A Blog Called Wanda

Cheerful Summer Cards! Ice Cream and Butterflies!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How are you? I hope you have a great week. Last week I went down hard with a cold! YUCK. Summer colds are the absolute worst. Over 100 degrees outside every day and I'm hacking up a lung. It wasn't pretty... And I was pretty...crabby. UGH. Much better today - feeling human again and the morning was cool when I woke up. I'm in the studio trying to get some stuff done. I'm way behind now. I have good hopes though. It's still early and I've already checked off about six things from my to do list. Lucky is curled up on his blanket on my desk snoozing and my favorite podcast is on my phone. Bam...let's do Monday. 

Since I didn't make anything last week I'm sharing a couple of cheerful Summer cards I made the week before. I've already shared these on Instagram, but not here on my blog yet. Sometimes I'm doing that from time to time...making a card and taking some pix and posting to Instagram first. Then I can circle around and blog later with the supplies, etc. Pretty soon it will be time to switch to Autumn/Indian Summer cards (yay) so I wanted to share Summer today! 

First up is a pretty butterfly card combining lots of textures and colors. I love to mix papers!! Here I've used textured cardstock, vellum and metallic silver cardstock. I love the play and contrast of the mediums. I kept it simple - no stamping! Just a beautiful die cut from Pretty Pink Posh to finish it off... 

 

I used a SUPER fun technique to make the background stripes!! If you look closely, you can see that I made that striped paper!! I took a sheet of white cardstock and covered it with sticky tape. Then I used several colors of AC Textured Cardstock and cut it into 1/4 inch strips. I laid the strips down onto the adhesive tape making sure to push them snugly against each other. Once I had enough stripes, I used a rectangle stitched die to cut it into a panel. SO easy! I can't wait to use different colors and different widths of strips of paper for different looks!! That served as the pop of color for the card, so everything else is pretty neutral. I die cut a butterfly from silver cardstock and the branches from vellum...then the sentiment from black cardstock (supplies at the end of my post). I used white ink to make splatters on everything! Glued it together and done! 

 

Here's my lovely photo assistant! He has to be right where I am at all times! It's the absolutely sweetest thing ever. I don't mind one bit. 

 

Next up is ICE CREAM! I made this card for National Ice Cream Day! I loooooove these stamps from Sunny Studio Stamps. They are my favorite ice cream stamps. You stamp them in three layers and the results are amazing. You can make such fun cards with this set. I used a beautiful background plate from Lil Inkers too....and Doodlebug papers....

 

I started with an A2 card base and layered pretty pink gingham (Doodlebug) and then a strip of plaid (also Doodlebug)... I used the cover plate to make the background on the white circle part...then die cut it into a circle. Love it as a background for ice creams!! I stamped the sentiment and some sprinkles onto a smaller circle. I stamped the cones, ice cream and cherry and added a few clear sparklies to finish. Another fun and easy card layout. 

Thank you for coming by to see me! This week will be kind of quiet until Friday...then I have THREE new release blog hops that I'm in! SUPER stoked for those! I love the excitement of new releases and fun blog hops. Don't you? I hope your week is full of blessings and joy. XOXO 

 

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Let's Chill! Fun Palm Tree Shaker Card!

Hi friends! Just popping in today quickly to share a card I made last week! I came down with a cold on Tuesday (BOOOO) and have been feeling yucky. It's worse because every day here has been over 100 degrees outside! I'm starting to feel better and it's just a cold. But I am being a total baby about it! LOL. Mr. Lucky has been a great nurse companion - sleeping and snuggling by my side all day. What a sweetie. Hopefully I'll be good as new in a few.... Hope you're having a great week!

I love working with Queen & Company! Both the awesome people, and the fantastic products! Everything about Queen & Company is pure bright color, and pure fun! Such a joy to make a quick shaker card and stamp the perfect sentiment. Their kits are the bomb. If you are intimidated by making shaker cards I would encourage you to try one of their shaker kits. It makes it so easy to put it all together. The foam is cut, the acetate is cut for you and all you have to do is assemble everything! CLICK HERE to shop their store.  CLICK HERE to see videos on how to put the items together.

