A Blog Called Wanda

Loved A Latte - Jesus + Faith + Java!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I had hoped to have this post up earlier in the day, but here it is 5:00 pm already! And it's almost time to start dinner! I hope you had an awesome weekend. I stayed up late watching the Oscars last night! I'm glad I stayed tuned in until the very end. Whoa! Never seen anything like that happen before. Facebook was all abuzz about it today. We had a nice SUNNY weekend here in my part of the world and it was really great to be outside a bit and to see the sunshine! I love the rain (yes, really) but even I have had enough this year!! Looking forward to a bit of a reprieve from carrying my umbrella around everywhere for a few days. It is so very pretty here right now too - everything is lush and green. The benefit of all that rain. I've been cooking a TON of recipes from my Pinterest boards and truly enjoying the process of making dinner for us. Everything has been a success so far. Our favorite is Chili Lime Chicken that I made last night. It came out so tender and flavorful. CLICK HERE to see my Pinterest Boards and recipes.

One thing I am in the habit of doing Monday through Friday is spending the first part of my morning in quiet time with coffee, prayer, my Bible and some other books with positive thoughts and journaling to begin the day on a good note. It has really helped me relax and tune in with God and tune out all the negative noise that is in life today. I am a bit calmer and feel more centered when I practice my morning quiet time. This morning I sat down in my studio with my books and my coffee and read a great message about hope, and divine favor. If you will keep your hope in the Lord, God will send divine favor. You may not be able to see it right now, but when God's favor comes, things will change in an instant. I believe that. I've seen it happen. And, of course, it was the perfect message for me today. Just what I needed to hear. I am going through a test in patience and trust right now and this message was on point. Maybe it is for you too. (I included in my links today some of the books that I read in the morning. They are at the bottom of the link list after the Copic Markers). 

After being sufficiently caffeinated (Thank you Keurig!) I was like "what should I make to share today?" And it came to me...a joyful card made with some faith based stamps and stickers! I went to the Scrapbook Expo last Fall and I bought this really cool stamp set. It's been in my basket on my desk since then. Well, today was the day to ink it up for the first time!  I love that there are so many add ons and little accessories to truly make a card that is unique to you! This card is my exact mood for today. I began the day with a joyful, grateful heart and that's what my card is about. (Oh, and coffee!) You are LOVED a latte, never forget that! 

 

I started with a white A2 card base and then layered on this pretty striped paper from a new Crate Paper 6x6 pad called Heart Day. I love the colors in this paper! This paper pad also has ultra cute cupcakes and cactus! So the stripes became my guide for the other colors in my project. I stamped and hand cut out the two coffee cups and the coffee cozy around the tall cup. The stamp set has a bunch of different words to add to your cup and I picked my favorite ones. 

 

I used some grey, blue and pink Copic Markers to color in the images. I used grey ink to stamp the swirls part of the coffee mug stamp. My top two layers are crisp white rectangles cut out using the Stitched Rectangles dies from Simon Says Stamp. Everything was layered on the card using foam squares. I added just a couple of accents with a white gel pen over the Copic coloring. 

 

The finishing touches for this card were some pretty pink and white cord, a few enamel dots in aqua, and a word sticker strip. You know I have to add some stuff to my cards....even if they are clean and simple cards! 

 

Jesus, Faith, Pray, Java. Check! 

 

I just pre-ordered A TON of new Illustrated Faith papers, stickers, enamel dots, crosses, etc. I cannot wait for it all to come. The new lines are GORGEOUS and one of my favorite things from CHA. CLICK HERE TO SEE the new items and pre-order yours too. Once my new items come, I will be making more cards with the colorful products. Right now, I have a pretty good stash of these wordfetti stickers already. I love them! Perfect in my planner and for cards or Bible Journaling. 

 

 

You are LOVED a latte! Have a wonderful week my creative and craft friends. Whatever you're going through, know that you are not alone and that we are all here for each other. Thank you for always lightening and brightening my day. XOXO

 

SUPPLIES (AND BOOKS) FOR TODAY!

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Fun Stamped Envelopes, a card, and more!

Well, hello there, and happy Friday friends! What are you up to this weekend? I know I'll be watching the Oscars on Sunday night in the craft room - and watching the red carpet action all day too! I'm pretty sure I love the pre-show better than the actual awards show part! Other than that, we don't have solid plans. It has been raining cats and dogs, and elephants and bears...and everything else, here in Northern California. I think we are all ready for a break and a bit of sunshine. There is so. much. water. I hope we all don't float away! Do you have a fun weekend planned!  

