A Blog Called Wanda

Pocket Letter Project with Illustrated Faith!

Hi friends! I've been a busy bee! How are you? The holiday season is rolling along towards us at a fast pace now. I'm trying to finish making Christmas cards so I can do the hard part (addressing them! LOL). That part takes forever! I need to get with the program and start this week. What have you been up to? Have you been crafting a lot? I've been spending as much time in the studio as I can. I love this cozy time of year. Kitty curled up in his bed in here, some tunes on, coffee in my mug. 

Today's project is something I've been wanting to make for a looooonnnnngggg time. Well, I finally did! I love Pocket Letters and have a certain friend in mind that I wanted to make one for. I recently bought this beautiful paper pack from Illustrated Faith/Bella Blvd called Advent and as soon as I laid out all the papers on my desk - it came to me - this is perfect for finally making my pocket letter! What is a pocket letter?? CLICK HERE to read the blog of the woman who started the trend! It's a letter that you make in pockets (of a baseball trading card sleeve). When you fold it up in thirds it fits into a business envelope! It's like making nine tiny cards in one! I used my trusty Fuse Tool and sealed all the pockets up - some with sequins, etc. SUPER fun! You can make a pocket letter as simple or as crazy as you want. Mine is somewhere in the middle! I love how it came out. 

Here is an overview shot of the entire pocket letter. Next I'll show you some close up shots! I even made a little matching clip for the top left. My friend can remove that part and clip it into a book or a planner, etc. 

 

I have lots and lots of sequins in my stash! I had fun making little sequin mixes for some of the pockets. Do you have a Fuse Tool? It's a tool from We R Memory Keepers that heats up and then it seals plastic. That way all the sequins etc stay inside. It's also a great way to make Shaker Cards. All of the papers are from the Illustrated Faith Advent Collection.

 

Here's a close up of the little banner tag. I used some of the plastic from a different sleeve and free hand sealed it into a banner. I put some sequins inside and then sealed the top. I used a little Doodlebug Clothes Pink from my stash, and added a cross sticker and some twine. It's clipped onto the main pocket letter using the pin. I used washi tape to cover the left side border of the trading card sleeve. One cool thing about pocket letters is you can store them in a binder! 

 

 

 

The paper has such bright and happy colors and such cute imagery. I love the coffee cups a lot! 

 

 

 

More sequins and stickers! You can see where I used the Fuse Tool to seal the pockets. 

 

Just SOME of my Illustrated Faith washi tape collection!! I use these so much in my planner and Bible journaling!

 

 

I hope you will try making a pocket letter! You can choose any theme or colors. It would be a great gift also to include some family photos in the pockets. You can tuck a gift card in there too. The possibilities are endless really. I already want to make some more. I need to use the paper I've been hoarding for all these years. This is a perfect project for 12x12 papers. Let me know what you think?? Have a wonderful day! XOXO

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Fa La La La LLAMA!

Hey everyone! Fa la la la llamaaaaa! OMG this is so cute - this stamp set I'm sharing today! I have no good explanation, but lately I am obsessed with llamas! They're furry, and silly, and have the cutest expressions on their faces! The other day I even saw some on a ranch not too far from our house. (I couldn't get a llama selfie though - I tried!) For my birthday, my husband bought me some stamp sets I've been wanting, and the Pink Fresh Festive Llama stamp set was one of them! Now, you might ask, how does my husband know what stamp sets to buy me??? It's easy, we share a Secret Pinterest Board together and we both put items on it that we would like as gifts! That way, we can still surprise each other, AND get what we want! It's the perfect system really. So for my birthday I got stamps, books, and a purse from Ebay! YEAH!

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was super nice and mellow. We all sat around and ate loooottttsss of snacks and watched TV all day. A totally lazy and peaceful day. Then we went to bed early so we could get up at 5am and go SHOPPING! Yes, we are Black Friday Shoppers.... Well, mostly we are just festive Black Friday fun finders. I always wear my Christmas sweater and sometimes a silly hat, we drink lots of coffee, and spread cheer around. We didn't buy too much. My husband and I love to be out in the hustle and bustle and we have a good time looking at the decorations and having a nice day together. It's a 20 year tradition for us. At first he had to convince me to do it (because I am not a morning person)...but once I saw how fun it was I'm up and ready to go to. Last year I got in 12,000 steps just from shopping! LOL. 

So, back to llamas.... When I first saw this Pink Fresh Studios Festive Llama stamp set I smiled. So that was a sure sign I had to have it. For today's card, I kept the layout really clean and simple, but POPPED it with loads of color. I also used another new item I bought recently - the Carta Bella Fair Isle Embossing Folder. (Add Fair Isle to the list of things I'm obsessed with). This card was fun to make, and I hope it makes you smile. 

 

I started with an A2 card base from white cardstock. I used the embossing folder with Bazzill Candy Hearts paper (probably my favorite shade of pink everrr). Once I knew I wanted the pink background layer I used it to choose my Copic colors - bright and vivid. I stamped and die cut out the llama and all the presents. I stamped the sentiment and die cut it out with a stitched oval die. 