I made a super fun Summer shaker with a palm tree! I used rainbow paper for the background from Doodlebug. The perfect match! Take a look!  

 

I started with a kraft A2 card base and layered rainbow paper. Then I die cut two white stitched rectangles and layered those. My palm tree shaker is adhered directly to that top layer of white paper. The sentiment was stamping onto an oval of white in dark black ink! Let's chilllll....

 

I added some gems and bling inside - all in clear and green tones. You could add whatever you like! There are so many choices! I used Doodlebug Enamel dots in brown to look like coconuts! Every palm needs some coconuts right??

 

The shaker kits come with matching dies to use to cut out your patterned/solid papers. I used Doodlebug papers in brown and green. 

 

 

 

Wonder why I feel like a trip to the beach right now!? 

Thanks for popping by today! I hope you have a beautiful day and a fun Summer weekend coming up! XOXO See you soon!

 

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Autumn cards with Concord & 9th!

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I hope you have a great week ahead of you. I had a super fun weekend with a trip to San Francisco to the farmers market and a foggy ferry ride. It's one of our favorite ways to escape the heat here in Sacramento. We are so lucky that we can go about 75 miles away and it's 40 degrees colder! We love going to the ferry building and hanging out for the day. My favorite photos from the day are on my Instagram! I really enjoy taking photos of flowers and gorgeous produce... I find all that color and natural beauty so inspiring. God truly is the master artist! 

Lots of my crafting friends are already knee deep in Christmas crafting! I am so grateful that I can wait on that this year and enjoy the natural flow of the seasons in my art and creating. I can feel the light changing ever so slightly in the evenings signaling the first glimpse of fall... And that has me super excited and anxious for Fall cards. Because Fall is my favorite time of year. I'm sharing two cards today with Fall colors and themes. I couldn't help myself- couldn't wait! LOL. 

There were two amazingly awesome new stamp sets that caught my eye from Concord & 9th recently. Angie and Greg were kind enough to send them to me so I could play! (they literally are the nicest people and I'm so glad they are my friends). I've seen lots of projects with both of theses sets (City Stacks and Furry Friends)... But I wanted to put my own twist on them - I made them Fall themed!  

First up is a card using the beautiful and innovative City Stacks Stamps and Dies. One of the things at the very top of my life bucket list is to visit Central Park in New York in Autumn. I soooo want to do this one day. Until then, I've created a card to look like Central Park might look in October! I stamped and die cut and layered and water colored and had the best time making this! 

 

I tried out some new watercolor paper for this project - for the city pieces and the trees/ground pieces. It has a nice linen texture to it, instead of the typical bumpy texture. It colored very nicely! Coloring the city was easy with my MIjello Mission watercolors. I mixed black with indigo blue to create a steely blue grey color like buildings. I did a wet on wet technique and really didn't fuss over it too much. I die cut them out with the matching dies. The dies include a pretty cloud border that I used at the top of my layers. 

***One note about my watercolors... I got this set of watercolors about a year ago. They have been so 'life changing' to my crafting. Yes, they are expensive! But I have not regretted spending the extra money on them. The tubes are still about 80% full and I've been painting with them all year. So I figure that they will last me at least 6-7 years. They are creamy and vivid and beautiful. I never thought I would be able to see the difference but I can!! Just wanted to put that out there for some of you who are on the fence about the Mijellos. I like the set I bought because it comes with a palette and everything. XO

This finished card is a slightly modified A2. My card measures 5.5 x 4.5 inches. 

 

The stamp and die with the ground and trees has three trees on it. I stamped and die cut out three of these pieces so I could have extra trees to put in my scene. I water colored the ground with a few shades of green and water colored the trees using vivid yellow, orange and a touch of red. This is how my brain sees Fall trees! LOL. The welcome die comes with the set. The stamped and heat embossed sentiment is from an old set that I don't know the name of! 