Today I'm sharing a little story about a fun event I went to, some envelopes, and a card! Lots to share today!! Two weeks ago I had the good fortune to attend an awesome craft retreat put on by my friends Wendy and Carrie. It was called "Escape to Create" and it truly was a lovely escape for the entire day! So much fun stamping, and laughing, and eating delicious food. Such a nice group of women. I love going to stuff like that. It's restorative for our creative souls - I believe that 100%. BIG thanks to Wendy for putting on such a great event for us. I will share more about the event at the end of this post. But I also wanted to share the projects I made that day. I made some custom envelopes and a Copic colored card. 

First up, the envelopes! OH MY. So, I went completely bananas for the new Waffle Flower Stamps at CHA. In fact, when I got home from CHA, these stamps are the first thing I ordered! They are illustrated by Helen Dardik and I have admired her art for a long time. I was like, whoa! What a brilliant idea to turn her gorgeous illustrations into stamps! CLICK HERE to see Helen Dardik's blog and more of her work.

When it came time to pack for the retreat I didn't know what to bring. I ended up bringing a bunch of stamps, some envelopes, white paper and all my Copic Markers. I made these five envelopes using all new Waffle Flower stamps and Copics. 

Here are the first three envelopes.  

 

And here are the last two envelopes! I almost always use A6 envelopes. They are the next size up from an A2. This gives me more room in the envelope for my big fat cards! I don't have to squish them into the smaller size envelope. I will layer a piece of cardstock over the front of my cards before mailing them so they don't get damaged in transit. These are the Paper Bag envelopes from Paper Source. They have all sizes of envelopes in about a million colors. This color is a perfect kraft color. I buy all of my envelopes from Paper Source because of the quality and the colors/sizes available! (CLICK HERE for an envelope size chart)

 

I used my MISTI tool to stamp all of these images. There is so much black in the images that it would be difficult to stamp these and have them come out 'clean' the first time. Each of these was stamped two or three times. The MISTI tool allows you to stamp and restamp in the exact same spot to get a darker impression. I slid a piece of white cardstock inside the envelopes before stamping and coloring, so the color wouldn't bleed through. These images are so adorable. 

 

I like to color with Copics onto Kraft paper (or envelopes) as it gives a nice rustic feeling. I love it with these images. The colors are slightly muted and so pretty! 

 

I also stamped on the back of each envelope with matching stamps and sayings from the same stamp sets. I can't wait to send these out to my friends!

 

 

 

Paper Source sells a set of envelope liner templates that you can use to make perfect linings. I used some gingham from my stash (Old paper from Amuse Studio) and lined each one in a different color. This makes the envelopes even MORE happy and cheerful! 

 

While at the retreat I had time to Copic color another one of my new favorite images - from Mama Elephant! This is one giant (beautiful) stamp! You could color it a million different ways. I have mostly seen it colored in softer tones and with watercolors. So I decided to go big and bold with tropical colors! The stamp outline is not as thick as it looks here in the photo. I achieved a thicker outline by stamping the stamp FOUR times with the MISTI tool. It gave me a really bold look to hold up to all the color. 

 

I chose Copic shades of lime green, bright yellow, orange and hot pink. SO fun and fresh!

 

I did sort of an ombre effect on the "hello" part of the coloring by using three shades of blue green Copics (BG10, BG11 and BG13). I added a few deep black enamel dots for flower centers. The rest of the card is clean and graphic. Just one layer of pretty blue paper on a white card base. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a few photos from the retreat! It was in Plymouth California which is about 30 miles from my house. It's in the beautiful gold country foothills. God's Country for sure. It was a glorious day full of puffy clouds. This is the view from the back deck of the meeting spot. The one good thing about all the rain we've had is that everything is lush and green here! 

 

Beautiful, majestic, California Live Oaks....

 

 

 

Wendy and Carrie made us feel so welcome! They had treats and presents and decorations at everyone's place to sit. Such a colorful and pretty theme! Love the hot air balloons and the color palette. 

So that's a bit about my fun time at the craft retreat and some projects too! I hope you have a fantastic weekend! XOXO

If you have trouble finding the Waffle Flower Stamps in the links below, TRY HERE. They are kind of selling out fast everywhere! Update - I also just found them ON SALE! CLICK HERE!