 

I used my trusty Copic Chart to choose the right shade of pink to match the paper.

 

These are my Copic Marker Choices for today's card! CLICK HERE to download your own color chart if you want one! 

 

This embossing folder is THE BOMB! I speckled some white paint splatters onto the pink before I attached all my elements. I used foam tape for everything (of course) and added Stickles accents to some of the items. TIP: put your entire card together then put the Stickles on. Then, if you're me, WALK AWAY and leave the room! Hahahaha. I am notorious for touching the wet Stickles. 

 

 

 

 

 

Llama feeeeets! Oh, and some pretty enamel dots too! 

Fa la la la LLAMA! Not sure why, but I just love to say that! Happy Saturday! Enjoy your weekend! My next post is about pocket letters! I finally made one and I'm anxious to share it with you. Have you ever made a pocket letter? CLICK HERE for information about them. (I have some sneak peeks on my Instagram!)  It was such a fun thing to make. I'm hooked.... And maybe I will use some of the five million sheets of 12x12 paper I have in here! Oy. Thanks for stopping by today! XOXO

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Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours 2017!

Hi friends! Sending you good wishes, love, and prayers for a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving Day. You are a blessing to me - every one of you who joins along on this blog journey of mine - and I'm so grateful for all of you. Happy Thanksgiving! XOXO Wanda and Mark Guess (and Buddy too). 

 

"Grateful for each hand we hold
Gathered round this table.
From far and near we travel home,
Blessed that we are able.
Grateful for this sheltered place
With light in every window,
Saying welcome, welcome, share this feast
Come in away from sorrow.
Father, mother, daughter, son,
Neighbor, friend and friendless;
All together everyone in the gift of loving-kindness.
Grateful for whats understood,
And all that is forgiven;
We try so hard to be good,
To lead a life worth living.
Father, mother, daughter, son,
Neighbor, friend, and friendless;
All together everyone, let grateful days be endless.
Grateful for each hand we hold
Gathered round this table."
- Mary Chapin Carpenter - Thanksgiving Song Lyrics

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2017

Ellen Hutson 11th Anniversary Blog Hop! Holiday Cheer!

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving Eve! Best wishes for a lovely day with friends and family tomorrow as you celebrate the holiday! Today, I'm excited to be part of something really fun and fabulous! Ellen Hutson is celebrating their 11 year anniversary with a big blog hop! I'm so happy to be part of the festivities and to celebrate one of my favorite companies. This is a HUGE five day blog hop with 30 designers! Today is day three....there are still two more days to go! CLICK HERE to visit the Ellen Hutson Blog and see all the posts and designers for each day. I'm the last stop for today's hop. Did you arrive here from Elena's blog? She is awesome! I'm glad to have you here. If you're new to my blog - welcome!

The theme for the hop is our favorite Essentials By Ellen stamp set. I chose the Oh Frappe stamp set and embellished it up with some other sets for a fun coffee-themed Christmas Card! I love coffee, and I love Christmas, so what could be better?! I used Distress Inks and a water brush to color these adorable images and then made a super cheerful layout with fun Lawn Fawn papers.

 

I started with an A2 white card base. Next I layered red cardstock and then my favorite Lawn Fawn paper. Then the fun part! I combined little bits and pieces from a few different stamp sets to turn the regular coffee into Christmas cofffeeeee!! LOL. I stamped the candy cane first and then masked it off. I stamped the coffee cup on top of it. Then I stamped the holly leaves in place using my MISTI. I stamped my Distress Ink pads into a watercolor palette and used the Detailer water brush to paint my images. Super fast and easy - just a few colors! I used a Distress Marker to color in the sentiment. 

 

I used some of the matching Distress Ink to stamp the snowflakes on top of the coffee. I stamped and die cut out the little gingerbread man and a second holly sprig to decorate the card. The sentiment was stamped onto a banner and layered onto another banner. 

 

At the top of the card I used a pretty button, some twine and the holly sprig to make my own embellishment. I tied the bow in the twine UNDER the button and then used clear glue to attach that part to the card. 

 

 

Thanks sooo much for stopping by my blog today! Supply links are below! Hope you've enjoyed the hop so far. Have a super fabulous day! XOXO

 

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Felt Christmas Projects!

Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving Week! It's cold outside, and warm inside my cozy studio. I spent all day yesterday making felt projects to share with you! You might remember I went a little cray cray last year over felt! LOL. A couple of weeks ago I organized my studio (again) and finally found a nice big empty drawer to put all my felt in - together in one place. Well, that inspired me to bust out some projects. Also, this month's release from PTI has some felt dies in it, and I hadn't had a chance to use them yet. It was the perfect day to craft some Christmas projects to share with you. I'll post some tips and trick towards the end of my post. I've really honed in on what supplies work the best and want to share those things with you! You guys that have been following me for a while know that I have a soft spot (pun intended) for felt projects. They just make me happy!! 

