A Blog Called Wanda

Color Pop #8!

Happy Hallowwwweeeeeen! Today is also Color Pop day! I have a cool autumn inspired tag to share today - with a punch of violet! I love sharing my Color Pop feature with you every month. Thanks for always joining in the fun with me here and on the Simon Says Stamp Blog too. What are we going to do once there aren't any more new colors!? 

Today is installment number eight in the Color Pop Series on the SSS Blog. Does your favorite color change every month once you see the new one? I'm still hanging on to Twisted Citron! There is news and also some updates on the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Blog and I hope you will pop over there and leave some love. 

Today is the post for the ink color for September, which is Wilted Violet! What a gorgeous shade of purple this is! Deep, clear, bright...perfect! I was inspired to use fall colors - I love fall colors mixed with purple. It's just so rich and beautiful. So I made my accents all out of Wilted Violet inks. 

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!? Hint - the prize is no longer available for purchase so it's extra awesome!!!

Here is a very sneaky peek at my project: 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PROJECT! 

 

 

Here is my color swatch for this month. Wilted Violet fits right in with all the pretty lavenders and purples in the Distress Ink family. It is very regal and pigmented. 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 dark, rich Ground Espresso Ink.  Here is the card I made! 

 

Next month's color is the vivid Carved Pumpkin! It's already in the studio and the ideas are rolling. I'm thinking a Thanksgiving project.... Thanks for following along with me on this Color Pop adventure! Have an awesome day. Until we meet again - happy crafting!  

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas....Elf! I'm an MFT Guest Designer today!

Hellooooo! Here I am again popping in with a fun and very jolly card! Today is my second post as a Guest Designer for My Favorite Things! Woooot wooooooot! Thanks to the lovely peeps at MFT for inviting me and giving me this honor! I was so happy to be involved in the fun this month! My last card for my Guest Designer gig was made with an adorable Pure Innocence image. Well, the other line of stamps that I am CRAZY about from MFT are the Birdie Brown stamps drawn by the amazing Torico. Remember those super cute Santas last year??? EEEK. Well, this year there are elves! 

I made a clean and simple layout so I could feature the awesome little elf and the gorgeous new words set too. (links at the bottom) I kept it really traditional - with red and green. Take a look! 

 

 

 

 

I colored my little elf with my Copic Markers and then cut him out with the matching die. On my white background layer I stamped my sentiment and some little star images. Then I added a fun mix of rhinestones and enamel dots. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks for this fun opportunity MFT! CLICK HERE to go to the awesome MFT Blog and see lots of good stuff. Have a great day everybody! XO

 

My Favorite Things SANTAS ELVES Clear Stamps BB25	My Favorite Things HAND LETTERED HOLIDAY Clear Stamps CS83	My Favorite Things SANTAS ELVES Die-Namics MFT782	Tsukineko Memento Ink Pad RICH COCOA ME-800
Doodlebug SUMMER GLITTER ASSORTMENT Sprinkles Enamel Dots 4578	Simon Says Stamp White A2 TOP Fold Scored Cards 120# 10 Pack a2top10 STAMPtember	Scrapbook Adhesives 3D 217 WHITE FOAM Squares Adhesive

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{CASE}ing Genius with the lovely Kelly!

 

CLICK on the graphic above to go check out my friend Kelly's awesome blog! I am soooo excited that she chose me to be her {CASE}ing muse this week! 

Every week, she posts about one of her favorite crafters, asks them to answer a few interview questions, and uses inspiration from three of their projects so she can CASE them into one brilliant card of her own. Kelly is pretty fabulous I must say! The thing I love the most about her (after her awesome card making talent) is her super dry sense of humor. She is reeeeallly funny. I love a girl who can crack a joke. Her coloring skills are off the hook. You need to pop over there right now and take a look around! 

Thanks Kelly for having me on your blog! YOU ROCK! Mwah! XO

 

 

Papertrey Ink Customer Blog Hop - Retro Christmas Package!

Hey! Welcome to my post for the Papertrey Ink Customer Blog Hop! It's Christmas crafting again! Yes...back and forth...Halloween - Christmas - Halloween! It's enough to make a person go crazy. Good thing I'm already crazy! Are you having a good weekend? Hope so! you have all day to enter this fun blog hop. Maybe you will be inspired to make something pretty?! Every month for the blog hop I try to use brand new Papertrey Ink supplies. Well...my supplies didn't arrive until yesterday! I already sort of had an idea in my head, and as soon as that box hit the front porch, I was all over it! Hee hee. As usual, the inspiration image is gorgeous. Traditional shades of red and green and pretty ornaments and foliage. Here's my project! 