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY: 

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Let your dreams take flight!

Hi everyone! It feels like it's been a while since I wrote a blog post and said hello and talked about things.... So, today that's what I'm doing! It's well into February now and I just have the feeling that this year is going to go fast! We'd better get busy! (That's what I keep telling myself!) I'm really trying to focus on de-cluttering and on being more organized around my studio and my home. Seems like all my friends and I are talking about this! I have to admit I'm slow at it, but every time I take a couple of bags to the Goodwill I feel lighter, and freer. Last year I made it a goal to take at least one giant bag a week. That seems manageable to me. Now my crafting stuff? That's a whole different story! I have such a hard time parting with my stamps! Are you that way? They seem like old friends and memories! The other thing I'm working on right now is relaxing and being in the moment with my life. I've made a conscious effort to hang out with my friends more and talk....like in person! It's so good for my soul! Every time I hang out with people I laugh, and smile and feel better! Working from home is hard for this old social butterfly! I went to a really fun craft retreat a couple weeks ago and I'll write a post about that - maybe later this week. What have you been up to? 

A couple of weeks ago I made a difficult decision to resign from the Simon Says Stamp Creative Team. I worked for them for about a year and a half and it was wonderful! I am super grateful to Heidi and the rest of the talented people at Simon Says Stamp for giving me the opportunity to work with them. I have a lot of great memories and I learned a lot from the experience too. I fondly will remember the time I spent with that awesome crew. So, unfortunately, that means no more Weekender with Wanda. That part makes me sad because I really loved interacting with you each weekend on the Simon Says Stamp Blog. Many of you have emailed me about this, so I thought I would go ahead and say something here about it. Thank you all for your comments and for following along with me over there. I made new friends and crafting buddies through my work with Simon and I'm forever grateful for that too! Thank you all! 

Today I'm sharing a final project I made for SSS because I just really love this card, and these products, and wanted to blog about it! I used stamps and dies from one of my favorite companies - Reverse Confetti. Jen is amazing, and her products are always on trend, on point, and super classy and fabulous. The background was made with one of my top picks in crafting lately - the Eyelet Cover Panel. LOVE. I'll write more about the card below. 

 

I started with an A2 card base made from rich black cardstock. Then I die cut the Eyelet Plate in crisp white to layer on top. The contrast of this is so striking and pretty. I love eyelet in any form, even paper! It's timeless.... There is a lot of room for you to use your adhesive tape runner to attach the white part to the black - nothing special required here. 

The Butterfly Dreams stamps have perfectly matching dies. I stamped the sentiment butterfly in two shades of blue ink, with the darker ink just around the edges. Then I die cut that butterfly out. I also die cut some butterflies out of vellum and gold cardstock. 

 

I layered a pretty doily onto the bottom layer and they attached my butterflies in clear glue - just gluing them in the centers. I used vellum underneath for a soft effect. Once the glue was dry, I used my fingers to gently lift the wings up off the paper. 

 

The final touch was to use some matching Doodlebug Glitter Sprinkles in the centers of some of the butterflies and also in the center of some of the patterns. That pop of blue matches the ink and really ties the card together. Plus, you know I have to use enamel dots! 

I think this card would be pretty in a bright lime green, or yellow too! I might even turn this one card into a set?! Just that little bit of gold is so fabulous. I am loving using gold cardstock lately for accents. 

Thank you for stopping by today! Your support and kindness mean the world to me! Thanks for allowing me into your craft room to share with you. I'm trying to be in touch on Pinterest more and would love to have you follow me there! CLICK HERE to see my Pinterest Boards. Also, I am a HUGE Instagram fan! CLICK HERE to follow me on Instagram! I share a lot there that doesn't make it to my blog....cat pictures! You know! LOL. I hope you have a wonderful day full of blessings. See you soon! XOXO

 

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Papertrey Ink - Celebrating the past, present and future: 2015

Hi friends! Today is, sadly, my final post of the Papertrey Ink Anniversary Month festivities! It has been soooo much fun to feature stamp sets from the past! Today's post is from 2015. I bought a LOT of Papertrey Ink stamp sets in 2015! LOL. CLICK HERE to go to Nichole's Blog to see everything so far and to enter contests and showcase your cards too. This truly is a party for all of us! I have really been loving looking at all the past cards and then seeing what the design team has come up with currently. It is fun to me to look back at how our stamping has changed and how trends come and go. Such a fun celebration this has been. I loved every minute! 

