A Blog Called Wanda

Smile! Pretty Butterflies from Pinkfresh Studio

WOOHOOO! Happy Friday, friends! Why am I happy it's Friday? I don't work in an office at an 8-5 job anymore.... But my husband does! So I'm happy it's Friday since I will have my best friend to hang out with for a couple of days. Our weekend looks pretty boring right at the moment but I'm sure we'll find something to do. Tonight I have crocheting/knitting meetup! The weather is sunny and the flowers are starting to bloom already around here. We saw some plum blossoms the other night already. I hope to get some time in the craft room too! What are you up to this weekend? Hope you have a good one!

Today I'm sharing a card made with lovely LOVELY stamps and dies from Pinkfresh Studio! OH GOSH, how I love Pinkfresh Studio! They have the prettiest, most feminine florals and innovative dies. One of my favorite companies for sure! If they're new to you CLICK HERE to see their entire collection! My specific links for the products used today is at the bottom of my post. I have had this awesome 'smile' die cut for a while and finally used it! The word is all hooked together in one die - it's not separate letters. Super easy to die cut onto an A2 card front! Then I added my favorite gingham, and some soft florals and butterflies. I am inspired by the coming of spring so I used a light and fresh color palette of green and aqua.

 

I started with an A2 card base in crisp white paper. I cut a white layer just a bit smaller than the card front and die cut the 'smile' into it. I used black mist to spritz a few splatters onto that panel and set it aside. I cut a piece of pretty aqua gingham paper the exact size as the top panel and adhered that to the card front. Then I placed the white top layer over the gingham using foam squares. 

 

Next I stamped and die cut out the florals, leaves and butterflies! I colored them all in the same Copic marker colors and matched the colors to the gingham. This makes your project all come together nicely. 

 

 

 

I'm using my new Waffle Flower Enamel Dots like crazy!! Here I added a few clear ones and one white one for the flower center. Just so sweet and simple. 

 

My tip for attaching butterflies to cards.... I use foam tape in a small strip just under the body of the butterfly. I press it down really hard to make sure it's attached. Then I used my fingers to gently bend the wings upwards to look like they're flying! As you know, I love lots of dimension on my cards!!

So SMILE! And have a great weekend! Thanks for flying by today to see my card! XOXO

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Bee Mine Valentine!

Hi everyone! Today I'm buzzzzzing by with a fun bee themed valentine card! Will you BEEEE mine? Please!? This card was a joy to make, and combined several of my favorite things! Lots of color, Copic Markers, Distress Ink blending, and cute stamps! All the stamps and dies used today are from Honey Bee Stamps. Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post as always! I got this card idea because I made a winter/Christmas card using the awesome Bee Bold Alphabet dies and I loved that card! (CLICK HERE to see it!) I wracked my brain - how to make a Valentine card with the same sort of layout and design?? Hmmmm. What word to spell out? Sweet? Love? Kiss? And then, in the middle of the night, I got it! BEE MINE! And then the entire card came together. I couldn't decide between red letters or pink - but I'm glad I decided on the hot pink. It's so happy! Picked Raspberry Distress Ink is delicious!

The finished card is 5.25 x 5.25 square. I needed some room to spread out! LOL. Sometimes a design needs a smaller card, or a bigger card, or a longer card! Don't be shy about making your card size fit your elements. I love me a big ole square card sometimes! 

 

This card started with a white card base cut and scored to size. Then I layered yummy hot pink textured cardstock. For the top layer I die cut a white square with a pretty stitched edge. Next I die cut the letters out and set them aside. I stamped and die cut the two bees next. Then I die cut the honeycombs from my favorite yellow cardstock. I stamped the word Valentine directly onto the top layer and stamped tiny pink hearts on that layer also. 

 

I really love the font in the words from the Brie Mine stamp set!! 

 

To make the letters pink, I used two shades of Distress Inks and ink blending tools. I did the Spun Sugar at the top of the letter and faded into Picked Raspberry at the bottom of the letters. I put on a lot of ink - because I wanted a huge impact and punch of color. Once the ink was dry, I splattered the letters with white ink (because that's my jam! LOL). The letters were arranged onto the square layer using strips of foam tape.

 

I colored these sweetie bees with Copic Markes and added white gel pen accents. I also added Clear Wink of Stella to the wings so they would shimmer in the light. 

 

Next it was time to put it all together! I arranged everything until I got just the right look and then attached it all to the card with foam tape.

 

 

 

 

I already have some other ideas for cards like this coming up! It's fun to color the letters and spell out whatever you like! You could make a card with a person's name on it, or their school or something meaningful just for them. It's one of the best things about being a crafty gal. Customizing things! BEEE MINE and have a happy, bizzy week! See you soon with another project. XOXO

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Crochet Journal Project with Echo Park and Simple Stories!