 

 

 

 

I picked up a lot of the elements from the photo: Kraft, red, green, ornaments, foliage....and then added my own twist with some gingham and pretty ribbon and twine. I made a gift box out of kraft cardstock and then stamped on it. I used the Gift Box Punch Board to make my box - so easy! I also used Studio Calico white Color Mist to make it look 'snowy' on the box. Once I made the box I used the pretty new Spruce and Sprigs stamp set and the Christmas Cheer stamp set to make a large tag. 

 

 

 

 

I added an ornament to the top of the tag and bow by using a piece of natural twine. Here you can see that I layered my jumbo tag with foam tape, and also layered my holly leaves in the bottom corner of the tag. These stamps are just so so so pretty. 

 

 

 

 

When I stamped the holly leaves, I used two shades of green to add some visual interest. I inked the entire stamp in the lighter green and then just inked the edges in the darker green. This is so fun to play around with. 

 

 

 

Here is the gorgeous inspiration image!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for hopping on by today! CLICK HERE to go to the Papertrey Ink Blog and see the other entries - and the enter your project! Happy Crafting! Hope you have an excellent week! I'm getting my hair cut and colored tomorrow and that is such a treat - can't wait! XOXO

SUPPLIES!

Spooktacular Pumpkins!

Hey friends! Happy Friday! How are you? Did you have a good week? I've been a busy bee and that's just fine with me! It's been nice weather and I'm getting a lot done in the studio for upcoming projects! It's my birthday in a couple of weeks and we have a little mini ocean getaway planned. It's all good! October in the craft studio is sort of wonky.... Here's what I mean.... My brain is thinking Halloween, and leaves and Thanksgiving, but in the crafting world it's full-on CHRISTMAS! Do you know what I mean?? The floor in my studio is a big jumble of pumpkins and santas and bats and snowflakes! It seems like every other post on my blog is orange, then red, then orange again! It's a funny thing. Yesterday I was thinking about putting all the Halloween crafty stuff away and I thought I would make one more card. I bought these adorable stamps a month or so ago and I really wanted to color them. The artist of the stamps is the lovely Lindsay Ostrom - and she is here locally. Sometimes I see her at events. She's uber talented and designs stamps for Impression Obsession! 

Anyhoo, I rambled on again. I haven't used my Prismacolor pencils in a long time and thought that might be nice for this project. Some really nice bright colors! 

 

 

 

 

 

I colored my images using lots of vivid Prismacolor pencils and then smoothed out the color with Gamsol. Have you tried this before? It's really neat. The Gamsol is an art solvent/solution that you use with a Fantastix and it smudges the color around and makes it smooth. This is hard to explain! I really think you should try it!! There are tons of good YouTube videos and Gamsol is available at any art store. Here is a close up....

 

 

 

 

 

So when I put my card together, I felt like it needed something up there in the corner. I had just bought this TEENSY punch set (EEEP) from EK Success and I ended up making a tiny banner with tiny bats! OMG - I love this!!! LOL. Each little banner is only 1/2 an inch. I put them on some orange and white twine. I mounted them to my card using tiny foam dots. 

 

 

 

 

I cut the pumpkins out by hand and mounted them on my card with foam tape. I stamped the sentiment on kraft paper with crisp rich black ink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this will have to be the final Halloween project for 2015. (sad face) There's just not enough time to make everything! Next week I have fun things to share with you. Another guest designer spot at MFT and also my Color Pop feature for Wilted Violet!

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday I got to have lunch with my friend and her totes adorbs baby boy! (Remember I made her this card?) We had a very lovely time together, us three amigos. Here is a pic of me holding my new boyfriend. (I think he's a little cozy for our second date!! LOL) How blessed I feel to be able to go meet my friends in the middle of the day and actually have a conversation that's not via text. I feel like that is such a treat. Have a super weekend everyone! XOXO

Sledding by with a card - I'm an MFT Guest Designer!

Hi everyone! SUPER excited today to share that I am one of the Guest Designers for My Favorite Things this month! YAHOOOOOO! You all know that I am such a fan of all the wonderful MFT products, and have been for years. When they asked me if I wanted to join them....it was only one hot minute before I said YES! I'll be sharing two projects (one today and one next week) made with the delightful October New Release items. CLICK on over to the MFT Blog and check it out - they always have something really fun happening there! 

