A Blog Called Wanda

Pumpkin Spice Everything!

Hellloooooo and Happy Saturday! Happy first weekend of Fall!!! YIPPEEEEE! I have college football on in the craft room and it's a beautiful crisp day outside. My hubs is home from his business trip and it's good to see the old guy! LOL. We got up super early and headed up to Apple Hill and got apple donuts and apple cider. The donuts were fabulous with our coffee outside by the lake and we brought some home to enjoy all weekend. And, we escaped before the crowds came up to hang out (it's a destination area). I finished the card I started last night and wanted to share it right away! It finally feels like Fall around here. What are you doing this weekend?? I hope you're out enjoying the weather and having fun! 

I went to the scrapbook and stamp store last week and fell IN LOVE with a new Prima paper collection called Amber Moon! It's absolutely swooooon worthy! I bought the stamp set, the paper pad, some flowers and some gems. Really really pretty! (And I just saw that it is all ON SALE this weekend when I went to do my product links)! The stamp set is only $5.39! Score. Anyhooo, I digressed. I have been participating in the Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge and have been trying out different techniques. I thought that these stamps would make a cute chalkboard card so I used white pigment ink and colored with colored pencils. Super fun. 

 

This card is a super clean layout with some pretty new patterned papers from Pebbles and Lawn Fawn in rich autumn colors. I never met a plaid I didn't like! The black panel is smooth cardstock. I stamped in white pigment ink and then dried the ink with my heat tool. I used colored pencils to color in the images (went very quickly) with orange, yellow and brown. I used a paint brush dipped into the ink pad to make smudges on the black part to make it look more like a chalkboard. I forgot how much I love this technique! 

 

I added a couple of those beautiful gems from Prima to the top of the card (because of course I had to use them!) Do you like pumpkin spice everything? I do! Obsessed actually to the point that my friends make fun of me...but it's okay. This year the new thing was pumpkin spice Frosted Mini Wheats! And muffins, and coffee, and and and... It's just for a couple of months! Until I switch over to peppermint everything! Ha. 

 

In process shot I took to post on Instagram! 

 

Some pictures from this morning! I wanted to take some nice apple photos and brought my camera and lenses and gear.... But, I forgot to bring my SD Card!!! So, only iPhone photos today. We'll get back up there on a less crowded day to take some pix. I wish this photo had smell-o-vision, because the smell of all those apples is really wonderful. 

 

Donuts by the lake! This birds in the lake were a big flock of Canadian Geese - so pretty!! 

Have a fabulous Fall weekend everyone! I'm not sure what I'll be blogging next...Hmmmm. We will all have to wait to find out! Take care! XOXO

 

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Papertrey Ink Throwback Thursday - featuring Brushed Off Stamp Set!

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 cool artsy stamp set called Brushed Off. It's comprised of pretty paint brush strokes in lines and circles. Perfect to make 'artsy' cards and to make cool backgrounds. So many possibilities with this set! I decided to go with a rainbow theme for today - since all I've been posting is Christmas lately! I was ready for something a little different! 

I created a background of rainbow brush strokes and then popped it with dark black in a fabulous die cut. Lastly I added a vellum butterfly. I can't wait to mail out this card!  

 

I stamped the long skinny brushstroke across the top of a watercolor paper panel. I used five colors and slightly overlapped one color over the other one as I went across. I used a wet paintbrush to blur the stamped lines and make it look more artistic! I also varied how far down onto the paper I stamped each brush stroke. Makes it more interesting I think. 

 

I couldn't resist adding paint/ink splatters too! I tried to splatter the same color underneath the color so it would look cool. The die cut is glued on using a glue pen - so easy. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today on this Throwback Thursday! And, hey, it's almost the weekend again!! This week went by FAST! I'm glad because my hubs comes home tomorrow from his business trip and I miss him! Hope you have a great day, and a great weekend! XOXO

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Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release Week: Introducing Wine Bottle Tag #2!

