A Blog Called Wanda: April 2016

A little trip up North! Photo Essay - grab some coffee!

Hello there my sweet blogging friends! How are ya? I hope you've had a great week and that your weekend plans are shaping up to be fun ones too! This month turned out to be really busy - in a good way! April is usually pretty quiet, nothing going on....but not this April! I got called for jury duty (and luckily didn't get chosen), I had a ton of awesome blog projects to make, and the hubs and I took a mini getaway too! Most of my cards and projects are being shared over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog or on Instagram right at the moment, so I hope you are following along with me over there! I'll post some announcements at the end of this post!

Today I finally went through all the photos from our road trip and wanted to share some with you. I love it when my blogging friends share their travels, and the places they live. I hope you enjoy that too! I am sooooo lucky to live in such a beautiful part of America. I live just outside of Sacramento, California. Within two hours we can be in Napa, Lake Tahoe, The Ocean, San Francisco..... It's amazing. Ever since we started dating, we have loved to take car trips together. This particular trip started out with a Travelzoo deal I saw back in January. (I LOVE Travelzoo) There was a special mid week special at the hotel/resort where Mark and I got engaged many years ago. So....I booked a trip for us as a surprise treat for him for a Valentine's Day present. If you follow along with me on Instagram - you might have seen some of these photos already... Anyhoo, I hope you grab a cuppa coffee or tea and enjoy the scenery! XO

Here are some flowers and a pretty butterfly in downtown Mendocino, California.

Beautiful California Golden Poppies, our state flower!

I loved how peaceful this lady looked just sitting there on the grass looking out over the ocean. This is also Mendocino.

Downtown Mendocino.

I hope you like pictures of flowers! LOL.

This was the view from the patio of our hotel room!!! At night it was sooooo dark, we could see a billion stars! We left the sliding glass door open at night to listen to the waves.... There is nothing better than that.

The waves were really big the entire time we were there!

This is part of the big walking path along the cliffs - that is part of the hotel/resort property. It's so very very pretty!!

And this is exactly where the hubs asked me to marry him! On one knee and everything! It was so nice to come back here and remember that moment and think about all we've been through and what's happened to us since we were last here. Just awesome.

Mark took this picture and I LOVE it!

The sunset the first night we were there was so pretty!! Not really bright and vivid, just soft pastels and sweeping clouds....

One day we went to the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Ft. Bragg and walked almost the entire day. CLICK HERE to see their website! The trails start off out by the road and you keep walking and walking and walking until you end up at the ocean. It's lovely!!

The end of the trail gives you this reward! LOVE!

Out in front of the botanical gardens there is a giant pool of lily pads!

A BEAUTIFUL pink house! I think it would be amazing to have this as our craft hangout - what do you think?!

One of my favorite sights....the fog rolling in in the afternoon!

Sigh....that wisteria!!!!

This is Pt. Arena Light House!

We took the long and winding road home...actually several winding roads.... And we had to stop for some champagne with our lunch! This is the famous Korbel Champagne cellars. They have an awesome deli and beautiful grounds to enjoy and tour. This is in Guerneville, California.

You guessed it...more flowers! We have had a four year drought here in California. This year we had TONS of rain and all the flowers and plants are so happy. I can't really remember a time when everything was in bloom so much already in early April.

This was the last photo of the trip, at a winery, before it got dark. There were hundreds of these beautiful poppies and I said "STOP THE CAR!" They are so pretty!

Thank you so much for joining me on this photo journey today! I love to share with you guys - it makes me so happy. I have just a few announcements to tell you about today too!

This weekend I am going to a fun all-weekend-girls-crafty-event at my friend Brenda's house with some other cool crafty gals! YIPPPPEEEE! I feel so lucky to have been invited. We are going to create, laugh, stay up late, create some more, go to the bay....and laugh some more again! I am going to teach everyone how to make my Tim Holtz Ideaology Charm Bracelet project. Tim Holtz was so super generous and sponsored the project by giving me all the supplies! (THANK YOU TIM)! When I do my post next week wrapping up the weekend I'm going to give away one of the kits we'll be using - so you can make your very own bracelet! Stay tuned for that fun here on my blog!

My Weekender with Wanda post will feature My Favorite Things stamps this Saturday on the Simon Says Stamp Blog...A fun and bright floral Birthday card.

Monday I'll be sharing a project as part of the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" Card kit launch for May. Prizes then too! This is a great kit - can't wait for you to see it.