I think making felt projects is perfect for this time of year! It's easy to pack up a little kit with cut out pieces, needle and thread, and bring it with you as you go around in your day. If you have a few minutes in the car waiting for someone, or over at a friend's house, you can craft a little! Also, this is a wonderful project to do in a group - either adults or kids! And, the bonus is that you are creating a gift! 

I have three new projects to share! All made with PTI Felt Dies. A Coffee Cozy (perfect gift to go with a Coffee Gift Card), a Snowman present tie-on, and a Gingerbread House ornament! Here are my three projects all laid out together!  

 

I love this little snowman guy! He is going to be a topper for a present. I think I'll use plaid gift wrap (I have lots of that) and some red ribbon, and then attach him in the center on the front. I sewed a little loop on the back of his head for this purpose! The way the die cuts are made - his scarf is one piece that wraps around his neck, and the arms are one piece that goes through the center of his body - makes it so easy to work with. I added a pretty red button as an accent on the scarf. I also added a little felt heart to his hat. I use Doodlebug Enamel Dots for eyes on all of my plushies. I love how it looks! 

 

There are multiple ways to stitch the felties together. I like to use a straight stitch and go around the edges. Some people like to use a Blanket Stitch. I think both look nice - really just a matter of preference. The die cuts have all the little stitching holes already in them so it's very easy to get a perfect stitch! 

 

 

 

Next up is a fun Coffee Cozy! This is not a new PTI die - I've had it in my stash for a long time! I thought it would be nice to make some of these for Christmas gifts. I'll make a card, and then give a gift of a Starbucks Card and the little cozy. Perfect friend presents! You can make the cozy out of paper or felt. HERE IS THE LINK to a great video Erin did about how to use the Coffee Cozy Dies! 

 

I kept it really clean and simple! Pretty heathered grey felt with red and green accents. I used red thread to make a contrasting stitch. The dies set comes with these adorable tiny tags to sew into the seam. I love that! EEEK. That tiny heart! 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried the Coffee Cozy out on different sized coffee cups and it fits all of them! This is a Venti Starbucks cup! What's your favorite drink? I love a Soy Caramel Macchiato! 

 

 

Finally today I made a pretty and sweet little Gingerbread House ornament! This is one of the new dies released this month. It has tons of pieces and parts so you can decorate your house as much or as little as you choose. When I sewed it together I used a piece of Kraft Polka Dot Ribbon to use to hang it from the tree. I also changed up the colors and used pretty pink and aqua for my color palette! Something so sweet about these colors together. 

 

My work table, while I was cutting everything out. You can see the holes in the dies! SUPER easy!

 

I added pearl beads to the eaves of my pink gingerbread roof! 

 

 

 

The die set even has tiny snow caps to put on the roof! LOVE this so much! You can customize the colors of this for any occasion.... Doesn't even have to be Christmas! Could be for a bag tie on for a housewarming, or a shower....

  

TIPS & TRICKS: 

I have tried EVERY kind of felt! Super expensive, to super cheap. Ordered online, and bought at the craft store..... So, after all of that trial and error,  now I only use felt from HERE and HERE. High quality wool felt that does not break the bank, in beautiful colors! Perfect for die cutting too. If I use these two brands I get a perfect cut every time. I use a Metal Shim with my die cutting machine whenever I die cut felt. It really makes a different in the edges of the cut. I highly recommend it! For eyes on animals, I like them to be shiny and happy. So I only use THESE enamel dots to make the eyes. There are different sizes and you can see which ones look best! I use a bit of felt glue to attach them! I use embroidery floss to do my projects and I use all six strands at one time. Just my preference on how the final project looks! I have tried Felting/Stitching dies from all the major crafting companies. My two favorites (both for designs and quality) are PAPERTREY INK STITCHING DIES and SIMON SAYS STAMP PLUSH DIES. 

 

 Here are some of my favorite felt projects from last year! Made with Simon Says Stamp Dies!

CLICK on the photo to go to that blog post for more information! 

Thanks for stopping by today! It's going to be a great week! I will have another post on Wednesday as part of a giant blog hop celebrating Ellen Hutson's Anniversary! Hope to see you soon. Happy Thanksgiving Week! XOXO

 

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Fun Stampers Journey - Happy Projects!

Hey there creative and crafty friends! Happy weekend! How are you? How was your week? I'm loving the Autumn weather and the fog and wearing sweaters.... Lots going on right now, only a month until Christmas and week until Thanksgiving! Yay, all of my favorite things happen this time of year. The studio has been super busy. I'm cranking out projects like crazy right now. So many fun things coming up soon. The year is going to end on a positive creative note! How are your preparations going? Are you hosting a lot of people for Thanksgiving? Let me know what you're doing! I love hearing other peoples' traditions. Best wishes to you for a great weekend!

