A Blog Called Wanda

Color Pop #6!

Hi everyone! Hope your weekend has been a fun one! Can you even believe that next weekend is Labor Day? Gosh! I'm not complaining though... because....FALL is coming! And that makes me super happy. Are your kiddos back in the school groove yet? Are you having changing temperatures? It's still hot as heck here but I'm ready anyway. 

Today is installment number six in my fun Color Pop Series with Simon Says Stamp. I love sharing this with you each month. What is your favorite color so far? I think mine is still Twisted Citron... Hmmm, that's a hard question though. I have news and updates about my feature over at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Blog. Today is the post for new ink color #7 which is the bright and beautiful Blueprint Sketch! This color is pretty and clean and clear. I looooove blue so I was very happy about this color. It is the exact color of architectural blueprints! It has just the very slightest undertone of violet to it. A cool blue. My mind immediately went to red with this color and it pops with it for sure! I made a fun card using the Tim Holtz Blueprint Stamps (of course!) and some fun techniques. I hope you like it too. 

You know if it's Simon Says Stamp, then there must be cool prizes...and there are! Leave a comment over on my SSS Blog Post post for some Tim Holtz swag! Sweet! Big thanks to Heidi and the rest of the crew at SSS for giving away such great prizes all the time. Right!? 

Here is a very sneaky peek at my project: 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PROJECT!

 

 

Here is my color swatch for this month. Blueprint Sketch fits right in with all the other gorgeous blues in the Distress Ink family. It is very bright and clear and bold. In my book, you can never have too much blue! CLICK on the photo below to see all the different mediums it comes in.  

 

 

 

In case you didn't see it - CLICK HERE to see last month's project tutorial. It features the mysterious Hickory Smoke Ink! I used it with some pretty pastel colors to create a gift box project. 

 

Next month's color is rich, dark Ground Espresso!  It is the exact color of a beautiful cup of coffee. It just came in the mail this past week. Can't wait to get my hands inky.  You're gonna love that one too. I have so many ideas! Thanks for following along with me on this Color Pop adventure! Have an awesome day. XOXO I'll be back with a fun blog hop on Wednesday to celebrate Stamp-tember! YAY! 

 

Papertrey Ink Customer Blog Hop - Fall Leaves!

Hello friends! It's time for another fun Papertrey Ink Customer Blog Hop! Yeah! I had lots of fun making this card with my new PTI supplies that arrived on Saturday. I used the new Leaf Silhouette Dies and the pretty saying from the new stamp set called Pumpkin Patch. The inspiration image has the most beautiful warm, rich color palette and I used the colors as my 'take off' point for my card. All of my dies were cut with watercolor paper and then colored with different shades of Ranger Distress Inks. YUM. My finished card is a five and a half inch square.  

  

I never would have thought to include pink in a Fall color palette, but I absolutely LOVE it! I chose each of the tones from the inspiration photo and made a leaf. Then I added a few of the leaf overlays in dark rich brown. 

 

 

Here is the inspiration image with all the gorgeous colors!

 

For my background paper, I used watercolor paper and then speckled brown ink all over it. Then I distressed around the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink and a sponge dauber. I used a medium tone orange for my layering piece. I slightly offset the top leaf layers for kind of a 'funky' look. 

 

I wanted to somehow incorporate the rope/twine/yarn in the photo so I made a circle of jute in the center of my leaves before I mounted my sentiment. For the sentiment, I stamped it in dark brown ink and then freehand cut out a banner on cream cardstock. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The leaves were mounted on to the card using foam tape, for just a bit of dimension. Here's the top down view. I am seriously smitten with this color combination. So much fun to play along with this challenge every month! 

 

Be sure to pop over to the Papertrey Ink Blog and enter your own card! 

Have a splendid week! 

SUPPLIES FOR THIS PROJECT!

(Affiliate Links Used)

 

It's starting to feel like Fall!

