A Blog Called Wanda

Season's Givings Blog Hop - Happy New Year 2019!

EDITED 1-5-19: MY WINNER IS ANNE STURGEON! WOOHOOO! CONGRATULATIONS! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL THE KIND AND WONDERFUL COMMENTS. HAPPY CRAFTING! XOXOX

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019!

MANY BLESSINGS FOR AN AMAZING YEAR AHEAD!

Thank you very much for coming by my blog today to celebrate "Season's Givings" with a giant blog hop and awesome prize giveaways! This is my fifth year doing this great hop! (CLICK HERE TO SEE last year's post!) Big giant THANKS TO LATISHA for organizing this amazing blog hop! I hope you are having fun looking at everyone's blogs! What a great way to start off the new year right? The entire hop link list is at the very bottom of my post. And every blog has a prize! There are all kinds of beautiful projects to look at and loads of great prizes! 

This blog hop is all about us thanking YOU, our awesome followers and readers, for supporting us and sharing our joy of crafting. For lots of us, the main reason we blog, is that we develop wonderful friendships with a greater creative community and we uplift and inspire each other. Truly, thank you for joining me on my blog journey. If you are new to my site - welcome! I hope you find something you like and I'm happy to have you here today. Welcome to Season's Givings 2019! 

Also, if you are a new visitor to my blog - again, Welcome, and Thanks for coming by! If you want to know more about my style, please read my most recent blog post with my year end wrap up of projects (CLICK HERE). Also, you can find me on Instagram (@stampcatwg), Facebook (A Blog Called Wanda) or on Pinterest (Wanda Guess). I love sharing via social media! This past year I really got into Instagram Stories too! 

PRIZE ALERT! EVERY STOP ON THIS AWESOME HOP HAS PRIZES! It's our way of saying thanks! I have a great prize package of goodies to give away to one lucky winner (see photo below)! In order to be eligible to win my prize package, please leave a comment on this blog post and tell me your New Year's resolution for crafting and creativity! I will draw the winner on Saturday, January 5th and notify you via email. What projects are you going to work on in 2019? Maybe a new technique? New style? Favorite new supplies? I want to know! I did this same question last year and just loved all the answers!! Happy Hopping today and Happy Crafting in the new year! XOXO

This is the prize package for my stop on the hop! Wooohoooo!

 

And, since it's New Year's I want to share a project with you! I made a graphic and classy black and gold New Year card to start the crafty new year off right! I used the Bee Bold Numbers dies from Honey Bee Stamps and gorgeous New Years stamps and dies from Pretty Pink Posh! It all worked together so nicely. And let's pop the champagne! I always love black and gold for New Years...I almost always use these colors. A bit of shimmer too... 

 

I started with an A2 card base in rich black cardstock. I layered gold paper then another layer of black cardstock. Next I die cut out 2 0 1 9 three different times - in black and in gold. I used foam tape to layer the number dies onto the top black layer. This is my base/foundation for the card. I really like how graphic that is! 

 

I die cut the New Year Script die (from Pretty Pink Posh) out of gold paper. It's so pretty and delicate! Then I stamped, die cut and colored the top hat and the champagne bottle. Everything was colored with Copic Markers. I did a bit of paper piecing to add gold accents to the bottle and top hat. 

 

 

 

I snapped a pretty picture after I die cut out all those numbers! Loving that new sequin mix from PPP!! CLASSY!!

 

Here's a quick pic of my work mat with just the numbers on the card. At first I thought I could fit four rows of numbers, but only three would fit...

 

I used clear glue and my tweezers to attach the script die cut to the card. It was like surgery! LOL. But well worth the effort. It looks like it's floating on the card. I used foam tape to affix the top hat and champagne bottle to the card.

 

 

Thank you for coming by! HAPPPPPYYYYYY NEWWWWWW YEAR! We are going to have lots of fun creating together in 2019 I just know it! I wish you and your family a blessed, happy, healthy, and successful new year! Love ya! Mean it! XOXO

ENJOY THE HOP!

