A Blog Called Wanda

Happy Birthday - Plush Tulip!

Hi everyone! How is your week going? Did you have a nice Easter? What's happening?! I got a fun and cool pink ombre manicure yesterday (very snazzy!) and the sun is shining. I'm in a good mood! Today I get to go to the Hero Arts HQ and meet up with my lovely friend Libby! YAY! She is in California, visiting from the East Coast and last time she was here we didn't manage to connect. Really looking forward to seeing her face and giving her a big ol hug. I will try to sneak in some behind the scenes photos on my Instagram page too! I hope you are having a great week and hope you are getting crafty!

I am continuing with my obsession with felties today! I took a very brief break to make some cards (LOL) and now I'm back with a pretty pink Tulip Plush project. I had a birthday gift wrapped for a friend and the wrapping paper (an old release from Hazel & Ruby) has little pink tulips in it. The idea hit me to make a matching tulip tie on for the package to jazz it up a bit. I love how it came out. It's fun to be a crafty girl - cuz we can personalize anything - just like MacGyver!  

I wrapped the present and tied a pretty, light green sheer ribbon in a bow in the center. Then I stamped Happy Birthday onto a flag stax and attached that to the box with some foam tape. The tulip feltie is attached with a piece of thread I tied around the ribbon bow. I used thread so it would be easy to get it off the package.  

 

 

 

For the tulip, I used two shades of soft pink felt. The die comes with a separate piece to make the center petal and I made that one just a bit darker. For the leaves I used green felt and green embroidery thread. 

 

 

I really like this font! The SSS Exclusive stamp set is called Friendship Messages. I stamped it in Intense Black Ink (all supplies are below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this would also be a fun idea for Mother's Day! Or, instead of tying the feltie onto a box/present,  you could hang it from a gift bag with some pretty twine. I am thinking of more ideas again! Stay tuned! Have an awesome day, and thank you for coming by my blog. XOXO

 

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Happy Easter 2016!

 

 

May you have...

The gladness of Easter, which is Hope

The promise of Easter, which is Peace

The spirit of Easter, which is Love.

 

Easter blessings and wishes for peace

from our home to yours!

Mark and Wanda Guess

2016

 

Happy Easter Tulips!

Hey there crafty pals! How is your first week of Spring going? And, can you believe it's Easter weekend already too? Oh man! Happy GOOD Friday! It is good indeed. The birds are chirping, the grass is green and it's time to celebrate the resurrection. I love Easter and all that it means as a Christian. Can't wait to go to church tonight and hear the message. Easter is my favorite holiday. I wish your family blessings, peace and love during this season! 

This past couple of weeks have been pretty busy around my house - many fun things going on. Lots of visiting with friends and general nonsense. Also, tons of stamping. I am doing my regular features on the Simon Says Stamp blog and also making Instagram only content for them (yay!). I have had lovely invitations to guest design for some of my favorite  stamp companies. I am a very lucky girl. VERY lucky. I am enjoying my new work from home creative life so much. I am still trying to find a 'normal' routine. I have been staying up really late and then having a hard time getting up in the mornings. After 30 years of having to be somewhere at 8am it's kind of mind boggling to make my own schedule. My confession is that sometimes I drive to the drive through Starbucks in my pajamas! (Don't tell anyone). Buddy is really happy to have his momma home all day and his new thing is to sit RIGHT on top of my desk. I have to push him out of the way to stamp! Love that guy. Next week I get to visit with the lovely Libby who is traveling out to CA (Yippeeee) and I am attending a Calligraphy workshop too! 

Today I am sharing a card made with the wonderful new stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Tulip Time! OH MY WORD. SOOOOO pretty! The tulips are three step stamping and the leaves are two step stamping. Makes for the most beautiful stamped images. I have some tips I'll share below.... 

 

 

For my two and three step stamping I like to use THESE INKS. I find that they dry quickly and give a very nice impression. I colored the larger tulip bunch with three shades of pink. For the yellow ones (the smaller ones) I used only two shades of yellow. 

 

 

 

My first couple of attempts to get the tulips placed perfectly to match with the dies didn't go that great. So here is what I found works for me. I stamped the leaves (both colors) and then die cut out the shape. After I had my die cut piece I stamped the tulips! Does anyone else have a good way to do this? I found that when I tried stamping everything first it just didn't line up. 