 

Here's a close up of the trees/coloring. The biggest tree stamp has a tire swing on it, so I just trimmed that part off.  

 

This is how the city scene looks when stamped and die cut.

 

This photo shows how I layered everything.... You know I love layers!!! More is more!

 

If you look closely at the ground pieces you can see where I trimmed off the trees. Then I used foam tape to attach them where I wanted them! Never be afraid to play and change things up!

 

For this second card I used the awesome Furry Friends stamps and dies. This stamp set is SO GREAT!!! It has a deer, a bear, a fox and a horse and matching accessories. I love a good woodland creature stamp set, yes I do! I immediately wanted to make a deer with a flower crown! I mean, right?? I had just gotten some new Fall paper pads too, and I used two of them for the paper layout of this card. I combined it with my favorite wood grain paper too. Yes! 

 

 

This finished card is A2 size. I started by layering my paper pieces. I used cream paper instead of bright white for this one. I used a bit of brown twine to add texture and softness to the overall feel of the piece. And, as I am known to do, I got some gingham in there. 

 

 

 

I stamped and die cut out the deer, the antlers and the flowers/leaves. I colored them with inks and also with Copics. For the sentiment and the circle, I used Distress Ink and a sponge to ink the edges and make it look more vintage. I finished with a few enamel dots from my stash, picking up that pretty blue color from the paper pad. 

 

 

That's it for my first Fall projects of 2018. I'll be back to making Summer projects later in the week! LOL. But I literally could not wait to stamp these stamps and bring these ideas to life. Thank you for stopping by my blog today! CLICK HERE TO shop Concord & 9th! I hope you have a great week. See you soon! XOXO

 

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Inspired by Sunflowers! You brighten my day!

Happy Friday! The summer is rolling right along.... It was HOT this week here. The only thing is...I can smell August coming... And then FALL! LOL. I'm not really a hot weather person so Summer for me is just a prelude to Autumn. Let's get on with it! Hope you've had a great week. I've been crafting a lot and busy in the studio too. Lucky is growing like a weed (wish he would slow down and stay little!) He had his first doctor appointment check up and he's doing great. He keeps me smiling all day with his crazy kitten antics.

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I went out for a beautiful Sunday drive to see the gorgeous sunflower fields here in Northern California. It really is a sight to behold. Miles and miles of the brightest yellow you've ever seen. They're everywhere. About 30 minutes west of us and a bit north is Yolo County. And it's A+ sunflower viewing. They've peeked now and are starting to wilt and turn brown. I think we caught them at the right time for some photographs. I put some of my favorite photos in this post to share with you!

I was so inspired by the pretty sunflowers that I decided I had to make a sunflower card! I used awesome stamps and dies from Honey Bee Stamps, and my Copic Markers, to create a sunflower scene. I had to put some bees on the card too, because there were tons of bees buzzing around the sunflowers we saw. 

 

 

Here is one of my favorite sunflower photos from our day out!

 

I started with a white A2 card base and then layered pretty blue gingham paper. I was totally inspired by the golden yellow of the sunflowers and the bees against the beautiful blue summer sky. That's what I tried to re-create on a card! I stamped and die cut out a bunch of sunflowers, leaves and bees. Then I colored them all in with my Copic Markers. I used a white gel pen to add dots and highlights after I was done coloring. The cute little fence die and all the stamps/dies are from Honey Bee. I used deeper shades of yellow and brown to make the sunflowers golden instead of bright lemon yellow. 

 

The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto black paper. I hand cut the banner with my scissors. There are bits of Diamond Stickles on the bee wings and the leaves and flowers. This mimics the sun hitting the flowers!

 

 

 

I loooooove these little tiny bees!!!

