A Blog Called Wanda

Floral bouquets and Embroidery!

Hi everyone! I almost typed Happy Sunday....but it's Monday! It really feels like a Sunday - maybe because my husband is off work for President's Day....or maybe because I made us pancakes for breakfast! LOL. Anyhoo it's a nice gloomy rainy day and Lucky and I are getting caught up in the studio this afternoon. I hope you are doing well and are healthy and happy. Spring is arriving fast here in Sacramento. Our garden is blooming and we are sneezing... It's time for a new season, and some hope that we'll all be out and about soon. Just really been missing my friends lately and our adventures. I am sooooo hoping we can go to church on Easter this year!! 

Today I'm sharing an embroidery project! It's been years (decades) since I have done some hand embroidery! My grandmother taught me how to embroider! (and crochet and cross stitch)... Makes me miss her when I do this type of crafting. She was awesome. And her name was Voila - how perfect is that? So it's been a really long time for me with the embroidery. I came upon this kit one day at Hobby Lobby and thought - well, let's give that a try! And I super duper enjoyed stitching this! I used the kit but I switched out the fabric to some pretty natural colored linen. I love the texture of this fabric - and I had it in my cross stitching stash pile. I like the kind of boho, hipster color palette! If you haven't tried something in a while, or never - I want to encourage you to try something new!!! 

 

I looooove making french knots!!! The texture is so cool!

 

Here's a super close up. That mustard colored rose is CHUNKY! I love it!

 

Here's a photo of it in process. I traced the pattern from the original fabric onto the linen using my light box and a sharpie.

 

 

 

Here is the back - I finished it off with some natural cotton batting. It's very soft so it won't damage the wall if it's hung. At the top is a pretty bow made with celadon colored crinkle ribbon that I dyed. It also has a ribbon loop for hanging. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for the embroidery project! For all my snow soaked friends, I thought I would share a few photos from my yard - to encourage you that Spring is definitely coming. Our flowers are going crazy already here!! A bit of hope for us all!! First up, beautiful hot pink camellias...

 

And soft, delicate daffodils....

 

A bright white camellia - I love the contrast with those dark green leaves! OOOH LA LA.

 

This is a tree I came upon in the parking lot at Michael's last week! The way the light played on it makes the photo look like a painting! 

That's it for today my friends! Florals in stitching and in the garden! I just reopened my Etsy Shop, and this embroidery piece is for sale in my shop. I also have cards and handmade books, etc. If you're so inclined, please pop on by to check it out. Sending you hugs from my craft room. Have a great week! XOXO

Cute Cupid Stitching Project for Valentine's Day!

Hi friends! Just a couple more weeks until Cupid pulls back that arrow and shoots ya! I'm loving making all the Valentine things lately! So many cute ideas and projects to make! This year I'm more into it than I normally am so I've been decorating with hearts all over our house. LOL. Here's hoping maybe we can at least go out for a coffee on Valentine's Day this year. Hope you're having a good week so far! XO

Today I'm sharing a sweet cross stitching project I finished a week or so ago. It was a fun and quick stitch and was easy work. I love how it came out - so adorable and kinda old fashioned and prim. The pattern is called Holiday Hoopla by Brenda Gervais. It's part of a series for all the holidays. The finished piece fits into a 4" embroidery hoop - so it's small. I think I'll put it on my dresser! I finished it off in the hoop, with some bright red ribbon and a Tim Holtz heart charm I had laying around. A simple finish but super cute.

 

The pattern is basically an adorbs cupid surrounded by different color hearts! I loooooove her funny shoes! Ha! The fabric I used is 14 count Aida in Raw. It's a nice color for vintage looking projects. 

 

Here's a close up of the bow and heart detail. I tied the bow around the screw on the top of the embroidery hoop.

 

 

 

 

 

I finished the back with some pretty soft pink felt. I used hot glue to affix the felt to the back of the hoop/fabric.

 

 

Here it is in my hand so you can see the size and scale! 

Thanks for popping by today! This finished project is for sale now in my Etsy Shop! I hope I brought a smile to your face with this cutie cupid! What are you working on right now? I hope you are well and happy and healthy my friends. I'll be back soon with another project! XOXO

Snowman Cross Stitching Project!