My card for today features the adorable "Dashing By" stamp set. This is one of the Pure Innocence images that I love. I'm pretty sure I have them all. This particular stamp line from MFT is what first made me check out their stamps many years ago. They have a place in my heart. For October the Pure Innocence image is the cutest little snow girl, sledding by dressed in her winter clothes....

 

 

 

 

 

My color palette for my card was inspired by the beautiful MFT gingham papers. I used the mint green shade. I used the patterned paper to match my Copic markers so that the whole project matches. I used a medium pink/rose shade as my accent color. Isn't she cute?! 

 

 

 

 

I stamped my sentiment onto a flag stax and then added a heart and a snowflake charm. The Circle die is new this month too! I added pretty aqua snowflakes before mounting my image with some foam tape. The stamps all have matching dies -- I love that. 

 

 

 

 

Here are my Copic Marker selections for this card: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so happy to be able to share my love of MFT Stamps with you today! I'm going to be back next week with another project too! Hint - there's an elf involved! Have a great day everyone. Thanks for coming by today! XOXO

 

  

Halloween Ghosties! Sure to make you smile! -- Lawnscaping Challenge

Hi peeps! Happy Monday! Today when I woke up it was cold in our house! YAY! That makes me so incredibly happy! The weather has turned....I hope! I always sleep so much better when it's cold outside. I had a very nice and busy weekend...and hope you had a great one too. Friday I got to see Rob and Judi from Judikins who were here in town, and I had date night with my friend Stephanie at our favorite restaurant. Saturday night I had dinner with the very lovely Cindy Lawrence who was here all the way from the East Coast! She was in Sacramento, teaching Copic classes. We had a great visit and a tasty dinner. I got in some stamping time, and also a visit to the Scrapbook Expo. Wow - so much going on!

I started a Lawn Fawn Halloween card Saturday but didn't get it quite finished.... Well, when I woke up this morning I saw that the Lawnscaping Challenge this week is "Too Cute to Spook!" That was the incentive I needed to get my card finished and posted today. I adore this stamp set - it's been sitting on my desk for weeks! Talk about fun! Here is my card....

 

 

 

 

Seriously! How cute are these ghosties!!!??? I'm dying! This stamp set is so fun. See the tiny stitches on Franken-ghost? Yes, that is a teeny tiny stamp!! Who does that? I love the sense of humor of this. Dracula-ghost has a red bow tie, and witchy-ghost has a teensy broom! OMG. LOVE. For my background I made some light grey clouds using this technique. I stamped some stars too. Every stamp for the ghosts has a matching die. 

 

 

 

All the images were colored with Copic Markers. I popped the ghosts with foam tape when I put them on the card. (of course I added Glitter Sprinkles enamel dots)

 

 

 

 

  

CLICK HERE to enter your card in the challenge, and to see the other entries!  

 

 

SUPPLY LINKS! 

(Not so) Spooky Halloween Treat Boxes!

Gosh!! It's getting close to Halloween already! I'd better hurry up and make some fun projects! LOL! Is that how you're feeling now too? Just two weeks until it's candy time! Today I'm sharing some sweet candy boxes I whipped up in no time. I used the adorable "Not So Spooky" stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. This was part of the giant Stamptember Release and I hadn't used it yet!

I started by making my own patterned paper by repeatedly stamping the Happy Halloween sentiment in bright and fun colors. Then I used a punch board to make pillow boxes. Take a look!

 

 

 

 

 

I stamped my white paper in a bright lime green and a bright magenta. After I made my pillow boxes I put a band of crisp black cardstock around them and tied a bow with some twine. Then it was fun to decorate using the other stamps and some sequins. 

 

 

 

 

This pillow box punch board is SO easy to use! I love it actually! This project would work for any holiday or occasion. Make it custom by making your own paper first! 

 

 

 

 

My treat boxes are filled with candy kisses....sure to please - and not so spooky! 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you making any Halloween Treat items? I would love to hear what you're up to for Halloween! Have a great day everyone. XOXO Supply Links below. 

 

                                                                       InLinkz.com

Simon Says Stamp - Create Joy Blog Hop for Holiday 2015!