HOWDY! Today is my last post for the launch of the new September Release from Papertrey Ink! It's been so fun sharing all my projects with you and thank you for checking in with me. This was a fabulous release - so many beautiful holiday products for cards, gifts and packaging. Whew! Today I'm featuring the new Wine Bottle Tag Dies. This is a great die set for those of us who like to bring a bottle of wine as a hostess gift or give away wine for friends and neighbors. It's a perfectly sized and engineered tag ready for stamping in whatever theme you want...and then it fits perfectly around the neck of the bottle!

I chose to use pretty soft Vintage Cream Cardstock to die cut my tag and banner. Then I stamped in pretty shades of Olive and Rose inks - some holly and flowers from the Cutaway Tags Winter stamp set. I used the banner (included with the die set) as a border and then stamped the same sentiment over and over in soft ink. Lastly I used the brand new Just For You die cut to add the words across the banner. I love this idea to decorate a gift!   

 

After stamping my images, I used a water brush to gently soften the colors around the images. Kind of a faux watercoloring! I also inked around the edges with a soft beige ink. 

 

 

 

PTI September Release Week is officially in the books! I can't wait to see what I get to stamp with next month!! Yippeeee! It's like Christmas every month waiting anxiously for my Design Team box to arrive in the mail. On October 1st you don't want to miss the launch of an awesome GIANT Christmas kit from Papertrey Ink. It's gonna blow your mind. Truly!!! CLICK HERE to shop the new release. CLICK HERE to go to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog to see what the rest of the design team is sharing today! XOXO

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More Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release: Introducing Holiday Tag Along Kit and Quoted - Favorite Things!

Hi there! Welcome back to day four of the festivities for the September Papertrey Ink Release! I have two more cards to share today and guess what? they're both for Christmas! LOL! I'm not particularly in the mood yet for Christmas, but we have to have time to shop and make our purchases ahead of time, right? And, some of you out there are probably already done with making your cards! EEEK. This week has given me a great head start on my holiday stamping! I hope you've had fun with me this week so far. I have one more post tomorrow, too, and it's another gift idea I can't wait to share!!

Today the design team is introducing a new Mini Kit called Holiday Tag Along! It's got awesome tags and pre printed beautiful graphics. I think you'll love it! The second thing we are introducing is the newest Quoted stamp set - and this one is called Favorite Things - you'll see why. And it's so cute! 

First up is a card I made with the Holiday Tag Along Mini Kit. I made the tag and then attached it to a card front. That is one of my go to layouts for a card. The best of both things - a card and a tag! I used bright Christmas colors and crisp white paper.  

 

I started with a white A2 card base and layered Pure Poppy and Chartreuse Cardstocks and patterned papers. LOVE mixing and matching patterns!! The tag die set that comes in the kit has different cut out pieces so you can totally customize your tag. So clever. I die cut out the stitched pieces and then backed the white tag with polka dots! For the background I used the Berry Wreath stamps to make a pattern. I like how that came out!

 

The little details on this one are some Red Stickles, some candy cane twine and a bitty heart. This would be a good card to accompany a hostess gift - from our home to yours. So nice! After i stamped the leaves and wreath, I used a Copic Marker to color parts of them for more color. 

 

Brown paper packages tied up with strings.... Are you humming that song now!? I am! This new Quoted: Favorite Things stamp set is soooooo sweet! I adore this funky cool retro font. WOW! I had a good time making this card. I used pretty Teal paper for my card base and mixed it with Kraft and some pops of red and white. So traditional and fun. I used the Beautiful Berries Winter stamps and dies to create a floral spray for the top of the card. 

 

I stamped the words in brown ink instead of black, which I think looks nice here. I added a few white snowflakes for some contrast and then added Stickles to the branches and snowflakes. I gotta have some sparkle!

 

 

 

 

I've been saying it every day, and I'll say it again! Thanks for popping in today! Have a wonderful day!!!! See ya tomorrow! CLICK HERE to shop the new Papertrey Ink Release. CLICK HERE to go to the Official PTI Blog to see what the other designers have for you today! XOXO

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More Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release: Introducing Cutaway Tags Winter!

Hi friends! What day is it? LOL! I've been writing so many posts I don't even know if I'm coming or going! My husband is away on a business trip this week so Buddy and I are alone here in the studio but we miss our guy. I have a lot to accomplish this week, though, so hopefully it will go by fast and he'll be home before I miss him. I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead. 