And, lastly, a bit of information and a big thank you! On some of my blog posts you will notice that I do link lists at the bottom of the post, with squares that have the products I've used and links to them in the Simon Says Stamp Store. I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp. This means that if you click on one of those links (or on the flashing SSS blinkie at the top right of my blog) and make a purchase, I receive a small percentage of your sale amount as a commission from SSS. Some of you have been using my links to make your purchases and I am so grateful for that. THANK YOU! Every little bit helps me make my income as a blogger...and helps me buy more stamping stuff too! (and coffee!) Some people had asked me questions about this so I wanted to bring it up. I am very thankful for your support - always. ALWAYS.

Okay, now that really is it for today! I'm glad you came by and wish you a lovely day - until we meet again. Happy Crafting! XOXO

Here is a video about one of the regular features I'm doing for Simon Says Stamp!

I hope you will sign up for #cardoftheweek!

Posted at 08:09 PM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (17)

My Favorite Things - Jungle Friends Card Kit!

Hi friends! (Insert Tarzan yell here!) Remember when Carol Burnett used to do that? Yes, I'm dating myself right now! LOL. I was lucky enough to be sent a beautiful card kit by my friends at MFT Stamps recently. It is SOOOO fun! This card kit is called Jungle Friends and it has the cutest jungle animal dies, punny sentiments and awesome patterned papers. The kit also has cool dies that you can use to make your own slider cards! YAY! CLICK HERE to see the full reveal of the kit on the MFT Blog! This kit is such a good value, for all the items you get. CLICK HERE to shop the kit at the MFT Store!

When I received my kit, I immediately thought "jungle party" and decided to make some colorful and fun party treat boxes. I used my Candy Box Punch Board to make the treat boxes and then used the card kit for everything else. Who doesn't want to be a party animal!? The treat boxes were made using the nice thick cardstock that comes in the kit. Then I used the patterned papers to add an accent around the middle (that part is 1.5 inches wide).

How adorable is this sentiment? I'm going to use this one a lot!! You can see here I tied the ends of my boxes using some natural twine, to go with the jungle theme. I used the MFT Flag Stax for my banners and the MFT Radial Stitched Circle Stax for the white circle layers.

After I die cut each of the animals I went back with a sponge dauber and a bit of matching ink to give a slight shadow effect on them. Here you can see the green ink on the alligator. I die cut the grass pieces out of some of the cute patterned paper!

Thanks for popping in here to my jungle today! My studio is a mess because I just got a giant antique postal cabinet at an antique fair last weekend. Trying to make room for it and then getting excited to start putting things away inside it. A nice addition....but you know how that goes! Organizing and cleaning first! I am so happy to share this fun Jungle Friends Card Kit and am grateful to the fine peeps at MFT for having me as a guest. Take care friends! XOXO

Here are some photos of what you will receive in the kit!

Posted at 12:01 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (6)

Simon Says Stamp "My Favorite" - New Release Blog Hop!

Happy Blog Hop Day! WOOO HOOOOO! I love blog hop day! Welcome to the new release hop for the latest Simon Says Stamp release called "My Favorite!" There are lots of stops on the hop today, and loads of inspiration! Be sure to check out all the blogs (full list at the bottom of my post) and leave comments for a chance to win. Simon Says Stamp will choose a lucky winner at every single stop on the hop. Winners will be chosen on Monday the 25th! YAY! I have two cards to share with you today!

My first card uses the new set called Beautiful Ride and it has an adorable bicycle image as the main image. Then it also has cute baskets, flowers and a dog and cat to ride in the baskets! I looooooove it! Of course, I put a little cat in the basket that looks just like my Buddy! I guarantee you are going to want and love this stamp set. I added a pretty yellow balloon from the Cuddly Critters Accessories stamp set too! I used my Copic Markers to color this one.

My second card features the awesome Cuddly Critters and Cuddly Critters stamp sets and matching dies. I used the sweet panda image and stamped him three times to hold a heart and a message for someone special. Just minimal Copic coloring on this one makes the red and black pop off the page!

The stamp set comes with two basket images - one for the front and one for the back. I colored the front basket and added sweet pink flowers. I cut and colored two of the flower images to make it look like they were hanging over the edge of the front. My bicycle is colored with Copics and then I used glossy accents to add shine to the metal parts (hard to see in the photo). I matched my colors to the pretty plaid background paper (Supply links at the bottom of my post)

There's Buddy on the back! Hee hee! I stamped my sentiment using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink. I layered a white piece of paper and a pink layer. All my images are popped off the page using foam squares.

