A Blog Called Wanda

Happy Halloween from A Witch Called Wanda!

Hi crafty friends! Happy Halloween!! Man, how did that happen? Tomorrow is NOVEMBER??? I say that every year, but doesn't the time go so fast lately? It's still warm here and I guess that hasn't really put me in the Halloween mood. Supposed to be 80 degrees here today! Yikes. I'm ready for sweater time! I've been working a lot in the studio making fun projects for next month. Lots to share!! I took all of my Election Worker training classes last week so now I'm on call to work at a voting center. And I'll be working every day at the center the days right before the election. I have to say that the behind the scenes of setting up an election are fascinating! I've really enjoyed being part of things and learning more about the laws surrounding voting. I am glad I signed up to do it! In bigger news my birthday is on Saturday! Woot! Not sure what we'll be doing. I'm happy with a low key birthday to be sure.... The hubs and I will find something fun to do. I am not that psyched about another year under my belt so to speak. 

Today I'm sharing a fun Halloween card made with a stamp named after me! I looooove wood mounted RUBBER stamps and buy them as often as I can! My friend Lindsay Ostrom is a local artist and she illustrates stamps for Impression Obsession! (VERY cool stamps I might add). I almost always buy her wood stamps. Well, imagine my surprise to find out that she made one called Witch Wanda! And she has a kitty! Awesome. I inked up Witch Wanda with my Polychromos Pencils on Kraft paper.... Kept a clean layout.... Used my favorite Ellen Hutson Background die... There you have it. Happy Halloween!  

 

There are three layers of Kraft cardstock on this card: The card base (A2), the background die/embossed layer, and the top layer with the image. I added just a touch of a hint of purple cardstock under that top layer. I like to layer the same color cardstock - it gives added dimension without having a ton of colors going on. I do this a lot with white cardstock also. Coloring with pencils on Kraft is a great technique to shake it up and get a different look. (The Halloween die is from SSS and unfortunately is not available anymore). I added some bitty bats from an old style punch. 

 

When you color with pencils, make sure to utilize that white pencil to add highlights! It makes your project pop! 

 

 

 

And there she is! Witch Wanda! LOL!

 

 

I hope you have a FUN HALLOWEEN with no tricks and lots of treats! Are you dressing up? We'll stay home and hang out and wait for trick or treaters. We don't get a ton of kids on our street but I love to see their costumes and pass out candy! I'll be back tomorrow with a fun blog hop for Pink Fresh Studio! Yay! See you then. XOXO

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY:

(Affiliate Links Used)

Halloween Cuties from Elizabeth Crafts!

Hey there! How's your week going? I'm spending the day in training today for working the election in a couple weeks! Should be interesting! ALLLLL day training. Gosh, it's been a while for that! Looking forward to seeing what's up and what I'll be doing during election week. I hope your week is going great so far. Today I'm sharing a card I made with some SUPER cute stamps I bought at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo last weekend. I literally could not wait to ink these up! They are from Elizabeth Crafts. Although Elizabeth Crafts is definitely not new to me, this new line of stamps (a new artist) was new to me and I BOUGHT EIGHT SETS! I couldn't help myself. They are so sweet and whimsical and adorable!! CLICK HERE to see all of them! EEKS! Love. 

I used the Halloween stamps and dies to make this card. I used my Distress Ink Mini Ink Pads and a small paint brush to do the coloring. I wanted it to look like illustrations! I used a clean and simple card layout with some cute gingham and just a bit of glitter and twine. This is an A2 card size with the fold on the left side. 

 

A little twine bow on the side fold always looks cute and cheerful! I stamped the sentiment directly onto my top layer. Simple layers here of gingham, black and white cardstock. All the little images were stamped and die cut out and attached with foam tape. 

 

To color everything, I used Distress Ink Minis and a small paint brush. SO fast to water color this way! Quick and easy. HOW cute is that candy corn witch??? OMG. 

 

 

 

 

I used the Elizabeth Crafts super fine glitter and a glue pen to add glitter bits to most of the images. A little touch of sparkle is always good!

 

 

 

 

 

I can totally picture this adorable crew showing up at my doorstep on Halloween night! 