Thanks for coming by each day to see my projects from the Papertrey Ink September release! Today's card features the gorgeous Cutaway Tags Winter stamps and die. I made a really vintage and shabby chic card with these products and gave it a twist by using big bold striped paper! Hope you like it! 

 

This finished card is a five inch square. I used the new Chartreuse Patterned paper in the big stripes to completely cover my card base. I inked all around the edges with Distress Inks and a sponge dauber. The square layer in the center was cut from watercolor paper, as was the Cutaway Tag die. You can use any type of water based ink or watercolors to watercolor the flowers and leaves if you use watercolor paper to start! 

 

I die cut a PTI Banner and stamped the sentiment onto it to layer over the Cutaway Tag die. I really inked up everything to make it look vintage and aged!! If you look closely you can see that I used my Finetec Gold watercolor paints to add hints of gold to the leaves and flowers. I also used gold ink to splatter over the entire project. OOOOHHHH LA LA!!! 

 

 

 

These gold paints should be in everyone's studio! I use them alllll the time, and they never go down! They are the perfect shimmer!! 

 

In this photo I'm hoping you can see the gold. I used a tiny paint brush to dab some gold here and there. Nothing too specific. 

 

 

 

I attached the Cutaway Tag to the card using foam tape so that there would be some dimension off the other paper. I also used foam tape to attach the sentiment banner. 

I've been saying it for a few days now - THANK YOU! Thank you for joining me on this release week! CLICK HERE TO shop the new release. CLICK HERE to go to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog to see what the rest of the design team is up to today! XOXO

 

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More Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release: Introducing Gift Card Cozy Collection!

ello! It's me again! Back with some more inspiration from the new September Papertrey Ink Release! I have so much stuff to share with you. Today's project is one of my favorites from the entire week! I always love cool die cuts for treats and gift cards! Today I'm introducing the new Gift Card Cozy Collection! A gift card die and a really cool matching stamp set. I think you'll love it too. Super simple to assemble - and then you can decorate as much or as little as you want. Great for teacher gifts too! Let's get started!

I made two different gift card holders because I couldn't stop at just one! I used Kraft cardstock for both - I love that as a base - and decorated using lots of other new products from the release. Hint - this is not only a Christmas project! Super fun to leave little gifts for Thanksgiving place card holders or Halloween boo presents! There are so many possibilities! 

 

I used the brand new Berry Wreath stamps and dies to decorate the front of this gift card holder... And used shades of traditional red and green. Popped the wreath onto the base using foam tape and quick and easy! 

 

For this one, I used the new Silver White Winters snowflakes die in a beautiful aqua. I stamped the 'ribbon' in Snow White Ink. That ribbon stamp fits exactly perfectly on the front of the gift card holder! The sentiments are sized just right too - and I stamped them both in rich black ink. 

 

Here is what the back looks like. I die cut out extra paper to make the tab a different color on them. 

 

I decided to do a bit more stamping on the inside of the flap! Surprise! 

 

This is SUCH a fun project! You can cut three of them from one sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper. You just glue down two sides, and you're ready to go! Great to have on hand at this time of year. To see more inspiration from other members of the PTI Design Team, please CLICK HERE to go to the Official Papertrey Ink blog. The entire new release is available now - CLICK HERE to shop! Thanks for coming by! See you tomorrow!!! XOXO

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More Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release: Introducing Brilliant Baubles, Mix & Mat Berry Boughs and Very Merry!

Hi everyone! Happy weekend! And welcome to the next five days of sharing my projects from the new Papertrey Ink September Release! All the brand new products are now available in the PTI Store! WOOOHOOOO! And, now that it's all live, I can finally share what I've been working on! Thanks for coming by today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Today I'm showcasing three new products: The Very Merry stamp set and dies, The new Mix & Mat dies, and the Brilliant Baubles stamp set and dies. Whew! Say that three times fast! Everything in this release is holiday related and so beautiful. It has gotten me to kick start my Christmas cards which is a good thing! We have one more awesome surprise for you, and that's a kit from Betsy that is perfect for Christmas too. I can't wait for you to see it all. WOW. That will be available on October 1st. 