I think you can see the glossy accents here!

Now this next card would also make a great valentine! I love this panda! The accessories stamp set includes balloons, hearts, and little signs! I had a blast making little hearts above the middle one. EEP! There is no end to the possibilities with this stamp set. The matching dies cut the images so perfectly! Makes crafting a dream, really.

I used only one color of marker on this card - R29 - which is a nice deep red. I added white accents with a gel pen after my ink was dry.

Thank you so much for stopping in on the hop today! I hope you have a great time looking at everyone's creations! Be sure to leave comments for more chances to win a prize! The FULL LINK LIST is at the very bottom of this post! To start at the beginning of the hop CLICK HERE! Take care until we meet again! XO

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Posted at 06:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (648)

Simon Says Stamp New Spring Release - My Favorite!

Hello there, my dear crafty friends! I'm back from a few days at the ocean with my sweetie, and ready to get busy crafting again! We had a really nice time in the pretty Northern California area....Saw lighthouses, beaches, gorgeous flowers...and on the way home....some wineries too! I'm always grateful that I live in a place with such bountiful things to do. On with the business at hand now! Today our friends at Simon Says Stamp are introducing a brand new AWESOME release called "My Favorite!" And, it might just be my favorite release! There are so many cute items in this product line up. The cards practically made themselves! I couldn't stop making things! I'm featuring some watercolor cards today. Then Friday is a GIANT blog hop full of inspiration from the new release. And I'll be back again with more on Saturday's Weekender with Wanda post on the Simon Says Stamp blog. Whew! I told you it was gonna be good.

With each new product release lately, SSS has a beautiful set of pre-printed watercolor cards for you to grab and color. They are printed on high quality watercolor paper and allow you to quickly make a card that is beautiful. I love to take these with me when I travel too. Just bring your favorite markers or watercolors, and a brush, and you're ready to get crafty. I made two cards for you today. This time I ended up fussy cutting the images out of the watercolor panel and then mounting them onto cards using some patterned papers. I added accents of glitter and pearls. I adore using my Kuretake Zig Clean Color Brush Markers and used them on these cards today.

Here is the first one - a lovely Thank You card!

And the second card is a sweet elephant birthday card!

I used my Zig Markers and colored all the parts of the image. I added a soft lavender color to the center of the heart. It was really hard to choose colors - I had so many ideas! After my image was all colored and dry, I cut it out by hand using my detail scissors. Then I cut a stitched rectangle of striped paper for a background layer. The heart is attached to the card using foam squares for dimension.

A bit of twine at the top finishes it off. I used Hero Arts glitter with a glue pen to add accents to the word "You" and the centers of the big flowers. Then I couldn't stop...so I added some pearls too! Extra feminine and pretty. You can never have enough thank you cards on hand!

Here is a close up of that SUPER cute elephant image...and his GIANT balloon! This is seriously too adorable! I chose a bright hot pink for the balloon (Kuretake markers again) and put down a big swash of color! My elephant is a soft grey with some accent colors on his party hat.

As with the first card, I added little pops of glitter to this image.

I cut the elephant and balloon out of the watercolor card and mounted it to my card base using foam squares.

For my background, I used two of the same colors from the main image and created a speckled effect. I used the Tim Holtz Splatter Brush to sprinkle the colors onto watercolor paper!

SUPPLY LINKS!

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Posted at 09:01 PM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (9)

Simon Says Stamp May 2016 Card Kit - You are my Sunshine!

Hi crafty friends! It's been a month already....since I shared the latest Simon Says Stamp Card Kit! Today I'm showing you my cards made with the kit for May 2016....and boy is it cute! The stamp set is sooooooo adorable and it has teeny sayings that fit perfectly into a word bubble. Oh...and my very favorite paper too! The card kit is already available in the Simon Says Stamp store....You can buy one kit, or sign up for a subscription! The stamp set is also available separately! I put all the links at the bottom for you. I made the first card and couldn't help myself, but to make another one! I think you will like this one too! Hope you are having a great week, and hope this post brings a little smile to your face.

The images in this stamp set are sweet and also small in scale...That sort of lends itself to clean and simple card making. I used one of my go-to layouts for clean and simple cards but putting a small piece of the patterned paper across the bottom of the page and then creating a border with a bright color paper strip. I used my Copic Markers to color my images (list of colors below).

The sequins that come in the kit are SOOOOOO pretty and iridescent! I love this assortment!

Here are my Copic Colors that match the papers....

