A Blog Called Wanda

Concord & 9th Guest Designer - January 2020 Release - Everyday Purse Dies!

Hi there! Greetings on this beautiful Friday! As you're reading this, I'm in Phoenix at Creativation! Woot! Hop over to my Instagram Stories to see what's going on at the show! Friday is for meetings and classes, but I'll be on the show floor all day Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for popping by to visit my blog today. As you know from last week, I'm one of the guest designers for Concord & 9th for the month of January! Yeah! I love guest designing for them!! The products this month are awesome (per usual!) and I'm having a good time making things to share with you. Today is a real treat!

The products we're featuring today are the Purse Builder Dies and the Everyday Purse Stamp Set. OMG - create perfect little paper purses for gift cards or treats. I love it, and I love creating this to show you. I made a designer bag with greys and black and lots of classic elements...And I made it as a birthday purse, complete with a Starbucks card inside. There are so many ways to customize your purse! Tags, and tassels and so much more. 

 

Here's the little purse in my hand to show you the scale and size. EEEK. Like, I realllly love this. I added a tag and a tassel and a little flower from my stash. Shades of grey paper and I'll tell you how I achieved that faux croc texture with a stamp!

 

Here's a close up! The straps are from grey woodgrain paper. I think it sort of ended up looking like leather!! To make the purse you die cut two sides and glue them together on the taps. REALLY simple. There are dies for the straps and the rings, everything. Very intuitive to assemble.

 

The purse stamp set has sayings that fit onto the tag perfectly. Concord & 9th always thinks of everything!! Okay, so here's my tip on the texture... It's a pineapple stamp!! LOL!! I got out all my C9 stamp sets and looked at them with fresh eyes... What could be a cool texture on this purse?.... See below.

 

It's the Pop Art Pineapple stamp set!! I used black ink on dark gray paper to create this look.

And here's the gift card I put inside! It's perfect for a January birthday! 

 

 

Thanks again for joining me during my Concord & 9th Guest Designer gig! I'll be back two more times, the next two Fridays, with more C9 projects! Have a fantastic weekend everyone! XOXO

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

Pretty Pink Posh 6th Birthday Celebration Blog Hop!

NOTE: I HAVE TWO BLOG POSTS TODAY! PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MY POST FOR THE GREETERY NEW RELEASE! 

Hello friends! Welcome to my stop on the massive three day Pretty Pink Posh Blog Hop! YEAH! Oh my gosh, I have been loving everyone's projects. So fresh and soooo pretty. Today's the last day of the hop. Be sure to go back over to the PPP Blog to see everything! All the new products from the January Release are already available at the Pretty Pink Posh Store. 

The Hop today coincides with the January new release, but it is also a birthday celebration for Pretty Pink Posh! SIX years of crafty goodness from PPP. I couldn't be happier for Paulina and her amazing business. I admire her for following her vision and consistently putting out wonderful, creative and fun products for us to create with. Love you Paulina! XO

I have two cards to share today! A Happy Mail card and a fun Valentine Card. First up is some sweet snails coming by to deliver some snail mail! I used the adorable snails from the Pond Friends Stamp Set along with some of my other fav PPP stamp sets to create a little scene. The finished card is a white A2 card base layered with gingham....

 

As soon as I saw this new stamp set, I love the snails!! I knew I wanted to make a snail mail card! I stamped and die cut them on white cardstock and colored them with Copics. I stamped and die cut some letters and grass for them too. Then I created a stenciled cloud background....

 

The Pretty Pink Posh word bubble dies are perfect for so many cards!! They're the right size for this 'you've got mail' stamp!! All the elements are attached to the card with foam tape.

 

 

 

 

 

Next up is a bright red valentine!!! OMG I'm obsessed with the new Love stamp set! Those cute little elements to color in on the letters! Yes, please! The finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered red cardstock, then vellum, then gingham. (I love layers!)