 

 The images and the sentiment banner were attached to the card using foam tape. I layered everything until I liked the way the composition looked. 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of my sunflower photos! To see a map of where to find them go to VISITYOLO.COM website!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have an amazing weekend! Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Lots of hugs! XOXO

 

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Hero Arts Summer Party Suite!

Hellllooooooo! I hope this day finds you happy and smiling! What are you up to this week? I don't really have a lot going on right now! It's been a quite couple of weeks which is fine with me. It's super hot here (over 100 every day) and that totally zaps my energy. I'm thoroughly enjoying spending lots of time with my sweet kitten. He makes me so happy and we have fun together all day in the studio. He alternates between Mach Five energy, and completely asleep! LOL. There is no in between with him! He is developing his little personality and I love him lots. He's a happy guy and very loving - follows me from room to room. I kind of feel bad because even if he is sound asleep, if I leave the room, he will wake up and come see me! It's so cute. He is already four months old! I don't want him to grow up!!! How come they grow so fast!!?? 

Today I'm sharing a neat project -- a pretty party invitation suite. An invitation, a thank you card, and a favor box! All made with matching beautiful florals from Hero Arts! A few months ago Hero Arts commissioned me to make this set of projects for them to use in some advertising, etc and I was so happy for the assignment! I used some wood stamps, some clear stamps and some dies....all coordinating florals from the Hero Arts collections. This set of projects would be great for a Summer Tea Party, a Bridal Shower, or a Birthday Party. So feminine and classic. I hope you like it!  

 

The favor box is from the big box crafting store and was inexpensive to buy. I like starting with a blank kraft canvas and then adding color! I coordinated everything with the beautiful Hero Arts Liquid Watercolors and bright pink and crisp white. For the box I stamped and die cut out the large peony and some leaves. I wrapped paper and vellum around the box and "sealed it" with the florals. You could put a small cake inside, or a present, or a note!

 

The thank you note is a flat card easy to mail and easy to write a note on the front. It coordinates with the invitation to carry the theme even after the party is over. I think sending thank you notes is such a lost art - and means so much to the recipient! The Thank You sentiment is heat embossed with Hero Arts Gold Embossing Powder. 

 

I used gold embossing on all three projects - this really ties it all together nicely! Gold embossing is so classy and timeless. Everyone appreciates this look!

 

Here is a close up of the invite! The Hero Arts Invitation stamp set allows you to choose which things you want on your invite.... Date, time, place, etc. Totally customizable and in a pretty font. I use this set a lot actually. 

 

I added a few pretty gold sequins to my projects for just a touch of shimmer, and to make them feel special!

 

I used Liquid Watercolors to make a soft wash on all the flowers and leaves. I also used them to splatter some extra paint around on the pieces. Looks artsy and cool I think!

Do you enjoy making your own invitations? I love to do that! I believe that the invitation sets the tone and mood for the entire event. Don't you just get so excited when you get a gorgeous invitation in the mail? You just already know someone put a lot of care into the party! The ones I've shared today can be made in any color palette to match your theme or party colors. Super easy to mass produce and no extra postage needed. I hope I've inspired you to plan a party! CLICK HERE to shop at Hero Arts! Have a wonderful week, until we meet again! XOXO

 

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Create Rainbows! Waffle Flower Little Painters Stamp Set!

Hi friends! Happy weekend! Happy Saturday! I'm going to a super fabulous and fun event today in the bay area! The awesome peeps from Queen & Company are having an all day crafting event and I'm heading down to help out and take pictures, etc. Looking forward to an AWESOME day of fellowship, laughter and great projects! I'll be on the road early....Keep an eye on my Instagram Stories for behind the scenes from the party! I hope that you have a wonderful and happy weekend. 

Today I'm sharing a COOOOOOL, bright, and artsy card made with supplies from Waffle Flower Crafts! YES! You guys know I love Waffle Flower! One of their newer stamp sets spoke to me right away. It's called Little Painters. It has paint tubes, paint brushes, a palette, and cute critters too. I made a rainbow of brushes and tubes and then used some other Waffle Flower stamps and dies to create my own sentiment. I originally colored in these images with my Copics during the 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I finally made them into a card!