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER TO WIN ALL THE PRIZES!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE AWESOME BLOG HOP LIST!

9 Year Blogaversary! And, my end of the year wrap up for 2018!

Hello my dear blogging friends! Today I'm celebrating my NINE YEAR BLOGAVERSARY! Wowza! That means it's time for my annual end of the year wrap up post! Only a little bit of 2018 left! I look forward to writing this post each December, and sharing with you my favorite projects from the past year. CLICK HERE to read my wrap up from 2017! This year end post helps me finalize my year and reflect on my creative journey. I feel like I grow in new ways each year, both as a person and as an artist and blogger. Having my blog is a lot like having a diary or a journal and it's really cool to look back at almost a decade worth of cards and projects all in one place! I am so grateful to have this little place on the internet to share with the world and with you my creative supporters and friends. Thank you for being part of it all with me! It wouldn't be the same without the interaction from you, and all the friends I have made through the years. You bless me all the time with your kindness and love. 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! And, Happy New Year 2019! Be sure to check back here on New Year's day because It's the Season's Givings Blog Hop day! All of the bloggers in the hop are giving away prizes! TONS and TONS of prizes! It is always really fun! You don't want to miss it, I promise! I look forward to that each year too! YAY! I have a cool, graphic new year card to share in the blog hop! 

My word for 2018 was TRUTH. Here's what I wrote last December: "There is only one truth and it is solid, stable and unchanging. My identity is anchored to the truth of who I am to God. Lack of being anchored in the truth causes us to rise and fall with circumstances. The truth keeps us from drifting afloat. Gives us hope. The other facet of this is that I often don't want to SEE the truth as it is put before me. I want to always believe the best in people and situations, and that gets me hurt. Truth is a more realistic way of navigating this harsh world... So TRUTH has two meanings for me. I've already started using this in my journaling and planning for 2018." I feel that the word truth carried me through some difficult times this year. I learned a lot about myself, but the truth never changed...My faith is stronger and God always pulls me through as he did in 2018. My family is stronger and we are looking forward to new beginnings as the clock turns to 2019. 

My word for 2018 is FOCUS. This word has a lot of meaning to me as a photographer! But as a person it means FOCUSING on what is important, what matters... I tend to get sidetracked easily from the things that are best for me. I get caught up in what other people need or want from me and I put myself to the side. I need to FOCUS on my goals, my dreams, the things that will be good and healthy for me. I also need to consistently FOCUS on the Lord and what He is doing with my life and fulfilling my purpose. This word feels right to me right now. 

Do you choose focus words or resolutions for the new year? I'd love to hear! Leave me a comment about your hopes for the new year! 

Something I love to do here on the blog at the end of the year, is to take a look back on my creative journey from the year before! This annual post is kind of like a cyber scrapbook! Thank you for joining along with me in 2018! We had some good times! This was my first year in nine years that I decided to not be on any design teams. I feel like I got back to my stamping roots so to speak and I really created from my heart this year. It felt good. I had some awesome opportunities to work with companies and people I love and admire. It was a good year creatively! This post is #1485 total! WOW! That's a lot of blog posts! LOL. I've enjoyed each one!

Six years ago, I started the tradition of recapping my favorite projects from the past year. I get so much nice feedback about this! Here are my favorites from 2018... There are a lot! So grab a cup of coffee or tea, and settle in! I hope you enjoy the look back with me! 

To see more information about each project,

please click on the the individual photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I appreciate all of you so much,

all of your love and kindness and support!

I wish you the very best year ever! Cheers to 2019!

Honey Bee Stamps - Piece of Cake!

Hi everyone! Guess what? We survived Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that you're still basking in the memories of presents and good food! We had a very nice and mellow Christmas at our house. Ate too much, watched Christmas movies all day and were generally lazy! It was foggy and perfect weather.... And, I spent some time in my studio making a fun birthday card to share with you!

