A Blog Called Wanda

You're all that and a cherry on top! Waffle Flower fun today!

Hi there! Happy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic weekend, and cheers to a great week to come! Gosh, by the end of the week it will be September! You would never know it because it was 108 degrees at our house yesterday! I had to finish a project in my studio so I guess it was good that it was so hot - I stayed inside with the air conditioning all day. I had a fun weekend after a super busy week last week. On Friday I was invited to a really neat private event at a winery. I've never done that before!! We had a dinner with wine pairings, and then a sunset tour of the vineyards and the property, followed by barrel tasting where we got to drink the wine straight from the aging barrels. What a really cool experience! THIS is the vineyard I was at - it's gorgeous, and the owners were so kind and gracious. For you locals, I definitely recommend a trip out there.  I'm not much of a drinker, so I hardly ever do wine tasting, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with fellow bloggers and photographers eating and drinking! I got my hair cut last week which always makes me happy! What are you up to? Are you ready for Fall and Fall crafting? Or are you still enjoying the last of Summer? 

After I finished up the project that was on deadline for yesterday, I had some free time in the studio to stamp. That hardly ever happens any more so I was excited to bust out my new Waffle Flower stamps and dies and make a cute card! Seriously these stamps have not moved from my desk in a month - just waiting for me! I am seriously totally obsessed with everything from Waffle Flower right now. OBSESSED I tell ya! What are you obsessed with right now? I would love to know!! Please leave me a comment and tell me what crafty things I need to check out! 

My finished card is a clean and simple design that will be perfect for a girlfriend card. I used the Waffle Flower Fruity Thank You stamp set and matching dies. These little girls were fun to color and the matching dies cut them out like a dream. I made a distress ink background and used bright happy colors. Hope you love it too!  

 

I started by stamping and die cutting out the girls and the cherry image. Then I colored them with my Copic Markers in bright colors. I added bits of white highlights with a white gel pen. Then I set those aside to make my background. The card base is an A2 size made from Bazzill paper (supplies below). 

 

Next I did cut out a white scalloped rectangle using the Waffle Flower Lacy Layers Dies set. For the background I used an ink blending tool with Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks. I blended the yellows together only in the middle of the white panel. Then I sprinkled some clear water onto the yellow and let it dry again. Once that was dry, I used my water brush and more Mustard Seed ink to add splatters around the white panel. I used my heat tool to dry this part because I'm impatient! 

 

 

 

I stamped the super cute sentiment directly onto the white panel with black ink. the girls and the cherry are attached to the card using foam tape. I added aqua and white Doodlebug Glitter Sprinkles to complete the card.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of photos from the vineyards on Friday night. I took the photos at around sunset so the colors are warm and lush. I swear there is no other color that matches this exact shade of purple from wine grapes. It's very regal and majestic. Truly reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses too (John 15). The miracles of the earth are like no other. I took a moment there in the middle of it all and said a prayer of thanksgiving for all that I have. 

 

 

Thank you so much for starting your week off with me here! I'm not sure what I'll be posting next! LOL. I'm sure I'll think of something! Take care, and best wishes for a beautiful day my creative friends. XOXO

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Papertrey Ink Throwback Thursday - featuring Round Repeats!

Hi there crafty peeps! It's time again for Papertrey Ink's Throwback Thursday! It's when the design team features older stamps and dies and gives them new ideas and flair! Today's Throwback Thursday features the awesome stamp set called Round Repeats. It's a bunch of beautiful design elements that you mix and match to make beautiful motifs and patterns. The possibilities are endless with this one! You can use lots of elements or just one, several colors, or just a few. Really your creativity can go wild! The completed designs are so elegant and classy. I chose to use on of my favorite color palettes of grey and yellow for my card today.

I started with an A2 card base in Smokey Shadow cardstock. I lightly penciled in lines where my center paper would go and then inked the background stamps directly onto the card base. I used Versamark Ink for a beautiful tonal grey color. I think it looks so good - and it was so easy! For the center part, I cut a strip of white paper and then a slightly larger strip of yellow paper to layer together. I stamped the medallion in the middle first (in Bright Buttercup Ink) and then stamped the other two off to the side.  