 

 

The Create Joy Holiday 2015 Release from Simon Says Stamp is here! What an awesome collection of stamps and dies to kick off our seasonal crafting for this winter. I have been waiting to share with all of you. I've been a busy bee in my studio making all kinds of things with this release and now I can show you! Today we're doing a mega blog hop, with prizes on every blog. There is so much inspiration from everyone. I hope you'll grab a cup of coffee or tea and hop along with us!

You might have arrived from LUCY'S BLOG. Isn't she awesome?? If you want to start at the beginning of the hop CLICK HERE. 

I am sharing three cards today - all Christmas cards - and all using the new stamps and dies. I made a shaker card! (yes, me!) So now I might be addicted to sequins! 

My first card for today was made with the beautiful "For To Us" stamp set. This is sooooo wonderful. The sayings, the graphics, everything. Just perfect. I enjoyed coloring the floral images and then hand cut them out to layer onto an oval panel. I am sort of addicted to this cardstock right now too! Lime green everything! The snowflakes are from a new die set. I colored everything with my Copic Markers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my super fun shaker card! I loved making this card! The new Christmas Token Die is the perfect size for a card front and makes a wonderful shaker image. I cut the die twice - once in red cardstock and once in white cardstock. I layered the white on the bottom and the red portion was attached to the acetate to make my shaker. I added loads of sequins and beads in pretty shades of aqua. Here is a great tutorial about making shaker cards! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, you know if there's a stamp set with a cat in it - I will love it! This set is called Christmas Cats!! EEEEK! It's sooooo much fun! There are two cats, and fun accessories! I colored my sweet kitty to look just like my Buddy and then gave him a bright red scarf! This was really fun to color with my Copic Markers too. I stamped and cut all my pieces using the matching dies, and then created my scene. Meowy Christmas??? LOVE. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gosh, thank you so much for stopping by on this exciting blog hop day! Nice to have you here. Next up on the hop list is one of my very favorite crafters - YOONSUN. Click here to go on to her blog! 

 

PRIZE ALERT!

Be sure to leave a comment on my post because SSS will pick a winner's name from my blog - and every other blog! YAY! The prize packages are valued at approximately $50.00 each! The winners will be chosen this coming Monday, the 19th and will be notified by email. Good Luck! 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE NEW RELEASE!

 

                                                                       InLinkz.com

Simon Says Stamp November Card Kit!

 

Hello creative pals! Lots going on this week! Yesterday was the release of the newest beautiful Simon Says Stamp Card Kit. The kit for November is available now! It has a great stamp set and gorgeous papers and some fun ephemera. It's perfect for Thanksgiving cards and other Autumn projects. I made two cards with the kit and I'm sharing them with you today! CLICK HERE for the card kits page! 

First up is this 'gratitude' card in traditional shades of gold and orange for Fall. I had fun stamping and putting this one together. I truly am grateful for all of my blessings! Isn't this a pretty sentiment stamp? I will use this one for many years. 

 

 

 

The papers you see all come with the kit. The leaves are part of a fantastic package of die cuts. I added the button and the twine a the end to give some dimension. 

 

 

 

I think the little banner stamp is so cute! There are a few different sayings you can stamp over the top of the color.

 

 

 

This next card has a totally different feeling and color palette - but yes, everything is in the kit for this one too! I adore the red and white gingham paper, and I paired it with some soft blue. This card is extra cheerful! The 'made with love' panel is another one of the die cuts that come in your kit. So are those cute strawberries. 

 

 

 

This card was super fast and easy to put together. I stamped the adorable 'thank you' stamp in black on the strawberry basket and added some enamel dots! Quick and cute! 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR KIT!  

Thank you for coming by and have an awesome day! XO

Simon Says Stamp + Taylored Expressions!

Hi creative friends! I have something fun to share with you today! The full blog is up on the Simon Says Stamp blog. I'm posting some sneak peeks for you here! I would love for you to go over to the SSS Blog to see the finished cards and also to enter for a prize package! Woot! 

This post is like a trip down memory lane, because my projects were made with awesome products from Taylored Expressions! I was on the TE design team for four years, and it's been a few months since I had the pleasure of working with their products. There are some great new additions for Fall crafting - and that's the theme of my post. Fall cards! 