All the Christmas stamps and dies are put away now and I had a hard time thinking of what I wanted to make first! I decided to use the brand new Honey Bee Stamps release! I LOOOOOVE the new stamp set called Piece of Cake! I'm going to be using that one a lot for birthday cards. It's the perfect blend of cute, classic, stylish and fun. I hope you like my card - lots of pink! I used distress inks to create a blended background and also used distress inks to water color my images. 

 

This is an A2 sized card. I created my own card base from Neenah Solar White Cardstock. I layered one more layer of white and then the top layer is a Scallop A2 die cut also from Honey Bee Stamps (supplies at the end of my post). I always need birthday cards, right? I'll talk more about the background a bit later in this post. I stamped and die cut out all the images - from Arteza watercolor paper. It's my favorite right now. I used a palette and my distress inks and a small paint brush to color the images. 

 

Here is a close up of the color scheme... Pink, blue and red is always a favorite. But, of course, my cake had to have chocolate frosting!! There are splashes of Clear Wink of Stella on the cake plate, the tag and the fruit.

 

That perfect red balloon is from another of my favorite Honey Bee Stamps sets called Celebration Box. I added the tag under the balloon and string when I attached everything to the card with foam tape. 

 

The scallop rectangle die was cut from Bristol Paper. I find that it works great with ink blended backgrounds. I used Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick to gently blend ink only around the edges. The center is still white. Be very sparing with the ink at first. You can always add more! 

 

In my mind, this card had confetti going on... Hmmmmm... What to use for confetti?? So I went through all my Honey Bee Stamps stamp sets and found SNOW! Yes, those little dots at the top are the snow stamp from Jingle All The Way! I stamped it in Worn Lipstick ink just around the top of the panel! Yay! Festive. 

 

 

That's it for me today! Time to get busy making New Year Cards! What's going on in your studio?? What is next on your crafting agenda?? I'm going to crochet meetup tonight and I need to figure out what I'm making! Have a beautiful day my craft pals! XOXO

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Merry Christmas 2018 from the Guess Family!

Wishing you and your loved ones a 

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From my home to yours!

Love, Mark, Wanda & Lucky Guess

Sending Warm Fuzzies!

Hey there friends! What's happening? I hope everything is going great in your part of the world! Lots going on here, but nothing really, if that makes sense... My computer crashed on Sunday so I had to buy a new one and it's so time consuming and frustrating to get everything all organized and back to working the way you like it. My computer also crashed back in May, so that's the second time this year. UGH. Like really UGH. I've been out of commission for a bit here on the blog as a result. Looks like everything is working now. (Fingers crossed) Most of my Christmas cards are mailed (yay!) My shopping is done! The hubs and I have been trying to get out and do Christmasey things. We are very lucky that there are a lot of things to do around here that are free. We are taking advantage! I'm already trying to look forward to a new year. 

I am done making Christmas projects for this year, but I figure I can still make pretty Winter projects right? I've been really wanting to use these new stamps and dies from Ellen Hutson called Snow Days. I made this pretty and festive card to share with you today! Mittens, felt, pom poms??? What's not to love? I hope you get the warm fuzzies I'm sending your way today! 

 

I started with a white A2 card base. Then I layered my favorite pink cardstock for a pop of color! The top layer is kraft cardstock splattered with Copic Opaque White to look like snow flurries. I stamped the sentiment in rich Onyx Black Ink before I did the 'snow.' 

I die cut the mittens using the Snow Days dies. Then I ran them through the Carta Bella Fair Isle Embossing Folder to add a pattern! LOVE! Then I used the mittens dies a second time to perfectly die cut those felt cuffs. I adhered the felt and the pom poms with all purpose clear glue.

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the mittens. Once I embossed them I kind of thought the pink was too bright. I wanted to tone the color down a little bit. So, I used white pigment ink and a big sponge dauber and gently went over the pattern with white ink. OOHHH frosty! That was just the right touch. I also spritzed the mittens with Frost Shimmer Spritz. You can't really tell in the photos but they are slightly shimmery too - like snow! EEP. 