My first card for today features a beautiful ornament from the Brilliant Baubles stamp set and then I used the Mix & Mat Berry Boughs dies to frame it on my card. I seriously also cannot get enough of the three new colors of patterned papers. Those stipes! ACK! I used loads of bright primary colors for this striking card - and even threw in some silver! 

 

I started with an A2 card base and covered it with the new Pure Poppy striped paper as my starting point. Then I die cut the Mix & Mat Dies out of green and white. I trimmed the white piece down just a bit with my paper trimmer so I could fit in some silver paper to show behind the snow. Next I stamped the ornament in Versamark ink onto Blueberry Sky paper and die cut it out with the matching die. I die cut the bow three times out of Pure Poppy Cardstock so it would be thicker - I glued the three bows together stacked! 

 

I stamped the sentiment with Stazon ink onto a vellum strip and wrapped it around the card on a diagonal. As a final accent i added a few pearls and a touch of white gel pen accents. 

 

The ornament was attached to the card using foam tape. 

 

This next card was made with the new Very Merry stamp set and matching dies. This is THE cutest Christmas tree! The tree is actually three separate stamps so you can layer lots of different colors together. SO clever! I used three different shades of greens to make this happy tree! The sentiment is adorable, and also from this same set. I used an A2 kraft card base and did layers of red, green and white. I stamped a few light blue snowflakes around the tree for interest. 

 

Look at all the detail in that tree trunk! I love it. The matching die cut this out perfectly! 

 

 

 

This card was just crying out for some twine! 

Thank you for joining me today! Ho Ho Ho! Am I getting you in the mood for Christmas yet? I'll be back tomorrow with more! To see all the new products CLICK HERE! To see more inspiration from the rest of the design team, please visit the Official Papertrey Ink Blog! Take care! See you tomorrow! XOXO

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Guest Designing in the Ellen Hutson Classroom today!

UPDATED 9/23/2017: MY LUCKY WINNER IS SUZIE PADRICK! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE NICE COMMENTS!

Hey everyone! I'm SO excited to announce that I am the guest designer for the Ellen Hutson CLASSroom today! Woo hoo! I made a super fun card featuring their newest September stamp release. It was hard to decide what to use, but I fell in love right away with the new Baker Lady stamps and dies. So much fun to color with Copic Markers and I also did some paper piecing. Here's a little sneak peek of my project! 

 

To see the whole card and read the step-by-step instructions, please head over to The CLASSroom.

 

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!

I also have a fabulous GIVEAWAY (sponsored by Ellen Hutson) for you! One lucky reader who leaves a comment on my blog post will win a $50 gift certificate to use at the Ellen Hutson store. Isn’t that fun? Thanks Ellen! 

 

To be entered to win the prize, all you have to do is to visit The CLASSroom and then come back here to let me know what you think of the cute Baker Lady!  Leave a comment before 11:59 pm EST on Friday, September 22nd. I'll notify the lucky winner by email right away! 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! If you're a new reader - welcome! Glad to see you! Have a great day, and good luck with the drawing! XOXO

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Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release Week - Introducing Silver White Winters!

Hi there creative friends! How is your week going? OMG I've been so busy this week - but it's all good stuff. Lots of work and lots of fun both. I'm having to look at my calendar all the time to remember where I'm supposed to be every day. Tuesday I was all over this town!! LOL. Fall is just kind of like that for me. Are you that way too? Seems as if there is so much to do this time of year and then crafting and blogging ramps up too, for the holidays. Busy is good! 

Have you been following along on the Official Papertrey Ink Blog all week for all of the festivities for the September Release? It's alllll so pretty! Everything you need to get your holiday crafting started early. 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 September 15th at 10pm EST. (Tomorrow!) 

Today I'm helping introduce one of the beautiful new stamp and die sets called Silver White Winters. OOOOH. Sparkly, pretty, classy snowflakes. LOVE. Snowflakes are one of my favorite go-to themes for Christmas. Something about them is just happy and cheerful I guess. I made three cards today to show you some different ways to use these new products! Something for everyone I hope! 