Here are your sneeks: 

 

 

 

 

 

Full details, prize details, and all your product links can be found on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! Thank you for coming by today! Have a great week. XO 

 

A visit to a magical place!! Theatre of Dreams, Port Costa California

Good Afternoon everyone! One of the things I love about reading blogs is that my favorite bloggers take me along to places I would never be able to see, and show me wonderful things. Every once in a while I feel lucky enough to be able to do that too....to share something fabulous with all of you! To bring you along with me somewhere special! Today I'm sharing photos from a magical place I visited yesterday. It's called the Theatre of Dreams and it is in Port Costa, California. The amazing artist behind the Theatre of Dreams is Wendy Addison.

The Theatre of Dreams is not open all the time, so you have to plan ahead to able to shop, and be swept away in the spectacle of it all. It happened that this weekend was her open house for Fall and Halloween and I did not want to miss my opportunity. I am so glad I was finally able to see her shop because it has been on my bucket list for a long time. Wendy has products at Tinsel Trading and I have seen her appear on the Martha Stewart Show also. Her style is vintage inspired and beautiful. I have been a fan! How cool to meet someone you admire! 

I have this thing that happens to me when I see something really special and creative. I get tears! I am actually moved to tears. There is something so wonderful about seeing another person's creative vision come to life. The talent, the hours of thought, the art, the artistry, all of it. Well, that happened here as soon as I walked in the door. I felt like crying. I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. Wendy and Ceil could not have been more gracious with me! Every last perfect detail creates a world you walk into...and you are transported to another time, another dimension of loveliness. I'm really having a hard time putting this into words right now. If you ever have the opportunity to come to this special place - do it. 

It adds to the mystique that you have to go down a windy crazy road to get to Port Costa and then at the end of the road, you find this tiny village with just a few shops and restaurants, right on the water. The whole place is a movie set. Seriously. Magic. 

They were kind enough to let me take photos to share with you. My photos do not come close to showing you everything there is to see. I tried to take photos that would capture the feeling I had there. That is what I want to share - the feeling. I hope you enjoy this photo essay. I'm not even going to put any photo captions, so you can use your imagination. 

Please visit the Theatre of Dreams website to learn more about it!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for visiting today! XO

Happy Mail Card + Happy News from me!

Hello lovely creative friends! I'm so glad you stopped in today! it has been a busy few weeks on the blog and it's about to get a whole lot busier! The holidays are coming fast and it's the craftiest time of the year! Yay to that, right? So much to stamp and create and make.... I am so glad it's Fall. Mark and I had our wedding anniversary this past weekend and since we love Autumn that's why we chose October to get married. I am so lucky that crazy guy married me! Fall, for me, is a time of reflection. I've always been that way. Maybe it's because I always loved going back to school, or because my birthday is in Fall... It just feels like renewal and happiness to me. The colors, the smells, the cool air, the apples and pumpkins. So...sorry to blabber on, but I'm reflecting today and feeling so grateful!  

I do have a card to share today, and it's appropriate because I'm happy! LOL. Many of you have been reading my blog for a long time (thank you) and following my life journey and my ups and downs. Which means that many of you amazing and kind peeps have been writing me and praying for me after I made this announcement on my blog in July. Thank you to everyone who believed in me (more than I did) and especially to my amazing hubs who has so much patience and kindness in his heart for me. You all have been lifting me up! Thank you to the amazing people who have hired me for contract work the past few months. 

In July, I took that giant leap of faith - after months of prayer, and budgeting, and planning, and it has been the most amazing thing. I have been still. Obedient. Surrendered. Open. By nature, I am pretty much a plan-every-minute, list making, organizing kind of OCD girl. So this has truly been a journey for me. A journey of faith and trust. In the past three months I have been resting, doing things around the house, spending time with friends laughing, creating a lot, working in just the right amount, listening to my soul, reading, praying and resting some more. Well, when we rest and surrender that's when the magic usually happens! And some magic has happened to me this week! Yay! 

I am happy to announce that I have officially joined the Simon Says Stamp Creative Team and will I will be doing all kinds of fabulous things for them. YYYAAAAYYYYY! Making projects, Blogging, Photography, and whatever else comes up. I will continue to do my Color Pop Features monthly, and I will be contributing more blogs posts too. I'll have my own weekly feature and I'll be doing some things behind the scenes as well.  Heidi is the most gracious, genuine, kind and respectful person, and I am thrilled (I need a bigger word) to be part of her company. I am fortunate, blessed, and so very grateful! I hope you will have fun following along with me in this new chapter! I can't wait to see what happens. Thank you Heidi and everyone else at SSS! MWAH. 

So now you are like, post a card already girl! So, here's my card for today. Made with exclusive Simon Says Stamp products - some new and some old favorites. It's a cheerful greeting! 