Hi crafty people! Happy weekend! Hope you have some fun things planned! It's been raining alllll week here. We're hoping to get in a day trip to Napa this weekend for the Lighted Art Festival. We'll see if the weather holds out! And there is an eclipse Sunday night with a full moon. I think my hubs is going to go out and photograph it with the photography club! Again, we'll see if the weather holds out for that too. Geez, Wednesday we had a record rain total. Most rain in one day for the past 40 years! And, of course, that was the day I had meetings and errands to do! I should have used a boat instead of my car! I survived and it's all good. I have a fun project to share today! It's something that's been in my head for a few months and I'm eager to use it now that it's made! It's a crochet journal! I intend to write down all my projects and notes about the stitches and type of yarn used... That way if I want to make something again - or if someone has a question - all the information is right there at my fingertips! I've been keeping it all in a spiral notebook so far. 

Now, funny story... The one great thing about being a craft supplies hoarder is that you can shop at your own house! LOL. I had ALL the supplies needed for this journal in my room. Hahaha. I've been saving this beautiful paper pack for a special project. And now I've used it. That feels good. The paper collection is called I'd Rather Be Crafting - and it's from Echo Park! It's so pretty, and colorful and fun. CLICK HERE to see the entire collection (Paper, stencils, stamps, enamel dots...) I had this perfect sized binder from Simple Stories in my studio too! Yay! I started this project late at night so it was good that I didn't have to go out shopping. 

No stamping in this project. Paper, die cut letters, stickers, twine.... But no stamping! It was a fun project - no stress. I didn't use wet glue - everything is held together with lots of scor-tape. That makes for a smoother finished look. (I am inept at using the right amount of liquid glue). I hope this will inspire you to create your own journal! Maybe for crafting, but also for notes, or recipes or even a pretty scrapbook! 

 

The journal is approximately 9x8 inches. It really is the perfect size! I started by covering the front of the journal with the scissor/ruler paper. Then I added everything else. The letter dies are from Taylored Expressions and I die cut them from some woodgrain paper in my stash. I used lots of the pretty stickers to decorate everything!

 

I made this little bouquet by using the flower stickers and the cute banner. I wanted to pop them up on foam tape in a little cluster! So I die cut some circles to frame my bouquet! It came out perfect!

 

Twine, stickers and enamel dots...

 

My cute assistant was very helpful in choosing which papers to use! LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Coming along....

 

 

 

This is the back cover!

 

 

 

 

And the inside of the front cover using the scallop edge stickers...

 

 

 

 

That's it for today! Do you like making paper projects like this? I really enjoy being able to customize things for myself and as gifts. It's so special to have a one of a kind item to use! Best wishes for a happy and blessed weekend! See you soon! XOXO

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My Favorite Valentine - with Waffle Flower Stamps!

Hey hey hey! How are you? I'm busy again this week, which is excellent! And I have lots to share with you! I seriously crafted all weekend. It was great! I had no deadlines and no pressure so I just went around the studio and made cards with whatever I wanted. YAY for that! LOL. I made a cool journal and three cards. After I make my cards I always lay them out on the kitchen table for my hubs to look at them. He is very supportive and loves to look at the details. He is a good person to help with ideas too! After I laid them out on the table I noticed one main thing - all three cards had bright, vivid colors and LOTS of white space! Hmmmmm. Maybe I'm feeling like being light and airy like Spring cleaning?? LOL. Definitely moving on from the dark moody colors of Christmas and winter. I can't wait to share them all. 

For today, I'm using a brand new stamp set from Waffle Flower called Favorite Valentine! EEEEEP. SO adorable. It has a little boy and girl that face each other, and then loads of accessories for them to hold in their hands. I loved it the moment I saw it. And this stamp set has matching dies. This is my first set from Waffle Flower that has their 'new' die system. ALL OF THE DIES ARE ALREADY CUT APART!!!! What??? Yes, you heard me. Woot woot! Nina is a genius. Yay. 

 

I started with a white A2 card base from Neenah Solar White 110 pound. I layered soft and subtle grey gingham (From Sunny Studio) and then one more layer of white. (See I told you - LOTS of white space!) For the top layer I die cut a stitched rectangle... I gently inked just the top of that rectangle with Broken China Distress Ink. Perfect. 

Next I stamped and die cut out all the images: the girl and boy, the banners, CUPID!, the flowers, letter and balloons... And colored everything with Copic Markers. I added accents with a white gel pen and also added a bit of Diamond Stickles.

 

 

 

I used a couple of different stamp sets on this card. The banner is from one set and the xoxo is from another set. Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post. For the sentiment I used white embossing powder on deep black paper. I always love that look. It's so crisp.