First up today is a bold and blue embossed snowflake card! OOOH, so icy! I also think vellum looks like ice, so I used a vellum strip for my sentiment. The snowflakes and the sentiment were all stamped and heat embossed using Versamark Ink and White Embossing Powder. I randomly stamped the snowflakes onto PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock since it is nice and smooth.  

 

Once the snowflakes were all embossed, I used different shades of blue inks and an ink blending tool and inked right onto the paper creating an ombre effect. After the ink was dry I went back and added white paint speckles to look like snow. I am so happy with how this turned out. I used some blue sparkly enamel dots for the centers of the snowflakes. 

 

The sentiment strip was wrapped around the top layer of the card before I attached it to the silver paper layer and onto the card. This is a white A2 card base made from the same PTI cardstock. 

 

Another close up of one of the snowflakes. The stamp set has about 10 different snowflakes so you can mix and match them to make a pretty background! 

 

Next up is a very traditional red and green card! I used the Beautiful Berries Winter stamps and dies to create a spray of greenery at the top of this pretty new tag die. One big, beautiful white snowflake serves as the focal point of the card. I added a few pearls and then stamped my sentiment in white - which looks so nice on the red paper. 

 

This card started with a Kraft cardstock A2 card base. I layered white paper and then Pure Poppy Carsdstock. I used a bit of the (awesome) new patterned paper to make a wrap underneath the circle tag. I love polka dots! I used a pretty green button and a bit of twine to 'ground' the spray of greenery. More is more! LOL. 

 

 

 

This final card for today conjures up images of a country Christmas! Plaid, kraft and white with a bit of natural twine. Can't go wrong with that! I used the PTI Snow White Ink pad to stamp all the snowflakes onto a kraft layer. Then I also used the same ink pad to ink around the edges of that layer with a sponge. 

 

A few white paint speckles for good measure! And some pretty clear rhinestones were accents to this card. I stamped the sentiment in beautiful Pure Poppy Ink. 

 

 

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 tomorrow with something really fun (with a PRIZE) and then back on Saturday, starting five days of sharing more PTI projects with you. You're gonna be seeing a lot of me! Until then - have a great day! Thanks for stopping by today! XOXO 

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Checking in and sharing #thedailymarker30day

Happy Saturday! I hope you have a nice weekend planned where you are. I have loads of work to do in my crafty cave this weekend so I probably won't be going anywhere, but that's just fine with me. Looking forward to crafting,  and some time with the hubs. Lately we have been so busy we're like passing ships! I will have lots of projects to share starting on the 14th with the new Papertrey Ink September release. Lemme tell ya, it's all gorgeous...and hint: Ho Ho Ho! 

I've been going through some personal stuff and trying to get all my scattered parts together and doing lots of self care, reading, praying, planning. I still go back and read all of your nice comments on my post from a couple of months ago where I opened up about my thoughts and struggles. You guys have no idea how much your kind words lifted me up!! I am going for some counseling, and trying to get my hormones straightened out (being a girl is hard!) and generally trying to embrace this new person I'm becoming lately. I guess we truly never do stop growing and changing. 

I have had some amazing and cool work opportunities lately, and yesterday I set up private photography lessons with a local creative for later in the month. I talk about these things because I believe it's important to publicly express gratitude for what I have been given. I work hard and I hustle, but I know that everything I have is provided for me. I have found the following to be true: The more freely you give - of your time, talents, love, kindness and money - the more you will receive. It all flows from God, and who am I to stop the flow of His grace and goodness by keeping it for myself? Even though I do not have much right now, I have more than I need, and more is coming my way, of that I'm certain. 

I had a situation happen this week, where a huge corporation contacted me and wanted to use one of my photographs for their business. They sent an agreement and terms document that basically said that they could use the photograph however and wherever they chose with no compensation and no guarantee of crediting me for the photo. What????? So I sat down and wrote a very lengthy email to the female CEO of that corporation asking her to explain that to me. You know what? She personally wrote me back. And right away too. This is a lesson - if we do not value our work, our art, ourselves, no one else will. Never shy away from standing up for yourself. As creatives we lose this somewhere along the way. I am fighting hard to be a person who works on behalf of all of us to be paid for our work. Soap box over. I'll keep you posted on this. 