Hello lovelies and happy Christmas week! This project I'm sharing today has been delivered to it's recipient so now I can post it! It's a festive winter snowman cross stitching project! I always have big plans for lots of Christmas stitching...but alas...this is the only one that got finished and framed this year! I love how it turned out - cheerful and colorful. Who doesn't love a big ol snowman?! I hope you are doing well and hanging in there. Grace. That's where I'm at. Gotta slow down the anxiety and show grace. Most of all for ourselves. 

This pattern is called Stylin' Snowman and it's by Kogut (Supplies are listed at the end of my post). I stitched on 14 count Aida. I used my own floss colors. They are pretty close to the pattern, but I swapped in lime green instead of the called for yellow. I used some fancy floss for his hat. It's sort of furry!! I bought that floss to use on a Santa beard but used a touch here too. I framed it myself - I'll talk more about that later in my post. You'll see I incorporated some of my card making supplies!

 

Here's a close up of the colors and stitching... I adore his sweet grin and pink cheeks!

 

I dyed my own ribbon with Distress Spray Stains and added shimmer too! I used an old Tim Holtz Token and twine to finish off my pink bow. I love the pink and the aqua of the frame together. Feels a bit vintage and cozy. 

 

I found this frame at Michael's and it was the perfect color to match the stitching! I splattered some snow onto it with a paint brush! To frame my stitching I used two layers of natural cotton quilt batting under the fabric. This makes it 'poof' up a little bit from the frame backing. I like the look of it that way. I use archival tape to hold the stitching fabric around a backing board. It's quite an easy process actually and very rewarding!

 

 

I put him down in the bottom of the frame area so he would look like a family member in a frame! 

 

 

That's it for today! I'm not sure what else I will post before Christmas...we'll all have to wait and see! Pretty sure no more cards, but maybe something else fun. Blessings to you for a great Christmas week! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's project. (Affiliate Links Used).

Fun Bobble Hat Yarn Gnomes!!

Hi there crafty friends!! It's been raining here in Sacramento and I've been nesting and crafting. Oh, and decorating and eating Christmas treats too! LOL. My husband has gone Clark Griswold on me and full on decorated the front of our house and our yard...and the garage! You can probably see our house from space right now! The neighborhood kids love it and it's bringing cheer to our little street and that's all good. I haven't really been stamping a lot lately. But I've been stitching and cooking and making yarn stuffs. Kind of trying to check off some crafty things from my long list. When it's raining I love being in the craft room with Lucky in his bed, just working away. 

I have a fun project to share with you today! These little bobble hat gnomes have been popping up a lot in my Instagram feed so of course I wanted to make some. This would be a fun group project or a family/kids project. Few supplies are needed and they were easy and joyful. I'm going to use mine to tie onto gift packages or boxes. They would also make cute ornaments or something to tie on the top of a bottle of wine for Christmas. I saw one person made them into a garland!!

 

These are my sweet little gnomies!!! I made one with a white 'beard' and one with a grey 'beard!' You could make these any color for any occasion. Aren't they sweet??

 

Here's the blue one in my hand so you can see how big they are....

 

 

Here are my supplies and my supervisor. Everything came from Hobby Lobby or Michaels. The rims for the hats are cut from a toilet paper tube!!

 

You start by making the bobble hat first. Cut a strip from the toilet paper tube. Next, cut several strips of yarn and wrap them around the tube until it's all the way filled up. Maybe 35 strips?? 

 

 

 

Here's the tube all filled with yarn strips. To make the hat, simply pull all the strings through the middle and out the other side.

 

Tie the strings together with another piece of yarn - tightly. Then put in some batting or a couple of cotton balls to fill in the hat form. VOILA! A sweet little hat!! Trim the top of the strings into a tiny hat pom pom. Adorbs.

 

To make the 'beard' for your gnome, make a pom pom from white or gray yarn. I used the yellow size pom pom maker. 

