A Blog Called Wanda

The Greetery - These are the Days Collection - Release Day! Yeah!

 

HEY FRIENDS!! EXCITING NEWS!!

THE GREETERY NEW RELEASE IS LIVE NOW!!

THESE ARE THE DAYS COLLECTION IS AVAILABLE!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP!!

 

It was my pleasure to introduce the brand new and beautiful These are the Days Collection to you this week!! And, I hope you love it as much as I do!! Happy Crafting!! If you scroll back to my last blog post - from yesterday, you can see all my projects from the new release, and the accompanying supply list. If you have any questions - reach out!! Thanks for all the love and kind comments this week! Happy Creating! Can't wait to see what YOU make!

Thank you for shopping via my links -

it helps me so very much and I'm so grateful!! XOXO

 

The Greetery - These are the Days Collection - Day One!

Hello, my creative, talented and crafty friends! It's going to be a great day today, because I'm here to tell you about a NEW RELEASE from The Greetery! The new release is called These are the Days! It's calendar/planner themed - which is so perfect and fun. Are you a planner girlie? I am! And Betsy has created a suite of products for us the use to make our own calendars and also calendar themed cards and planners. I love this idea so much and I know you will too. One of the best parts of the new release is a collection of florals called Birth Month Blooms. There are flowers for every month of the year and corresponding words that make gorgeous botanical projects! SO much good stuff. 

This month only has one release day - today - and the entire team will be sharing our projects and the new products on our blogs. TOMORROW is release day and the release will be available for shopping at 10am - July 30th! 

SHOP THE NEW RELEASE TUESDAY JULY 30TH AT 10AM EST! 

I will be sharing three projects today - two cards, and a calendar!! Loads of beautiful inspiration from the entire design team today. My supplies, prize information, and links to everyone's blogs are all at the bottom of this post. Let's get started!

My first card today is a special birthday card - and I used the calendar items to show the recipients birthday! This card features the brand new Calendar Basics stamp set, and the brand new Birth Month Q2 stamps and dies. My finished card is an A2 cream card base, layered with some pretty rose gingham. I wanted a bit of a vintage feel to this card - with the roses and the gold....

 

I started by stamping two gorgeous rose clusters using pink and green inks. (THESE ARE MY FAVORITE INK PADS FOR 2/3 STEP STAMPING) I die cut the roses using the matching dies. I stamped the vertical calendar grid in black.

 

Here's a close up of the beautiful roses stamps! I splattered gold paint on them too!

 

The roses were affixed to the calendar using foam tape. I heat embossed happy birthday in gold, and circled my friend's birthday date!  This is a GREAT way to mark a special date - birthday, wedding, anniversary, Christmas....by circling it on the grid! Love this!

 

 

My next project is a lovely 2025 calendar! Gosh I really really like this concept! There are new Pre-Printed calendars that you can decorate as gifts or for your own desk. I used the 2025 calendar and decorated each page using the new preprinted monthly flowers!!! This is awesome. The Spiral die cut cuts out holes at the top of the calendar and then you use the binding to wind it through the holes to make it able to flip!! Betsy thought of everything. I'm going to show you a few of the pages....

 

For each page, I die cut a kraft rectangle and stamped the name of the flower onto it. I then die cut out the preprinted flowers for each month... My first thought for this project was mass production as friend gifts - so I went with the preprinted florals instead of stamping them - much faster!!

 

 

 

 

 

On each page I used Stickles glitter glue to add little bits of shimmer and shine. I also splattered white paint onto each rectangle.

 

 

My final project for today is a card made using the brand new Birth Month Q3 stamps and dies, and the new Spiral Bound Die.... The sentiment is from the brand new One Fine Day stamp set.  I used pretty shades of yellow and magenta and a bit of ink blending. My finished card is an A2 white card base....

 

I stamped and die cut out the Aster florals - soooo pretty! Here is a side view of my card layers. (THESE ARE MY FAVORITE INK PADS FOR 2/3 STEP STAMPING)

 

I die cut a scalloped rectangle and ink blended just the top part using bright yellow ink... The lovely sentiment is heat embossed with gold and then die cut with the matching die.

 

 

These colors together just say SUMMER to me! So fresh and cheerful.

 

Here is a close up of the die set that looks like spiral binding - genius!!

 

I hope you're loving this calendar themed release! Here is another photo of the calendar cover. I decorated it with Stickles and a few gems just to jazz it up!!