The stamp set I chose to feature from 2015 is called Bakers Dozen. It is a gorgeous set of cupcake stamps for every month and season. And the cake stand and the banners that match with it are genius in my book. Everything you need to create a card for any celebration. I've used this set many many times and every time I am pleased with the results. Because, well, everyone loves cupcakes! For this project I used a classic color combination of black and aqua - and just a pop of bright red! I love red and aqua together as a color combination. I colored the cupcake and the accents with Copic Markers and also did a bit of heat embossing. 

 

For this card, I started with a rich black A2 card base. Isn't that scalloped edge beautiful? I made the card base using the awesome die called Noted: Scalloped A2 Vertical Die. This die perfect cuts out a card base! LOVE. Next I layered aqua mist polka dot paper and then a layer of white. 

 

I stamped and cut out the cupcake with the matching die, then colored it with Copic Markers. I also added some accents with a white gel pen. Next I heat embossed the pretty frame with white embossing powder on black cardstock. I cut that out with the matching die. I also die cut the cake plate and stand. I used a light aqua Copic Marker (BG10) to add bits of color to the cake stand and the banner. I layered the white banner piece over the black, off setting them slightly. 

 

 

 

I adore the pretty edge on the cake stand!! 

 

I finished off the card with some twine and a red enamel dot to tie in with the cherry on the cupcake! 

Now that I have showcased how this product from the past has remained a classic, it's your turn to share your ideas for the future! Stop by Nichole's blog to share a new project you make with this product, or just share a creation that is somehow inspired by what I made today. Get crafting and enter today so you can be eligible for great prizes! 

I want to say a big thank you to everyone for your kind comments over the past week or so - welcoming me to the Papertrey Ink family and design team. It's my honor to bring you inspiration and fun along with the other PTI designers. I'm already looking forward to next month! Thank you! 

One thing I really love about PTI is that everyone is encouraged to share their work. I can't wait to see what YOU make! Have a great day! CLICK HERE to go shopping on the PTI website! Be sure to hashtag your photos on social media so we can see your projects! #papertrey10 #papertreyink 

 

Here are the PTI designers sharing projects today:

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Laurie Schmidlin

Stephanie Gold

Wanda Guess

Papertrey Ink - Celebrating the past, present and future: 2013

 

Hi friends! Today is my fourth post for the Papertrey Ink Anniversary Month festivities! How are you enjoying the Papertrey Ink 10 Year Celebration? Each day for 10 days we are featuring stamps sets from one specific year! Today's posts are from 2013. CLICK HERE to go to Nichole's Blog to see everything so far and to enter contests and showcase your cards too. This truly is a party for all of us! I have really been loving looking at all the past cards and then seeing what the design team has come up with currently. It is fun to me to look back at how our stamping has changed and how trends come and go. Such a fun celebration! 

The stamp set I chose to feature from 2013 is called Hands of Time! I really love this stamp set! It's sooooo super classy and elegant and (pardon the pun) timeless. I love to use this stamp set to make masculine cards. It's perfect for Wedding cards and sympathy cards too. Anytime you need a classic look. I also really like that there are so many add-ons for this set. You can get separate number dies, and the clock hands are just gorgeous. I use this one a lot, so I was so happy to be featuring it today. My card for today is a birthday card, with lots of stamping in tones of rust, brown and Linen. I also added pretty flecks of gold paint to make it more special. 

 

My card is an A2 card base made out of woodgrain paper from my personal stash. Then I layered rich chocolate brown in a layer on top. My main layer is cream cardstock - not pure white. I think this lends for a more vintage feeling. I corner rounded the edges of that top layer also. 

 

The clocks and the birthday banner are all also stamped on cream cardstock. You can see in this photo that I've edged everything with brown ink. 

 

I use my Finetec Gold Paints all the time. ALL the time. They are so vivid and gorgeous. I really recommend having these as part of your craft stash. I speckled the clock faces, the hands and the main card with gold paint. 

 

In this shot you can see all the different stamped layers and parts. I really like how the overlapping images came out. 

 

I used another of my favorite PTI products - the Branching Out Die - in vellum - to add a bit of a softer element to all the brown. The contrast of the vellum and the wood is very striking! This die is probably my  most used Papertrey Ink product!