That's it for today! Have a blessed and creative day! See you soon! XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

BOO! Fun shaker card with Queen & Company Fright Fest Kit!

BOO! Hey everyone! Happy Sunday! I'm getting a slow start today... Relaxing with the hubs and Lucky and enjoying a second cup of coffee with nowhere to be today. Ahhhhh. I had the best time the past three days! The Stamp and Scrapbook Expo was in town and I did it right! LOL. I had friends here from San Diego, Canada, and the bay area. In addition to all my Sacramento Crafty friends. Whew. Hugs galore, laughter, coffee, snacks, shopping....It was all wonderful. My back hurts and my wallet is empty. But my heart is happy. I really just had a great time. Two of my friends rented a house here and we stayed up long after the show talking and being silly. There is definitely not enough of that in my life! I hope you've had a great weekend too!

Next week is going to be super busy for me. I signed up to be an election worker and I have to go to ten hours worth of training next week. I also have a fun stamping class one night. All good stuff happens in the Fall. 

Today I'm sharing a super fun Halloween card made with a fabooolous kit from Queen & Company. The kit is called Fright Fest! It has everything you need included in the kit - to make tons of Halloween cards. The Queen & Company kits are the best value and the highest quality. Can't recommend them enough really. You get a full stamp set, tons of dies, a paper pad, the shaker shapes, the acetate pieces and all the shaker bits! I hope you will check them out! CLICK HERE to see all the fun kits. 

For my card I decided - if one shaker bit is good, then TWO is better! I used the BOO and the Pumpkin shapes to make this card. It's an A2 sized card. I started with a white card base, then layered black, and then the pretty stripes. I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a few spooky splatters for effect. 

 

The dies set comes with all the little pieces to make the pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern treat bucket. LOVE. So easy to put this together!! 

 

I like this sentiment with the combination of different fonts. 

 

I wrapped a bit of twine around the card and added some gems. These gems are also from Queen & Co and they're called halos. They come in a bunch of colors! 

 

These are just a few of the items that come in the Fright Fest Kit!

 

 

 

I love that happy Jack-o-lantern!!

 

 

That's it for today! Thanks for popping by! Hope I didn't scare ya! LOLZ. I hope you have a fantastic week ahead. Not sure what I'll be posting next, but I hope to use some of the new cute stamps I got at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo this weekend. I have loads of ideas. Take care! XOXO

Remember to check out my last post about Stampin' Up and how to get a free gift with your order! 

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY! 

(Affiliate Links Used)

Fun with the Stampin' Up 2018 Holiday Catalog!

Hi friends! I have something fun to share today. And I also have some stories too! Today I'm featuring three cards I made using supplies, stamps, dies, and papers from the new Holiday 2018 Stampin' Up Catalog. Boy, Stampin' Up hit it out of the park with this catalog. I'm going to say it's the best one ever. I wanted everything! Yikes. My love affair with Stampin' Up goes back to 1994! Yes, almost 25 years ago! I still very vividly remember my first SU party! It was at my boss's house! LOL. His wife was really into it and she got us hooked. Back then, the SU catalog had stamps from tons of different stamping companies: Hero Arts, All Night Media, PSX, etc. etc. So you placed your order... Then Stampin' Up got all those items together from all those different companies and sent the big order to your hostess. The she had to bag everything for everyone. Whew. Oh yeah, and this all took about SIX WEEKS!!! Boy how times have changed! Now you place your order online and it's at your house practically the next day. Dang! I have so many wonderful memories, and so many stamp sets. A couple of years ago when I was doing the major purge of my studio I (sadly) threw out 20 years' worth of Stampin' Up catalogs. They were like old friends. Anyhoo I'm getting pretty far down memory lane - time to come back! LOL. 

My good friend Wendy is an AWESOME Stampin' Up Demonstrator! Always in the top 100 of all demonstrators! She is a total boss. I love her and I'm so happy she lives close enough that we can hang out. You guys have seen me post photos from her amazing retreats. This post is done in support from one girl boss to another. I really wanted to feature some products from Stampin' Up and maybe get you all connected with her. Please go by her wonderful, and newly revamped website to say hi and leave some love. I helped her do the photographs for her site. Yay! She is cool and talented and generous. I would be super happy if you would shop with her. At the bottom of my post is some info on a giveaway she's doing for you with an order. Thank you for supporting me - and my friends. 