 

I glued a double bow of pretty Lawn Fawn Twine and then glued the ends down where I knew I would attach the mittens. The mittens are attached to the card with foam tape. I tucked a few snowflakes in here and there. I really love this color combo - lime, pink and aqua - you guys know I use it a lot! Super fresh and happy I think!

 

 

I'm sending you lots of warm fuzzies in this last week before Christmas! Can you feel them? Take care, and have a beautiful, blessed, and happy day! XOXO

 

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Merry Christmas Snowmen!

HELLLOOOOOOO! As I'm typing this blog post I'm thinking this might be my last Christmas card post for this year! Not sure if I'll have time to make any more Christmas cards or not! I still have a few ideas, and some pretty (unused) stamp sets on my desk! We'll see what happens! I really like this card, so if it's the last one, I'm okay with it! LOL. Merry Christmas 2018!! This card combines stamps from three of my favorite companies. I love to combine stamp sets and dies to make my own design. This card is wintery and cooooooool. 

The finished card is a horizontal A2 card base in white with one other layer, also in white. Pretty simple color palette - white, blue and red. LOVE. I can almost feel a cool breeze go by when I look at this card. Haha. And, who doesn't love tiny snowmen!? 

 

Those big alphabet dies are from Honey Bee Stamps. The snowmen stamps and dies are from Mama Elephant. And the pretty snow background and the 'christmas' word are from Right At Home Stamps. The letters were colored with Distress Inks and the snowmen were colored with Copic Markers. 

 

EEEEEP! How adorable is that guy?? Peeking out from behind the letter! Just saying hi! On the top layer, I used the pretty Snow Flurries background stamp and stamped it in Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I placed it just on top of the panel. The stamp is huge and would actually fill that whole space! 

 

To make the letters I got a piece of white paper and used a sponge dauber to put down Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks. Then I splattered snow onto the paper. I dried it really quickly with my heat tool. Then I used the Bee Bold Alphabet dies to die cut out the word M E R R Y. I attached the letters to the center of the card and stamped the sentiment below it in rich black ink. Then I added some cute snowmen!! (I stamped and die cut the snowmen out and colored them with Copics.)

 

This is my paper I used for the letters. I also had sprinkled some clean water onto this panel - before the white snow splatters!! 

 

 

 

 

 

This card has lots going on, but still looks simple and cute! And it has dimension - but will be flat enough to mail! I have loads of ideas for more cards like this!! Never enough time - too many ideas!

 

 

Have a happy, fun, festive and creative day, my friends! XOXO

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Celebrate Christmas!

Hi there! Hope today finds you happy and smiling! I'm having a good week so far. It's my hubs' birthday this week so we did some low key celebrating and there was cake! YAY! My chapter of Tuesdays Together is doing an awesome event today and I'm really looking forward to that. Then before we blink again this year will be in the rear view mirror! 2018 was not a fabulous year so I'm not sad about saying goodbye to it! I need to start making New Year Cards too! EEKS. 

Today I'm sharing another one of my favorite stamp sets from this season. It's called Bells and Baubles and it's from Right At Home Stamps. I LOVE their stamps! Yay! I wanted to put my own twist on this stamp set. So instead of using all the layering stamps, I chose some of the smaller decorative stamps and heat embossed them onto the ornament shaped die cuts. Then I colored them with Distress Inks. Fun! This is an A2 card finished with a white A2 card base. Let's take a look...

 

I cut and folded my white A2 card base. Then I cut a layer of Rock Candy Cardstock (the perfect shade of medium gray) and splattered snow all over that layer! I used a white gel pen to draw some sparkles onto the grey also. Then I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder - in the lower right hand corner. I set that aside to dry. To make the ornaments I die cut the ornament shapes out first. Then I used the small detail stamps to add the designs - also with white heat embossing. I used bright colors of Distress Inks and sponge daubers to add the color to the ornaments. I also splattered snow on them. I really wanted them to look like pastel vintage 60's ornaments!