 

I added a few white enamel dots on the card. These are new enamel dots from Waffle Flower! YES! An entire package of white and clear enamel dots! With lots of small ones! Again, Nina is a genius. You need these. (I bought four packs).... 

All of the elements are affixed to the card using foam tape for dimension and pop.

 

 

 

 

I'm definitely in the mood for Valentine crafting! We have a month to get ready. Everything is so cheerful and happy with pink and hearts.... I love it all. Are you Valentine crafting yet? What are you working on?? Have a blessed and beautiful day! XOXO

P.S. Side note.... I am NOT going to Creativation (CHA) this year. It starts on Friday and I have severe FOMO right now. I am going to miss all my creative friends and I'm going to miss reporting back and telling you guys the scoop. Mostly I'm going to miss the hugs and laughter!!! It just didn't work out for me to go this year for lots of reasons. I can't wait to see all the news from everyone else though. Just wanted to tell you guys, because I know some of you wait for me to fill you in every year.

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Crochet - Granny Square Baby Blanket!

Hey everyone! How is your weekend going?? We've had rain rain rain here the past week or so. I love that! I feel all cozy and feel like reading and drinking coffee and making stuff. Winter is in full swing in Sacramento! Finally. The rain is much needed here and I'm grateful. Last week I had so many fun activities and meet ups. Seems like everything goes on pause during the holidays and then the week after New Years we all want to get back to our normal routine. I was ready - ready for things to get back on track - food, exercise, crafting...all of it! 

I finally finished my first big crochet project! I've made a few scarves, but only one big thing so far. I'm so happy to share it with you! One of my sweet blogger friends had a baby girl recently! I am so happy for her because she wanted to be a mama so badly, and I know she is going to be amazing as a mom! Her story was one of the 'good news' stories of last year. I wanted to make her something special for the nursery. The photos I saw of her nursery had grey and white and pops of bright colors (and pom poms!). I chose some pretty yarn colors in baby soft yarn (Caron Simply Soft - supplies and colors below) and set to work! This is a Granny Square Crochet Blanket! 

I am a brand new crocheter and I made this! YEAH! The reason I'm telling you that is because I want to encourage you to do it to! If I can make this, you can! When you are a new crocheter, your best friend is YouTube. There are so many people (kind and generous people) who post instructional videos on how to do everything! I suggest you search for the pattern you want to make and then find one of the You-tubers that 'speaks' to you - that you like their voice and pace. That's what I did to make this - I watched a ton of videos and then started... I belong to two local Crochet/Knit meet ups that have experts - and they were always willing to give me help and a tip along the way. Yarn peeps are just like paper peeps - sweet and helpful (and they just hoard yarn instead of 12x12 patterned paper! LOL).

The pattern for my blanket is a Granny Square. It's about 40x40 inches finished. But, the good part is you can keep adding rows forever! Make it whatever size you want it to be! I changed yarn color after every round. After I finished the square blanket, I added a shell stitch crochet border in white to polish/finish it off nicely. Then I made some pink pom poms for all the corners using my Clover Pom Pom Maker. I attached the pom poms with a tied bow, so she can remove them if they get in the way - or for washing. 

 

These colors are just like a bowl of candy! And it's sooooo soft and squishy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cutest photo shoot photo-bomber ever! Hee hee. What a helpful guy!! 

I'm listing my supplies and colors below. I bought one skein of each color and I used an H hook size. I made the entire blanket, border and pom poms and still had yarn left over. I would say I used about 75% of each skein. So the yarn goes a long way. I'm still learning how to gauge how far the yarn goes and how to read the labels/weight etc.

I'm loving learning something new. I hope you've enjoyed my project too! What are you working on right now?? XOXO

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Pretty Pink Posh 5th Year Anniversary Celebration Blog Hop - Pinata Party!

Hi there? Are you ready to party? Fiesta? Celebrate? YEAH! Welcome to my stop on day two of the awesome three day blog hop to celebrate the new release from Pretty Pink Posh! Also, it's a celebration of Pretty Pink Posh's Anniversary! Congratulations Paulina! I love you and wish you years and years of continued success!

I'm truly excited to be included in this three day party and can't wait to show you guys my card. It's BRIGHT! Please read all the way through to the bottom of this post for the list of blogs on the hop, supplies, prizes and discounts! It's all good! I hope you're having a good week so far. 

When I received my package of goodies from PPP the stamp set that jumped right out at me first was Pinata Party! It's an awesome birthday set that has a UNICORN pinata!! What??? How adorable and fabulous is that?? Very. So I busted out the vivid colors and the Copics and created this birthday card. 

