13 - You Warm My Heart!

Hey friends! I'm here today to share a happy card that I made for the MFT Color Challenge! When I popped over to the MFT blog and saw this beautiful color combination, I wanted to play right away! I went through my MFT stash and found some cute dies and stamps that I hadn't used yet and this is what happened! You warm my heart...just like coffee... LOL. 

CLICK HERE to see the MFT Challenge blog post, and all the other entries! 

Here is my shabby chic version of that gorgeous color combo! I used pretty patterned papers and got out the sewing machine and the distress tool... Full supply links at the bottom of my post. That coffee cut is entirely too fun. LOVE. 

 

Here is the color combination for the challenge: 

 

My coffee cup is die cut from cream cardstock and then gently inked around the edges with Antique Linen Distress ink and a sponge dauber. I about tore my entire craft room apart finding my Fiskars paper crimper!! I knew it was in here somewhere! Good thing I never get rid of anything, because it was perfect to make my coffee cozy! I added a pretty flower in some of the colors.... 

 

 

 

Here's a side shot of my layers. My sentiment is stamped in brown ink to match the feel of the card. I used die cut hears for my flower centers to match the saying. Can you see my mismatched sewing? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my tricks to making cards shabby chic is the fold the corners over like I did here. I use this a lot! Most of the time, there is another pretty color on the back of the paper too! My card base is kraft cardstock. 

 

 

 

 

You have warmed my heart by coming by to see me today! I hope you liked my card, and maybe you will make one of your own? The challenge expires today - but there will be a new one soon! Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

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Felt Heart Valentine Pins!

Hello crafty peeps! Happy Saturday! What are you up to this fine January weekend? Are you crafting? Resting? Finally taking down Christmas decorations? I hope you're having a great Saturday so far. I am still trying to get back into my routine and my real life after being away for a week at CHA. I only went to work on Thursday and Friday - but it seemed like five days! LOL. My crafty mojo has not returned. I have tons of ideas swirling around in my head, but nothing is coming to fruition yet... Hmmmm. Yep, this happens from time to time, and you just have to ride it out. When my mojo has gone missing I usually spend my time in the craft room organizing and catching up on filing and reading... 

Today I'm sharing a project I made for the Taylored Expressions Blog! It was posted there last week. I love how this project came out and I want to share it with you in time for Valentine's Day in case it inspires you to make some too! I made some pretty and cute Valentine pins out of yummy delicious felt. Then I put them with some simple tags - great for my friends. Hope you like 'em! 

I made three different versions. The only thing different is the color of the flowers on the front. All supplies are from Taylored Expressions! All the shapes are cut using dies and my Big Shot - just like you would use for paper! The felt is very thin and tightly woven so it cuts right out perfectly. 

 

 

 

The pin is attached to the tag to make it easy to give as a present! I cut the tag out of cream cardstock and stamped a pretty frame in brown. The edges are lightly inked with Antique Linen Distress ink. 

 

 

 

The pins are slightly puffy - as I added a little bit of quilt stuffing inside. The finished size is about 2.5 inches. Perfect to wear on a jean jacket or a sweater! (or maybe even a hat!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cute sentiment stamped in bright red ink! 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of my yummy felt colors....sigh....

 

 

 

 

I glued sequins on to make my flower centers....

 

 

 

 

A simple blanket stitch makes everything look handmade and homemade. I used a cream colored shiny embroidery floss - available at any craft store. If you don't know how to do a blanket stitch, there are lots of youtube videos - and it's very easy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first on is finished! I added a tiny bit of embroidery floss to the leaves too. This is a very tiny die, and that felt cuts like a dream... The flowers were glued on to the hearts with fabric glue. 

 

 

 

 

Here is the back...

 

 

 

 

Assembly line! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for coming by to see my project! Hope you will try this super fun project! Have a blessed day! XOXO

Here I am! Back home again!

Hi crafty friends! I'm back home after an awesome, amazing, creative, fun, happy trip to LA for the CHA Show! Wow, was I gone six days?? It seemed like a few minutes! Lots of you followed along with me on Instagram and on my Facebook page - thank you! I'm not going to repost all my photos so if you want to look please CLICK HERE for Instagram or CLICK HERE for Facebook. (You DO NOT need to have accounts to see the photos!) Did you miss me? I missed all of you! 

We had rain the first two days of the show, but on Monday the sun came out, so I snapped a shot of the front of the building with the giant CHA sign. This never gets old! I feel so lucky that I am able to attend the show! 

I am still processing everything I saw and did. I'm so happy about seeing all my wonderful crafty friends and about meeting new ones. I just truly enjoyed myself and my spirits are lifted. Nothing like hugging a million other creative people to boost your mood and inspire you! The show was awesome, as always. So much to see and do and absorb. I can't believe I have to go back to work, I mean reality, tomorrow. One thing I really concentrated on this year was 'connecting' with people. TRULY connecting. I really wanted to stand and talk to people and make that connection. I also made myself get IN the photos this year - and I'm really glad I did. So, sorry if you saw too much of my mug! Us photographer types are sometimes not keen to get in front of that lens. I'm trying. 

My favorite tool from the show is the new FUSE tool from We R Memory Keepers. CLICK HERE. Of course, I love everything from Sizzix and Tim Holtz that's new. And brand new ink colors of Distress Ink! One new one is coming every month. CLICK HERE. Cracked Pistachio is even more gorgeous in person! I love the new "I AM" collection of papers from Simple Stories.... LOVE all the new stamps from Lawn Fawn this year. It's too hard to pick favorites!! 