A couple of months ago my friend Kim Kesti graciously sent me a huge box of wonderful products from her company, Fun Stampers Journey. I'm talking a huge box! LOL. Stamps, dies, papers, ink pads, paints, embellishments, etc. It was like Christmas came early. I'm super grateful for the goodies and it was a delight to create with everything. So, today's post is my review of products from FSJ (my first time using their products) and a bunch of cards I made with the items. This is a long post - grab a cuppa joe and sit along with me!

The Fun Stampers Journey stamps are available on their website - CLICK HERE.  Disclosure: I am not receiving any affiliate income from this post. The products were given to me for free. These thoughts are my own honest impression of the products. 

Overall I was very impressed with the high quality of everything. VERY high quality. The stamps are all red rubber mounted on cushion to use with your clear blocks. It's been a minute since I stamped with red rubber and I had forgotten how much nicer that is. Every stamp gave me a perfect impression the first time. No fussing or struggling or 'seasoning' of the stamps. The packaging is very nice, and the stamps have the index image on them too. The die cuts are AMAZING. First of all, they are lime green (!) - and they cut like a dream. The dies are quite a bit larger than the stamp image which makes it SUPER EASY to line up the die with the stamped image to cut out. NO guess work involved. Each and every die gave me a clean cut with a perfect border. You can see that in my projects later in the post. The third thing I love the most is the thickness and color quality of the patterned papers. The papers are super thick and sturdy and the colors are vivid and bold. I've never seen another company have such thick patterned paper packs. Each paper is double sided. I got two packs and I posted photos of them below. My review is a great one. I am excited to order some more stamps and see what they come up with next!  I set aside one entire day in my studio to make projects with the Fun Stampers Journey items. I laid everything out on my counter and mixed and matched things, colored things, and generally had a good ole time! I'm sharing five cards with you....lots of pictures coming!

Since Thanksgiving is coming, I'll share the Fall card first! This beautiful wreath stamp set was easy to stamp into a pretty card. The set is called Harvest Wreath, and the sentiments have matching dies. I stamped the wreath and leaves onto a cream card base and layered with yellow, brown and kraft. I added some gold paint splatters after the stamping was done. Everything is inked and edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink for a more vintage feeling. 

 

The twine was wrapped around the top panel of the card. I added gold accents too. (Twine and accents are also from FSJ). I popped the sentiment onto the wreath using foam tape. Really fancy and pretty. 

 

 

 

Next up is a fun, festive and jolly Christmas card! OMG I looooove this stamp! It's called Winking Deer! He's wearing a Christmas sweater...AND he's winking! LOVE! I colored him in with Copic Markers. The layers are patterned paper from the Christmas Cheer Prints paper pack. I used some festive washi tape and silver dots. All from FSJ! 

 

There are bits of glitter glue on the deer lights and sweater. The sentiment is part of the stamp - so this image is all one stamp. 

 

This is the gorgeous paper pack and washi! 

 

My third card was made with the super unique and interesting stamps that look like embroidery! SO cool. Never seen anything like it before! I used the Day Fern Stamp Set and the Embroidered Greetings stamp set. I also used the matching patterned paper called Mystic Romance Prints. GORGEOUS. This is a clean and simple card. I used a small strip of the patterned paper and then just one layer stamping. Lovely. 

 

 

 

 

The detail in this stamp is incredible. I have a thing for ferns - so this was right up my alley. I also used this pretty fern stamp on some green envelopes (But I forgot to take a picture!)

 

 

These last two cards are SO FUN! I used the adorable stamps and dies called Sushi Puns! Gosh, this stamp set made me smile so much. I had loads of fun coloring everything with my Copic Markers. Everything die cut like a dream too. See those perfect borders? This card started out with a grey card base. I used Versamark Ink to randomly stamp the sushi onto the card base. I set that aside to dry. Love that it looks like matching patterned paper! I stamped, colored and die cut out the sushi pieces and the soy sauce bottle and attached them all with foam tape. The sentiment is stamped in rich black ink. 

 

EEK. SO adorable. I gave them all some pink cheeks. :-)

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the stamp set, packaging, and dies. See how large the die is? It is that way so you can line it up in a jiff. 

 

 

 

 

 

And, lastly, here's a sweet little Boba Tea Card for you! This card was quick and easy. The background was made by inking Distress ink and then splattering with water and white paint. I added the two little Bobas and a sparkly heart, and done! 

 

 

They totally crack me up! 

 

 

Thanks for hanging out with me today! I've enjoyed sharing something new with you. A company I've never stamped with before. Too great! CLICK HERE if you would like to shop the Fun Stampers Journey website. Let me know what you think! Have you tried this company before? Have a wonderful day! XOXOXO 

Papertrey Ink November Release Week - featuring This Just in and Sunburst Stencils!