 

My card base is bright yellow Buttercup cardstock in A2 size. (My very favorite yellow cardstock!) I layered a white layer and splattered it with black craft ink and set that aside to dry. I had already colored my images with Copic Markers. I stamped and die cut out everything first and then had fun choosing a rainbow of bright colors including hot pink and lime green! A non traditional rainbow!

 

I used the Rainbows word die and the Rainbows stamp set to make my sentiment in the upper left corner. I used black to contrast with all the bright colors.

 

Here is the image of the stamp set! SO CUTE, right? The little animals can peek out from behind the paint brushes!! EEPS. I love all those brushes!!! 

 

I cut and colored bunches of brushes and paint tubes so I just had fun rearranging them into a funky rainbow on the front of my card. All of the elements are attached using foam tape. I added some clear droplets to look like water splashing around. I also used a Gelly Roll Clear Glaze Pen to add clear dimension to the paint tubes, brush handles and paint. 

 

 

 

I put the paint palette on the inside of the card since I had already colored it in!

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you're inspired by this card to create something today! Best wishes for a fabulous summer weekend! Can I just say that I ordered a WHOLE bunch of Fall papers and things the other day! I'm all about Fall and I'm anticipating Fall crafting already! For the past eight years I have had to do Christmas in July for my design team commitments. I am so happy to have a small break from that this year. I feel like I create better when it's the season at hand. There is plenty of time to do our Christmas crafting right? Have a blessed day! XOXO

 

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Fiesta! Pinata! Fun party card with My Favorite Things!

Helllloooooo! Let's have a fiesta today! I've got a card with LOTS of color, fun dies, and a Pinata! What could be better than that?? Not much if you ask me! LOL. I can hear party music in the background as I'm typing this right now. These dies are so cool and fabulous. I've been wanting to make something with them for a few weeks now. All the stamps, dies and stencils today are from My Favorite Things Stamps. YESSSS! Let's party!

I started with a bright white A2 card base. Then I layered hot pink...then I stenciled some vivid yellow sun rays... THEN I made a pinata! This card has a lot going on, but it's all fun. I popped the sentiment in rich black for contrast with all those bright colors. This card has it all: stamping, die cutting, stenciling...

 

 

I really like the font on this fiesta die. It's really pretty, but festive at the same time. It's going to get used a lot. I added a stamped sentiment underneath the die to make this a birthday card. I stenciled the radiating rays using Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink and a sponge. 

 

Here is a side shot so you can see how I layered everything...

 

 

 

This pinata die set is the cutest, most creative thing I've seen in a long time! It's so easy to make. There is a large background die and then you layer all the other pieces on top of that solid piece. It is very user friendly and easy to figure out which piece goes where. Genius! I used three shades of bright hot colors. You could make a rainbow too! Or any color combination that you love. I used some Lawn Fawn Cord to make a bow and tie up my pinata. I also added a few gems at the end. Ya know...it needed....MORE! Hahaha. 

 

This shot shows the layering of the pinata die pieces. I used thin foam dots to put the pieces together. I gently lifted up some of the fringe with my fingers. Careful not to bend the paper and crease it. 

 

 

Thanks for joining me on this fiesta today! AY CARUMBA! We stamping girls know how to have fun, don't we??? I hope your week is a party and that it's awesome. Take care - see you soon! XOXO

 

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Reverse Confetti New Release Blog Hop! July 2018!

Hi my crafty friends! Happy weekend! I hope you had a great 4th of July! I'm here today to share something really fun! I'm going to be joining in with the Reverse Confetti team every other month to help launch the new releases! YAHOOOO! Jen is a friend of mine, and any time she wants my support I try to give it! Plus....cutest stamps ever! I'm delighted to join a big fabulous blog hop today showing the new July 2018 release. I made two cards to share! CLICK HERE to SHOP the entire new release! Full blog hop list and specific shopping links are at the bottom of my post. Enjoy! 

