A Blog Called Wanda

Season's Givings Blog Hop! Happy New Year 2017!

EDITED 1-4-17

MY LUCKY WINNER IS LINSEY R! THANK YOU EVERYONE! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017!

MANY BLESSINGS FOR AN AMAZING YEAR AHEAD!

Thank you very much for coming by my blog today to celebrate "Season's Givings" with a giant blog hop and awesome prize giveaways! This is my third year doing this great hop! Big giant thanks to Latisha for organizing this amazing hop! I hope you are having fun looking at everyone's blogs! What a great way to start off the new year right? The entire hop link list is at the very bottom of my post. And every blog has a prize! There are all kinds of beautiful projects to look at and loads of great prizes! 

This blog hop is all about us thanking YOU, our awesome followers and readers, for supporting us and sharing our joy of crafting. For lots of us, the main reason we blog, is that we develop wonderful friendships with a greater creative community and we uplift and inspire each other. Truly, thank you for joining me on my blog journey. If you are new to my site - welcome! I hope you find something you like and I'm happy to have you here today. Welcome to Season's Givings 2017! 

You heard me correctly - every stop on the hop has PRIZES! It's our way of saying thanks! I have a great prize package of goodies to give away to one lucky winner (see photo below)! In order to be eligible to win, please leave a comment on this post and tell me your New Year's resolution for crafting and creativity! I will draw the winner on Wednesday January 4th and notify you via email. What projects are you going to work on in 2017? Maybe a new technique? New style? Favorite new supplies? 

 

My project to share with you today is a sweet little package of love notes I made with the brand new Lawn Fawn Heart Envelope Die! LOVE! Swooooon! It's a big heart die that folds into an envelope. The finished size is perfect to hold a sweet note and/or a gift card! I made some notes for my friends out of beautiful patterned papers. Then I added accents with pretty stamps from Altenew. 

 

I used the Altenew Calligraphy Alpha to spell out the names of my friends. The way the stamps are designed, they line up perfectly and hook together to mimic hand lettering! I used ink shades in pink, brown and green to match the papers and give a vintage feeling. 

 

Here is the envelope when it is opened up - a BIG HEART! I adhered my notes inside on some cream paper and used more Altenew Stamps. The stamp set is called Hello Sunshine! I love how the double sided paper makes the envelopes just as pretty on the inside as the outside. 

 

I used the SSS Stitched Ovals dies to die cut seals for the back of the envelopes. I stamped on them to make them extra pretty. They are attached with foam tape for a bit of dimension. 

 

 

 

The Heart Envelope Die comes with add on pieces - a heart, some word dies, and this perfectly sized scalloped label piece. SO elegant!! 

 

 

 

Here are the envelopes cut out, and before I folded them. I used a bone folder tool to get nice crisp edges. The die automatically scores where you need to fold - so no guesswork! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to hook up with me on social media - all the links are in my left sidebar! And, I would love to have you as an email subscriber too - just put your email in the box under my photo. Oh, and I AM ADDICTED to Instagram! I would be happy to share with you there! Thank you for coming by today. Enjoy the hop! HAPPY 2017! XOXO My year end blog wrap - up post is the next post down, so keep scrolling if you'd like to see more projects! Thank you! 

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S PROJECT! 

InLinkz.com

 

 

FULL BLOG HOP LIST! CLICK HERE!

 

My lucky winner is Linsey R! (edited 1-4-17)

 

 

 

 

Starting the new year off right with a $75 giveaway!

UPDATED FEBRUARY 1, 2017

I have pulled my lucky random winner....Geneva! 

Hi crafty friends! I have been thinking up ways to do some giveaways and prizes starting with the new year, and brainstorming business ideas too! I wanted a way to say thank you to you, my blog readers, and also say thank you to my shopping affiliates! I am grateful to the companies that allow me to be part of their businesses all year and I am grateful to you for the love and support you show me! ***On a personal note, I only link to companies that I utilize, love and support. Every company that I connect with is a proven winner in my opinion. I will never recommend a company that I do not shop with myself! 

PRIZE DRAWING!

Starting now, and going through the end of January I am having a $75 shopping spree prize drawing. I will draw one lucky winner at the end of the month and the prize will be a $75 gift certificate to the company of your choice listed below in the links! Yes, that's right, you choose the prize too! 