This just in! (That's the name of the stamp set featured today!) Welcome to Day FIVE of the new November Papertrey Ink Release! This is the last day for all of the design team to share our projects with you in anticipation of release day tomorrow! It's been fun sharing with you the past week or so. Everything will be available in the PTI Store tomorrow, the 15th, at 10pm EST. CLICK HERE to go to the Official PTI Blog to see the graphics for the stamps and enter to win some prizes!

Today is my 'feature post' which means I made three projects with the same new supplies: This Just In Stamps and Dies, and Sunburst Stencils. This stamp set is very unique and super fun. Perfect for any occasion. Dress it up, dress it down, make it bright and fancy, or masculine and cool... No end to the ideas! I've tried to give you three totally different ways to use these. 

First up is a cool retro birthday card! I used black, kraft, white and green to make this one. This is a great 'manly' card! I used the stars dies set to create a background for the microphone. The stamp set is a giant old fashioned microphone with tons of sayings for all the parts....and the best part? Lightning bolts!! The card base is kraft A2... Then layered with True Black patterned paper and then chartreuse and white. I used the new stencils to make the rays behind the microphone and to match everything together. 

 

This next card is a great all-occasion card! Maybe for someone who gets a promotion...or has a wonderful accomplishment. I used the sunburst stencils in bright yellow this time to frame the microphone. Also, I used the new color of patterned paper for this month! Yay! 

 

 

 

This next project is a baby shower party favor! I love decorating glassine bags for candy or treats! I used the cute sentiments along with pink and grey to make the focal point. Then I had fun decorating with the doily die, some ribbon and pretty polka dots! Wouldn't these be pretty all in a basket ready for guests? 

 

Little pearl accents make it extra feminine and girly! 

What are you excited about from this new release? What are you going to want?! It's so hard to pick a fav....but this month I think the sweater set is my top pick! I hope you've enjoyed all my sneak peeks! Everything is available to purchase on 11-15 at 10pm EST! I will go back and update all the link lists once the new products go live! Thanks for sharing the week with me. XOXO

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Papertrey Ink November Release Week - Window Works Dies!

Hi friends! It's day FOUR of the brand new November Papertrey Ink Release! It's getting closer and closer to release day! Everything new will be available in the PTI store on Wednesday the 15th at 10pm EST. I'm back today with a pretty red and green traditional Christmas card made with the new Window Works Dies. I made a fun shaker card! These new window dies are absolutely beautiful. I've never seen anything like them! They are so intricate, with pretty edges and interesting stitching around the openings. Love. 

I started with an A2 card base made from Kraft cardstock. Then I layered two sheets of pretty patterned papers from a new pad I just got. Then a layer of vivid red with the window cut out. Behind the window is Vintage Cream cardstock. 

 

I used the Merry Christmas Dies from the Travelers series (see links) and die cut them from pretty gold! I used the same gold on the die cut accents at the top. I made my own sequin mixture of reds, greens and golds. Really classic colors for the holiday. 

 

Once the card was finished, I used some enamel dots and sequins to add accents.

 

 

 

I always forget how much fun it is to make a shaker card! They have such an impact when you send one. Everyone loves to get a shaker card! I hope I've inspired you to make one! :-)

Thanks so much for joining along with me the past few days! I'll have one more post tomorrow and then it will be time for the release to go live! Have a wonderful day friends! XOXO

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Papertrey Ink November Release Week - Quatrefoil Stencil Basics and Quoted: Living Longer!

Howdy crafty friends!! Welcome to day three of the November Papertrey Ink new release! FUN times! Are you enjoying all the inspiration from the design team so far? Lots and lots of pretty things to get your crafty mojo flowing! Today I'm taking a break from the holiday crafting to share some cheerful and vivid cards with you. I have two cards today made with lots of new items. What is your favorite thing so far? It's going to be hard to choose this month! To see everything so far CLICK HERE to go to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog! 

For this first card I used the new Quatrefoil Stencils with one of my favorite inking techniques to make a pretty background on watercolor paper! Have you ever tried this with a stencil? It's so fun and easy. Simply take your favorite color ink pads and smoosh them onto the stencil. Then take a water spritzer and spritz the inked stencil. Let the colors kind of ooze together... Then place the wet stencil down onto your watercolor paper. It's sooooo pretty!! 

 

Once I made my background, I set it aside to dry. I used the new Tag Sale #12 dies (set of three dies) to make the center focal piece of the card. I die cut the largest piece from vellum. Then a layer of Hawaiian Shores and a layer of white. SO fresh! 

 

The card base is A2 made from Hawaiian Shores paper to match the center piece. Some silver cord and an enamel dot finishes off this quick and pretty card. 

 

 

 

Next is a super bright card! I used the brand new Flower Power stamps and dies along with the newest Quoted stamp set to make this one. Lots of cheerful colors and rich black to ground it all. These flowers are so fun to work with! The card base is white A2 paper and then a layer of Bright Buttercup cardstock to match the flowers and bow. 

 

 

 

As with all the other Quoted stamps, these come in three pieces so you can stamp them in different colors. 