Happy Friday crafty peeps! Made it through another week! I can definitely feel Fall in the air the past couple of days. It has finally started to cool off at night here and I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of leaves blowing across the road when I went out yesterday. YAY! I say bring it on! My favorite time of year. So, with that being said, I decided to make my first Autumn card today. It was inspired by back to school things I'm seeing everywhere (apples) and this pretty new paper pad I just got from Carta Bella (called Fall Blessings). I based the whole card around the sheet of paper with the cute apples on it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I've had this Fiskars Apple Punch in my stash for years and I always use it. I cut the main apple out of dark red paper and then cut another one out of cream paper. I cut that in half and trimmed it. Then I used a brown Copic marker to add some seeds. Easy-peasy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The centers of my apples were popped up with foam tape. I also gently sponged Antique Linen Distress Ink around the edges. The sentiment was stamped in dark brown ink. 

 

 

 

 

 

That's what I have for today! A clean and simple Autumn card. One that's easy to reproduce and easy to mail.

I have to tell you that I received a GIANT box of goodies from Simon Says Stamp yesterday, in anticipation of the upcoming Stamptember release! You are going to be so excited! It has everything you need for Fall and Winter crafting. Be sure to check out my Instagram page for sneak peeks. The entire release will be available September (Stamptember) 1st and a big blog hop is scheduled for the 2nd. Lots of fun things are on the way. Have a super weekend! XOXO Thank you for coming by today! 

A little Aloha on a Monday! MFT Sketch Challenge #241

Aloha friends! Happy Monday?? Already!? I hope you had a really nice weekend! For lots of people it was the weekend to prepare the kiddos to go back to school. Wow, seems like Summer really is coming to a close. I was in the studio yesterday trying to shake off my crabby mood (because of this lingering cold) and I was looking for some inspiration. Well, I hopped over to the MFT Challenge Blog and saw the current Sketch Challenge, and that was that! Inspired! And I was cheered right up. Lost myself in stamping and coloring for most of the afternoon. 

I think that I might be ready to move on to Fall crafting now. Fall is coming and that's my favorite season. Football starts in a couple of weeks... But, I wanted to make one last super SUMMER card using the new Polynesian Paradise Stamps and Dies from MFT. These beauties have been sitting on my desk for a week or so. LOVE. Seriously Torico knocked this set out of the park. 

Here's my little hula girl saying Aloha to you!  

 

 

 

 

I colored my images with the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. These colors are so vivid, they were the perfect choice of medium for this project. I stamped and colored almost all of the images so I could have choices when it came to laying out my final card. Pretty much I'm obsessed with pineapples right now!! And see the hot pink pineapple background? That's a giant stamp too! OMG. 

 

 

 

 

Can't get more preppy than hot pink and lime green! YUM. Here's a close up of my coloring I did on the flowers. I used the inks with a water brush first and let them dry. Then I went back in with the marker and colored over the top of the watercoloring. I think I like this new technique. I wanted the flowers to really pop. I took a white gel pen (MY FAVORITE ONE IS THIS ONE) and made little dots on my images. 

 

Here is the sketch image.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR CARD TOO! 

 

I made a soft blue sky background for my hula honey using some Broken China Distress Ink and a sponge dauber. For my sentiment, I stamped and white embossed on crisp black paper. Still loving that trend too! Most of the flower pieces are popped up with foam tape. 

 

 

 

 

This card brings back such good memories of our vacation several years ago to the islands of Hawaii! When we were in Hawaii, we saw sooooo many different colors of Plumeria flowers. They are so dreamy and beautiful. And that scent is what I imagine heaven will smell like. I have never seen anything more beautiful. I can close my eyes and be transported back.... This particular color of plumeria was my favorite -- yellow and pink on the same flower. I tried to replicate it with my coloring! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the color I was trying to get! Is this not the prettiest thing ever? Can you smell it? I wish my computer had scratch-n-sniff! LOL. 