First up is a FUN and sweet camping card with adorable little animals having some s'mores by the fire. Reverse Confetti has the cutest critters in their stamp sets. I also love the tent and the funky trees! I used lots of stamps and dies and built a scene. Even the sentiment is super cute! The new set I'm featuring is called Greatest Adventure!

 

I started with a White A2 card base and layered some blue and white gingham from my stash. I used large oval dies to die cut two green hills to layer at the bottom of the card. I used a very very old wood stamp and some versamark ink to stamp the splotches onto the green cardstock. Then it was a matter of stamping and coloring the images! I used Copic Markers and then added some Diamond Stickles to the clouds and the fire. The clouds are from another, previously released Reverse Confetti Stamp Set. Everything works great together!

 

I stamped and die cut out all the pieces and colored them in with natural, outdoorsy shades. Everything is attached to the card using foam tape. I stamped the sentiment in the corner. CUTEST font ever, right? 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is a bright and funky floral card using the brand new Mod Floral stamps and dies. I thought this new stamp set was a perfect match for the already released Eyelet Cover Plate (which I LOVE). I used some 70's shades: aqua, green and orange, and popped it against dark grey and white. I really like how this card came out! I started with a white A2 card base and then die cut the cover plate and layered that over the white using foam tape. 

 

 

I wrapped a strip of vellum around the entire front of the card. I used beautiful cardstock and stamped the patterned flower sections onto the cardstock using Versamark Ink. It's a very subtle and pretty look. I used the matching dies to cut the florals out. 

 

 

 

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment onto black cardstock with bright white embossing powder! Looks pretty with the other colors I think! The final touch was to use a few enamel dots from my stash.

 

 

 

 

Thank you SO much for joining me today on my stop on this awesome blog hop! YEAH for the new Reverse Confetti July Release! LOVE IT! The entire new release is available for shopping now! Woot! What are you most excited about? Enjoy the hop! Next up is the talented and lovely Lisa Henke! Full Hop list at the bottom of this post! 

 

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 FULL BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!

Reverse Confetti Blog

Amy Kolling

Ali Farmer

Melissa Phillips

Amy Sheffer

Tricia Barber

Lydia Fiedler

Kelly Lunceford

Wanda Guess

Lisa Henke

Amy Rohl

Laurie Schmidlin

Heather Hoffman

Justine Hovey

Amy Tsuruta

Kathy Schweinfurth

Michelle Short

Audrey Tokach

Deanne Kuntz

Laurie Willison

Jeanne Jachna

Olga Moss

Eloise Blue

Happy 4th of July 2018! Sharing a patriotic card today!

Happy 4th of July! WOO HOOOO! Wishing you a wonderful, happy, fun filled day today with your friends and family! Not sure what we're doing today... I think I'll be making hamburgers and fresh corn on the cob... And maybe we'll do some fireworks here at the house. It will be a mellow day for us and that's fine with me! Happy Summer Holiday everyone! I made a quick card this weekend to celebrate the occasion. I have a big bin full of patriotic and Americana stamps and papers. Everything I used for this card is from my stash and is all old. I love using my old favorite supplies. It's also been a minute since I made something vintage-y and distressed. I kind of like how it came out! Have fun today! XOXO

I started with a cream card base in A2. All my layers are cream, and not bright white. I die cut an oval and a circle with my stitched dies. I used some old papers with a red white and blue color palette.

 

I stamped Lady Liberty onto the oval in black and then used blue ink and yellow ink to stamp stars and fireworks around here. Then I stamped the sentiment in blue and added yellow stars. The background paper was handstamped with Antique Linen ink onto the cream paper. Everything was inked around the edges with a sponge dauber and Antique Linen Ink. I added the metal stars as an accent. I also used a bit of red and white twine wrapped around the layers for some texture. 