If you are anywhere in the path of Irma, please know that my household is praying for you. In my former corporate life, one of the things I did was to be part of the National Catastrophe Team for a major Insurance Company. I was on the ground in Miami the day after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (25 years ago almost to the day) and stayed to help for ten weeks. They gave us our Florida Insurance licenses in an airplane hangar in Palm Beach - hundreds of us at these long tables in the middle of the night. It was incredible, the things I saw and did. It's an experience I will never ever forget. I credit this experience with making me an even more grateful person. I became a Red Cross Volunteer as soon as I got home and have been one ever since. That hurricane changed my life, and I don't even live in Florida. It's inexplicable the devastation that is left behind from a hurricane and how long it is before life is normal again. You can't imagine having no home, no power, no water, no food, no street lights, no street signs, no cleared roads, National Guard people with guns driving around protecting everyone.... The things we take for granted every day. Truly. Please be safe and take good care if this is affecting you right now. I'll be thinking of you for sure. 

One thing I worked on this week was participating in the awesome Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge put on by Kathy Racoosin! CLICK HERE to go to her blog and see the details. She encourages us to color and create every day for 30 days. There is a Facebook Group where you can share your work, and you can also share on Instagram with the hashtag #thedailymarker30day. It's open to EVERYONE and I strongly think you should play along!! Sometimes I feel like when I sit down to create I have to finish something, or go full out. This week I have been relaxing and coloring bits and pieces to put on cards later. NO pressure, just fun. I've tried out a bunch of different mediums - pencils, Zig Markers, Distress Inks, Copics.... The other thing is that I have been using stamps that have been waiting on my desk!!! YAY!!! In posting my coloring projects on Instagram and Facebook, I have been trying different ways to style them, and photograph them to make them interesting and artsy. (Secret? I really loooove taking pictures of projects!!) 

So I'm sharing three of my coloring projects from last week! What are you working on in your studio??? Leave me a note!   

For this first one, I used a beautiful stamp from Impress Cards and Crafts! I used Zig Markers and water to watercolor the beautiful image on watercolor paper. I think eventually this will end up being a shabby chic sort of card but you never know! Haha. 

 

For this one I combined several Flora and Fauna Clear stamp sets to stamp onto an envelope! I watercolored with Mini Distress Inks and water. How cute is that snail? She has eyelashes!! It's so fun! Happy Mail is Snail Mail!!  

 

For this one I used some beautiful stamps from Impression Obsession designed and drawn by my friend Lindsay! She is amaaaazing and it's so special to use her stamps! I colored on kraft cardstock with Prismacolor pencils for a pretty effect. 

Thanks for stopping by today! Love you, mean it. XOXO 

You're the pumpkin spice in my latte!

Hi creative friends! I'm back today with a fun post of a seriously cute card perfect for the season! Yes, I am totally one of those annoying FALL people! I've already been to Target to stock up on pumpkin spice everything! And I've already had my first PSL of the season! Heck, I saw some leaves falling on my street, so to me it's game time! Bring it on, all of it! I'm ready for sweaters, scarves, football, boots, denim jackets, leaves, cool nights, and pumpkins! LOL! Do you love it too? My friends make fun of me, but I don't care one bit! Fall makes me happppyyyyy. I used to love to go back to school every year with my new binders and a fresh start. For me, Fall is like New Years... I get renewed and I get more active and focused too. Summer makes me crabby and hot. All that sun and everything. HAHA. Some of you might remember that our honeymoon was actually two weeks spent in New England in October! Okay, I'll stop now! You get my point. I hope you're having a great week! Be sure to leave a comment on my last post (Hero Arts Kit) to have a chance at winning a prize. Thanks for stopping by today! 

When Lawn Fawn came out with their new release this season, what do you think was my favorite thing? Yes, the cutie patootie Pumpkin Spice stamp set! I used it today to make a happy card for one of my girlfriends. I used colored pencils and a brand new paper collection from Echo Park.... 

 

I started with an A2 Kraft card base and layered all kinds of pretty patterned papers (more about that later in the post). I stamped the little coffee guy and colored him in with matching colors to the patterned papers. I die cut two flags for the sentiments and broke them up, one above, and one below my main image. This is a good general purpose card layout for when you have one focal image and a sentiment. Easy to dress up with a few embellishments and things you have on hand already. 