 

 

I have a funny story to share with you about the Plumeria flowers. On our Hawaii trip I kept looking everywhere for Plumerias. Every time we saw gardens, or flowers or some pretty scenery I kept looking...and looking. How come I never saw any I wondered.... Then, one day, on Maui, we rented a convertible and went driving up the mountain. We were at a stop sign and I looked up to the sky. And, bam, right there over me was.... a Plumeria TREE! Yes, they grow on trees! The entire time I had been looking at the ground for FLOWERS! LOL. Oh gosh, I still haven't lived that down. We still chuckle at that one. And, of course, for the rest of our trip we saw them everywhere! We even found a Plumeria farm in Kona and they had set out a big cooler full of ice cold Plumeria leis with a can for money on the top. Let me tell you, nothing feels more wonderful than an ice cold floral lei around your hot neck! It's fun to remember these things. What are your favorite tropical memories?? I'd love to hear! 

Have a fabulous week my friends! XOXO

Simon Says Stamp September Card Kit!

Hi friends! How are you?? Happy weekend! I have something really fun to share today. The newest Simon Says Stamp Card Kit is available for purchase now! I was lucky enough to get the kit early to make some projects. Yay! This kit is really funky and pretty and happy. I love the color palette and LOVE the stamp set. CLICK HERE TO SEE AND ORDER YOUR KIT!  I know you're going to love it too.

For my card I used the beautiful sentiment stamp and the balloons, along with some of the gorgeous patterned papers. I added some tiny stamped stars to match the paper! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought the two colors that matched best for my project were Spring Rain and Melon. I watercolored the balloons using a water brush and the pretty inks. Then I cut out the two balloons. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been fighting a head/chest cold since Wednesday and I have been totally grumpy! Because I was sick I didn't get to go visit my friend and her new baby and that bummed me out. I was so excited to see them. But, I didn't want to give anyone my cooties.... Especially a tiny baby! So I've just been sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. Today I turned the corner and I'm on the upswing again. I hate summer colds, don't you!? Have a great weekend everyone! XOXO

Watercolor with white embossing and markers!

Continuing with my theme of what inspires me this week... I have some fun and bright cards to show you! What has been inspiring me recently is the trend of watercoloring over images that have been embossed in white onto watercolor paper. This trend is BIG right now and it's so pretty and clean and classic. Pure stamping - back to our roots! I sat down in the studio yesterday and just picked and chose some pretty images that I thought would work with this technique... Well, I ended up making three cards! I'm going to share all three today, so there are a lot of photos. Grab a latte and sit down with me for a minute, won't you? 

I used images from Stampin' Up (lemon) and Papertrey Ink (everything else) and then I used my Zig Clean Color Markers for coloring. Then, as I am known to do...I finished with some enamel dots and twine. I had some soft warm-grey gingham paper that I used for my card bases. I prefer the Ranger Watercolor paper the best, and that's what I've used here to stamp and color. Hope you enjoy! And, hope you're having a great week! 

First up I chose an image from the Strawberry Patch stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I use this set all the time because I love this image! I stamped in Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then the fun part --- coloring! 

 

 

 

 

This sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink and I stamped/embossed it onto crisp black cardstock. I cut the flag part free hand and mounted it on the card with foam tape. 

 

 

 

 

I used a couple of shades of red/pink for the berries and then three shades of green for the leaves. If you look closely you'll see a very light green, a darker true green and then just a touch of teal green. MMMMM. Yum. I colored with my Zig Clean Color Markers directly onto the paper and then swirled the color around with clean water and a small paintbrush. 

 

 

 

 

My trick for the blue background is the wet the paper before laying my color down. I took clean water and wet the paper around my image. Then I took the pretty blue marker and colored on a clear stamping block. I diluted this ink with more water and then put it down onto the wet paper. This makes the color nice and soft. And, it will look different every time! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next I thought it would be nice to try a Fall image...since we are in August and it's time to think about transitioning to Autumn... I used this gorgeous image from the Papertrey Ink set called Sunflower Bouquet. ACK. It's so pretty! And really fun to color. I used shades of yellow and orange and brown...and a few shades of green....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time I stamped my sentiment directly onto the card. It didn't look right to have the large black paper on this one. I think maybe that looks better with more 'loose' florals instead of this 'formal' floral. Have to think about that some more....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, last, but not least, I used a fairly simple image. I wanted to try something that had larger areas of color. These images are from the Stampin' Up set called A Happy Thing. This one took me just a few minutes to color. I thought about adding some glitter....but I refrained. Maybe next time! LOL. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I reallllllly love the contrast between the bright yellow and the soft aqua on this one! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you tried this technique yet? I really think you should! You can use whatever water-based markers you have. Give it a go! Enjoy the rest of your week and thanks for spending some time with me. I'm excited because tomorrow I get to meet my friend's new baby! He was born on July 4th and I'm dying to squeeeeeeze him! XOXO