Now that I have showcased how this product from the past has remained a classic, it's your turn to share your ideas for the future! Stop by Nichole's blog to share a new project you make with this product, or just share a creation that is somehow inspired by what I made today. Get crafting and enter today so you can be eligible for great prizes! 

One thing I really love about PTI is that everyone is encouraged to share their work. I can't wait to see what YOU make! Have a great day! I'll be back on Sunday with my final project, with a stamp set from 2015! CLICK HERE to go shopping on the PTI website! Be sure to hashtag your photos on social media so we can see your projects! #papertrey10 #papertreyink 

Here are the PTI designers sharing projects today:

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Laurie Schmidlin

Stephanie Gold

Wanda Guess

Papertrey Ink - Celebrating the Past, Present and Future: 2011

Hi friends! Today is my third post for the Papertrey Ink Anniversary Month festivities! How are you enjoying the Papertrey Ink 10 Year Celebration? Each day for 10 days we are featuring stamps sets from one specific year! Today's posts are from 2011. CLICK HERE to go to Nichole's Blog to see everything so far and to enter contests and showcase your cards too. This truly is a party for all of us! I have really been loving looking at all the past cards and then seeing what the design team has come up with currently. It is fun to me to look back at how our stamping has changed and how trends come and go. Such a fun celebration! 

The stamp set I chose to feature from 2011 is called Tremendous Treats - Valentine. But since today is the day after Valentine's Day, I wanted to use the stamps to show how versatile our holiday stamps can be for any occasion. The images in this adorable stamp set are so sweet, and so perfect for kids' cards, little love notes, or general pick me ups! I have a love affair with the color yellow, so I chose to feature the cute lemons today - along with the beautiful Bright Buttercup papers! I used my Copic Markers to color in the images - quick and easy!  

 

My finished card is a 4.75 inch square so it will still fit into an A2 envelope. I layered some polka dots and then another layer of white paper. I stamped and colored the lemons and die cut them out with the perfectly matching dies. The lemons are layered onto the card with foam tape. I wanted to make a little blossom for my card too, so I used the Bloom Builders #3 die set to create it! I added a few enamel dots for a bit of shimmer! 

 

 

 

 

 

Pucker up! This card would be nice to cheer up anyone! Who can resist this adorable sentiment!? 

Now that I have showcased how this product from the past has remained a classic, it's your turn to share your ideas for the future! Stop by Nichole's blog to share a new project you make with this product, or just share a creation that is somehow inspired by what I made today. Get crafting and enter today so you can be eligible for great prizes! 

One thing I really love about PTI is that everyone is encouraged to share their work. I can't wait to see what YOU make! Have a great day! I'll be back on Friday with a project from a stamp set from 2013! CLICK HERE to go shopping on the PTI website! Be sure to hashtag your photos on social media so we can see your projects! #papertrey10 #papertreyink 

Here are the PTI designers sharing projects today:

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Laurie Schmidlin

Stephanie Gold

Wanda Guess

Hero Arts 2017 Catalog Release Blog Hop! Yay!

Hi there stamping friends! Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you and your sweetie have some fun and festive plans for today! We are going to a sweet Valentine's Party tonight at one of my friends' homes. She has treats for us to share and it's a good time to hang out with friends. I already have my cute red heart t-shirt ready to wear! But, the real reason we're here today is to celebrate the official launch of the 2017 Hero Arts Spring Catalog! Wahoooooo! Yes, we have an awesome blog hop planned for you today with lots of your favorite crafters. The full list of blogs is at the bottom of my post. You can start at the beginning on the Hero Arts Blog. Maybe you've arrived from the wonderful blog of my sweet friend Laura Bassen?

I was lucky enough to get all the new products way back last summer to make cards for the catalog. And, now, I can finally share my cards with you! I had the best time with this great group of new products. Hero Arts is hitting it out of the park with all their new kits and releases. So fresh and on trend. Loads of new Layering Stamp Sets for those of you (like me) who love to layer color to create beautiful images. Also, some pretty new florals, new destination stamps, and a new kitty cat set! Let's take a look! 

This first card was made using the Layering Croissant Stamp Set. I 'picked' the strawberry image and randomly stamped a pattern for the lower half of my card, Then I used the beautiful sentiment to create a warm greeting.  

 

Next up is the beautiful Birds and Blooms Layering Stamp Set. How sweet are these images? I just love this one. I made a 'hello' card, but this stamp set is perfect for Easter and Spring cards. You can make all the elements whatever color you like. I made some soft pink cherry blossoms. 