 

Here is a close up of the sentiment. Such a pretty pretty font! I only used part of the stamp! I used washi tape to crop off the other words so I just had the word 'celebrate' on my card. 

 

For the top of the card, I used the very pretty die set from Hello Bluebird Stamps - called Holly and Pine. It's perfect for winter cards! I die cut the branches from silver cardstock and cut the bow from pink cardstock. Then I added a big ole gem at the top! Silver thread makes for the ornament strings...

 

 

Thanks for coming by today! Hope the rest of your week is fantastic! XOXO See you soon!

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Beep Beep! Hello Christmas!

Hi crafty friends! Happy Weekend! Hope you're out having fun and enjoying the season. I'm finishing up the last of my Christmas projects and posting them. Some stamping companies have already moved on to Valentine's Day projects! EEK! I am running out of time to share holiday cards with you. I have a few more! My cards aren't mailed out yet either! Never enough time at the holidays right?? 

BEEP BEEP! I have a cute and happy card to share on today's post! A little Christmas car, loaded with presents, and driving over the river and through the woods! This card was super fun to make! I used stamps and dies from Ellen Hutson and Impress Stamps...oh and an action wobble too!

 

I started with a red card base, A2 size. Then I used bright white cardstock and die cut it using the pretty Snowfall Backdrop die from Ellen Hutson. I stamped the sentiment in black onto the bottom of the snowy layer and set it aside. I stamped the car stamp and cut it out with some small scissors because I knew I wanted it to pop off the page!

 

It was pretty easy to cut out this stamp - not too many small parts! I used a black pen and wrote the word 'merry' on the license plate! I colored the car in using my Copic Markers in Christmas colors. 

 

I die cut lime green Christmas trees from the Ellen Hutson Winter Window Die set. I tried to create a little forest for my car to drive through. Now the super fun part! I used an action wobble to attach the car to the card! It shakes down the road! LOL! (Kind of like how I drive!). It's super cool in person. Have you ever used action wobbles?? They lay flat for mailing but then they pop up when the person opens the card. 

 

Here's a side view of the wobble! It's a teeny tiny plastic spring! 

 

I love wood mounted stamps....I have a pretty good collection, but I always like to add new ones!

 

 

 

 

That's my card for today! Best wishes for a great week to come! XOXO See you soon!

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Something Different! A crochet project!

Hi everyone! How are you? Hope you're having a great week! My husband has been away for work all week and it's been a crafting marathon here! Lucky and I have been staying up very (too) late every night crafting and watching too much tv! I can't sleep when my husband isn't home so I end up all wonky. I can't wait to see him Friday night! The house seems too big and too creaky when I'm here alone. Anyhoo - lots of crafting happening! LOL. 

If you follow along with me on Instagram and/or Facebook, then you know I've finally learned how to crochet...and I finally finished a project! This quest to crochet started over a year ago. I took some lessons at a local store but it didn't sink in. Then I took some more classes at Michael's. But I just never finished anything. I really wanted to, though! As luck would have it, I recently became aware of TWO awesome knit/crochet meet ups right near my house! I vowed to stick with it, and I joined both of the groups! I have met the loveliest and most talented ladies through the meetings! And, they have encouraged me and helped me along. Yay! I think I'm on my way now! I have finished two scarves and started a blanket. It's so fun now that I know what I'm doing. LOL. I'm doing basic stitches until I get my confidence up. I can't read a pattern yet.  But I'm having a blast. Turns out that yarn people are just like paper people.... Crafty girls are the best. 

Since my blog is also my way of documenting my creative journey,  I wanted to post about my first project here! I'm sure that a lot of you are also yarn hoarders?! Am I right? I have found that it's been good for my creative juices to do something different. New ways to look at colors and textures and try something that challenges me. I'm loving it so far. I have oodles of yarn already and projects in my mind. I'm going to start a journal to remember everything. Oh, and of course a Pinterest Board! 

Here's my finished scarf - and styled the way I wore it out the other day. HOW fun to receive compliments and say "I made it!" Love that. It's simple, really. Just row after row of double crochet stitches until I ran out of yarn. Then I added fringe to the bottom. Well, because, fringe is better! 