A Lovely Hello!

Inspiration is all around us! I get inspired by almost anything and everything and this weekend was a feast for my senses in so many ways. (more later) Friday I was stumped about what to create - a card, a 3D project, a tag... And what style? What images? Sometimes, in the studio, I get overwhelmed by the possibilities! Especially when I am making a project 'just because.' So I will search around my space for something to inspire me. Sometimes it's a paper pad, sometimes it's a color combination, or a stamp set.

The card I'm sharing today was inspired by all the wonderful PTI products I haven't used yet! LOL. So I got out the Nostalgic Notions kit and had a fun time creating a vintage floral card to share with you. Later in my post I'll show you some of our photos from a fun day yesterday.

On to the card! All the paper and stamps are from Papertrey Ink. I always LOVE the color combination of pink, red and light blue. It's just perfect. 

 

 

 

 

I stamped a bunch of the flowers and leaves and cut them out with the matching dies, then just played around with the placement until I had it the way I wanted it. Here's a funny trick that I do... I get all the flowers laid out the way I want them, but then I have to move them to glue them down.... I take a quick photo with my iPhone for reference about how to put them back! 

 

 

 

 

You can see the the flowers are popped up with foam tape for dimension...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the Sentiments Splits stamp set and matching dies to create the words and the opening for the words. The dies are shaped so that the words fit perfectly! Love this concept. 

 

 

 

 

A lovely hello to you my craft friends!! 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we spent the day in San Francisco, walking, shopping and eating! It was a lovely, cool and foggy day just perfect for an outing. Here are some photos from our day! 

First up is this beautiful florist/market. I couldn't help myself - and maybe I could have taken 100 photos, but I tried to restrain myself! The flowers were amazing, and displayed in such a gorgeous way. That's what I mean about a feast for the senses! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we had an ACTUAL feast for lunch! Super Duper Burgers...score! I've been wanting to try this place for a while and we finally made it here. Found a nice seat outside too. MMMMMMMMM. 

 

 

 

 

Here we are, two goofballs, outside of ATT Park, which is where the San Francisco Giants play baseball. My friends totally laugh at me because I am selfie impaired. My selfies never come out right. I guess that's just me! Hahaha, and I laugh at myself too! 

 

 

 

 

The reason we were at ATT Park was to hear Joel Osteen speak as part of his Night of Hope Tour. It was a completely uplifting and joyful evening. Great music, and a great message. I loved sitting outside in the cool evening weather. It is very wonderful to be in the company of thousands of people all worshipping at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

And this is why I am sure that this is the most beautiful ball park in America! Awesome! 

 

Okay, so that's what I got for today! What's up with you? What inspires you - and what are you working on in your studio? Have a wonderful week ahead! XOXOXO 

Pretty Pink Posh New Release Blog Hop!

 

 

Hi friends! I'm happy and excited to be sharing in the fun as the lovely Paulina hosts us on a blog hop featuring her newest dies and sequins! Yep, Pretty Pink Posh has three new die sets and loads of new sequins in the shop! Woot woot! 

I'm sharing two cards today featuring all three of the new dies. I used fun and fab stamp sets from Lawn Fawn on both cards. This is really a cheery post - hope you enjoy it. And, I hope you will complete the entire hop (list below). There are prizes!  Paulina is giving away (2) $25 gift certificates!! The winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop. (Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PDT on 8/9/2015. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog) 

You should have arrived here from the Pretty Pink Posh blog! Now let's get started! My first card features the Storybook 1 Dies and some new mini sequins. This die set is a set of stitched squares that fit together into a larger square. I thought it would be fun to use some ice cream images from the Lawn Fawn set called Here's The Scoop!  