 

That's all for my introduction to the new release! Thank you for your support- and for sharing my enthusiasm for The Greetery. We all love The Greetery! Have a blessed and happy day! See you tomorrow for Release Day.

Betsy will be giving away gift certificates to some lucky winners as usual (Awesome)! To enter to win, please leave a comment on everyone's blog posts for today! She will announce the winners on The Greetery Blog. Good Luck!!

THE NEW RELEASE IS LIVE TUESDAY JULY 30TH AT 10AM EST!!

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING VIA MY AFFILIATE LINKS - IT HELPS SO MUCH!!

 

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the full supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

 

DESIGN TEAM LINKS FOR TODAY!! ENJOY THE NEW RELEASE REVEALS!!

Dana

Dawn

Kelly

Laura 

Laurie

Wanda

 

Better late than never - my 4th of July Cross Stitch! Primrose Cottage 4th of July Rules Pattern!

Hi everyone! Let's kick off a new week! The world has gone mad and crafting is a good way to escape right now. I'm so grateful I have a hobby (hobbies) that help keep me in the moment and keep my mind occupied. I hope that you are doing well and that you have a happy week this week. Today's project is a 'better late than never' project! I had high hopes to finish and frame this cross stitch piece for the 4th of July this year... But alas, I finished it just this morning at around 1am! Oh well, it will be ready to hang next July! Ha! I really wanted to share it with you today. I do love a patriotic cross stitch. 

This pattern is called 4th of July Rules and it's by Primrose Cottage. FULL SUPPLIES are HERE or at the bottom of my post! I stitched on natural 30 count fabric and used DMC floss in my own chosen colors. I love brighter yellows and reds!! Here is my completed piece! Finished stitching size is approximately 5" x 20" so it's a long narrow piece. I'm not sure if I will put it inside a frame, or maybe make it a wall hanging on a string?? I have time to decide, don't I?? LOL. 

 

This was a fun stitch - not too hard and not too easy. Just enough colors, but not too many colors.... Lots of my favorite elements - a tiny flag, some bunting, pretty words....and patriotic colors!

 

 

 

In stamping, and in cross stitch, I really love to combine different fonts and I love how this all comes together with the wording!!

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LINKS FOR TODAY!

A cute little bunny pulling her wagon full of fireworks! EEP. 

And, most importantly, Celebrate our Freedom!

 

This next photo was one I posted when I first started out... I think my favorite part is the house and flag image!!

 

And one more in process photo!

 

 

Here is a photo of the pattern book! Let me tell you - this book is SO NICE!!! The pattern is broken down into six segments, and each page is one segment and it's in full color! And the pattern is HUGE so it's very easy to see and read. I really appreciate this type of format since I have very bad eyesight. It was a dream following this pattern!! 

I'm going to stitch up HIVE RULES as my next edition of rules!!! It's a bee theme - and the colors are swoonworthy!!

That's it for today! I hope you'll be inspired to start a cross stitch project! (Or if you're like me, finish some!) Wishing you a lovely, happy, and creative day my friends. XOXO

It's Amazon Prime Days right now too! I have an Amazon Storefront where I share different ideas - crafting, my favorite books, gift ideas, photo equipment...and more. Please CLICK here to see my selections and recommendations! Thank you!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's project! (Affiliate Links Used)

 

Introducing the limited edition BOO BOX Card Kit!! It's fun and fabulous!! Let's get ready for Halloween!!

Hey friends! Happy weekend! I hope you're doing great! I'm relieved that yesterday here in Sacramento we broke our two week streak of days over 100 degrees! Whew, that was hard! It's been so hot, and literally that just shuts down my brain! We had a cool morning on Saturday and it was enough to renew my spirit! You know what else renews my spirit? The thought that Fall is just a moment away! Yeah - my favorite season is next! And, today, I have something super duper fun and exciting to show you! The first Halloween cards of 2024! And a FABOOOLOUS card kit Boo Box from Catherine Pooler! 

The CP BOO BOX is a Limited Edition card kit full of stamps, dies, patterned paper, embossing powder and more! If you buy the kit you will also get access to videos and ideas from different designers! The items in the kit are ONLY available in the kit and won't be released separately later. And when the kits are gone, they're gone. I'm predicting a sellout for sure. This is the best box of this type I've ever seen and well worth the price. On my Instagram Stories later this morning I will be posting a full unboxing video to show you everything! 

Details to know: You can sign up to be on the waitlist (no payment or obligation required) and if you sign up, you will get an email to buy the kit early before it goes on sale for general purchase! Kit goes on sale at noon EST! 