 

 

I used just a tiny strip of green polka dot paper for some color interest. I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched rectangle die. I added some pretty pearls at the end of the process. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo I took of my studio desk a week or so ago! Our daffodils and Narcissus in the front yard were going crazy, so I brought a bunch inside to cheer me while I'm working!

 

  

And here is my sweet studio helper! Doing what he does best! LOL. Mr. Buddy is going to have his 9th birthday in a couple weeks. Can't believe we've had him that long - what a total blessing he has been to us! 

 

Thank you for coming by to check out my card today!

Have a great weekend! XOXO

A Very Happy Hello! Guest designing for WPlus9!

Hi friends! I've been away too long! Gosh, last week was a real blur. I had a few projects up on the Simon Says Stamp Blog and also on the SSS Instagram, but my blog was kind of neglected! I wasn't feeling that great last week and I was also super busy. A bad combination. I got some rest the later part of the week and was renewed in spirit by time with friends, so I'm good as ever now. Today I'm sharing something really COLORFUL and fabulous and fun! I was invited by the lovely ladies at WPLUS9 to be their guest designer! What an honor! So, I'm posting here and also over on their blog called Stamp Away With Me! Please click over to see my post there too. I'm very grateful for the invitation. I'm a huge fan of the WPLUS9 stamps, dies and everything else. I finally got to meet Dawn, the owner of WPLUS9,  in person at CHA this year too - I'm one of her YouTube video stalkers. She is amazing. CLICK HERE for her channel! 

My card was made using the awesome Doodle Buds stamp set and matching dies. I used my Kuretake Zig clean color brush markers to watercolor in vivid hues. This card was a joy to create!

 

 

Here is a close up of the flowers. I started the process of making this card by stamping a bunch of flowers onto watecolor paper. Then I used my Kuretake markers directly on the watercolor paper. I quickly went back with some water and moved the colors around before it dried into the paper. Once everything was dry I went back with a white gel pen and added some highlight dots. 

 

 

It was a lot of fun to figure out just the right layering configuration...I tried a lot first! If I could, I would have crammed even more flowers on there! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have more details and explanation of my process over on the WPLUS9 Blog! Best wishes for a fantastic week ahead my friends! XOXO

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Simon Says Stamp April Card Kit - Be Amazing!

Hello crafty people! It's Monday already! Wowzers! The weekend flew on by and guess what? It rained all weekend here too! I think it's probably rained 8 out of the last 10 days. I'm definitely not complaining because we have been in a drought here in Northern California. Rain is perfect for crafting too! I like to be all cozy in the studio when it's raining out. Hope you had a nice weekend! Today is the release date for the newest, latest and greatest Simon Says Stamp April 2016 Card Kit! WOOOOOT! This card kit is in full bloom! Pretty flowers and a gorgeous stamp set sure to get you inspired! You can buy the kit each month, or purchase a subscription to get them automatically each month. Links at the bottom of my post. It's a great deal and I'm so lucky to receive one every month! 

I'm sharing my first card made with the kit today.... 

 

 

I love how the stamp flowers exactly match this beautiful patterned paper from Simple Stories. 

 

 

This kit has TONS of cool word stickers! I used some here on my card and I'm saving the rest to use in my planner! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spring & Easter Wishes!

Hello!! We have had rain, rain, rain, rain here in Sacramento! Everything is fresh and green and soooo beautiful! It was sunny today, but the clouds are rolling back in for the rest of the week. I love rain, actually. And I especially love a Spring rain. It's so refreshing. Our neighborhood has lots of mature trees and people take pride in their yards. It is a pleasure to drive home and see everyone's hard work and God's hand with all the flowers. We have bunches of tulips now. The daffodils are already starting to fade. So this morning I had that moment...THAT moment. It happens every holiday. When you realize JUST. HOW. CLOSE....that holiday is. Yes, Easter is less than three weeks away! Yikes. I haven't made very many Easter projects yet. This morning in the studio I was having a hard time finding some mojo so I started organizing.... That usually clears my head! After I got things all tidy I decided to use some of my new PTI goodies from last month. The new Spring Woods stamp set is soooooo pretty. It's not really like me...but today I only used ONE stamp set! LOL. 