It was super fun this year to see my projects in the different Tim Holtz venues - Ideaology, Sizzix and Ranger. I was just thrilled to see other people looking at my projects! What a great experience - and what a kind and down to earth person Tim Holtz is. I made a quick video of the photos of my projects that were at CHA so you can finally see them all! 

 

 

 

Here are some photos of my projects inside each of the booths! First up is the Ideaology Booth, Then Sizzix, then Ranger.

 

 

 

This was the front of the Alterations booth! WOW!!!

 

 

 

Here is Taylor and the crew at the super cute Taylored Expressions Booth! 

 

As you guys know, I drove my car down to LA. On Thursday I made excellent time on the road, so I was able to spend the afternoon at The Getty Museum. It was a nice sunny day and I had a really peaceful time there. I thought I would share some photos of that with you! 

Here is a photo of the very front entrance (It was closing time when I took this, so no people!) GIANT marble steps and statutes. 

 

 

 

Here is the view out the back towards the main gardens. 

 

 

 

This is the main hall, right when you walk inside.

 

 

 

Here is the view of downtown LA from the back deck. You can see the famous round Capitol Records Building and a MetLife blimp. For you non-Californians, that is what smog looks like. YUCK. 

 

 

 

To get to the museum you park in a big parking garage at the bottom of the hill. Then you take the tram up to the top. Very space age and cool. And very beautiful. 

 

 

 

I'm always so interested in paintings and light. I am always looking to see close up how artists use their medium...paint in this case. We can all use their inspiration for our art work!! I am pretty sure (100%) that I could never achieve this with my Copics!! LOL. It's totally amazing to me.

 

 

 

And this painted reflection....and the way the colors fade out into the background....

 

 

 

And these folds in all the clothes. Seriously. 

 

 

 

The famous Van Gogh Irises painting is here at The Getty...

 

 

 

Friday I drove over to Laguna Beach and walked along the ridge at Heisler Park at Sunrise. MAGIC. Complete magic. 

 

So that's a little bit about my trip! I guess I'd better get busy and start making some projects to share!!! My friend MAY FLAUM does the absolute most amazing job of recapping CHA every year. I'm going to send you over to her site to check out her posts from the past few days! XOXO

I'm off to CHA 2015!!

Hi crafty friends! How is your week going? I hope your week, and your new year, are both off to a great start! I'm just popping in today with some news and updates. I was hoping to get one more card made and posted before tomorrow, but I just ran out of time! Tomorrow morning I'm getting up super early and driving to Anaheim for the 2015 CHA Show! I am so beyond excited and ready to get there and hug my friends, and see all the new products, and see my projects on display! (YAY!) I'm getting my things packed, laundry done, camera charged...all that good stuff. Luckily I'm taking my car, since I am NOT packing light! Haha.

 

 

 

I won't be blogging for about a week while I'm gone at the show. It's just too hard to bring my laptop and edit photos at night after a long day and usually a nice long dinner. So, the laptop is staying put at home and I'll be posting photos from the show floor on my Instagram and Facebook instead! 

I hope you will follow along with me here:

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

TWITTER 

 

I made a card over the weekend, but didn't have time to properly stage and photograph it. It's fun and silly and I really wanted to share it, so I snapped a quick pic with my iPhone! The stamps are from Sweet Stamp Shop and they are SOOO cute! Can't touch this! LOL. 

 

Okay, so that's all the news for today! Send me good travel vibes, and I really hope you will come along with me via social media to this amazing craft event! I feel so blessed and lucky that I am able to attend CHA every year. This is year number four for me! (Can you tell maybe I'm a little excited??) Bye for now! 

 

You're so stinkin' cute! (Winners of Season's Givings announcement too!)

 

WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE! 

My Season's Givings Blog Hop winners are:

Virginia P (FL)

Taunya Butler

Congratulations ladies! Email me - and give me your mailing addresses!  

My email is [email protected]

Thank you to ALL OF YOU (229 of you!) who left a comment on my Season's Givings Blog Post! I had so much fun reading all of the comments and I really just love to hear from everyone. I'm so grateful for the new followers and new friends made via this great blog hop! Hope you had just as much fun as I did!! What a great concept - and another big thanks to Latisha for organizing it!

Overwhelmingly the creative resolutions had to do with getting organized!! All of us are in the same boat I guess! Trying to get organized and stop hoarding our awesome supplies... Yes, me too! Some of the other common themes in the comments were about sharing what we love with others and trying out new techniques - especially watercoloring. Looks like the watercolor rage will continue into the new year (yay!). Again, thank you so much for participating!! 

I have a fun card to share today too! I used some cute Simon Says Stamp stamp sets and a cool Blueprints die set from MFT to make a silly valentine! I bought this stamp set last year, but hadn't used it yet - so I was just anxious to make a card with that adorable skunk!  

 

 

 

 

I colored the skunk with a dark grey Copic Marker and added some pink to his nose and ears. I used the teeny heart stamp to add some red to my focal panel. The card layout is from the Blueprints Dies (link below). 

 

 

 

 

I added an accent of a red and white heart with some gems in the middle. The skunk, hearts, and scallop border are all popped up with foam squares.

 

 

 

 

This finished card a five and a half inch square....I love a square card....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love you guys! See you soon! 

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