 

I used one of the smaller stamps to add a center medallion in rich black ink. Then added a pearl to it. I die cut the Noted Die out of black paper so it would stand out against the other colors. 

 

 

 

This is a good card design if you have to make a lot of cards that are easy to mail. This card could be totally flat if you leave off the pearls. 

 

 

Thank you for popping by today! Be sure to look at yesterday's post to enter the drawing for a prize from Hero Arts!! AND....tomorrow is the beginning of STAMP-A-FAIRE! Yesssss! Prizes, fun, creativity, excitement, stamping! It's going to be fabulous! CLICK HERE for all the details about Stamp-a-Faire! Have a wonderful day everyone! XOXO

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Hero Arts Winter 2017 Catalog Blog Hop!

Hi friends! Welcome! It's the most wonderful time of the year! Time to officially launch the brand new Winter Catalog from Hero Arts! YESSSSS! And, time to start thinking about making holiday cards! Yikes! Next week is September already! (Didn't 2017 JUST start???) I love Fall and I'm getting anxious for the seasons to change. The new catalog is FULL of wonderful products for both Fall and Winter Holidays. I know you will find something you like (or many things!) 

We are kicking off the new catalog today with an awesome blog hop! Fourteen designers who all love to share their creativity with Hero Arts products. I'm so happy to be part of the fun today. Did you arrive here from the fabulous blog of Cathy Z? I hope so. The full blog hop list is at the bottom of my post. If you get lost in the hop, CLICK HERE to start at the beginning at the Hero Arts Blog! All of us are using new products to help get your creativity started. I chose to combine a few different stamp sets, and created a vintage looking Christmas card. If you've been to visit my blog before you know I love vintage Christmas projects!! I may even use this design for my family cards this year because I love how it came out. So excited to share!

 

I started this card with the stamped layer. I wanted to see how the colors came out before choosing a card base color. The top panel is cream cardstock instead of bright white. It lends itself more to a vintage feeling. I used two shades of blue Distress Inks and an ink blending tool (supplies at the bottom of my post) to create a soft background for my stamping. The blue background inking is mostly at the top of the panel and then tapers off about 2/3 of the way down. I also splattered some blue ink over the top of it with a water brush and Distress Ink. 

 

Next was the fun part! I got out every color of green ink pad I own! I used the holly leaves and pine leaves and stamped in layers around the top/middle of the card. I wasn't too careful with this part. I wanted it to look free form and not perfect. I added the red berries over the top of the greens. If you look closely you can see a few snowflakes stamped in Antique Linen Distress Ink too! I used a sponge and inked Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks around the edges of the cream panel. I stamped the sentiment in brown ink. Isn't it beautiful? I love that font!

 

I stamped the ornament and bow onto cream cardstock and used the matching dies to cut it out. It's mounted to the card using foam tape. One pretty blue gem in the center for a bit of sparkle. 

 

After my stamping was all completed, I tried a few different looks for the card base. I wanted red to make a nice contrast, but then felt it needed a layer in between so I used kraft. The cream and kraft paper are taped together and then that layer was affixed to the red layer with foam tape (you know I love foam tape). 

 

 

 

This card has A LOT of layers of inking! In this photo I'm hoping to show you the final layer - shimmer spray!!! It's hard to photograph. It gives a beautiful snowy effect and some pretty shimmer (not like glitter) to the card. It's really pretty in person!! 

 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today as part of the fun hop! Next up on the hop is the always amazing Kathy Rac! Please read below for prize information and supplies! 

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!!

Hero Arts will be giving away three $25 shopping sprees, drawn from visitor comments left across all blogs in the hop. Please leave your comments by Wednesday, 8/30 at 11:59pm PT and we'll announce the winner the following week on the Hero Arts Blog. Good Luck everyone! 

CLICK THIS GRAPHIC TO SEE THE NEW CATALOG ITEMS!

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 TODAY'S FULL BLOG HOP LIST! HAVE FUN! 

The Hero Arts Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Cathy Zielske

Wanda Guess

Kathy Racoosin

Ilina Crouse

Clare Prezzia

Yana Smakula

Lydia Fiedler

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Amy Tsuruta

Michelle Short

May Park

Libby Hickson

More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Hey Stacks!