DETAILS: 

Click on any of the logos below for my affiliate companies and when you place any order of $75 or more, you will be entered in the prize drawing. Here's how: Once you finish your order, email me ([email protected]) with the date and time of your order, and the company you ordered from. I will save all the emails over the month and draw one winner on January 31st and notify the winner! The more shopping orders you place, the more entries you have into the drawing. In order to be entered, you need to click through the links below. GOOD LUCK! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Year Blogaversary! And, my end of the year wrap up for 2016!

Hello my dear blogging friends! Today I'm celebrating my SEVEN YEAR BLOGAVERSARY! Wowza! Every year when I do my end-of-the-year wrap up post I can't even believe that another year of fun and creativity has passed! I look forward to writing this post each December, and sharing with you my favorite projects from the past year. (Here's my wrap up from last year) This post helps me reflect on where I've been and think about where I'm going. I like to chronicle stats and numbers once a year too. Having a craft blog is a lot like having a diary and it is so fun to have all my projects in one place to keep track of my creative journey. Thank you so much for being a part of it all. I always go back and re-read my VERY FIRST BLOG POST at this time of year. And I think of how grateful I am to have this place to call my own. This blogging thing has been a true adventure! The very best kind of adventure - fun, exciting, crazy, and restorative. Thank you very much for coming along on this adventure with me. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun without all of you! 

Happy New Year 2017! Be sure to check back on New Year's day because It's the Season's Givings Blog Hop day!  All of the bloggers in the hop are giving away prizes! This is my third or fourth year??? It is always really fun! 

2016 was a very busy and fun year! It was my first complete year as a full time creative professional. I am so proud of myself for making this work. Lots of hustle and hard work has paid off! I'm so grateful for all of the business opportunities that were presented to me this year. I can't wait to see what 2017 brings in that regard. I would say that I am a very lucky person, but I know that it is not luck, but blessings. I am truly blessed. This year brought a lot more personal growth which always comes with a bit of strife. I truly believe that every situation you find yourself in will teach you something. Sometimes it's difficult to learn lessons about yourself.... But, I do believe that trials and tribulations move us forward and bring joy through prayer and time with God. This year I was blessed by some incredible friendships and some cool experiences. My family is doing well and we are happy and healthy. What more can you ask for really?!  

My word for 2016 was PEACE. By that I meant inner peace and calm. Being present in all things and with my relationships. Slowing down. Calming down. Surrendering more. I'm happy to report that I am definitely more at peace than I was a year ago! But, I still have far to go on this particular journey! I am, by nature, a worrier. I am also a spazz! Ha. I have definitely calmed down and focused on the things that really matter. I will keep working on this!

My word for 2017 is COFFEE! (Just kidding!) My word for 2017 is BRAVE. Brave enough to be myself without the fear of the judgement of others. How powerful is this concept? I am a work in progress... Free to be my authentic self, the real me. The ability to say how I feel, find my passion, stand up for the things that matter, don't settle, don't apologize.... That, to me, is bravery. 

Do you choose focus words or resolutions for the new year? I'd love to hear! Leave me a comment about your hopes for the new year! 

Something I love to do here on the blog at the end of the year, is to take a look back on my creative journey from the year before! This annual post is kind of like a cyber scrapbook! Thank you for joining along with me. My blog is my journal and here I keep a record of my statistical progress.  So, on that note, here are some fun stats from the year. At the end of 2015... I had written 989 total blog posts, received 17,165 comments, had 372,000 total visitors, 900 email subscribers...and...773,000 total blog hits! I wondered if I might hit one million visitors in 2016? But I just barely missed that goal! At the end of 2016... I have now written 1110 blog posts here (121 this year on my blog plus 80 more on the SSS Blog!), received 26,125 lovely comments, had 504,000 total blog visitors, 1100 email subscribers....and...955,000 total blog hits! I am going to hit that one million mark very soon! We WILL celebrate! 

Four years ago, I started a tradition of recapping my favorite projects from the past year. I get so many nice comments about this! Here are my favorites from 2016... There are a lot! So grab a cuppa joe and settle in! I hope you enjoy the look back with me! To see more information about each project, please click on the photos!  

 

 
 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I appreciate all of you so much, all of your love and kindness and support!

I wish you the very best year ever! Cheers to 2017!