 

I stamped and die cut out the L O V E letters and colored them with Copics. I die cut a second set of L O V E letters from red cardstock. I offset the white letters over the red die cuts to create a drop shadow effect. 

 

I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder onto red cardstock and snipped it into a banner with my small scissors. I mounted that strip first and then mounted the letters around it.

 

 

 

I added a few sprinkles of Pretty Pink Posh Sequins to finish off the card. Can't wait to send this one!

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT! Pretty Pink Posh will be giving away SIX $50 gift certificates total during the three day celebration! Wahooooo! To enter to win a prize, leave a comment on all the blogs in the hop! More comments = more chances to win! Be sure to visit the Pretty Pink Posh blog and website also! Coupon Code below!!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's cards! (Affiliate Links Used)! Thanks for stopping by today! See you on Friday! XOXO Happy Crafting!

TODAY'S AWESOME BLOG HOP LINEUP!

Channin Pelletier   

Wanda Guess  

Adelle Emery  

Jeanne Jachna 

Sharna Waksmulski 

Melody Rupple  

Yana Smakula 

The Greetery - Love Letters Collection!

Good morning everyone! Today is going to be a great day at A Blog Called Wanda! I have TWO blog posts today! So super excited to share everything that I've been making. We are definitely turning the corner towards Spring and Valentine crafting and I'm loving it! This post is for The Greetery! Yeah! Welcome to day one of the project sharing for The Greetery's new January Release! The release is called Love Letters, and it's truly so gorgeous. Betsy has outdone herself yet again. Beautiful florals, hearts, letters, postage stamps...everything you can imagine when you think of love letters. I had so much creative fun making the cards I'm sharing today!! Full list of our wonderful team members' blogs is at the bottom of this post. 

Products go live in The Greetery shop on Friday, January 17 at 10 am EST! Mark your calendars! I'm predicting you're going to want it allllll!

The products the team is featuring today are: Signed & Sealed stamps + dies, Signed & Sealed With a Kiss stamps + dies, Pretty Postmarks stamps + dies, Windowpane Plaid Background, and Postal Frames die. I tried to use everything because I couldn't stop myself. I made a mixed media collage type card and then a more simple Valentine. I combined textures and mediums.... Let's look!

My first card is pure vintage Valentine! The finished card is an A2 cream cardstock base. I used cream, kraft, black and red as my palette, with that pop of cupid pink on the bow. The music sheet is from a vintage music book I bought at my friends Antique Store.

 

Here's a close up of the beautiful new stamps and dies. OH LA LA!! I stamped the floral sprig from Signed and Sealed With A Kiss and die cut it with the matching die. I tried something different and stamped it in black on cream - with no color. I kinda like it. I splattered my favorite gold watercolor paint on top, then I really liked it! The tag was cut from the Speed Tagging Die... I used the Postage Stamps dies in kraft cardstock as another layer. Pops of metal and red felt....

 

This beautiful bow is from a previous release...and I die cut it from pink patterned paper. The music sheet is at the bottom of the whole stack of elements.

 

One of my favorite tips for cardmakers: combine textures!! Here you see metal, and pearls and felt and paper...all together. It's visually interesting and lets the eye travel and explore. You'll notice that almost all of my cards have a 'hard' element like enamel dots or sequins, metal or rhinestones. I add those things last usually and in my head I think...It's like putting on your earrings before you leave the house! 

 

 

 

I used a scrap of pretty gold paper for this little sprig! (All the supplies are listed at the bottom of this post)! The new release is available on Friday, but some of the other things I used are already in the shop!

 

 

 

A bit ago I posted how I made THIS VINTAGE MINI CLIPBOARD... These Valentine cards are what inspired that project! 

 

This next Valentine is a bit more clean and classic. I used the same supplies and created a pretty greeting complete with a love letter. I used cream cardstock instead of bright white. The front of the card is the largest size of the new Postage Stamp Dies. I cut a card slightly smaller and mounted it to the card. It's slightly smaller than A2 size. 