 

 

 

This adorable little stitched envelope is new last month, as part of the Stamptember release! I have loads of ideas for this cute die! Here I kept it clean and simple by cutting it out of crisp white cardstock. Folds like a dream. 

 

 

 

 

I die cut out all the little tiny hearts with some bright red cardstock and had fun with layering them in and around my envelopes. The envelopes were adhered to the card front using foam dots. I stamped the sentiment in rich black ink. The stamp set that this sentiment comes from is a FAV-O-RITE! I use it all the time to put sayings on my envelopes when I mail cards! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

SEE LINKS BELOW FOR PRODUCTS USED IN THIS CARD!

Have a fantastic day everyone! 

 

InLinkz.com

Hero Arts - My Monthly Hero Kit!

Hi there! Today's post is F-U-N! We are doing a big blog hop to launch a new monthly kit program from Hero Arts. Today is the launch day for the first kit. It's a beauty! Perfect to get you started on your Christmas cards. Beautiful poinsettias that stamp in gorgeous layers.... The Hero Arts monthly kit program is called My Monthly Hero: Creativity In A Box.  Every month they will feature an exclusive collection of new items only available through this kit program, with stylish new and exclusive designs, and inspiring techniques and samples.  Each kit is available on the first Monday of each month and can be purchased monthly without a subscription. SO, that means, the first kit is available right now! 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE KIT PAGE!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE HERO ARTS BLOG FOR THE FULL BLOG HOP LIST! 

 

 

 

 

These stamps are so classic and elegant. I love anything that is vintage-y for Christmas. So, I kept my color palette very traditional and bright. I used all the ink pads that come in the kit. There are five ink pads - three red/pink and two green. The poinsettias have three layers of stamps, so you use three shades of red. They stamp like a dream! The kit has a diagram on the packaging to show you exactly how to line up the stamps. The dies cut the perfect edge around the flowers and leaves. I used the darkest red shade to stamp my sentiment. 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of how I layered my flowers. I popped them up with foam tape. The pretty green gems are included in the kit. You get the stamps, dies, gems in two colors, and five ink pads. Really, everything you need to get started and create pretty cards. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Thank you for coming by my blog today! Have fun looking at all the pretty creations made with this kit. Have a super week! CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE BLOGS PARTICIPATING TODAY!  

Trick or Treat Bags! A Happy Halloween Project!

10-7-15 EDITED TO ADD CONTEST WINNER: Lucky comment #7 - Saundra! She has been notified and her prize pack is in the mail! Thank you everyone - look for more prizes coming in November! 

BOO! Did I scare you? Halloween is coming and that means it's time for treats (not tricks!) I simply adore making treats for Halloween. I love giving out candy to my friends and dreaming up creative ways to enjoy this fun and silly holiday! Today I'm sharing some retro/vintage Halloween Treat Bags I made using wonderful and clever dies from the Brenda Walton collection for Sizzix. Ms. Brenda make fabulous dies that make it so easy to create beautiful projects. 

I'm very happy to share my idea with you today. AND....there is a prize package valued at more than $75! WAHOOO! PRIZES! (read more at the bottom for the details) Big thanks to Brenda Walton and Sizzix for the generous prize package! 

Here are my orange and black gingham treat bags...all decked out for Halloween and filled with shiny kisses. These are fun and simple to make and sure to be a hit. I love anything vintage Halloween and I sure had fun with this project. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sweet Treat Bag gets cut out twice to make your bag. The Movers and Shapers Labels get cut out of one of the dies to make a hole in the front for your treats to show through. Then you add toppers and borders to decorate. Here are all of my elements cut out and ready to go. You can see the swirl from this Thinlits Set and the Medallions pieces also. I used traditional colors of black and orange. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once your hole is cut out of the front of the bag, simply glue a piece of acetate to cover the hole! Then assemble your two pieces of bag to create the final one. This comes together so fast! You can use whatever glue you have on hand. 

 

 

 

 

Here is the text paper medallion glued together and ready to be placed on the top of the bag. You can also see the nice crisp border piece and the silver swirl! 

 

 

 

 

For the topper, I like to make a second layer to pop the color off the project. You can see I cut a separate piece of solid paper to go under the candy corn patterned paper. After I fill the bags I like to staple the top to make it nice and secure before I glue on all my accessories! 