 

I used a button and some twine to add a bit of interest at the top of the card. It's glued on with Tacky Glue. 

 

Just a few bits of Star Dust Stickles on the foam and the stars....

 

Here's a close up of the paper layers. It can sometimes be confusing trying to mix and match a bunch of papers.... This is something I love to do. The best tip I can give you is to let the paper pad work for you. All of these papers are from the same pad. So we know the colors match perfectly. Then it's a matter of choosing a small scale, a medium scale (think stripes or polka dots) and a pattern (think flowers or leaves). Play around with it and try using a patterned paper instead of plain cardstock too! 

 

Last Friday my friend Cara and I took a trip up to Apple Hill (Camino, CA) for apple donuts and PSL coffeeeee! It was pretty funny, because it was super hot that day! But we had a lovely Fall picnic under the trees. Can't wait to go back up the hill for some Cider when it's cooler! Here's a photo I took at our picnic. 

 

Buddy reminded me that it's been a while since I posted a photo of him! So here he is over the weekend looking out the window in our family room. He's so handsome!!! He was probably squirrel watching. They are out in full force right now in our neighborhood!

So that's it for today! Cheers to Fall and pumpkin spice lattes! I hope you have a great weekend. I'll see you soon... XOXO

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My Monthly Hero - September Card Kit - Autumn Greetings!

Hi creative friends! Welcome to the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" September 2017 Card Kit blog hop! As usual, I'm so happy to see you today and share a fun Fall card with you and loads of new stamping products from Hero Arts! Happy September! How was your Labor Day Weekend? Ours was hot! Still hot here in Sacramento and we stayed inside most of the weekend because of the heat and smoke from wildfires. Oh, how I am longing for cool Autumn breezes... But I have to wait a bit longer I guess. But, the new Hero Arts Kit is ALL FALL! The kit this month is packed with pumpkins and sunflowers and beautiful fall colors of inks....really to get us in the mood for the change of season! I used the stamps and dies from the main kit for my card today - the stamp set is so lovely, I couldn't resist! I had fun making the card shabby chic too, and with lots of color. 

You may have arrived her from the wonderful blog of my friend Amy Kolling!! If you want to start at the beginning of the hop, CLICK HERE to go to the Hero Arts Blog. So much fun and inspiration for you today from lovely fellow crafters. I'm always grateful to join the other ladies in this monthly hop. If you're new to my blog today - 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! The last one sold out before the day was over. Get it while it's hot! Alrighty....here's my card for today!

As soon as I saw the layering pumpkins in the stamp set, I knew that was what I wanted to use as my focal point. I started with an A2 card base made from woodgrain paper from my personal crafty stash. (you could also use Kraft paper). I layered some gingham and then some pretty orange paper onto the woodgrain card base. The top layer is made from cream cardstock. To make it look worn and weathered is a fun technique! Cut the paper to size and then spritz it with some water from a spray bottle - not too much though. Then gently crumple the paper up in your hand to make the wrinkles. After you flatten it back out, sprinkle it with distress ink mixed with water from a paint brush. Then ink the edges with more Distress Inks and a sponge. I also curled the corners up with my fingers. 

 

 

Here is a close up of the crumpled paper and the smaller pumpkin image. I stamped and die cut four pumpkins, stems and some leaves. The matching dies make this step a breeze! I used my stampamajig to line up all the layering stamps for the images. Sooooo pretty! 

 

I used the Hero Arts Ovals dies to cut an oval for the sentiment, and then stamped the sentiment in rich brown ink. The oval is mounted on the card with foam tape. 

 

 

 

The pumpkins, leaves and stems are all affixed with foam tape to add dimension t the card. I tried a few different layouts of the images, but ended up liking it this way the best. Lots of texture and color on this one!

 

 

The kit is available NOW! Yippeeeee! Below is a photo of THE ENTIRE CARD KIT CONTENTS!  Beautiful images for Autumn, pumpkins, sunflowers, several ink pads, paper 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. 

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 September 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. 

 

This kit is available for a limited time only - once it's gone, it's gone! Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, September 8th. These kits 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 awesome 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!