 

The new large wood block Hydrangea stamp is just perfect for watercoloring! To make this card, I used Distress Inks directly on the stamp and then spritzed the stamp/ink with water before stamping the image onto watercolor paper. Then I used a paint brush and clean water to move the color around a bit. I added paint splatters too! It's so artsy looking! I used the butterfly from another stamp set to add a pop of blue to the card. This hydrangea stamp also comes with matching dies. (All supplies are listed below in this post)

Oh man! This Koi Layering Stamp Set is wonderful! These images are beautiful and serene and classy. After stamping my layers I added my sentiment on a strip of vellum. The sentiment was gold heat embossed for a bit of shimmer and shine. This would make a nice masculine card or a get well card. Seriously so pretty!

 

More beautiful and classy images are in the Water Lilies Layering Stamp Set. I chose to stamp one simple blossom in the center of my card and then added some pretty green leaves around it. Pink and green are such a nice color combination. I added some black paint splatters to lend an artistic flair. My sentiment is stamped in rich black ink too. 

 

You know I had to use the new Purr Stamp Set! I colored the kitten to look just like my sweet Buddy sleeping on a pillow! I started with a Kraft card base and made my own background paper by stamping the small images in Versamark Ink. The images are all watercolored with Distress Markers. I added a pretty strip of blue gingham because orange and blue always look good together.

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!

We will be giving away three $25 shopping sprees, drawn from comments left across all blogs in the hop. Please leave a comment by Tuesday, February 21st at 11:59pm PT and we'll announce the winner the following week on the Hero Arts Blog. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win! What is your favorite new product?? Are you excited to get stamping? I hope you are!

Next up on the hop is the awesome Amy Tsuruta!

 

SUPPLY LINKS!

If you see two links that means it's in two stores!

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TODAY'S BLOG HOP LIST!

The Hero Arts Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Laura Bassen

Wanda Guess

Amy Tsuruta

Clare Prezzia

Yana Smakula

Kathy Racoosin

Debby Hughes

Kelly Purkey

Lydia Fiedler

May Park

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Heather Ruwe

Libby Hickson

Michelle Short

Jana Millen

 

Simon Says Stamp March Card Kit - Hey Chickie!

WOW! I can't believe it's already time to launch a new Simon Says Stamp Card Kit! It's time to start thinking about bunnies and chickies and all kinds of fun and happy Spring crafts! The March Simon Says Stamp Kit is now available! You can buy this month's kit, or sign up to automatically subscribe! Links are at the bottom of my post. The stamp set for this month's kit is totally adorable. And I love the Easter themed, pastel colored papers from Echo Park. But, wait, you get not one but THREE mini Nuvo Mousse packages!! And, a stencil, and awesome cardstock. Well, you get the idea! It's jam packed with fun! All for $29.99 which is a fantastic price! CLICK HERE to see the entire kit/contents! 

As soon as I saw the stamp set, I was immediately drawn to the adorable little chickie!!! And the sentiment is perfect for cards for girlfriends! I made him sort of a lovable chickie with hearts radiating from him! LOL. I colored him with Copic Markers and added just a few sequins as accents. Kept the card layout clean and simple. I did a double layer of white Stitched Rectangles to give some dimension to the card without adding more color. I seriously love that plaid paper.  

 

The Copic colors I used are in the supply links. I thought about adding some glitter but then decided he was cute just like this! 

 

Hey Chickie! I hope you have a wonderful day when you read this blog post! 

Thanks for popping by to see my project for the new Card Kit! In just a few hours I'll be back with another blog post as part of a hop launching the new 2017 Hero Arts Catalog! I warned you there is a lot going on around here this week! I can hardly keep up with myself! XOXO

 

SIMON SAYS STAMP MARCH 2017 CARD KIT:

 

SUPPLY LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARD!

(Get a kit, get a subscription, or just buy the pieces you love!)

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Papertrey Ink - Celebrating the past, present and future: 2009

Hi friends! There is A LOT going on here on my blog this week! Yay! So much good stuff happening! How are you enjoying the Papertrey Ink 10 Year Celebration? Today is day three already! Each day for 10 days we are featuring stamps sets from one specific year! Today's posts are from 2009. CLICK HERE to go to Nichole's Blog to see everything so far and to enter contests and showcase your cards too. This truly is a party for all of us! 