 

 

 

 

 

To tie my project together I used the same colors in all the different squares. I added pops of red to each item also. Then I finished off with some pretty pink twine. I colored all the images with my Copic markers and added touches of Diamond Stickles at the end. The sentiment is a long stamp with all the words in a row. To make it fit this spot, I stamped each word separately! 

 

 

 

 

All my ice cream images are popped up with foam tape onto the white squares. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my second project I used two new PPP dies. I used the Stitched Speech Bubble Dies and the Twine and Bows Dies. TOO cute! Then I had fun with some Doodlebug patterned papers and the awesome Gleeful Gardens stamp set. I put my card together first and then chose Copic Markers to match the papers exactly! These are some funky colored snails! LOL. 

 

 

 

 

I love that tiny bow as an accent piece!! I was inspired for the project by the pretty flower shaped sequins Paulina sent me! I put a golden yellow one right in the center. 

 

 

 

 

See that cute border on the bottom?? That is another PPP die called Stitched Borders 3 and I use that one all the time! It is such a happy pattern. Here I added some more flower sequins. I love how they match the shape of the flowers on the paper! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 HERE IS YOUR BLOG LINE UP FOR TODAY - SO MANY GREAT DESIGNERS! 

Pretty Pink Posh blog 
Wanda Guess 
Gayatri Murali 

Jeanne Jachna 

Nicole Gavaldon 

Lisa Elton 

Heather Hoffman 

Joni Andaya 

Karolyn Lancon 
Amy Kolling 

Nichol Magouirk 

Kay Miller 

Carissa Wiley 

Audrey Tokach 

Yuki Yoshioka 

Suzy Plantamura 

Yoonsun Hur 

 

 

 SHOP HERE FOR THE NEW PRETTY PINK POSH DIES! 

SHOP HERE FOR LAWN FAWN STAMP SETS! 

Poinsettias in August? Yes!

Hello crafty pals! What's up with you? Happy August! Yes, I said August! Yikes. I was out doing errands yesterday and stopped in at Michael's and it was FULL ON HALLOWEEN already! I am so not ready for that. Lots of cool stuff, though! I got what I needed and ran out of there in holiday denial. NO....I will not process Halloween yet! 

I'm still in Summer crafting mode! The project I'm sharing with you today shows you a way to use your craft stash in a totally different mode. I took the beautiful Poinsettia Swirls Dies (Sizzix by Brenda Walton) and made tropical flowers out of them! Something about the shape of the flowers made me think.... "Hmmm, I bet I could make this look kind of cool with some pretty bright colors."  I'm always looking for new ways to use what I already have. This is the perfect example of that - Poinsettias in August! What do you have in your craft room that you can put a different spin on? 

Here's my bright and sunshiney card for today....

 

 

 

 

 

The papers I used are from the Lawn Fawn Let's Polka paper set. I used the 12 x 12 version for a bigger scale on my patterned dots. First I cut out all of my die cut pieces from the Poinsettia Swirls Die Set. Then I embossed a sheet of white paper using the Chateau Damask and Veranda embossing folder set. 

 

 

 

 

In this photo you can see the beautiful pattern of the embossing. I gently edged all my cut out pieces with some Corduroy Distress Ink and a sponge. Even on bright colors, just the tiniest bit of brown gives contrast and makes the edges stand out. I also inked around the white layer. 

 

 

 

 

When I assembled the flowers, I put foam tape between the layers and then gently rounded the petals upwards to give dimension off the page. I added pretty enamel dots as accents. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I added the Thinking of You sentiment, stamped in Corduroy ink, so that this card could be for any purpose.

 

I hope I've sparked your imagination today, and maybe got you to think outside the box a little bit! Enjoy your craft supplies and get crafty! Hope your day is awesome! XOXO