 

 

 

The matching dies make cutting out the flowers so easy. I mounted the flowers, and the pot with foam tape. I stamped the leaves and stem directly onto the paper. 

 

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Papertrey Ink November Release Week - Snowfall Style & Winter Woolens!

Welcome back to day two of the November Papertrey Ink New Release! Five days of posting which will lead up to the new release going live on the 15th! Thanks for stopping by today to see some more projects made with the new products. Everything will be available in the PTI store on Wednesday the 15th at 10pm EST. Yay! Today I have two Winter cards - one is warm and fuzzy, and the other one is bright and icy! I like to make generic Winter/Holiday cards for certain friends or business associates in case I do not know if they celebrate Christmas or not. These two cards fit the bill perfectly. I'll tuck them away for when I need them. Are you excited for the new release yet? What did you think of the products shown yesterday? I'd love to know! Have a great weekend everyone!

This first card is SOOOO fun. OMG I already adore this stamp set called Winter Woolens! It's right up my alley - cute Christmas sweaters, mittens and hats! Gosh, I know I am going to use this set alllll the time. The stamps are two step so you can easily make each item two different colors. I used the sweater stamps with little deer on them!!!! 

 

I had a really hard time choosing a color palette for this stamp set and card. Because...it looked great in every color! I loved it in red and black, green and grey, black and grey...OMG. So I decided to let a new paper pad be my guide. I used the pretty sweater looking paper to guide my color choices. It matched lots of my PTI cardstock and patterned paper. I really like how it came out. Can a card by cozy?? LOL. I stamped the sweater and die cut it with the matching die. Then I die cut a circle for frame it. I used the brand new snowflake die to add an accent. 

 

Isn't that sentiment cute? I added a few pearls and some trim I had in my stash to bring some extra textures. The sweater, the circle, the snowflake and the sentiment banner were all sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink. 

 

 

 

All of these products are new - available next week! The papers are listed below in my supply links. I'll update the supplies once the stamps and dies go live! 

 

So this next card is icy and bright and bold! Lots of red and white! Touches of sparkly silver paper and rhinestones. Oh my! I used the Winter Wishes dies (released last month) to make my focal point and then stamped snowflakes around it. Lastly I die cut one giant silver snowflake. This card was quick to put together. 

 

For the Winter Wishes dies, I ended up stacking two die cuts to make it a bit thicker and to stand off the page. To do this, just use a glue pen and some tweezers! Easy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for joining me for day two of release week! See you tomorrow! Happy Saturday! XOXO

 

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Papertrey Ink November Release Week starts now!

Hi everyone! Wow, happy Friday! It's been a super fast week around here! I hope you've had a wonderful week. I can feel the Christmas and holiday frenzy starting as I'm out running around doing errands, and I've already been blasted with Christmas music! The new Winter Starbucks drinks are here (I love the Spiced Flat White) I'm still adjusting to the time change! I am loving the cozy nights inside bundled up with blankets and fuzzy slippers. Not too much planned for our weekend, how about you? 

We are changing things up a little bit with the Papertrey Ink new release and I think you'll like it! All of the November products will be on sale on Wednesday the 15th at 10pm EST. So, every day until then, the design team will be sharing projects with you to get you excited and inspired about the new items. I'm so happy to share with you today. I have two cards made with a bunch of new items! Let's take a look!

The FIVE new products I'm featuring today are: Little Lift Me Ups, Background Basics: Birch, Mix & Mat Plaid, Year of Psalms November and Flower Power! YAY! 

First up is a card made with the newest Year of Psalms stamp set. I chose to make this a more masculine card with lots of wood textures and warm earthly colors. Unfortunately we need to make sympathy cards from time to time and I think this would fit the bill nicely for that occasion. I used one of my favorite older sets (Meadow Greens) to stamp the ferns onto the center panel. 

 

The new Mix & Mat dies feature a gorgeous tree/branch outline. I used the new Birch Background stamp to stamp the birch tree pattern onto the trees. I love how that came out! I cut the center panel out of cream cardstock, stamped it, and then edged in Distress Inks.

 

The font for this set is so beautiful. I love fonts! 

 

Here's a close up of the layers and the pretty dies! 

 

Next up is a card using the cheerful new set called Little Lift Me Ups! It's a set of inspirational sentiments in pretty fonts to use for your cards. I am going to use this one a lot! I used the Birch Background stamp again (love) to make the bottom part of the card design. The flowers were made using the new Flower Power stamps and dies. I used Autumn colors again since it's November and I love that color palette. 

 

The sentiment is one stamp, the sun rays and the heart are different stamps - I love that you can combine and mix and match as you want. I popped some bright blue in there with the bow and added a pretty enamel dot as a finishing touch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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My Monthly Hero - November 2017 Card Kit - Holiday Cheer!