The stamp set I chose to feature from 2009 is called On My Couch. I'm pretty sure this is the first Papertrey Ink stamp set I ever bought! I remember just absolutely loving all the sweet design team samples made with this stamp set. It's perfect for paper piecing, and the sentiments are fantastic. I love it because it says "home" and "cozy" to me. Today I created a cozy little friendship card perfect for a gal pal. Because I LOVE to chat with my friends over coffee. One of my favorite things to do!

 

I started with an A2 card base made from Kraft paper. Then I cut a strip of beautiful PTI Gingham Paper. I cut out a white panel for my mail images. For the couches, I stamped them onto pretty Doodlebug patterned papers and cut them out by hand to get close to the edges. Next I stamped my table and coffee cups in the center. 

 

I stamped the sentiment in black and cut it out using my circle dies. I layered a pretty orange circle and added some twine. I love orange and blue together - especially with kraft. It's one of my go-to color combinations. 

 

The couches were attached to the card with foam tape and I added another sentiment in the bottom corner.

 

I used just a few Copics - for the coffee mugs and the legs on the chairs. 

 

 

Now that I have showcased how this product from the past has remained a classic, it's your turn to share your ideas for the future! Stop by Nichole's blog to share a new project you make with this product, or just share a creation that is somehow inspired by what I made today. Get crafting and enter today so you can be eligible for great prizes! 

One thing I really love about PTI is that everyone is encouraged to share their work. I can't wait to see what YOU make! Have a great day! I'll be back on Wednesday with a project from a stamp set from 2011! CLICK HERE to go shopping on the PTI website!

 

Here are the PTI designers sharing projects today:

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Laurie Schmidlin

Stephanie Gold

Wanda Guess

Papertrey Ink - Celebrating the Past, Present and Future: 2007

Hello happy crafters! I am overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support yesterday regarding the announcement about me joining the Papertrey Ink Design Team. I was nearly moved to tears several times throughout the day yesterday feeling the kindness from all of you. I will try to respond to everyone, but I'm not sure I can do it. Please know that I read every comment here, on Instagram, on Facebook...everywhere. You have no idea how much it means to me. THANK YOU! I'm ready to get crafty! If you are new to my blog because of the announcement -welcome!!  

Today is the day we kick off 10 days of festivities to celebrate 10 years of Papertrey Ink! Yahooooo! It's going to be so much fun! Each day, we are featuring stamp sets from one specific year. Today's posts are from 2007, the first year of PTI. What a great accomplishment to come to this milestone. I'm glad to be joining in the celebration. The stamp set I chose to use from 2007 is called Out To Sea. It's a beautiful Nautical themed set with anchors, ships wheels, stars and a beautiful compass. Well, I love the ocean and anything related to the sea, both because of my love for that cool salt air, and my faith. 

I started this card with an A2 kraft card base and then layered a sheet of the beautiful printed PTI vellum. Then I stamped white ship wheels onto blue cardstock for my middle layer. Finally a piece of crisp white paper for my sentiment and some stars. I wrapped the top layers with beautiful red cardstock and mounted my anchor image with foam tape. 

 

You can never go wrong with red, white and blue as a color palette. Always so crisp and clean. 

 

Here is a close up of my paper layers. 

 

 

 

 

Now that I have showcased how this product from the past has remained a classic, it's your turn to share your ideas for the future! Stop by Nichole's blog to share a new project you make with this product, or just share a creation that is somehow inspired by what I made today. Get crafting and enter today so you can be eligible for a fantastic prize!

One thing I really love about PTI is that everyone is encouraged to share their work. I can't wait to see what YOU make! Have a great day! I'll be back on Monday with a project from a stamp set from 2009! CLICK HERE to go shopping on the PTI website!

 

Here are the PTI designers sharing projects today:

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Laurie Schmidlin

Stephanie Gold

Wanda Guess

 

 

Sharing a big announcement today! I'm on the Papertrey Ink 2017 Design Team!

Hi everyone! And hello to any new readers stopping by my blog for the first time today! I'm sharing a fun and happy announcement! I have been invited to join the lovely ladies of the Papertrey Ink Design Team for the coming year! I was so happy and excited to receive an email from Nichole a couple of weeks ago asking me to be part of her amazing company. I have been a major fan of Papertrey Ink for many years and always enjoy creating with their wonderful stamps and dies (and kits!) I am looking forward to a new adventure with creative people I really admire. And, I'm also really looking forward to using my PTI supplies on a more regular basis. 