Helllloooooooo! Or should I say HEY THERE?! Little joke based on today's card! It's my final post for Papertrey Ink Release Week and it's been a fun ride! Today I'm finishing out with a clean, simple and very graphic card featuring the new set called Hey Stacks! It's lots of word stamps in a cool font, and you can mix and match them all sorts of ways to make neat cards. Let your creativity run wild with this one! I chose some vivid colors and made a one layer card that looks like a subway print. It's fun because you can customize the colors and the words on this layout to make it fit the exact occasion! CLICK HERE to shop the new release! 

For this card I started with an A2 card base in beautiful Hawaiian Shores cardstock (one of my favorite PTI colors).... Then I layered crisp white cardstock and went to town stamping! This card came together quickly, and is flat for easy mailing too.  

 

I think this will be a great 'girlfriend' card for someone who needs a little cheer in their mailbox! 

 

 

 

And you know I can't resist adding a little bling to my cards - so I sprinkled a few clear rhinestones on at the end. 

WHEW! That was an awesome release week! I hope you've enjoyed all the projects and fun! This is my last post for the August PTI Release! I'll be back in a few days with something completely different! Yes! Take care! XOXO

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More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Truffle Tote Box, Bite Size Tags & Too Hot to Handle!

Happy weekend! Yes, it's me, and I'm back with even MORE inspiration and projects from the August Papertrey Ink new release! What a fabulous release! So far, it's all been about Fall/Autumn crafting, but today I'm shaking it up a bit and using bright red in my projects! Today the design team is introducing Too Hot To Handle stamps and dies, Bite Size Tags stamps and Dies, and the awesome Truffle Tote Box die. Loads of inspiration for the bakers and chefs! Beautiful ways to make tags for your homemade goodies and a favor box really right for any special occasion. This was a fun set of products to work with for sure! Let's take a look at what I cooked up for ya! CLICK HERE to shop the new release!

First up is the adorable Truffle Tote Die! I love a good treat box die - my collection is really growing. They are great for giving out candies or homemade treats, gift cards or small presents. And they are great for party favors too. So many ideas, so little time! To make the box, you will die cut two of the dies (out of one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper) and glue the sides together. The top folds over and stays shut on it's own - genius! These come together very quickly in case you have to make a lot of them. 

I used my signature gingham along with the Bite Size Tags stamps and dies!  You guys all know by now how much I love gingham! 

 

I wanted a little pop of green on my project so I used the Branching Out die cut to make some leaves for the top. I made a double bow with some twine also. It would be very pretty with colored twine or ribbon as well. I used the To The Point Edgers Dies to make a tiny scallop border for the top of the box. I used a white gel pen to add white accents throughout the project! 

 

 

 

With this apple theme, you could even make these as teacher thank you gifts with some chocolates or a gift card inside! Love how fresh and pretty this is!

 

Since I was having so much fun using red, I stayed with it for my second project too! I used the Too Hot To Handle stamp set along with the Bite Size Tags stamp set to make a cheerful card. I wanted it sort of vintage so my main papers are cream instead of bright white. I started with an A2 kraft card base and layered red and cream on top. I hand stamped my own background paper using the pear stamp and the flatware stamp! EEEK. So cute. To achieve the softer look, I stamped with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

 

How cute are these oven mitts????? LOVE this! The die cuts make a perfect cut around them and I layered them onto the tag using foam tape. A bit of turquoise twine and a bright red button finished off the details. I always like red and turquoise together, don't you?? 

 

 

 

 

I've been saying it all week! THANK YOU for coming by each day to see what's happening here! Tomorrow is the last day of the release week festivities. I have one more card to share. To see all the inspiration from the PTI Design Team, CLICK over to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog! Have a wonderful day! XOXO

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More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Halloween Hugs Kit & Wicked Elixir

Hi crafty friends! Welcome back to day three of my posts for the August Papertrey Ink new release! Are you ready for more sppooookkkkyyyy fun?! Today's projects are all about Halloween and treats. Today we are introducing the new Make it Market Mini Kit called Halloween Hugs! This new kit has tons of papers and matching stamps and dies. The possibilities are endless! Be sure to pop over to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog to see all the inspiration. CLICK HERE to shop this month's new release and this great kit! 