2017 Calendar Project with Concord & 9th Stamps!

Hey everyone! Happy (almost) New Year! I hope you had a really wonderful Christmas this year! It's always strange the week after Christmas, don't you think? It's like soooo many days (months?) of build up, and then poof, it's all over! I usually feel a bit of Christmas let down in the days after. Then it's time to begin the process of putting everything away and saying good bye to all the festivities. I miss it!! But, the one good thing about this week, is that we can plan and get excited for the new year to come! I'm excited because in three weeks I'll be in Phoenix with about 10,000 of my closest crafty friends at the annual CHA Convention! I cannot wait. So that is the first thing I put down in my new planner!!

I shared a New Year's Card on the SSS Blog this past Saturday. CLICK HERE if you want to check it out! It's very bright and cheerful. Today I'm sharing a calendar project made with awesome products and  supplies from Concord & 9th! They came out with a bundle that has an awesome pre-printed calendar and a calendar stamp set in their signature font. I was super excited to ink this up. I worked on this on Christmas day, and now I'm happy to share with you. After I stamped all the pages, I cut a piece of chipboard to match the size (5x7) and then bound it with my Cinch. Now it will stand up on my desk.  

Here is the cover! I used the Flourish Stamp Set to add a big, bold colorful floral bouquet! 

 

The next two collage photos show each of the 12 month pages I made! All the stamp sets are listed below in the supply links. 

 

And here are a few close ups of some of the pages! First up is this adorable bear holding his sign! I colored this with just a few Copic Markers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the back, I used white chipboard. I added a little sticker to the back with the name of my business! 

 

Here are all the pages laid out on my table! Ready to assemble!

 

I love my Cinch tool! It's SOOOO easy to bind your own books, calendars, scrapbooks, etc. I used the 3/4 inch size silver coil for this project. Here is a photo of the holes punched in the top before binding. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for being part of my 2016! You all mean so much to me! Thank you for all the kind comments and uplifting words! Let's cheers to a great 2017! Full of creativity and joy! I'll be back on New Year's Eve posting as part of a GIANT blog hop that has prizes at each stop. I hope to see you then! XOXO

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY! 

Thank you for supporting my business by using my Affiliate links! 

InLinkz.com

 

Merry Christmas 2016 from my home to yours!

 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MY BLOG FAMILY! 

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS,

WISHING YOU A BLESSED HOLIDAY!

 

Luke 2:7-14

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were so afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. AMEN! 

 

Valentine Treat Idea! (During Christmas week!?)

Hi everybody! I wasn't sure I would blog again before Christmas, but here I am! LOL! I did some midnight crafting the other night! Does that happen to you? Do you get ideas late at night too? Earlier that evening I was practically falling asleep on the couch. I was all snuggly with my kitty on my lap. Well, I started watching TV and before I knew it I was all crafty and it was so late at night! But, I gave in to the temptation and decided to make another project with the awesome new release from Simon Says Stamp. Everything was still out on my counter top and I love it all... I ended up making some Valentine treat bags with glassine bags. This is one of my go-to projects for Valentine's Day and I usually end up making some version of these every year. They are a bit shabby chic and vintage, and romantic.... I also used a brand new paper pad (Metropolitan Girl) that just came in the mail. One tip for these kinds of projects is to use all papers from the same pad. It makes it all go together so nicely! Black and pink always looks nice together!

I hope your Christmas week is going well. I am out doing errands and meeting friends for coffee and lunches...and getting a manicure. Doing some fun things in between working. Spending time with my favorite peoples. We will have a quiet Christmas day at our home. I'm still deciding on the menu! 

Here are my finished treat bags. They are filled with Hershey's Kisses because everyone loves Kisses! I sometimes will put a coffee gift card inside or a small present. I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple the tops closed before I decorate them. I found the perfect shade of coral twine in my stash. (Supply links at the bottom of my post) 

 

To spell out "Love You" I used parts of two different dies. I love that all the new dies are the same font and scale so you can mix and match all the words. I die cut my words out of pretty silver glitter cardstock for a bit of shimmer on my bags. A crisp white doily always makes a card or treat seem more special and vintage. 

 

I die cut out the numbers from rich black cardstock for nice contrast to all the pink going on. I mounted them onto the bag using foam tape. Before layering on all my pretties, I started with a belly band of black and white striped paper cut to 1.75 inches wide. A couple of tiny banners stick out from under the belly band. I wanted to somehow get some floral paper onto this project and this was just a nice little touch. 