The sun and cloud are mounted onto the card with foam squares for a bit of dimension. I stamped all my images with the Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink.

I'm starting to become a bit obsessed with cute word strip stickers! These are so cute!

For my second card I knew I wanted to use that cute flower stamp! I stamped it several times and cut out three flowers. Then I stamped some extra leaves for layering! I had fun again coloring with my Copic Markers to make the images pop!

I made my own 'flower' by layering some leaves with some vivid sequins! I wanted a bit of an accent to go with my word circle. The circle was cut using this punch. It's the perfect size!

This finished card is a 4.25 x 4.25 inch square card. I used the pretty Stitched Squares dies to make my white layer. I hand cut the 'green grass' by hand using some scissors. No need for it to be fancy!

Thank you so much for popping in today! I'm so excited to share new things with you! Sometimes these kits sell out - and I have the feeling this one will! Get it while it's hot! Have a great day! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY:

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Posted at 09:48 PM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (11)

Tales from a very creative weekend!

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I posted and I've been super busy as a little bee in my hive...making tons of cards and sharing a lot over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog! I hope you are keeping up with me over there!! SO much going on...and more to come this week too! A new SSS card kit is coming out and then another new stamp release soon after that. Besides that, I have been unusually busy with fun social activities! Most of the time my life is pretty quiet! But the way it seems to work is....no activities for weeks, and then everything all at once!! I had a very very nice and creative and inspiring weekend so I thought I would edit some photos and share all that with you! A project, some cupcakes, a visit to the museum, and a crafty girl day! It was so delightful and now it's midnight Sunday night and I'm wide awake from all the excitement! What better time to write a blog post!? Buddy is here too!

Friday the hubs and I went out for breakfast and then went to our local (and awesome) art museum. It's called the Crocker and it is actually right across the street from where I used to work! A few years ago they added an entire wing onto the old part of the building and now it is a cool mix of old and new. The reason for our visit was to see the Andy Warhol visiting exhibit and it was great. Here is a photo of the front of the old part of the museum.

Our museum now has a Chihuly sculpture! It's AMAZING! It's only been here about a month and the nice docent was telling us the story of the installation. All I can say is, I'm glad it wasn't my job to install this gorgeous glass piece!

In the courtyard of the museum are these gorgeous old dogwood trees. The blooms were about 80% gone, but I found a couple of pretty ones to photograph...

Mark caught me in action!

These gorgeous miniature roses are also right in front of the museum...sigh...

This was our tasty breakfast at The Mill Coffee....

So, we'll skip over Saturday because we did chores and laundry and grocery shopping...and I did some work.... But on Sunday I attended a lovely crafty girl get together at my friend Brenda's studio. So, I had to make some treats - right!? I never pass up the chance to make cupcakes! I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I always love to make them pretty - and get crafty! I die cut some cupcake wrappers and then made butterfly toppers. The toppers were easy and quick - I die cut some woodgrain circles and then attached beautiful butterfly dimensional stickers. I hot glued the cake pop sticks to the circles! Then, when the cupcakes are frosted, you just stick them in the centers.

And I brought a pretty hostess gift and card!

Here we all are in Brenda's studio getting crafty and having a wonderful time! We watercolored Brenda Walton for Sizzix Dies and made fabulous cards! How the time flies when you are having fun. Really such a great group of women. Made my heart happy to laugh and create!

Here are all of our cards! Isn't this a great explosion of color? Everyone made something beautiful and unique! We used watercolor paper and watercolor paints and Brenda's Sizzix dies. We mixed and matched dies and colors to our hearts' content. I can't really think of a better way to spend a cloudy Spring afternoon!

Brenda's lovely husband took this group photo of the happy crafters!

Brenda made this card using her new Teacup Bouquet Die Set. Here is a photo of all of the pieces. It's so fun!!

Everything in her amazing garden is so pretty and healthy and green! I snapped a few quick pictures while she was showing us her gorgeous heirloom roses and other plants.

So if you're still reading...thanks for taking the time to hang out with me!! I know it's a lot of pictures, but I really do love to share with photos. I think photography is my language. I always feel like I can explain anything...if I can just show you a picture! I hope I've brightened your Monday just a little bit and I hope you have a fantastic week ahead of you. Thanks for stopping by here and many blessings to you friends! XOXO

Posted at 12:34 AM in Papercrafting, Photography | Permalink | Comments (19)

Hot Air Balloon - Hooray!