Instead of making treats with my kit, I used the elements to make a clean and simple graphic card - one that would be easy to reproduce into mulitples. Sometimes it's nice to have a bunch of cards ready - for class mates, teachers or coworkers. I used the awesome new stripes paper along with some edgers dies for this one. The image in the center was die cut with the matching die that comes with the kit. I stamped some bright green stars from the stamp set! Easy peasy, but oh so fun. 

 

I started with a white A2 card base folded at the top. Then I covered the entire card base with the orange stripes paper. I used two different edgers dies - and black and white paper - to make the top layer of the card. The focal element is attached to the card with foam tape. 

 

I added a mirrored star to the center of my twine bow at the top of the card (see supply list). I love those stars for almost any occasion and thought it matched nicely back to the stamps and graphics. 

 

 

 

Today on the PTI blog we are also featuring the Wicked Elixir stamp set. I posted about that stamp set a week ago! In case you missed it, here are my two cards I made with that stamp set! Tooooo fun. Love all those potions and tonics!!! LOL.  All three cards I'm sharing today use the new patterned papers!! YEAH!! Can't wait for more colors to come out. 

 

 

Thanks for coming by today and for sharing the excitement with me all week! So happy to share with you! Tomorrow it's all about kitchen fun! You're gonna love it! Have a very happy weekend! (but I hope to see you tomorrow!) XOXO

 
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More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Autumn Scarecrow & Kind of Corny!

I'm back for day two of five new release posts for the August Papertrey Ink release! WOOHOOOO! All of the products are available now in the Papertrey Ink Store. Did you already get some things? What was your favorite from the new release? I am loving everything so far because it's all about Fall! I hope you're having a good week so far. Last night I went to a cool event at a local studio and had a great time with fellow creatives and bloggers. The event is called Wide Open Walls and it's a mural festival! CLICK HERE to see more about it! Tonight I'm off to another creative meet up. Sacramento has so much going on lately. I'm loving it! And I'm loving being busy on these cooler nights. I'm taking tons of photographs lately too. Life is good. I am grateful. 

Today the PTI design team is introducing two more new stamp sets and I have cards made with both of them: Autumn Scarecrow and Kind of Corny. The Autumn Scarecrow set is the most adorable scarecrow you ever did see, and Kind of Corny is anything but corny - it's classic and beautiful. If you're like me, and you love Autumn, today's post is for you! Let's get to it.  

 

I told you he was adorable! Orange and blue are opposites on the color wheel, so these two colors always look good together. I decided to use accents of blue in this Fall card. I paper pieced the scarecrow's shirt with some gingham paper from my stash. The rest of him, and the other images, are colored with Copic Markers. I added yellow and orange Stickles as accents to the card too. I used the PTI Picket Fence Die cut to give the card some depth. This is a die I use all the time! (Info in supply links)

 

The other thing I adore about this stamp set is the sentiments and the beautiful fresh fonts!! I will be using these sentiments with lots of other stamp sets for sure. LOVE. And they stamp so crisp and clean. 

 

I added one little red enamel dot heart from my stash to his shirt. He looks like such a friendly fellow!

 

 

 

This next card features the Kind of Corny stamp set, and I went crazy with distressing and antiquing this one! I used rich Autumn colors and the new PTI paper! 

 

For the corn image - it is several stamps that go together. Three images for the corn - you can see that I used red, orange and yellow, and two images for the leaves....and two more images for the bow. I die cut out the bow and popped it up with foam tape. 

 

For the sentiment banner, I stamped onto Vintage Cream cardstock and then hand cut the banner out with some small scissors. Makes it more old looking. I splattered paint and ink all over the entire project. The edges of everything are sponged with Distress Inks. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you very very much for stopping by today! CLICK HERE to see all the newest stamps and dies released this week!  I will see you right back here tomorrow! Tomorrow we are introducing a new kit from Betsy Veldman and it's ADORABLE!! XOXO

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More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Beautiful Berries - Autumn!

Hi everyone! It's my favorite time of the month - PTI Release Week! Starting today, I'll be posting for five days in a row, sharing all of the projects I made for the August release! Woot! All of the products are now available in the Papertrey Ink store. CLICK HERE to shop what's new! As usual I have ten projects to show you in the next week. Most of the items this month are Autumn and Halloween related, but I did manage to throw in some other goodies too. I hope you're as excited as I am! Thanks for coming by today to see what's up.