 

 

 

I could not decide what color and what type of bird to make! There must be 20 birdies in my trash can! Nothing looked right! I finally decided to just got with the yellow and black traditional Goldfinch and he came out nice and crisp. I stamped the blossoms in a really pale pink.

 

 

The blossoms and the bird are mounted to my card with foam tape. The edge of my top white layer was cut with my new Edgers Dies from Reverse Confetti. I put a little piece of Lawn Fawn striped paper underneath to match the yellow in the bird. 

 

 

I adore this retro looking sentiment! Stamped in crisp black ink. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a quick pic of some of our daffodils. I really like these tiny ones! I have no idea what they're called but they are so cheery and bright! 

 

That's it for me today! Thank you for the awesome response to my felt projects! How much fun was that? LOADS!! So much so that I made more! I'll be posting them on Saturday over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! So if you haven't had your fill yet!! LOL. I hope you're having a lovely week!! XOXOXO

 

Simon Says Stamp Spring Plush Blog Hop!

 

Hey crafty friends! Welcome to the Simon Says Stamp Spring Plush Blog Hop! Woooooot Wooooooot! We are going to have big fun today with all these new dies and loads of inspiring projects from everyone. I'm the second stop today - right after the Simon Says Stamp blog. The full blog hop blogger list is at the bottom of my post. In true Simon fashion, there is a goody bag prize to be given away on every blog! Be sure to comment on all of them to increase your chances of winning some goodies. The names will be drawn on Monday, March 7th, so you have the weekend to hop away. Did you see my post from yesterday? There are three other projects! And...I'm sharing MORE today! I told you I couldn't stop making felties! The new release is full of wonderful Plush/Shape dies that can be used with Felt, Fabric, Paper, Fun Foam, or whatever else your imagination can come up with. I am really crazy about the felt so that's what I've used for my projects. Enjoy the hop and have a wonderful day and weekend! Thank you, as always, for coming by today! At the bottom of my post are the links to the products and the blog hop list. 

I found this Happy Sunshine Die completely irresistible!!! He is soooooo cheerful! I love the little cheeks and his beautiful sun rays.... I paired him with the Little Cloud Die because I thought they looked cute together!! Hee hee. I'm thinking this would make the start of an adorable mobile for a nursery.... Too sweet.  

 

 

For the yellow portion, I cut two pieces of felt because I wanted it to look a little thicker. I stitched the two yellow layers onto the top orange layer before stitching the two orange layers together. His pink cheeks and eyes are glued on with Fabric Glue. I used enamel dots for the eyes because...well, just because! 

 

 

I added some cheeks to the little cloud also.  I attached the raindrops with embroidery thread and glued them together with Fabric Glue.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my post yesterday I talked about how much I love to wear denim jackets and pins.... So this next item is another felt pin. I used the bottom of the Springtime Basket die to create a flower pot and then filled it to the brim with felt flowers of all kinds and colors! The little roses are a die that you roll and then glue together to make it 3D.  

 

 

After I stitched the flower pot part together I die cut a paper circle and slipped it inside. That is what my flowers are glued onto so they can be higher than the pot. I then glued a pin back onto the paper circle. I used watercolor paper to make it nice and sturdy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm thinking I will definitely be wearing this on Easter with my lime green jacket! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for hopping by today!

Have a beautiful, creative day! XOXO

 

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BLOG HOP LINKS FOR TODAY! YIPPEEEEEE!

PRIZES AT EVERY STOP - HAVE FUN! 

 

Simon Says Stamp

                        Wanda Guess <-- you are here!

Nichol Magouirk

Yana Smakula

Laura Bassen

Kelly Latevola

Debby Hughes

Kristina Werner
Sarah Moerman

Amy Rysavy

Kathy Racoosin

Taheerah Atchia

Heather Ruwe

Nina Marie Trapani

Suzy Plantamura

Lisa Addesa
Shari Carroll

 

Simon Says Stamp Spring Plush Release Day - It's all about the felt!