Papertrey Ink is celebrating 10 years in business this year, and we have an amazing 10 day celebration planned for all of you starting tomorrow! The Design Team will all be featuring stamp sets from the past ten years as we look back on all the joy and fun we have had through the years with our PTI stamping! I will have my first blog post tomorrow featuring a stamp set from 2007! I will have more posts throughout the ten days as we feature one year each day. To see all the news and to stay up to date on the happenings and fun - CLICK HERE to visit the official Papertrey Ink Blog and see the design team announcement! I will be happy to have you along with me on this new opportunity as we share and stamp together. 

I thought it would be fun to go back through my blog archives and pick out some of my favorite PTI cards and projects through the years. If you CLICK on the photo, it will take you to the blog post explaining how I made each project! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping in today! Hope you've had a great week! It went by really fast here at my house - super busy. Today I'm attending a social media event put on by one of our local news stations for influencers in the Sacramento area. Looking forward to that very much. Tomorrow I will have a post on the Simon Says Stamp blog and then also right here on my blog with the first of my posts for Papertrey Ink. My planner has seen a lot of action lately! Be well and take care friends. Have a great weekend. XOXO

My Monthly Hero - February 2017 Hero Arts Kit!

Hi friends! Welcome to the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" February Card Kit blog hop! I'm so happy to see you today! The kit this month is yet another fabulous kit (of course!) Lots of products perfect for Spring! The kit and extras all feature clouds, rainbows, and adorable animals. I love it all! I can picture encouragement cards, baby cards, friendship cards....So many ideas. All of these products work together seamlessly and beautifully to create cheerful projects. I was inspired today by the sweet animal images, which reminded me instantly of illustrations. I really wanted a soft look and so I chose to use watercolor pencils to color my card today. Before I became a Copic-aholic, I always used to use watercolor pencils, and I love going back to this medium. Thanks for stopping by here on the hop today. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you! I have some fun things planned this week, and then I'm going to an all day craft retreat on Saturday which is sure to be a great time! Enjoy the hop today! 

You may have arrived here from Yana's blog? (She is one of my fav crafty gals!) 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. I am always so grateful to join these fantastic crafters in this monthly hop. If you're new to my blog -welcome! 

Here is my finished card! I adore the bear stamp! He is so sweet with his red umbrella and his duckie friends!!  

 

I started this project with an A2 card base made from Kraft Cardstock. I thought it matched nicely with my intended color scheme of red, blue and yellow. I layered a piece of gingham paper from my stash and then a layer of crisp white paper. I stamped and die cut all of my images out first, before coloring them. 

 

I used watercolor pencils and a small paintbrush to color the clouds, bear and ducks. This is such a good and fun technique. If you've never worked with watercolor pencils, I definitely recommend giving it a try. If you are intimidated by the thought of a big giant watercolor paint palette, this is a great way to build your confidence. For these images, I colored with my watercolor pencils directly onto the images and then used a paint brush and just a small amount of water to push the color around. Start with a bit of color, and you can always add more. 

 

 

These clouds are perfect! I adhered the clouds to the card using foam tape and then added the blue raindrops underneath them to line up. Then I stamped my sentiment in rich black ink. Isn't that a nice sentiment? What a nice way to tell someone you're there for them. We can all use that!

 

 

The stamp sets in this release are sooooo sweet. I love this tiny rainbow! I didn't end up using it in my card, but I sure love it! :-)

 

 

 

The kit is available NOW! Yippeeeee! Below is a photo of ALL THE STUFF that comes in the main kit. Beautiful and sweet stamps with matching dies, ink pad, stencil, twine, and more! This is a great value for $34.99! The items sold separately retail for $70.00 or more! Hero Arts is VERY generous with their beautiful kits! The other supplies I used are listed below in my links. I used two of the brand new 'add on' sets that go with the main Card 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 February 12th, 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, February 13th. These have a habit of selling out fast! So don't wait if you like this one.  

 

Next up on the blog hop is the extra fabulous Amy Tsuruta! The full hop list is at the bottom of my post. Have fun hopping and have a happy, creative day! XOXO When you make something with your new card kit, be sure to use the hashtag #mymonthlyhero on your social media! TO START AT THE BEGINNING OF THE HOP - CLICK HERE!

 

CARD KIT CONTENTS!

 

SUPPLY LINKS FOR TODAY! 

InLinkz.com