Today we are introducing the new stamps and dies in the Beautiful Berries series... SO of course we have Beautiful Berries - Autumn! These stamps and matching dies are rustic and pretty and just right for Fall and Thanksgiving crafting. I combined the stamp set with another new stamp set (Blessed) and the new Mix and Mat Dies too. I created a warm greeting good for any occasion.   

 

I started with an A2 Kraft card base and then layered Canyon Clay cardstock on top. I used some woodgrain paper from my stash to die cut the pinked edge Mix and Mat die and my next layer. Finally, I layered Vintage Cream Cardstock as my top layer. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and a sponge to ink the edges of the cream layer. I also used the Tim Holtz Spritzer Tool to add dark brown speckles on the background. 

 

The berries and branches were stamped in warm Autumn tones. I wrapped twine around the top two layers before adhering them to the card with foam tape.

 

I think these would make nice Thanksgiving place cards too - in a smaller size. Just something so pretty and simple about these images. I totally love it!

Thanks for checking out my card for today! To see inspiration from the other design team members, please CLICK OVER to the Papertrey Ink Official Blog. I'll see you right back here tomorrow! Have a wonderful day friends! XOXO

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Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release Week: Introducing Wicked Elixir & Radiant Die Collection!

Hi creative and crafty friends! Happy Saturday! Did you have a great week? I hope you did! I've been pretty busy and that is a very good thing! The weather finally turned and it's been cool in the mornings which I love. I've been going to lots of meetings and doing some photo shoots and I'm super grateful to be this busy with work! Looking forward to a creative weekend as well. What are you up to? Have you been following along on the Papertrey Ink Blog looking at all the posts from the new release? 

It's time to start the festivities here on my blog for the August Papertrey Ink Release!! The fun started on the 9th with our monthly intro/sneak peek video and we will continue to share projects on our design team blogs and on the PTI blog all the way through the 20th. So, lots of inspiration coming your way in the next week or so! All of the new release items will be available for purchase in the Papertrey Ink Store on August 15th at 10pm EST. This month has LOADS of Autumn and Halloween inspiration and that's right up my alley. I love it all! I will be sharing more than ten projects in the next ten days. I hope you're ready! LOL. Thanks for following along with me!

Today I'm helping launch a fun and creepy Halloween set called Wicked Elixir - it's full of potions and tonics perfect for a mad scientist's laboratory! TOO fun! I'm also helping introduce the Radiant Die Collection which is a really pretty series of three dies that make starburst or sunburst patterns. Really pretty. 

First up today is a Halloween card with lots of patterns and colors going on! I used the brand new dots stencil to make my background layer. My card base is kraft paper in A2 size. The black and white plaid paper is also new for this month as part of the Halloween Hugs kit! The sentiment is from the Autumn Scarecrow stamp set and the bottles and potions are all from the Wicked Elixir stamp set!  

 

This card was funnnnnn to make! I used lavender, lime green and orange as my colors! The Wicked Elixir stamp set has matching dies for the bottles AND the tiny labels. Just makes everything look so nice and crisp!! My polka dot background was made using the new Stencil (Dots) and Antique Linen Distress Ink. Just a soft loot for this project. 

I mixed and matched a lot of the new stamp sets for this card. I love to do that! The stars are from the new kit and I stamped them in deep black for nice contrast. The images were stamped on Vintage Cream cardstock for a vintage feeling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is a scary and spooky card also made with the new Wicked Elixir stamp set! Look at those blood splatters!! EEEEK!! I used a very graphic color palette of orange (Canyon Clay), black and grey for this card. SPPPPOOOOOKKKY! The new Bite Size Tags dies are the perfect size for the front of a card. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now this next card is TOTALLY different from the first two! I used bright white and Buttercup yellow to make a sunshiney card! This card features the new Radiant Die Collection and the new Hey Stacks Stamp set!  

 

I cut the dies directly out of my layering paper and then slid Bright Buttercup cardstock underneath the cut out images. SO fresh! I heat embossed in white onto black cardstock to make my sentiment banner. I thought it needed just one more pop of color so I die cut out some pretty red hearts and that just did the trick! 