 

In progress... I accidentally threw away the label for the yarn! But I did some research and found out the brand and type. It doesn't have a dye lot system because each skein is hand dyed. It's called Malabrigo. It's all my favorite deep rich Fall colors. SO so pretty! One of the cool things about this hobby is that it's so easy to bring it with you. You just need your project, yarn, hook and scissors and off you go! 

 

I am totally addicted to this type of yarn - that has multiple colors in it. I like watching how the colors match up as you stitch along. And it looks so pretty when it's finished. I think it's easier to hide my mistakes too!! 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and for sharing something new and different with me! I hope your day is extra fabulous! XOXO

AMAZON LINK TO MALABRIGO YARN

Your Friendship Warms My Heart!

Hi crafty friends and Happy Monday! I hope you had a most delightful winter weekend! We have been very busy - that's how December is right? Going, going, going all the time! I love it though. There are so many fun things to do! Craft shows, lights, shopping, coffee, friends... It's awesome. This weekend we went to a beautiful barn market not too far from our house, and I'll share some photos of it at the bottom of my post, after the card. I loooove stuff like that! Being outside on a beautiful winter day, seeing the handmade goods. I'm going to wrap up the rest of my Christmas cards this coming week I think. Time to start the process of addressing and mailing them out. (I'm bad at that part)! 

Now, on for my card for the day. I COULD NOT WAIT TO SHARE THIS!!! OMG these new stamps from Concord & 9th called "Winter Wear" are maybe the most adorable stamps everrrr. I was smitten like a mitten right away! I bought them and had them sitting on my desk when I woke up one night at 2am with an idea! Ha! So that next morning I stamped and colored and tried again until I was able to execute my idea. I'll explain later! Here's the finished card...

 

These stamps!! Oh gosh, how much fun to make this card! The face, the scarf, the hat and the glasses are all different stamps so you can mix and match. There are two girl faces and several other accessories - so you can make it however you want. I love it when I can customize things. So I made this girl to look like me! She has glasses...and she loves buffalo plaid and she's wearing a snowflake pin - just like me! So the idea that woke me up at 2am was that she needed a buffalo plaid scarf! This scarf stamp is NOT checkered. I did that with my Copic Markers. Yes, it took a while, but I love the result!

 

 

This card started with an A2 card base is vivid Christmas red! I layered vellum and then kraft paper. On the vellum paper I splattered Copic Opaque White with a toothbrush to look like snow flurries. On the kraft layer, I used the Concord & 9th Swirls Dies to make snow swirls. Then I stamped snowflakes in white over that. Finally, I used sponge and white ink to go around the top edges. 

I stamped and die cut the pieces out and colored them all with markers. Then I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder onto black paper. I like that look on a sentiment. It makes it pop! In this photo you can see all the layers. 

For accents I added some die cut snowflakes and pearls. I also added a bit of glitter shimmer to the brim and pom pom on the hat. It's frosty out there, you know! One of my signature pieces during winter is to wear a snowflake brooch. I have two that I love and I wear them all the time. So I die cut a tiny snowflake and made her (me!) a brooch. 

 

 

 

Supplies for this card are at the bottom of my post! You're going to want these fun stamps and dies I know it! Endless combinations of fun cards for gal pals!! Can't wait to make some more! IN the photo below you can where I got my ideas! LOL. Mark took this photo at the Barn Market on Friday. My new haircut is kinda short but I'm happy and that's what matters. XOXO

 

 

Here are a few photos I took at the H3 Barn Market on Friday. It's in Rescue California, which isn't too far from my house. Mark and I had a delightful time there! So peaceful and beautiful. The vendors were great and so so talented. The weather was perfect. It reminded us of an old fashioned Christmas - lovely! Big shout out to Laura, the proprietor, for creating something so special. I can't wait to go back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you have the best, blessed, happy, fun and creative week ahead! XOXO

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