 

EEEEEP! This tiny envelope!!! So cute! I used one of the new stamp sets to stamp 'forever' onto the front of the envelope and then put on a tiny pink heart (part of that die set). 

 

 

Okee dokee! That's it for today! Thanks for spending part of your busy holiday week here with me! I hope you are staying warm and toasty where you live and hope you're having fun! XOXOXO 

 

SUPPLY LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECT!

InLinkz.com

 

If you are going to order from Amazon, I would be so grateful if you would use my affiliate link below! It works for any items ordered on Amazon! Thank you for your support! 

 

Happy Christmas Week my friends!

Hello my sweet friends! Happy Christmas Week! Yes, it's only one week until Christmas day! It's been very cold here (California cold as we'll call it) and it even got down to 26 degrees last night! Too bad we didn't have any precipitation - we might have had snow! The cold weather makes it feel like Winter and Christmas to me, and I love it. The hubs has been lighting fires in the fireplace for Buddy to enjoy (LOL) and me too. I'm sort of nesting at this point and heaping on the blankets on the couch. Went to the awesome Christmas concert at church last weekend and it really put me in the mood to remember the reason for the season. Something about a full orchestra with a full choir in tuxedos, accompanied by the giant pipe organ... Man, that's wonderful stuff. Makes me tear up just thinking about it. It's time to get out of my "head space" about Christmas and get into my "heart space" about it. Time to put away all the Christmas crafty items and wrap the last presents...and be PRESENT in the season. The hubs and I have been making an effort to get out and enjoy the beauty of the season, and decorations and shopping and take it all in. Because he has accrued so much vacation time at his work he's been taking Fridays off, and we've been exploring and hanging out together. Yay! 

This past Friday we went to one of our favorite quaint little towns in the California Foothills - Sutter Creek, CA. It's only about 20 miles from where we live, but it feels a world away. An adorable Main Street, a white steepled church, antique stores....It's so nice. During the week it's very quiet there. We spent the better part of the day walking around and talking to the shop owners, and then stopped in Placerville and Folsom on the way home. Lovely lovely day! I thought I would share a photo essay with you about our day. A little break from crafting! The light on Friday was perfection and it made for a great photo shoot day! Hope you enjoy this look at a little piece of my part of the world. I'll list all the places we went at the bottom of my post! 

 

 

We ate lunch here at the Hotel Sutter (this is where we usually eat - it has the best hamburgers!) It was all decked out for Christmas with beautiful big star lights and a gorgeous tree in the lobby. 

 

A view looking down the sidewalk on Main Street. 

 

 

 

One of my favorite stores - The Antique Gardener. Aimee the shop owner is a delightful person and her eye for design is AMAZING! I was having a creative explosion inside my head in here! Sometimes I get so overwhelmed by beauty and ideas and sights! 

 

 

 

Who doesn't want a sparkly silver deer wearing a fur muff??? How fun is that? This was spotted at the Unique Boutique!

 

The bartender at the Hotel Sutter shaking up some drinks! Yum!

 

 

This little vignette at the Antique Gardener about killed me! How pretty and creative and wonderful!!! 

 

Very cool decoration spotted at Water Street Antiques. I think I need to create some version of this....help me remember!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a brand new store on Main Street called Tigby Hill Antiques. I met the owner, Mary, and we had a nice conversation and I felt a very strong artistic connection to her right away. I hope I get to hang out with her some more. She just moved here and set up her wonderful shop a month ago. I spotted this wreath hanging on the wall and asked "did you make this" and she said "yes" and I knew I had to have it. It's made entirely of antique ornaments! It's very special to me already. One of a kind for sure. It's the only thing I bought on Friday. LOVE. 

 

These were spotted at one of my all time fav shops called Tomorrow's Heirlooms. I have several pieces from this shop. I have a beautiful old paper church covered in glitter, ornaments and beautiful garlands all from this store. It's a treat to stop in here every time. 

 

 

 

Even though it was freezing cold, there is still this one last tree holding on to Autumn! I've never seen the creek this full in all my years coming here! (we had a big rain storm on Thursday). 

 

It was dark by the time we got over to Placerville. We were hoping for some more holiday spirit, but it wasn't as decorated as it usually is....We love to go to the amazing old timey Hardware Store. SO much to look at in there!