 

 

 

The sentiment banner was put on the card using foam tape. The hearts too. I added just a few clear gems at the end. This would be a great card for get well or just generally encouraging someone. 

That's it for me for today! Remember, everything new is for sale on the 15th at 10pm EST.  If you don't want to miss anything from the new release, make sure to visit the official PTI blog!  I'll be back on Wednesday, starting five days of sharing PTI projects with you. Until then - have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by today! XOXO 

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Neat & Tangled 5th Birthday Celebration Blog Hop!

Hi crafty friends - and new crafty friends! Welcome to my stop on the super fun blog hop we're having to celebrate the 5th birthday of Neat & Tangled Stamps! WOOOOHOOOOO! Big congratulations to Danielle and her entire crew for achieving this milestone in business. Neat & Tangled stamps are so cute, fun and innovative. I was so excited to be asked to participate in the big hop this week! And, it is a BIG hop! Five days worth of hopping to be exact! CLICK HERE to go to the Neat and Tangled Blog to see all the news for the entire week. The blog hop coincides with an awesome new product release, and I'm using all new products today on my card. Lots of color and lots of Copic Coloring (which I love!) If you're new to my blog - welcome! Glad to have you here! Maybe you've arrived from my friend Yana's blog? 

My card today features the Wild Ones stamp set! The most adorable animals all ready to celebrate a birthday. I had a blast coloring all the images. I couldn't decide which animals I wanted to use....So I used them all! Haha. I started with an A2 card base in crisp white. Next I stamped and die cut out all the animals for coloring. I made a distress ink background too... Details later in my post. Let's go!

 

It's been a while since I sat and colored and it felt really good! I put on some music and got out my Copic Markers and relaxed and enjoyed the process. I used really bright vivid colors for a happy card. When I put the animals onto the card I used foam tape to pop them up a bit. You can see in this photo that I added a second cake to make that part pop even more. This is a fun trick to add a bit of impact to your card. After I was done coloring, I used a white gel pen to add a few accents. 

 

This cute sentiment fit perfectly at the top of my card. I used rich black ink and it looks nice on top of the soft blue I think. I used some sequins for shine! It is a birthday card after all! The more bling, the better!

 

 

 

To make the background I started with thick white cardstock (see supply links). I used three shades of Distress Inks (Citron, Glass and Pistachio) and layered on the colors with ink blending tools. Once I had the inks blended the way I wanted them I splattered blue ink with a water brush for some speckles. I hit the paper with a heat tool to dry the speckles and then splattered on white ink over that! Finally I used a water sprayer to soften everything. I love how it came out! These are my favorite colors! 

 

 

 

 

 

Who doesn't love a turtle in a party hat? I mean really! How cute is he??? 

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!

Neat & Tangles is doing some BIG GIVEAWAYS! (1) $100 Gift Certificate to the Neat and Tangled shop chosen from commenters along hop and (2) $50 Gift Certificates to the Neat and Tangled shop chosen from commenters along the week long hop! Also, a Surprise giveaway on the Neat & Tangled Instagram page and the Neat & Tangled Facebook Page. LOTS of chances to win a wonderful prize! To enter to win be sure to leave comments all along the hop all week long! Winners will be announced Sunday, August 13th.

Your next stop on today's hop is the super fabulous Lydia Fiedler! Have fun hopping, and have a wonderful day! XOXO

 

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My Monthly Hero - August Card Kit - Starry Zodiac Birthday!

Hi friends! Welcome to the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" August Card Kit blog hop! As usual, I'm so happy to see you today and share a fun card with you and some new stamping products from Hero Arts! Happy August! The light is changing and I can almost smell the change of seasons. That makes me so super happy. Bring on Fall! The Hero Arts Kit this month is jam packed with cool and unique and whimsical space themed items. Think stars, and clouds and constellations...and the zodiac signs! All the kit contents and the add-ons work together to make an awesome suite of products to use together. My card for today features the stamp set called Zodiac Birthday...and of course, I used my own Zodiac Sign! I'm a Scorpio - and I have lots of friends with November birthdays so now I have this card on hand for when the time arrives. I kept my card really cool and graphic, with lots of gold heat embossing! The stamp set has every Zodiac symbol so you can customize cards so easily for friends and family members. 