Okay, first project is a winter wonderland, vintage, cabin, plaid, creation! OH MAN. This stamp and die combo was the first thing that caught my eye in the new catty. It's called Alpine Adventure. LOVE. I combined the stamps and dies with the gorgeous plaid paper and then went to town layering. The finished card is a 5.25 x 5.25 inch square. (Sometimes you need more room, amiright?) 

 

This card started with a kraft card base in a big square. Then I used the beautiful Tin Tile Embossing Folder and embossed it with cream cardstock. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and a sponge to go over the embossing to add more visual interest and shadows. I love this look. Next I die cut the sled and the snowshoes and the snowflakes out of red, cream and kraft cardstock. Then I stamped and die cut that cute little wreath and bow! I used Copic Opaque White ink to add snow splatters to the pieces, and I inked the edges of everything with more distress ink. 

 

I wrapped a strip of that beautiful plaid paper around the embossed panel and attached it to the card base. I stamped the sentiment in brown ink onto cream cardstock. I hand cut it out in a banner using some small scissors. I added pearls to the centers of the snowflakes. 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of the embossing folder. I swear that thing weighs like ten pounds! It's super think and fancy. Look at that impression!! I first thought I was going to use Kraft for this part but then changed my mind and used the cream paper. 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted the red sled to stand out more from the background so I die cut a second sled from cream cardstock and offset it just slightly. Gives it a pop! 

 

Next up is a happy snowman full of Winter Cheer! He's skating by to say helloooooo! I used the Spirited Snowmen stamp set for this next card. I colored him with Copic Markers and added some gem accents for a bit of snowy sparkle. I really like the sketch illustration style of this set. The stamps are all really sweet. I started with a white A2 card base and layered light blue paper and a bit of striped paper from my stash.  I stamped the snowman onto white paper and then die cut a circle around it. I added some snowflakes in a light blue ink around him and on the sentiment oval. 

 

I used the pretty new burlap trim for this card to add visual interest down the center and break up all those stripes. I stamped and hand cut out the holly leaves to add around the circle.

 

 

 

This is a good card layout for almost any stamp set. Clean and simple - and a good way to use that patterned paper!!

 

And lastly I made an elegant Fall card using the new Falling For Leaves stamps and dies bundle. This is going to be a Thanksgiving card. I went with a very simple color palette to show off those pretty leaves dies. I love the black, gold and vellum together. This is an A2 card base in cream instead of bright white. 

 

 

These intricate leaves cut like a dream and all the pieces fell right out. I did use my metal shim in my Big Shot and it was perfect. The background is another embossing folder from Stampin' Up that I've had for a while. I stamped the sentiment in rich black ink.

 

This is the perfect sentiment for lots of Autumn occasions...

 

Here's a side view so you can see that pretty embossing. I added a few sequins from my giant sequin stash - in a matte gold finish.

 

 

Thank you for coming by today! I hope you enjoyed my take on these great supplies from Stampin' Up! Please go over to Wendy's Blog and look around at her great content and hopefully shop too! CLICK HERE to go to Luvin Stampin! Wendy is very kind and generous to me - so let's be generous to her!

Wendy has allowed me to offer a freebie to my blog readers! Woot! Here are the details: If you make an order of $30 or more, Wendy will send you a package of the fun and pretty Santa's Workshop Enamel Shapes from the Holiday Catalog! ($7 value) I love enamel dots! PLEASE make sure that WENDY CRANFORD is selected as your demonstrator on your order! 

This offer is one per customer and US orders only. And your order needs to go through Wendy. This will expire on November 1st! In order to receive your freebie, please just send me a quick email to [email protected] and tell me you ordered! I'll let Wendy know and she will send out all the freebies after the November 1st date. THANK YOU! 

 

SUPPLY LINKS FOR TODAY!

(These are not affiliate links - they're helpful shopping links today!) 