 

Our last stop of the day was the cool ice rink in Old Town Folsom. This is just a couple miles from our house and a good place to end the day. There is fun music blasting from the speakers, and a giant Christmas tree right in the center of the rink. Every once in a while they blast out some snow. It's super festive and everyone is having a good time. Also, no cell phones allowed! Isn't that nice?! 

Thanks for coming along on our trip! I hope I have put you in the Christmas spirit too! What are your Christmas traditions where you live?? Where do you like to go?? Please share! Have a wonderful week everyone! Not sure if I'll be back here before Christmas. Love to you all! XOXO

 

SUTTER CREEK CALIFORNIA WEBSITE

THE ANTIQUE GARDENER

TOMORROW'S HEIRLOOMS

HOTEL SUTTER

UNIQUE BOUTIQUE FOR U

WATER STREET ANTIQUES

FOLSOM ICE RINK

 

Simon Says Stamp New Release - Hey Love!

Hey my loves! How are you? Hope you've been having a great week! I had a great week, because all kinds of awesome new crafty things arrived in my mailbox this week! I have been a busy bee in the studio making things to share with you! Today is the launch of a new release from Simon Says Stamp - called HEY LOVE! It's the beginning of the Valentine products, but these stamps and dies are really perfect for all kinds of projects where you want to say I love you! The new word dies are the best!! You're going to love them. I have a happy card to share today with you - all die cuts, and no stamping. Sometimes it just works out that way! CLICK HERE to see the entire new release! Let me know what you think! 

Every time I get a box of new products from Simon Says Stamp, it's like Christmas morning! I rip that box open and spread everything out on the table in my studio and kind of take it all in...let the ideas come to me... And, every time, there is always one item that I'm instantly drawn to use first! With today's release that product was the Heart of Flowers Die. It's so pretty and I can think of a million ideas of things to make with it! I decided to use one of my favorite color palettes: white, red, aqua and grey, to make a 'love'ly greeting. 

My finished card is 5x5 inch square. I made a square card because I wanted the heart to fill up the entire space in the center of the card. I made my own card base using bright white cardstock, and then layered some rich deep grey over it. The "love" die cut is the same grey paper to tie the project together. (product links at the bottom of my post).

 

The Heart of Flowers die actually doesn't cut out in the shape of a heart - it cuts into your paper (I hope that makes sense).... I wanted to pop it up off the page and put some red behind it so I got an idea and I ran and grabbed my SSS Nesting Hearts Dies! It worked perfectly! I die cut the new Heart of Flowers die out of white paper and then I die cut a bigger heart around it! YAY! Then I layered red behind it with foam tape. I die cut the Heart of Flowers a second time in pretty blue paper and filled in some of the petals. I really like this color combo. Very fresh!

 

I added pretty white twine and some shimmery white pearls to make the card really feminine. I also speckled some white mist on the grey layer piece. 

 

 

 

The 'love' word is a die that says 'hey love' and I used just part of it. There are LOTS of new word dies and I love all of them! This font is so pretty!

 

 

Thank you for coming by today! I was so excited to share this with you! Saturday (the 17th) I will have a post on the Simon Says Stamp Blog using Tim Holtz products to make some Christmas thank you cards. I hope you will check that out! Have a wonderful day friends! XOXO

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE NEW RELEASE!

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S CARD BELOW!

InLinkz.com

 

Thank you for shopping via my product links and ad links - this helps pay for my expenses to keep on blogging. I really appreciate you! 

Simon Says Stamp January 2017 Card Kit release!

Hey everyone! It's hard to believe it, but it's time for a new Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Card Kit! (How fast did this past month go by?) I'm writing today to introduce the January 2017 Card Kit called Snow Much Thanks! It's a perfect kit for winter crafting and has a beautiful new snowflake stamp set included. The word that comes to mind - icy! Gorgeous blue tones and pretty vellum and a sparkly sequin mix! Love it all. You can order your kit HERE or subscribe HERE to automatically receive a kit every month. They are a great value and always get the inspiration flowing. You can also order just the stamp set HERE.

When I first opened the box my eyes went straight to the pretty sequin mix. So, then I knew I wanted to make a shaker card to share with you! Here's my first creation made with the new kit.