You may have arrived here from awesome blog of the talented Nichol Spohr! 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! Have fun! Enjoy the hop today! I will always warn you, these kits sell out FAST so if you like it, don't hesitate! I know I say that every time, but it's true! Okay, let's look at a card! 

The first thing that came into my head when I saw the beautiful stars stamp (from the main kit) was - I need to gold emboss those! On black paper! So I cut a panel of rich black cardstock and randomly stamped the stars, the Scorpio word, and the Scorpio symbol and heat embossed them all with gold embossing powder. This made my background layer. I started with a white cardbase (A2) and layered pretty diagonal stripes and a bit of aqua paper before layering my stamped piece. Next I stamped the Scorpion and the Happy Birthdays sentiment to layer on the card. Everything matches back together because of the simple color palette and the embossing. Really classic I think!

 

The circle with the Scorpion and the tags with the words are attached to the card using foam tape. I added matte gold sequins as a finishing touch. I always forget how much I love the look of metallics and black together! I need to remember to do this more!

 

 

 

 

The kit is available NOW! Yippeeeee! Below is a photo of ALL THE STUFF that comes in the main kit. Below that is a photo of the Zodiac set also. Awesome dream, space, stars and cloud themed stamps with matching dies, inks, papers, and more! This is a great value for $34.99! The items sold separately retail for $77.00 or more! Hero Arts is VERY generous with their beautiful kits! The other supplies I used are listed below in my links. 

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 August 13th, 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 Friday, August 11th! These have a habit of selling out fast! So don't wait if you like this one. The last one sold out the first day! 

 

Next up on the blog hop is the amazing Ilina Crouse! 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! 

 

 

SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used) 

 

  

 

FULL BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!  

The Hero Arts Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Nichol Spohr

Wanda Guess

Ilina Crouse

May Park

Yana Smakula

Lydia Fiedler

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Amy Tsuruta

Michelle Short

Libby Hickson

Happy Thursday everyone!

Hi there! Oh gosh, I haven't blogged in a week! Can't remember the last time that happened! I've missed you guys, and missed sharing something crafty during the past week. Thought I would pop in and say hi and let you know I'm still here! How is your week going? It's another scorcher here in Sactown. Fall is 50 days away, but who's counting? (I totally am) You can tell by my last blog post that I'm already looking forward to Fall crafting. My favorite season of the year and my favorite time to get crafty!

What have I been up to? First of all, this past weekend was our annual Rubber Stamp Convention and I was working the show Friday night and all day Saturday. I LOOOVED seeing everyone and getting a million hugs and laughing all day. It was a great show and a great time. I look forward to it every year! 

The main reason I haven't been blogging is that I have been busy busy busy with photography work! I'm so grateful to have had some awesome work assignments for my photography business, and it looks like there is more to come. I'm beyond thrilled and excited with the fun projects I've been hired to work on. Nothing I can share yet, but when I can, I will. Doing some work with another local blogger that I met through one of our professional groups. Over the past few months I have been showing up at everything and meeting all the people I can meet. God will put us together with the right people, but I believe it is our job to show up and be present and open to receive. I've met amazing creative people and looking forward to working with them! So that's what's been keeping me out of the craft studio for a bit. Yay! 

I am going to try to get something crafty going today or tomorrow but I'm not sure yet. I am SURE that there is a brand new Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit launching on Monday and we are having a super fabulous blog hop for that! And, on Thursday next week I am part of another wonderful blog hop celebrating the birthday of Neat & Tangled! So, two fun things to look forward to! 

If you want to follow along with me, I've been trying to post more Instagram Stories lately. Yesterday I posted a bit of behind the scenes from our photo shoot and location scouting. I love Instagram - it's my favorite social media platform. Here's the link to my page: @stampcatwg. 

I have a SALE announcement for you too. I just ordered a bunch of new 6x6 paper pads for Fall, Halloween and Christmas! Scrapbook.com is have a storewide sale right now of 8% off your entire order - even things that are already on sale. Woot!! CLICK HERE to shop the sale!