Falling For Leaves Photopolymer Bundle - 149938

Price: $44.00

Alpine Adventure Photopolymer Bundle - 149919

Price: $41.25

Spirited Snowmen Clear-Mount Stamp Set - 148072

Price: $19.00

Festive Farmhouse 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper - 147820

Price: $11.00

Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - 147906

Price: $10.00

Quilt Top Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - 144687

Price: $8.50

5/8" (1.6 Cm) Striped Burlap Trim - 147889

Price: $8.00

Pearl Basic Jewels - 144219

Price: $5.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels - 144220

Price: $5.00

Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock - 101856

Price: $9.0

 

I'm batty about Halloween! Fun project with Tim Holtz supplies!

Hello crafty friends! Happy Monday! Boo! Did I scare you? I'm sharing a Halloween card finally! Did you have a nice weekend? It was 85 degrees here yesterday! And, lots of my friends are posting photos on Facebook of SNOW! Sheesh. I wish it would cool down here and warm up there. October is a crazy month. I had a really nice weekend. I stamped all day on Saturday (for my post on Thursday). Then on Sunday we went for coffee and a nice drive and out to dinner. A perfect weekend. My husband is working really hard on a work project so I tried to get him out of the house for a bit and get his mind off things. This week has some fun things coming... It's the Stamp/Scrap Expo here in Sacramento and I have a friend coming from Canada and one from San Diego and some from the Bay! A full weekend of girls and crafting awaits me! But first things first...today's card!

This card was inspired by two things: I HAD to make a Halloween card and I just got this awesome new Diamond Shifter Stencil in the mail and wanted to ink it up! So I started by inking the diamond background....then I rummaged up some cool bat stamps....and it all kind of came together. I'm sure you'll recognize the supplies are all from Tim Holtz. He really knows how to do Halloween right. Vintage and cool. 

 

The project started with stenciling the diamond background using the new Diamond Shifter Stencil. It's SO EASY to stencil this!! I used olive and gray for a kind of spooky color palette. You simply stencil the first color (for me olive) and then shift the stencil over and stencil the second color (for me the gray). Seriously so simple and such a great result! To complete the background I added some text stamps and some black and grey ink splatters. I set that aside to make everything else. The finished card is a green A2 card base. 

 

I stamped the bats (small and large) in black ink and then cut them out by hand. I colored them with grey, black and purple Distress Inks and a paint brush with just a bit of water. Kind of let it all flow together. I think it's more spooky with the purple in there. 

 

I stamped the Happy Halloween stamp onto some cardstock and then really inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Then I splattered clean water over it and let that dry. To make the words blurry I used a paint brush and clean water and gently went over the letters. I think it makes it look old or something. And that font is AWESOME. I also inked the edges of my diamond panel with the same Vintage Photo Ink. I added a jump ring and a Tim Holtz 31 Halloween Token charm. Cool. 

 

I dyed my own crinkle ribbon using distress inks and water. I haven't done this technique in a while and I always love the results from this! Never comes out the same way twice. 

 

When I attached the bats to the card I used a bit of foam tape just in the middle. Then I used my fingers to gently curve the wings upwards to look like they're flying right at ya! 

 

 

 

Mr. Lucky was VERY interested in this project...until he fell asleep! LOL! He just turned seven months old the other day. Can you believe it? He is growing so fast and has been such a wonderful studio companion. He keeps me company and is the sweetest thing ever. 

Okay, so I need to try to make something else for Halloween but we're running out of time! YEEKS! Are you done with Halloween cards? Have you started? LOL. I got behind this year because we were on vacation. Oh well, it was worth it! I have some fun things to share on Thursday so I hope to see you then. Have a fabulous week and thanks for stopping by today! XOXO

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

Guest Designing for Ellen Hutson today - with some new Leading Ladies!

Hello friends! How is your week going? Mine is going FAST! Dang! So much to get done around here and so little time. I feel like since Fall is my favorite season, that it goes by way too quickly. I wish I could slow down time for the next few months! And it's getting close to my birthday too. Fall slow down! I'm back on schedule after getting back from vacation. I need to start making Halloween goodies asap!