 

I started with a crisp white A2 card base and layered the blue gingham paper on top of the white. Then I cut a smaller white panel and stamped the pretty snowflakes all over it in blue ink to match the paper and the vellum. The patterned paper and the blue vellum are both part of the kit. Next I created the shaker part of the card by layering two Stitched Squares dies to make a frame. I attached acetate to the back of the frame and filled it with the sequin mix. I saved out a few of the sequins to add later as accents to the card. 

 

I love this icy blue vellum! I stamped the sentiment in black and wrapped the vellum around the bottom of the card, before attaching the front to the card base. 

 

 

Thanks for popping by today to see the new card kit! Not sure what's up next... Trying to scurry around and get ready for Christmas! Have a wonderful day, my dear crafty friends! XOXO

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE KIT!

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S PROJECT BELOW! 

InLinkz.com

 

 

Stay Cool!

Hi everybody! Happy Sunday! It's two weeks before Christmas! EEEKS! And today is my husband's birthday so we've been celebrating all weekend! I made his favorite meal this morning (affectionately called BIG breakfast) and now we are in a food coma watching football. Buddy is snoozing in front of the window. It's nice and foggy. Life is good. Tonight my friend Shauna and I will go out for dinner and to the amazing Christmas concert at church. It's our annual girls night out tradition for the holidays. Friday the hubs and I spent all day in San Francisco going to museums, taking pictures, shopping and enjoying the holiday sights and sounds. Carolers and ice skaters, and busy shoppers, and so many beautiful decorations. It's pure magic and I feel so lucky that we live close to a world class city like San Francisco, and we can go any time we like. I am winding down on making holiday projects and thinking about putting away all the Christmas crafting stuff. My studio is a mess, like Christmas blew up in here! LOL. Time to move on to winter and Valentine's Day cards now! 

I did my 2016 CRAFTY TOP TEN list a little bit ago, and the stamp set I'm using today is one of the things on my favorites list! CUTEST penguins ever in the Chill Wishes stamp set from My Favorite Things. I had so much fun coloring these guys with my Copic Markers! Then I added bits of glitter here and there. This would be a fun Winter greeting or Winter birthday card for someone special. They kinda crack me up. My favorite is the skier one! 

 

 

I made my card base out of gingham paper (from Amuse stamps) and then used that pretty blue shade from the paper as one of my main card colors. I stamped and die cut the penguins and trees and then colored them with Copic Markers. I die cut a stitched rectangle and a stitched slope from two die sets from SSS (Supplies listed below) to make the setting for these funny guys. I stamped little snowflakes on the white pieces and also stamped my sentiment in the corner of the slope.

 

I used Copic Opaque White to add white highlights over my Copic Coloring. Then I used Hero Arts Prisma Glitter and a Quickie glue pen to add glitter accents. 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the pieces are attached to the card using foam tape for dimension. I put the trees behind the penguins to make it look like they just stopped on the ski slope! LOL. Seriously. So adorable. Stay cool my friends!!

Thanks for popping by here today! I'm waiting for LOTS of stamps to arrive in the mail and hopefully they make it in time! EEK. I have three blog posts to do for next week, and no stamps yet! Wish me luck! Hope you have a fantastic week ahead. Love you. Bye! XOXOXO 

P.S. I have some fun projects on the SSS Blog today - leave a comment over there for a chance to win a prize!

 

SUPPLY LINKS FOR TODAY!

Thanks for clicking and supporting my business! 

InLinkz.com 

 

 

Simon Says Stamp - Diecember 2016 Blog Hop!

Hey there crafty friends! Welcome to my blog, and to the Simon Says Stamp Diecember 2016 new release blog hop! Yeah! So happy to have you here today with me! You may have arrived from the lovely and talented Jessica's blog. I hope you enjoy the entire hop - I love these crafty women and their amazing designs. I can't wait to do the hop myself. Yesterday SSS released this AMAZING new line of die cuts for all occasions. Diecember is the month to celebrate the fact that we love using die cuts on our cards and other projects. There are some awesome new word dies, and some really innovative new designs. Hope you have fun today! CLICK HERE to see the entire new release!

PRIZE ALERT: Each stop on the hop will be awarding a prize of a $25 GIFT CARD to SIMON SAYS STAMP! Yay! To enter to win here on my blog, please leave a comment below telling me about your Christmas cards! Are you done? How many did you make? Are they all the same? I'd love to hear what your tradition is, and I know everyone will enjoy reading each others' comments.My Christmas cards are done and in a box on my desk...I do not like the addressing part so I am procrastinating right now! I write a Christmas letter every year too! Good Luck. I will pull my random winner Sunday night and notify you by email on Monday! 