I'm sharing two cheerful and bright Halloween cards today that I made with supplies from the Boo Box! Let's get started! First up is some spooky cute ghosties and a bit of sparkle too! My finished card is an A2 card base layered with gorgeous orange stripes, vellum and a tag! This card is so fun!

 

The Boo Box has two large stamp sets and one sentiment stamp set, along with lots of standalone dies and a big background stamp. I think my favorite images are these adorable ghosts! I stamped and die cut them out and added pink cheeks with a Copic Marker! I die cut the spooky die from both glitter paper and black paper and stacked them. I stamped some yellow stars in the background....

 

The Boo Box includes a die set with a great tag and add ons for the tag!! Love that! The little bat is included in the tag dies set.... I tied a bow at the top and attached the bat! 

 

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S SUPPLY LIST!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE BOO BOX!

 

My second card for today features lots of Halloween icons in a grid pattern.... My finished card is an A2 white card base layered with that awesome plaid patterned paper... The Boo Box includes a great grid die set and I die cut out some of the grids and added the classic Halloween icons - cat, bat, witch hat and pumpkin!

 

That little cat makes me smile! I added the sentiment in the center of my card and placed the grids around the sentiment.  A few splatters of black paint and some glitter stars complete the look!! I added glitter glue accents to all the images too.

 

 

 

 

Here's the BOO BOX! And not everything is shown! It's AMAZING - so many great things - literally everything you could need to make your 2024 Halloween cards! 

 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE BOO BOX!

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE SUPPLIES FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

The Greetery Summer Watercolor Butterfly Card!

Hi there my creative and crafty friends! I'm up on The Greetery Blog today to share a project with you! I am always so excited and happy to share with you over there! And of course, sharing my card here too. Hope you had a great 4th of July! Sacramento has been HOT. Gosh, so hot. We are set to break an all time record for most days over 100 degrees. I think my brain is cooked! I'm laying low and moving slow.... For my project for today I created a watercolor card with a nature theme and an all purpose sentiment. I haven't made a watercolor card in a while and I was inspired by the pretty butterflies of Summertime.... Simple and airy for the season....

 

My finished card is an A2 size Kraft card base, layered with watercolor paper die cut with the beautiful A2 Scallops Dies. All the die cut pieces on this card were made using watercolor paper. I kept the design clean and simple and let that pretty purple butterfly shine! All the coloring was done with my set of Mini Distress Inks and a water brush... I do love this technique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started by die cutting the Fern Dies, the Butterfly Dies, the background panel and the sentiment panel from watercolor paper. I used Distress Inks and water brushes to color all the pieces and set them aside to dry. For the background I used a wet on wet watercolor technique: Put down a good amount of clear water onto the paper, then add the blue ink into the water and let it spread out into a free form shape! I use a large brush for the plain water and lots of water.... You never know what you'll get with this and I love that!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all my pieces were dry, I glued together the Fern and the Butterfly using liquid glue. I added a purple enamel dot to the butterfly. I stamped the sentiment in brown Distress Ink and then went over the writing with a detail water brush to make it 'messy.' I assembled all the elements together and I used foam tape to attach the sentiment. I do love the greens against the bright purple butterfly....

 

 

 

That's it for my project for today! I hope you have a fantastic and creative day! I look forward to sharing with you again soon. In the meantime, happy crafting! XO Wanda

 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY!

 

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used in today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

 

 

Happy 4th of July 2024!

Happy 4th of July! Happy Independence Day! Happy Birthday America! Sending love and good wishes for a fun and fabulous holiday today! I hope you have a fun day and get lots of BBQ and fireworks! I am looking forward to the 4th of July in our neighborhood. Everyone is always outside enjoying the warm evening and lighting off cool fireworks displays and the atmosphere is so jovial and happy. I have been making tons of patriotic cards and projects to show you, and today I have one last patriotic card! I used lots and lots of brand new supplies from the amazing new Summer 2024 release from Honey Bee Stamps. What an awesome release - so many good products. I have many more ideas! Check it out here!

This card features the brand new Eagle Dies, The Land of the Free background stamp (LOVE), the new Because of the Brave sentiments, and more... My finished card is an A2 cream card base, layered with blue stripes and then more (lots more) layers and elements! I used a traditional Americana color palette and kept it vintage too.... Everything classically USA. (By the way, are you excited for the Olympics?!) I used it all -- patterned paper, glitter cardstock, vellum, wax seal, and distress ink! Oh and don't forget the gold splatters!