Today I have a super fun blog post for you! I am very excited to be the guest designer today over on the Ellen Hutson Blog! Wooooot! I am joining to fun in launching the newest product release which includes two fabulous new Leading Ladies! I am sharing two cards today - one Fall card and one Christmas card. Yippeee! Please be sure to click over and visit the Ellen Hutson Blog and leave some love. I'm so grateful for the kind invitation to join them!

My first card is a Fall explosion! I had so much fun making this card. She is ME! Lol. I stamped, die cut, colored, and inked to my heart's content with this one. I combined the brand new Bookworm Lady with a bunch of the smaller stamps from the Cozy Lady stamp set. I think they're perfect together. I created a cozy Fall scene. Can't you imagine sitting outside under the trees with a stack of books and a cup of coffee? I can!  

 

First I stamped and die cut all of the pieces. I colored everything with Copic Markers and added small highlight touches with a white gel pen. I used the same color palette for all the items and her clothes so that the card would look nice when finished. Warm tones of olive, brown, orange and slate blue...YUM. The arm on the lady is partially die cut so you can put a book in her hands. I love that. 

 

The background for the scene was made by inking Distress Inks onto white cardstock panels. I used olive green for the bottom and two shades of yellow/gold for the top. I also inked the small circle with the sentiment.

 

The sentiment was stamped in black onto a circle and attached with foam tape. All the elements were also attached with foam tape. I used clear Nuvo Drops to add accents around the card. A glaze pen was the perfect tool for her glasses.

 

 

 

This next card is a fun Christmas card made with the new Holiday Shopper Lady! She is also me! I have been known to wear an ugly Christmas sweater and a Santa hat....and I always make lists! She is ready to rock and roll and shop til she drops! I used the beautiful new Snowfall Backdrop die and turned the card into a shaker card. FUN.

 

I stamped and die cut the Shopper Lady, her hat and her sweater and colored it all with Copic Markers. I die cut the Snowfall Backdrop for my top layer and put a pretty blue behind it before adding the sequins for the shaker. 

 

LOVE this sentiment! I stamped some snowflakes randomly on the panel....

 

 

 

 

I used Diamond Stickles to add glittery accents to the snowman, pen and hat!

 

 

That's it for today! SO MUCH FUN to guest design for Ellen Hutson and share these projects with you! The Leading Ladies stamps are so creative and fun to work with. I am gathering quite a collection now! Who is your favorite lady? I think Cozy Lady is mine...or maybe Photo Lady... I can't choose! I hope you have a great day and I'll see you soon. Happy crafting! XOXO

VISIT THE ELLEN HUTSON BLOG FOR MORE INSPIRATION!

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

An Autumn Hello with Pretty Pink Posh!

Hi everybody! It's good to be back home and blogging again! We got home from our road trip late Friday night...and you know what happens next... Laundry! And kitten snuggles. LOL. We had an amazing and fun time together on our vacation through California, Oregon and Washington. We saw so many beautiful sights, and ate good food, and took loads of pictures! I know a lot of you followed along with us on Instagram Stories! It might take me a while to sort through all the pictures and get a post ready to share about our trip. In the meantime, you can see some of my favorite pictures on my Instagram account. CLICK HERE! (You do not need an account to view the photos on your computer!) I am totally renewed by time away from the computer and the TV and all of life's responsibilities. I loved having my husband all to myself every day. We got to talk and laugh together and drink coffee and walk. It was wonderful!! My feet are tired and my heart is full. It is already Fall in the Pacific Northwest and we saw tons of Fall leaves! The weather was perfect too. Late September/Early October is our favorite time to take a break and travel. It was also our wedding anniversary last week! Yay! We thank God for a safe and fun journey! 

Yesterday was my first day back in the studio, and it also happened to be World Cardmaking Day! I had to hustle to make something for the day! LOL. I didn't plan ahead on that one! I hadn't created anything in more than two weeks and it was a bit of a rough start to craft! I decided to use some of my new supplies I got at Impress Rubber Stamps in Seattle! I got the beautiful Foliage Dies from Pretty Pink Posh! And my inspiration was all the gorgeous Fall color! So I got out my Distress Inks and made an Autumn wreath! I didn't have the energy to blog yesterday - so I'm sharing it with you now. I think after this I'd better get busy and make some Halloween projects! Be sure to read my last post, and comment for a chance to win a spot in a cool class I"m part of. Nice to be back!