 

 

 

 

Now the exciting part! I glued on the swirl and then cut some cute ribbons to hang down. Then I glued on the medallion. I found some cute jack-o-lanterns in my stash and they matched perfectly! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a side view so you can see how nicely they are finished off. The die is scored to make assembly very easy and no fuss. You can fit quite a lot in these bags too! 

 

 

 

 

 

There are so many ideas! And not enough time, right? The dies I used in this project are:

Brenda Walton/Sizzix Sweet Treat Bag

Brenda Walton/Sizzix Movers and Shapers Labels

Brenda Walton/Sizzix Corners and Toppers

Brenda Walton/Sizzix Medallions

Brenda Walton/Sizzix Daisy Bouquet  

  

CLICK HERE FOR another blog post featuring these dies for the 4th of July! 

 

PRIZES! 

The prize package consists of the Sweet Treat Bag Die, the Movers and Shapers Labels dies, and the Corners and Toppers dies! Awesome! Here's how to get your chance to win. Leave a comment below telling me your unique and creative idea for how you would use these treat bags! Leave your comment before 5pm EST on Tuesday October 6th. I will email the winner on October 7th! I cannot wait to hear your ideas! 

Color Pop #7!

Hi everybody! I'm kind of sad because Stamp-tember is over! Can we have Stamp-tober? I'll talk to Heidi about that! LOL. What an amazing and fun month of creating and sharing we had! Did you love it? Fall is here and it's October! Football, pumpkins, leaves....it's all good! Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary too. So much great stuff happening.

***There was a little mix up with posting schedules - so you may have already seen this! The links are working now. Thanks for understanding!***

I have so enjoyed sharing my Color Pop feature with you every month. Thanks for always joining in the fun with me here and on the Simon Says Stamp Blog too. I'm going to be kind of bummed out when there aren't any new colors every month! (I think we need to tell Tim to do it again next year!)

Today is installment number seven in the Color Pop Series on the SSS Blog. Do you have a favorite color? Mine keeps changing every month!! But I think Twisted Citron is still first in my book....but Wilted Violet may give it a bump. We'll see! There is news and also some updates on the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Blog and I hope you will pop over there and leave some love. 

Today is the post for the ink color for August, which is Ground Espresso! MMMMM. Did someone say coffee??? This is a deep, dark, super rich, brown. It is the exact color of espresso. I am going to use this color a lot! The color isn't too warm - it's perfect. I was inspired by the color, and by the limited edition Stamp-tember stamp set from Tim Holtz...and my love of Pumpkin Spice Lattes!  

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!? Hint - the prize is no longer available for purchase so it's extra awesome!!!

Here is a very sneaky peek at my project: 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE PROJECT! 

 

 

Here is my color swatch for this month. Ground Espresso fits right in with all the great browns in the Distress Ink family. It is very rich. It is maybe just a touch warmer than Walnut Stain, but cooler than Vintage Photo. 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 bright and bold Blueprint Sketch ink.  Here is the card I made! 

 

 

Next month's color is the AMAZING Wilted Violet! WOW! It's already in my studio and it's a beauty! It is the prettiest purple color. I Can't wait to get my hands inky with that one.  You're gonna love that it too. I have so many ideas! Thanks for following along with me on this Color Pop adventure! Have an awesome day. Until we meet again - happy crafting! 

 

Little Tangles - Challenge #61 - Paper Piecing! I'm a guest designer today!

Holla! Hey crafty peeps! I'm so happy and excited to be a guest designer for the Little Tangles Challenge Blog! Woot woot! I looooove Neat and Tangled stamps and you know I am always up for a card challenge. The challenge this time around is paper piecing. CLICK HERE to review all of the challenge rules and to enter your own card into the mix! Thank you to the lovely Heather for the kind invitation to join in this fun challenge. XOXO

I used my favorite Neat and Tangled stamp set - called 'Crafting is my Jam!' Because....well....crafting IS my jam! I had fun paper piecing the elements with some bright and colorful Doodlebug papers. The matching dies that go with the stamp set made it a breeze to make this fun card. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stamped all my pieces in rich black ink and then die cut them out with the matching dies. Then I went back and stamped again onto some sweet patterned papers and cut out the pieces by hand. A dab of glue is all you need for successful paper piecing. I matched the yellow, pink and green with some sparkly enamel dots - because they're fun! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to go over to the Little Tangles Challenge Blog and see what the other designers made - and to enter your card! Happy crafting!