 

I started with a white A2 card base (You can't see it under the stripes!) To create my colorful striped background I used the long narrow strip die from the Stitched Borders 3 die set from Pretty Pink Posh. I die cut a bunch of those strips from yellow, green, pink and blue cardstock. Then I layered those strips down onto a thin piece of white cardstock. After I trimmed all the edges I adhered that striped piece directly onto the card front. 

 

Next I stamped and die cut out the pinata, the banners and the balloons (Balloons are from the Birthday Friends stamp set). I colored all the elements using Copic colors that matched the cardstock colors. These colors are so cheerful it makes me smile. 

 

The white panel on top of the stripes was created as my party background. I die cut a stitched rectangle and gently inked around the edges with an ink blender and Broken China Distress Ink. Then I used the same color Distress Ink to stamp the confetti over the blending. I stamped that fabulous birthday sentiment in rich black in the lower left corner.

 

I attached all the pieces to the card using foam tape. I added a few clear gems and a bit of twine for my banner string. You can barely see it, but I also used a Clear Wink Of Stella pen to add glittery, shimmery accents to the unicorn, the confetti and the balloons. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by on my blog today! If you're new here because of the hop - welcome! Glad to have you! Take care everyone! All the extra details are below. Enjoy the celebration and the blog hop! XOXO

No party would be complete without gifts and a party favor, right? During the celebration, save 10% off your order using the coupon code provided below.

PRIZES: Pretty Pink Posh will be giving away THREE $25 gift certificates to random comments left on the different stops every day! That’s right, there are a total of NINE $25 gift certificates over the three days! Comments must be left before January 17th at 11:59 PM PST. Pretty Pink Posh be announcing the winners next week, so be sure to return to the PPP blog to see if you are one of the winners!

 

BLOG HOP LIST FOR DAY TWO!

Pretty Pink Posh blog
Laura Bassen
Eloise Blue
Melody Rupple
Nicky Meek
Cathy Zielske
Dana Kirby

Amy Rysavy
Suzy Plantamura
Wanda Guess

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

 

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Reverse Confetti New Release Blog Hop - January 2019 - Warm Hugs!

Hello everyone! Happy New Year again! A whole week into 2019! Hope your year is off to an awesome start! Thank you for all the kind comments on my last post. I love doing that blog hop every year. It's so positive and fun. My year has been pretty uneventful so far. In fact, I've been sort of lazy! My hubs had time off work and we really just slept in and did fun stuff together. I haven't been crafting too much. I finished two more crochet projects though! And I'm ready to kick it back into gear in the craft room. Today I'm sharing a card made with the awesome new release from my friends at Reverse Confetti! Yeah! 

The January release from Reverse Confetti is live now! It's sooooo fun and cute and perfect for Valentine's Day and LOVE! I'm so ready to move on from holiday cards and on to Spring things! Are you? I fell in love right away with the new set called Big Bear. OMG he is fabulous. The matching die for the bear stamp has slits in it so he can hold a heart, a coffee mug, a letter, or some flowers. EEK. I made a sweet and simple greeting featuring that guy. I'll be using him a bunch - maybe on the front of envelopes too! I also used the brand new paper pad launching from Reverse Confetti! 

 

I started with a white A2 card base and layered the pretty striped paper to cover the entire card front. Then I layered bright red cardstock with a white stitched rectangle. I wrapped the heart paper around those two layers and attached them to my card with foam tape to make the foundation of my card. Next I stamped and die cut the bear, heart and banner and colored everything with my Copic Markers. 

 

I used another one of my favorite Reverse Confetti Sets - Weather it Together - to stamp the tiny hearts on the white layer. I die cut a stitched circle and then attached the bear and the banner with foam tape!

 

I wanted this guy to look soft so I colored him with a light brown Copic (E31) and used my Copic Blender pen to soften the color even further. Just a bit of pink on his cheeks and ears and he's so sweet. I LOVE his pink scarf! I matched the scarf to the color in the patterned papers. 

 

 

 

This is me - sending you warm hugs today! 

 

 

Best wishes for a great week! I'll see you soon with another fun blog hop later in the week! Take care! XOXO

THE NEW RELEASE IS LIVE NOW! 

SUPER FUN BLOG HOP LINEUP TODAY!

LOTS OF INSPIRATION FROM THE NEW RELEASE!

Reverse Confetti Blog

Amy Kolling

Melissa Phillips

Julee Tilman

Amy Sheffer

Tricia Barber

Kelly Lunceford

Lisa Henke

Leanne West

Wanda Guess

Heather Hoffman

Amy Tsuruta

Kathy Schweinfurth

Michelle Short

Audrey Tokach

Jeanne Jachna

Ali Farmer

Deanne Kuntz

Ashley Tucker

Lindsay Lajola

 

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

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