 

I painted his nose with a bit of craft paint. The wood bead is 10mm size. The last step is to use your hot glue gun to glue the hat onto the pom pom and then glue the nose on!! I decided to also add a jingle bell to the top of the hat for a bit of bling!!

 

Sweet gnomies!!

 

 

That's it for today's project! I hope you liked something a bit different than a card, or paper!! Cheers to Christmas crafting! Leave me a comment and tell me what you're working on right now! Hope you are having a blessed and happy week. XOXO

Cross Stitch Vote Pin!

Hi friends!! Happy Humpday!! I'm going to see my crocheting/knitting group tonight AND I'm going to wear a sweater! Yes! It's finally cool here and it's time to get out in the fresh air. I hope you're having a good week so far. I have a cross stitching project to share today. I finished it at 2am on Monday night! I really needed to finish it in time for voting day! SUCH a fun project to make. It has a modern but yet vintage flair to it...

VOTE! Yes, I made a voting pin to wear on my jacket (or bag) for the next few days. The pattern is called Sister Suffragette and it has a large piece and then these small vote buttons (for several countries!). I will stitch the larger piece later, when I have time. I used 18 count Aida to make the piece small -ish. Supplies are linked below if you're a stitcher and want to make this too! 

This will be my voting outfit! (We already voted weeks ago tho).... As you know I am an Election Officer for my county and have worked the last two elections. I decided to sit this one out for several reasons. I feel very strongly about the privilege to vote, and I love my country.

 

I stitched the piece and then turned it into a pin. The idea/directions can be found on the Stitched Modern Blog! I changed it up to make it my own project and you know I had to use some paper in there too! I chose the thread colors from my stash...

 

 

 

Here is my finished stitching...

 

Trimmed stitching, ready for making into a pin... Batting and backing ready...

 

To pull the stitching around into a circle, do a quick stitch around the edge so you can pull it tight...

 

The batting goes next to the stitching, then the paper circle underneath. After I pulled the stitching I used the extra threads to go back and forth to make it more sturdy.

 

I cut several strips of ribbon to wrap around the outside of the pin. I hot glued them to the kraft circle and then hot glued the top onto/over the ribbon. I used a pretty scalloped circle and golden cardstock just under the stitching.

 

You never know if this might end up in an antique store 50 years from now... So I always date my work!! (I love it when I find stitching or postcards that are dated and with the location!)

 

 

 

 

 

And, I've been so enjoying my new makeup table! My husband picked the very last of the hydrangeas the other day for me so I could put them on my table... It's time to prune them down to nothing for winter. So happy to get a few last blooms.

Thanks for popping in today! Any other stitchers out there? I seem to know a lot of paper crafters that also like to cross stitch. I feel like it's making a comeback. So many cute patterns out now!  Remember to get out and vote! Have a great day and I'll see you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used to make today's project (Affiliate links used). If you have any questions - email me! 

Crochet Granny Square Blanket for a Special Baby Boy!

Hi guys!! Today I'm sharing a crochet project!! I made another Granny Square Blanket!! I think it's my favorite thing to crochet. It feels kind of vintage/retro, but also modern at the same time. And I love using multiple colors in my crocheting...so it's the perfect stitch for me. It's relaxing to work the same stitch over and over and see the blanket come together. You can use any kind of yarn and any color palette. And you can make it as small or large as you like. I love a good granny square! 

Today's blanket is for a sweet mama to be, and her baby boy that will be here soon. I'm so happy I finished it before he arrives!! I made it for the super kind and lovely lady that owns Pretty Pink Posh. Paulina is such a sweet person and I know she's going to be the best mom!! So excited for her! I used shades of light blues and greens with soft white perfect for a babe. (and for a baby Seattle Seahawks fan!)  I found the border pattern on Youtube and it's a new one for me - but I really like it. Kind of polished fancy.

The yarn is from Hobby Lobby - I think they have the best baby yarn - in the prettiest colors. I linked all the supplies at the end of my post. I used a 4mm Hook size. The finished blanket is about four feet square. I made pom poms for the corners using that minty green yarn. They are tied on with bows so they can be removed for washing. Here are some pictures!! Take care and have a wonderful day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!! I'll be back soon sharing something crafty!! XOXO