 

 

Since all of the supplies are old they are not available any longer. So no supply list! The Statue of Liberty Stamp is from Paper Inspirations, the fireworks stamp is from Savvy Stamps. The sentiments are from the set from Taylored Expressions called Yankee Doodle Homestead. I saw that some of them are listed on Ebay if you're interested in stamping like I did!! 

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Independence Day from our home to yours!

 

Stay Golden! Watercolor Pineapples!

Hello creative friends! How is it Monday already? This weekend went by FAST! I'm so happy hubs is home and he and kitty are fast friends already. That kitty is so easy to love and quick to be comfortable with us! Yeah! I had a great time on Saturday at Hero Arts at the Coloring Road Show. I saw so many friends there! Not too much coloring happened actually...mostly visiting and watching Kathy color and just enjoying fellowship with other crafters. What a great time - I so enjoy hanging out with other stamping girls. Now that all the stamp stores are closed...there's really no where to hang out with each other like we used to. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too! Some more about the Road Show at the bottom of my post! 

Today's card is another Summer themed tropical creation! This time I used the awesome Stay Golden Stamp Set from Ellen Hutson. I love this stamp set! It's all pineapples and flowers... And the best sentiments!! It makes me happy to stamp out those golden pineapples! This time I chose to use dIstress inks to water color them. And I kept a cool vibe with my natural color palette. Stay Golden everyone! 

 

The card is a white A2 card base. Then I layered some olive-y green paper from my stash. I used a new pineapple embossing folder to emboss kraft paper for my center top layer. I think the embossing folder is the Joann's brand. I didn't recognize the packaging??!! It's aqua and clear and I've only seen it at Joann's. I stamped and die cut out the pineapples from watercolor paper.

 

The pineapple stamps are in two parts - the top and bottom. The top part is a solid stamp with no outlines. I wanted an outline, so after I colored the leaves I added a wonky, fast outline with a pen. The coloring was done with a water brush and a few colors of distress inks in yellows and greens. I also splattered Opaque White over the pineapples and the kraft layer. I think it looks kind of artsy. After I attached the pineapples onto the paper, I added two golden Doodlebug Sprinkles. 

 

Here are my FINE-apples! 

 

Some of my supplies - and that awesome stamp set!!

 

For the sentiment I used vellum with gold heat embossing. I thought I should use gold because of what it says! I wrapped some natural thread around the top layer before attaching the pineapples.

 

Here's a close up of the embossing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you guys for all the love about my new kitty! I really appreciate everyone being so happy for us. I know lots of you were very upset when Buddy died...and now you are happy for this next chapter and our new furry bundle of joy. Thank you for that. XO Mr. Kitty officially has a name now! His name is Lucky! (get it, Lucky Guess!) We named him that because he is very happy go lucky and because we feel so lucky to have him. He has already brought so much joy to our home. 

 

 

If you ever have the chance to attend one of Kathy Racoosin's Coloring Challenge Road Trip events I would say - GO! She donates the event fee to charity which is so nice. The events are all over the country. The one I attended yesterday was at Hero Arts which is about an hour from my house. I was surprised that there were people from all over there! Virginia, Texas, LA, etc. all came together. It was truly a day of laughter, fun, good food, crafting, friendship and happiness. Kathy did demos all day with small groups talking to us about her personal coloring style. It was fun to watch her in person and learn from her. I met lots of my blog followers which was AWESOME and had good conversations all day. I colored one tiny thing! LOL. I was expecting that because I'm kind of a chatter box. I met some wonderful women who are local and I hope it's the start of some new crafting friendships. Four of us even went out to dinner together. It was very good for my soul. These kinds of things really uplift me. Here is a shot of the whole group! 

 

And me and Kathy! XO

Thanks so much for coming by today! Hope I put you in a tropical mood to start your week off! What are you planning to do this week? Happy 4th of July too! I'll be back on Wednesday with a patriotic card! XOXO 

 

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