Hey everybody! Wowza, it's been busy in my studio the past week or so! I've been up to my eyeballs in FELT and loving every minute of it! If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've not been good at keeping a secret! I'm so excited that this release day is finally here and I can share some fun projects with you. The entire Spring Plush Release is live now (links at the bottom of my post) and there is a BIG Blog Hop tomorrow too! The release is a series of Plush Dies created with Felt crafting in mind, but you can use paper, fabric or anything else you can dream up. I'm posting some things today, and some more tomorrow. Yay! It was super fun to create with felt instead of paper for this release - use some of my sewing techniques and just have a good time with it. I literally stayed up until 2am one night because I couldn't stop making felties! I know you are going to love it too. I have a sneaking suspicion these are gonna sell out FAST! Get 'em while they're hot! 

First up is my favorite new die - the Happy Bear! OMG so sweet! I made the one bear with the blue scarf and then I thought he needed a girlfriend, so I made another one! I gave her a pink bow and a pearl bead necklace. Aren't the adorbs? 

 

 

The dies all have circles cut out already for your stitching! That makes it really easy to get nice, even, perfect stitches. You can choose a straight stitch or a blanket stitch (example further down in my post). I love that it looks so professional. For the ears and the face parts I used Fabric glue. Easy-peasy. For their eyes, I wanted them shiny and cute so I used black Doodlebug enamel dots! 

 

 

I put just the tiniest amount of stuffing inside them (quilt stuffing from the fabric store). You can also leave them flat. If you don't have batting or stuffing at home you can use cotton balls. You really need a small amount. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I LERVE them! I added a little stitching for their mouth and nose. Just three stitches, but I think it made a difference. Her necklace is some pearl beads strung on a piece of thread and then attached to her neck. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is this adorable Springtime Chicken Die! I wanted her to look country and sort of Mary Engelbreit inspired so I used vivid yellow, red and touches of black. For this one I used a blanket stitch. If you don't know how to do this you can find a Youtube video to watch - it is very simple, once you get started! I really like the little scallop edge on her face. She comes with the flowers and leaves too! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my last project for today I made a felt heart pin using the Blooming Heart die. I wanted to try a bit of a different look so I started with black felt and black thread. I think this makes it sort of elegant, and then the flowers really pop! This is a pin - I just attached a pin back to it. I love to wear a denim jacket and I love pins so I will be sporting this one for sure! (I have another pin to share tomorrow). You could attach it to a package too.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so that's it for today! But...be sure to come back tomorrow to see MORE FELT and participate in the BIG BLOG HOP! I will be getting up early, because I can't wait to see what everyone else made! Have a great day! XOXO 

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Wishing you a magical unicorn day!

Hi there! Happy March! Yep, first day of a new month already! New beginnings, fresh start.... We spent a lot of time this weekend getting our front yard 'spring ready.' My husband fertilized and mowed and cut everything. I pruned our hydrangeas and camellias. We have a TON of daffodils blooming. We have this nice brick planter box that goes the full length of the front of our house and the hubs planted 200 bulbs in there. It's so fun to see what comes up. Right now it's daffodils, but I can see some tulips poking up too. We are going to have fun this coming weekend doing a Caffeine Crawl! It's where you go on a tour of all the local coffee shops and hear lectures and drink COFFEEEEEE all day! Yay! 

I've been busy in the studio working on some projects for a Simon Says Stamp blog hop coming this Friday. Yesterday afternoon I found myself with some free time and I felt like coloring! So I got out a brand new stamp set that just arrived! It's called Be A Unicorn and it's from Avery Elle. LOVE. I am totally into the unicorn craze I tell ya. They are so fun and cheery and they remind me of my childhood toys from the 70's. One of my sweet crafty friends and I call each other unicorns too. EEEP. My color theme/scheme was completely inspired by a Doodlebug paper pad so I matched my Copics to the paper... It's all just too fun. 

 

 

 

Isn't this an adorable sentiment? I colored three unicorns with different color manes and horns.... I couldn't pick just one! The stamp set has teeny tiny hearts and stars...and even a lightning bolt! OMG. 

 

 

Here is a close up of the paper inspiration...

 

 

Doodlebug has chunky twine now and I think it's fabulous! My rainbow and unicorn are popped up with foam squares on my card. It's really hard to see in the photos, but the clouds and the mane/tail of the unicorns are drenched in clear Wink Of Stella shimmer! 

 

 

Here are my Copic colors for today's project: The ones you can't see are Y38 and RV02

 

 

 This is a really clean and neat card layout - good for almost any type of card! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a magical unicorn day, my crafty unicorn friends! XOXOXO

 

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