Hi there my sweet creative bloggy friends! How are you? What's new with you?! I've been having a pretty quiet week so far, getting things done in the studio and chugging along! This Friday we are going to the Andy Warhol exhibit at our local art museum. My husband works a 9/80 schedule, so he has every other Friday off from work. We try to find fun things to do together and make it a date day! The weather is nice and it's time to get out and do stuff!

I'm sharing a really special card today! One of my dear friends has some super duper happy news and I really wanted to commemorate the occasion with a bright and cheerful card to send her! I got out my beautiful Brenda Walton Hot Air Balloon stamps and dies and decided they would be perfect for a celebratory card! The sentiments are perfect, and beautiful. I created a rainbow hot air balloon by die cutting the balloon die several times and trimming the pieces to fit together.

The white banner comes with the Hot Air Balloon set. The Celebrate sentiment is from the Big Top stamps and die set - also from the delightful Brenda Walton collection. Now, this sentiment curves the other way.... How did I get it on there you might ask?! Since these are all flexible clear stamps, I played around with it on my clear stamping block until I got it just the right curve to match! TOO FUN.

I die cut a stitched circle die out of a sheet of watercolor paper and mounted some pretty gingham paper behind the window. Then I used a pretty red layer for the bottom. I always love light blue and red together. It's so fresh and pretty. The cloud dies come with the balloon, too. I cut them out and gently inked them with a sponge dauber and light blue ink.

HOORAY! This is the prettiest stamp! I thought it looked nice right there on the cloud!

A few enamel dots makes the whole card festive and shiny!

I sure have enjoyed sharing this project with you! I think that there is something really special about sitting down and making a card for a specific person for a specific occasion. That makes me truly happy. I hope you have found some inspiration today, and I hope the rest of your week is amazing! Take care! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

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Posted at 10:00 AM in Papercrafting | Permalink | Comments (12)

Hero Arts April Card Kit Blog Hop!

Hi friends! I'm super excited to be sharing a card with you today as part of the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" Card Kit release for April. This kit is SO pretty! It was a joy to make a card with these supplies. Really cool Daniel Smith watercolors - maybe you haven't tried them yet? I first saw them at CHA and was hooked right away. This new kit is a great way to try some of the Daniel Smith Watercolors. The kit has a stamp set, matching dies, gems, watercolors and pre-folded cards. Sure to inspire you right out of the box! It's very nice to be included in the hop today. I hope you have a great time looking at everyone's creations! Thank you for visiting with me here! CLICK HERE to shop the kit in the Hero Arts Store!

I was inspired right away by this beautiful big flower stamp! I stamped it and white embossed it twice onto watercolor paper. Then I used the included watercolors and painted them in gorgeous shades of purple (Quinacridone Violet and Quinacridone Fuchsia). I stamped and white embossed several of the leaves onto watercolor paper and then colored them in pretty greens (Serpentine Genuine, Phthalo Yellow Green and Cascade Green). I cannot even stress enough how pretty these colors are in person!

Here is a close up of my blooms and leaves so you can see the colors all blended together. For the flower centers I used the Yellow Deep Hue watercolor paint. I stamped the sentiment in a deep rich Archival Jet Black ink.

I mounted my flowers and leaves onto the card using foam tape for a bit of dimension. I used a piece of black and white striped paper to add a graphic element to the background.

The kit contains:

A 4x6 clear stamp set, a set of four Frame Cuts dies, designed to cut and stack the flower into a layered element. (Stamp the large flower four times to use with the dies!), a Paper Layering die, which allows you to pop-up a single stamped rose for a different dimensional look, a dot sheet of DANIEL SMITH watercolors in a palette specifically selected for Hero Arts. (Each dot of paint allows watercoloring of 2-3 images, to give you an introduction to these wonderful paints), a waterbrush, paper in cream and white, notecards, and pearls. The kit is $29.99, and It is such a great value. There are also three optional add-on items that will be available: CL980 Happy Mother's Day Stamp Set, DI190 Happy Mother's Day Frame Cuts and DANIEL SMITH watercolor paints in 15ml tubes - 18 colors in all, the colors used on the Hero Arts Palette dot sheet.

PRIZE! One lucky winner will be chosen from all the blog comments - and will win a free Hero Arts Kit! Make sure to leave comments on all the stops on the hop for more chances to win.

The Hero Arts kits sell out pretty regularly, so I would hop right on it if you think you want this one (and I kinda think you do!) I'm glad you stopped in today. Have a great time hopping! See you soon!

CLICK HERE TO START AT THE BEGINNING OF THE HOP!