I started this project by die cutting a bunch of the leaves and pumpkins out of Bristol Cardstock. I like the way Bristol interacts with Distress Inks and it's thick enough to stand up to lots of ink. This card is a five inch square and the layers are simple: Woodgrain cardstock and cream cardstock.  

 

I used LOTS of colors of Distress Inks and the small size sponge daubers to ink the color onto the leaves and pumpkin. Each leaf/pumpkin has at least five colors on it! Yikes. Yes, I was ready to play! The final touch of all of the images is that I sponged them with Walnut Stain ink. Really gives a rustic deep touch to the project. I don't normally use that dark of a brown, but I like it in this instance. The splatters were done with Vintage Photo Ink. 

 

There really is no right or wrong way to do these leaves! Play. Have fun. Get dirty! Try new colors together! This part of the process was so relaxing and enjoyable. I love mixing colors. The leaves were arranged onto the card in a circle/wreath shape.  A simple twine bow at the top to finish it off. I wasn't sure what to use for a greeting, so I used a pretty hello die cut. I think this would make a nice Thanksgiving card or any other type of Fall greeting. 

 

To attach the hello die, I used liquid glue on the h and the o and glued it to the leaves. The middle part is sort of floating there... 

 

 

 

The list of all the Distress Ink Colors I used is in the supplies section. 

 

 

 

This is a photo of a gorgeously perfect leaf I found on the ground in Seattle. The leaf colors are a perfect Fall rainbow! It was so pretty I had to snap a picture of it! This photo was the color inspiration for my card today. I took a lot of leaf pictures in the past two weeks! The perfect artist drawing a Fall palette for us to enjoy. Sigh. 

It's very good to be back! I missed you! This week I'm guest blogging over at Ellen Hutson (Yay) and I'll have two fun cards to share for that project. Can't wait to show you. Hope all is well with you in your corner of the world. XOXO

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

(Affiliate Links Used)

World Cardmaking Day 2018 Online Card Class Giveaway!

10-11-18 UPDATE!!! MY WINNER IS HELEN G! She has been notified via email! Congratulations Helen!

Hi everyone! I have something really fun to announce! I'm one of the instructors for an awesome online card class created by Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine for World Cardmaking Day 2018! World Cardmaking Day is tomorrow! Are you doing something fun to honor the day? Maybe crafting with some friends or taking a class? I hope you do something crafty tomorrow! I'm still on vacation so I'll be taking pictures! Cardmaking will commence the moment I get home! 

Would you like to win a free spot in the Scrapbook & Cards Today second annual WCD Online Card Class? Here’s your chance! SCT has amped up the creativity for this year’s 4-week self-paced class, bringing you special video techniques, step-by-step instructions, PageMaps card sketches, and loads of tips, tricks and trending styles. You will love the artwork created by many of your favorite cardmakers, including me! This four-week class begins Monday, October 15^th.

SCT Magazine has generously given me one class to give away to one of my readers! YAHOOO! In order to be eligible to win the free class, please leave a comment on this post and let me know what was the last thing you created! I'd love to know what you're making! I will pull a random winner on 10-11 and email that person to receive their class. Good Luck! 

 

Here is the description from the class website: 

"Join SCT to celebrate the love of cardmaking with our second annual WCD Online Card Class! We’ve amped up the creativity for this year’s 4-week self-paced class, bringing you special video techniques, step-by-step instructions, PageMaps card sketches, and loads of tips, tricks and trending styles. You will love the artwork created by Gina K Designs, Kathy Racoosin, Kelly Latevola, Wanda Guess, Latisha Yoast, Yana Smakula and many more of your favourite cardmakers!" 

CLICK the photo above or THIS LINK to learn more about this class and to see more sneak peeks. I guarantee you're going to love it - and it's an amazing value for the price. I am so happy to be part of it all. See you soon! XOXO