If you've visited my blog before, you know that I usually can't stop myself at one project... And today is no different. I am sharing a Christmas card first, and then some all-purpose general greeting cards to keep on hand in my studio. You can never have enough thank you cards or hello cards! Supply links are at the very bottom of my post. 

First up, I reaaalllllyyyyy wanted to use this cool Fold Over Tree Die! It's the perfect size and scale for the front of a card and would also fit beautifully on a gift tag. I die cut the die along the fold of my green cardstock to get an entire tree. I cut two of them this way and layered them together. Take a look! 

 

Once my trees were die cut, I sprayed them with white spray and set them aside to dry. Next I stamped my stars background stamp in crisp white ink onto kraft cardstock. And set that aside to dry. My finished card is 5 x 5 square. I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of cream cardstock and hand cut that into a banner to go across my tree.

 

For my accents I used a Tim Holtz Mirrored star and some Doodlebug Enamel Dots for ornaments. SO festive!!

 

 

 

I adhered the ends of the word banner with some clear glue. I keep some little clips in my studio to hold things like this together while they are drying. Makes it nice and secure! 

 

 

 

 

It's almost time to put away all the Christmas crafting items and so I wanted to share a non-holiday related project today too! I used pretty rich gray cardstock with the gorgeous new Circle Leaves Die. I love this look! I added a layer of vellum behind the die cut and then layered colored cardstock behind that. It seems very elegant and could be for a man or a woman. These new word dies are going to get a LOT of use in my studio! LOVE. 

 

I am seriously loving spraying everything with white ink right now! Ha! It's very hard to photograph the vellum - it looks prettier in person I think. I accented the cards with some matching sequins too. This would make a lovely card set to use as a gift in a box! The new Handlettered Greetings dies are so delicate and pretty. My prediction is that these will be the first item to sell out!!! 

 

 

 

These die cuts cut like BUTTER! So crisp and pretty! 

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU friends for coming by on the hop today! Happy Diecember! I hope you have an amazing weekend! I will be up on the Simon Says Stamp Blog on Sunday with a colorful and fun ensemble of cards using Hero Arts Products! Hope to see you then. XOXO  

NEXT UP ON THE BLOG HOP IS LOVELY HEATHER!

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE NEW RELEASE!

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS ARE BELOW! 

 

InLinkz.com

 

 

Simon Says Stamp Diecember 2016 is revealed!

 

Hellloooo crafty pals! I'm very excited to be sharing the latest exclusive release from Simon Says Stamp! Yes, it's time for Diecember 2016! Woot Woot! What is Diecember? It's the month that we celebrate the love of die-cutting in our crafting projects! Today we are revealing the new products CLICK HERE, and Friday Simon is hosting a special blog hop with loads of inspiration for you using all these new products.  Everyone loves new die cuts, right? I often make entire cards with just die cuts, like I've done today! With all the gorgeous word die cuts it's easy to put together a polished and pretty card so quickly. I can't wait for you to see everything. My card for today uses the one die that made me smile the biggest when I opened my package of goodies - PENGUINS! I love these cute chubby critters! 

 

My card is bright and cheerful with those cute little penguins so happy together! I used some bright pink to pop some happiness into this winter card! I love pink and black together - always! I die cut the penguins out of water color paper and the colored their bodies, beaks, and cheeks with Distress Inks and a water brush. So fun. I cut a strip of pink paper and layered it over my crisp white cardstock. I die cut the words using rich black cardstock. The pink in their cheeks matches the pink paper which brings the project together. 

 

The Stitched Snowflakes Dies are one of my favorite die sets of all time from SSS. I use these a lot on my winter and Christmas cards. They are the perfect size and one pass through the big shot gives you multiple snowflakes all at once! Perfect!

 

In order to pop the cheeks and beaks off the page, I left one die cut all together and then layered on a second set of the pieces using a glue pen and my tweezers. At the end I added some enamel dots and gems for sparkle. (Gotta have sparkle!)