Welcome to the Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" November 2017 Card Kit Blog Hop! Yippeeee! As always, I'm happy to see you today and happy to share some holiday cheer with you! this month's kit is chock full of happy, cute, fun and festive items for all the Winter holidays! I know there is something for everyone in the kit, and the add-ons. I think that we are now going head on into holiday mode. I could tell this weekend that the traffic was a little heavier and people seemed a bit more rushed....and the Christmas carols are playing in all the stores. There's no going back now! The MMH kit this month will help you make your holiday cards, tags, and whatever else you need! I made two retro themed cards to share today. Reminding me of Christmas in the 60's and 70's.

You may have arrived here from Laurie's amazing blog! 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 VERY FAST (usually the first day) so if you like it, don't hesitate! I know I say that every time, but it's true! Get it while you can! They are such a great value. Each kit is $34.99 and this month's kit has a value of $72.00. Ink pads, dies, stamps....it's all good!

My first card for today was made with the SUPER cute Santa Claus Die Cut. I LOVE him! I die cut it out of crisp white paper and then quickly colored the die cut with a water pen and Distress Inks. Fast and Fun - no muss or fuss. 

 

 

This card started with a dark grey A2 card base. Then I layered red, and then white. I stamped the small circular snowflake image onto the white layer to create a background for old Santa! I stamped the beautiful sentiment in red ink and die cut it out with a circle die (supplies at the bottom of my post). 

 

When I mounted the Santa die cut to the card I used foam tape. I used a double layer of foam tape under the brim of his had so it would stick out further. I gently lifted up his mustache and beard pieces with my fingers. SO cute! I added Stickles glitter glue to his hat for a bit of shine. 

 

 

 

I used a few Distress Inks and a very light, loose watercolor for coloring the die cut. I added pink cheeks too! 

 

For this next card I used the main card kit and a fun, cool, retro color palette! I LOVE the font on the sentiments that come with the main kit. Cheer! Simple and perfect. This is a one layer stamping card. I overlapped the ornaments slightly when I stamped them. The strings were drawn on with a black pen and a ruler. I added some Enamel Dots at the tops of the ornaments. 

 

 

This perfect oval die is part of the main kit and fits the sentiment just right. I stamped in rich black ink to offset the soft colors. 

 

 

The kit is available NOW! Yippeeeee! Below is a photo of THE ENTIRE CARD KIT CONTENTS! Beautiful images for Christmas and Winter crafting,  fun tags, stamps, dies, ink and more!  This is a great value for $34.99! The items sold separately retail for $72.00 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 November 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. 

 

This kit is available for a limited time only - once it's gone, it's gone! Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, November 10th. 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 Jessica! 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!  Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

NOVEMBER MAIN CARD KIT CONTENTS:

 

BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY! ENJOY! 

The Hero Arts Blog

Jennifer McGuire

Laurie Willison

Wanda Guess

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Lydia Fiedler

May Park

Ilina Crouse

Heather Ruwe

Janette Kausen

Clare Prezzia

Libby Hickson

 

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Hey! It's my birthday!

Hi creative friends! It's my annual birthday post! Boy doesn't it seem like I just did this! Another year, another trip around the sun, more lessons, and more wrinkles! This year I am 53. That doesn't even sound right! LOL. This year has been a little (a lot) crazy and I feel like I am having a hard time keeping up. I look in the mirror and I see a wiser woman with more experience. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of my mom looking back at me. I feel like the past year had so much for me to learn. I'm feeling like I finally am 'getting it' and I'm looking forward to a new year to celebrate! I'm having a mellow birthday so far. The hubs brought me bagels and Starbucks in bed. It's misty-raining outside and we're all cozy. I made a cooooool craft project (I'll share below) and then in a bit I think we'll go out and do some running around and visiting friends. It's funny as you get older, the actual day of your birthday isn't as important as the contact with your loved ones. I LOOOOOOVE all the handmade cards I've received and I love that my friends want to get together to celebrate. Those are the important things! Yesterday the hubs and I went exploring at one of our local State Parks and we had the entire place to ourselves! I'll share some pictures at the end of my post. Happy Friday friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! XOXOXO Be sure to come back by on Monday for the launch of the newest Hero Arts Kit! 

So my craft project for today has nothing to do with paper! I made a terrarium! SOOO fun! I bought all of the stuff at our local nursery a week or so ago and it's all been sitting in our kitchen since. I thought today would be the perfect day for a quick and easy project. It came out really nice I think. I want to make a bunch of these! The cloche is kind of expensive, but everything else is really inexpensive. I think this would be a great class. I might see if I can find the items for a good enough price to host a workshop or something. Let me know what you think! I put in three tiny plants and some little mushrooms from my craft stash. It going to sit in my studio so I can enjoy it all the time. It just looks so fresh. You buy the rocks, the soil and the moss and it's just a matter of layering everything and planting the plants. Couldn't be easier! 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever made a terrarium? I think we made one years ago in school - but nothing this fancy for sure! I hope you'll try it! There were about 20 kinds of little plants to choose from. I liked the bright greens of these three. 