 

Here's a side view of all the layers and elements on my card. For the sentiment I die cut out the large letters from gold cardstock and then layered the vellum sentiment over the top. 

 

I double layered the letters USA with gold and dark brown cardstocks. I stamped the sentiment onto the vellum using Stazon black ink using my MISTI.

 

The star of the show are these new Eagle Dies!!! WOW. The layers are easy to understand and easy to put together - and it really looks like an eagle!! I added gold paint to the tips of his wings for some extra pizazz!! Isn't he marvelous?? In this photo you can also see that I used a background die on the circle just behind the eagle. I thought it looked really vintage....

 

This new background stamp is great! I stamped it in gold/yellow ink and then used distress inks around the edges. I crumpled the stamped panel into a ball in my hands and then unfolded it flat and this way it looks like old paper/cloth. I splattered gold paint on that panel also.

 

Hands down, Honey Bee has the best wax seals and melts! This new 3D star is perfection. I made my seal in blue wax to fit the color theme. It is affixed using foam squares.

 

 

 

Look at the detail in that wax seal! Perfection!

 

 

 

And lastly, here's a patriotic photo of me out in our front yard last week! We were getting ready to go somewhere so I took a quick photo to update my Facebook profile pic! Yes - I am very patriotic! :-)

That's it for today! And I think that's it for the 4th of July projects! I have some patriotic stitching but I didn't finish them all! Boo! Seems there is never enough time for stitching! And my eyes get tired after a while - so I am very slow. I need to be better about starting earlier with that. As usual, never enough time! Happy 4th of July everyone! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE AMAZING NEW HONEY BEE RELEASE!!

CLICK HERE to see all the supplies used in today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)!

 

 

 

4th of July Patriotic Pinwheel Wreath Project!

Happy Monday! Happy July! It's going to be a good week! There's a fun holiday involved! Yeah! I am very into Americana themed items - crafts, home decor, clothes, cards, stitching.... Well, you get the idea! Our home is very decorated for the 4th of July with lots of flags and good things. I am wishing you a good week and a fun holiday with family and friends! I recently made it a goal to read more....Summer is a great time for lazy afternoons reading!! I have been an avid reader since I was very small and lately life just got busy and I stopped reading and I miss it!! Anyone else have a giant stack of books waiting on the nightstand?? I recently updated my Amazon Summer 2024 reading list if you want to check it out!! 

My project for today is a home decor piece made from paper!! And card making supplies! 

My project is a Paper Pinwheel Wreath! Made from patriotic papers and 4th of July theme. It's made from lots and lots of pinwheels hot glued onto a wreath form. It was a very fun project and it came together quickly and easily. This would be a really good group project because it's the same thing made over and over again and it's easy to finish in an afternoon. Here is my wreath and where it's hanging in our home - on the cabinets between the kitchen and our nook. All my supplies are at the bottom of my post or CLICK HERE!

 

I photo'd it on this white door so you could see the size and scale against a plain background...

 

 

 

In my stash, I had these buttons from Michaels so I added a few of them!

 

I used the AMAZING 3D Pinwheel Dies to make this project. I made about 30 large and small pinwheels but it only ended up taking about 14 pinwheels to finish my wreath. I actually thought it would take a lot more!! I die cut all my pinwheels first - sooooo easy. 

 

Here they are before assembly - small and large ones!

 

I folded them over and used colorful brads to finish/close them up! This could not be more fun or simple!

 

On my desk.... I used a wreath form (in the supplies) and acrylic paint. I painted the wreath form blue (I forgot to take a photo of that part!) and then I used hot glue to attach all the pinwheels to the wreath form. (I only burned myself once! Ha) I glued them right under the part with the brad. 

 

You, again, could make this project with any theme! I am definitely going to make a Halloween one. I have so many cute Halloween papers! As I continue to try to use my stash!!

 

After the entire wreath was assembled I generously splattered on rich gold paint for a little bit of shimmer....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My trusty sidekick Lucky was right there on my desk when I finished my project.... So I snapped a quick photo of him inside my wreath! How fun is he??!! 

That's it for today! Happy July! Happy 4th! I'll be back on Thursday with a cool card with a VERY Americana theme! I can't wait to show you! I hope you'll try to make a paper wreath!

CLICK HERE to see another project I made last year with the same patriotic pinwheels idea!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's wreath! (Affiliate Links Used)