 

 

Thank you so much for coming by today! i hope you like the new items! And, I hope you will HOP on over on Friday to join me for the BLOG HOP! Yeah! You know there will be good prizes and lots of fun. Have a wonderful day! XOXO 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE NEW RELEASE!

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S CARD LISTED BELOW! 

InLinkz.com

 

My Monthly Hero - December 2016 Hero Arts Kit!

  

 

Hi friends! Welcome to the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" December Kit blog hop! I'm so happy to see you today! The kit this month is AWESOME! Lots of products perfect for celebrating! And the add-ons? I fainted... They are so great. I used all of it! I couldn't help myself. All of these products work together seamlessly and beautifully to create a celebration. I chose to go with a New Year theme because of the cool retro font and numbers in the Happy New Year Stamp and Cut set. It really spoke to me. For New Years, I love an old fashioned traditional look. Makes me nostalgic. I went with a color theme of black, white and gold and used the beautiful gold paper that comes in the main kit. I made a card, and some party favors to share with you today! You may have arrived here from my talented friend Laura's blog?! If you want to start at the beginning of the hop, CLICK HERE to go to the Hero Arts Blog. Lots and lots of inspiration for you today. The team knocked it out of the park I'd say!

 

I used the We R Memory Keepers Candy Box Punch Board to make my party poppers. Inside is a bit of chocolate and a good wish for the new year. These would look really pretty on the dinner table at each person's spot, next to a glass of bubbly! **clink**

 

 

Here is a close up of my cluster of design elements for my card. The die cuts work like a dream. Perfect cut the first time. No coloring needed in this color palette for today. I added clear gems and Diamond Stickles against the crisp black and white. My accent color is Mustard Seed Ink from Avery Elle. It's sort of a retro gold color. 

 

 

 

My finished projects! For the punch board project, I cut my paper to 7 x 5 inches. This made a smaller sized candy box. You can make these longer, too, but I wanted them small for this use. I die cut the gorgeous Party Confetti Fancy Die out of the gold paper that comes in the kit. Then I cut the big die cut into strips 1.5 inches wide to layer around the black candy boxes. I love how the black shows through the bright gold. 

 

 

 

I used a sheet of Houndstooth patterned paper from one of my favorite Christmas paper pads. Perfect in black and white. All of the elements are attached to the card using foam tape. How cute is that top hat!? I want to sing "Puttin on the Ritz!" 

 

 

 

 

It's pretty hard for me to make a project without twine! LOL. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

The champagne stamp is two stamps, so you can make the inside part whatever color you like! I added some Diamond Stickles to the champagne of course! I die cut a circle and a banner to stamp on and then attached everything with foam tape. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kit comes with GORGEOUS metallic and shimmery papers in shades of gold, navy and hot pink! WOW! 

 

 

 

Here are my party poppers before I put on the decorations. 

 

 

 

This punch board is so easy peasy to use! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kit is available NOW! Yippeeeee! Here is a photo of ALL THE STUFF that comes in the main kit. Beautiful and super sparkly gold embossing powder, gold washi tape and a gold gel pen.... A gorgeous stamp set with matching dies... Cake and champagne and sparklers for all occasions... Perfect word dies....and more. This is a great value for $34.99. The items sold separately retail for $65.00. Hero Arts is very generous with their beautiful kits! The other supplies I used are listed below. 

 

HERO ARTS DECEMBER KIT:
 

PRIZE ALERT!! Hero Arts is giving away one kit as a prize to one blog reader – selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. Giveaway closes Sunday, December 11th at midnight, and the winner will be announced the following week on the Hero Arts Blog. If you've already purchased your kit, and you win, you will be reimbursed! 

 

The kit is available for a limited time only – once it’s gone, it’s gone. Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Monday, December 12th. These have a habit of selling out fast! And, this one is my favorite one! So don't wait if you like this one. 

 

Next up on the blog hop is the amazing and awesome Lydia Fiedler! The full hop list is at the bottom of my post. Have fun hopping and have a beautiful day! XOXO

 

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS: 

 

InLinkz.com

 

 

BLOG HOP LINKS FOR TODAY: 

The Hero Arts Blog

Yana Smakula

Mariana Grigsby

May Park

Amy Tsuruta

Clare Prezzia

Laura Bassen

Wanda Guess

Lydia Fiedler

Ilina Crouse

Julie Ebersole at Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom

Shari Carroll at Simon Says Stamp

Libby Hickson