 

And, as a tradition, I always have my husband take my photo on my birthday. Usually I hate to have my picture taken, but I do like to document the occasion every year on my birthday. He took this one yesterday when we were out exploring. So, yeah, that's me! LOL. 

 

All of the pictures in the rest of my post are from the Empire Mine California State Park in Grass Valley, California. This is about a 40 minute drive from our house, and what a hidden gem of a park. It's sooooo beautiful and peaceful. Especially yesterday. We were the ONLY people there! It was misty and kind of cold out...but that is my favorite weather so it didn't bother me one bit. This is an old gold mine in the Sierra Foothills and was really active in the gold rush days! CLICK HERE to read more about the park. 

 

Lots of giant gorgeous trees, and pretty walkways...

 

Fall in California usually means yellow and orange leaves. We do not get the bright vivid reds here too much. These are oak leaves.

 

So this is the 'cottage' on the property where the owner would stay from time to time. (not his primary residence!!) It's amazing and made from stone and brick. Stunning!

 

That front door is pretty fancy!!! 

I fell IN LOVE with this pretty courtyard in the back of the cottage. I took about 30 pictures! Ha. It felt like a little bit of Europe! I love the colors and the contrast of the stone, the brick, the doors and the pretty flowers. I couldn't resist clicking away with my camera!

 

 

 

 

 

The entire property has the wonderful English gardens, lined with holly bushes and trellises. Of course, it's November, so most everything is dormant and or dead for the year. I managed to find some pretty flowers and plants anyway though! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for coming by today! Have a wonderful, happy, fun weekend! XOXO

 

PTI Sincerely Yours - Envelope Envy Kit!

Hi everyone! Happy Halloweeeeen! I'm not here with something spooky though! I'm here with something fabulous and fun! I'm pleased to introduce you to another new kit from Papertrey Ink! Our lovely designer Kimberly Crawford is introducing her new Sincerely Yours: Envelope Envy Kit, and it launches tomorrow! Today the design team is featuring projects to get you excited and inspired! The Kit goes on sale tomorrow, November 1st! CLICK HERE to shop the kit in the PTI Store! The kit will be available at 10pm EST tonight, November 1st! 

Here are some notes from Kimberly about the kit: "Envelope Envy has the stamps, dies, stencils, and papers to help make your envelopes beautiful! In fact, your cards might start to get jealous! The Envelope Envy Happy Mail stamp set contains 15 images to adorn your envelopes. The large flower border will look beautiful on the envelope flap, or stamped over the address line image. No more crooked addressing with that three-line image. Add heartfelt sentiments anywhere on your envelope with the 6 sentiments. The largest sentiment also fits perfectly with the address line image, so your recipient knows how special they truly are! Line your envelopes with the envelope liner die and the exclusive 4x6 paper pad. This paper pad has been specially designed to be lighter weight, so as to not add bulk to your envelope. You will wish you could see the smiles when the envelope is opened to reveal the liner patterns of happy words, polka dots, a large heart, or even a large hello. Along with the liner die ​ several ​other dies are included. Use these dies to add custom seals to your envelopes, custom faux postage, or even cut out your own address labels. Take your envelope flap to another level with new stencils designed specifically for embossing. Each of the 7 stencils will leave a beautiful finish on your envelope flap. The mix and match possibilities of this kit are endless! Enjoy creating envelopes that will be the envy of all mail!"

I had such a good time working with the kit. I made three cards with matching envelopes, using just the items in the kit! The papers are beautiful! I colored the images with my trusty Zig Clean Color Brush Markers. They were a perfect match to the pretty color palette of the kit. 

 

The stamp set is fresh and pretty and cheerful! The main image is this floral spray and I love it! I stamped and die cut it out and then colored with Zig Markers and a water brush for a soft effect. The kit comes with this fabulous gold paper and I had to use it with the hello die! YUM!! I love the matching envelope liner with the same beautiful font! 

 

Here is a look at some of the papers, stencils and stamps. Stripes, polka dots, hearts...oh my! The lines on the front of the envelope are a stamp included in the kit. 

 

Look at the gorgeous envelope liner with that giant heart! Gosh, that's so fun! I stamped 'hugs inside' onto the envelope liner before putting it inside the envelope. Surely this will brighten someone's day. The envelope liner cuts like a dream and makes it so easy to get professional results! 

 

 

 

I adore this grey color wave... Classic and pretty. I stamped and colored the main stamp again and layered it onto the patterned paper. All of my cards in this post were made with white paper and are A2 size. The little stamp die is included too! 

 

 

 

Who doesn't want to open an envelope to a big HELLO!! 

 

This is another sneak peek photo I did a week or so ago for Instagram. See how the stencils allow you to emboss the envelope flap with the matching floral spray??? Genius! 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a fun Halloween! All treats and NO tricks! XOXO

 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE KIT IN THE STORE!

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