 

The envelope is from the Signed and Sealed stamp + die set. It's the PERFECT sized envelope and has greetings and an envelope liner! It's creative and innovative. I don't have anything like this in my stash and I know I'll use it a lot!! I stamped and die cut the envelope. Then I used Antique Linen Distress Ink mixed with some water to slightly color the envelope. I splattered some black paint onto the background.

 

I stamped the letter in red and black and die cut it out. I also put the stamp cancel lines onto it with the Antique Linen Ink. A little sparrow from my stash looks so cute with the letter!!

 

Special Delivery just for YOU!!!

 

 

 

Pretty greetings from ME to YOU! Happy Creating my friends! 

Thank you for stopping by today! Please visit THE GREETERY Blog to see more inspiration! Please also remember to leave a comment on everyone's blogs to be entered to win a $50 gift card to The Greetery Store!! Scroll down to see the links to all the blogs for today! Happy Crafting! See you soon. XOXO

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

TODAY'S INSPIRATION!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

Hey Girl!! Concord & 9th Guest Designing for the January release!

Hey Girl, Hey!!! Happy FRIDAY!!! Cheers to a nice weekend ahead! I'm popping in to announce that I am a Guest Designer for Concord & 9th for January! WOOOOT! That means each Friday, for the next four weeks, I'll be sharing a card I made with products from their awesome new January 2020 product release. Lemme tell ya, there's some fun stuff coming! Can't wait to share my projects with you. If you can't wait, everything is available now in the Concord & 9th store! I'm delighted to be a guest designer again because you guys know this is one of my favorite companies.

Today's card is bright and cheerful and colorful! I love crafting with these pretty shades of aqua, pink and lime. So refreshing in the middle of winter, don't you think? This finished card is a 5x5 inch square card. I used the brand new Lovely Lattice Turnabout Stamp to make my own background paper and then used dies and stamps to create my sentiments. All the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post.

 

I started by making my own white card base. Then I layered aqua paper and then my background stamped paper. I layered another aqua and white layer as the top/focal point for my other images. Very graphic and clean. All that vivid color is grounded with some pops of rich black. White embossing on black cardstock is always a good look!!

 

To make the background I used the Turnabout stamp and four shades of inks...so fun and easy. I'm kinda obsessed with Turnabout stamps!! 

 

I had so much fun mixing and matching vellum flowers, hearts and word dies together. Black enamel dots are the right touch for those pretty flowers.

 

 

 

Here's a side view to see the layering...

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a wonderful weekend! Next week I have a lot of projects to share! Yeah! New release blog hop for Pretty Pink Posh, The Greetery New Release, and my second Concord & 9th post! Cannot wait. Until then, take care. XOXO 

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

Mini Music Clipboard Project with Tim Holtz Supplies!

Hi friends!!! Happy Monday!!! I invented my own term for this day... Happy "Back to Normal Life" Day! Hahaha. Holidays are officially over. The tree and the decorations are taken down. (Our house feels naked now)... All the shopping and eating is over... I really don't mind actually. I'm sort of glad to get back into my normal routine and slow down the pace a bit. I like to organize and nest in January and I've already spent a lot of time in the studio in 2020. I have lots of fun things to share in the next two weeks or so. Then I'm off to Phoenix for five days for Creativation. Yippee!! It's all good. I hope your new year is off to a happy start. 

Today's project sort of happened by accident... But sometimes those are the best, right? On Saturday I was gathering supplies from my studio to use to make my projects for the new The Greetery Release and I found a Tim Holtz Mini Clipboard I had bought a while ago... Well, the wheels started turning and then five hours later I made a clipboard, but no cards! Hahaha. Don't worry, I stayed up until midnight making cards - and I can't wait to show them to you. 

My clipboard ended up being a fun mixed media, vintagey, warm, creation. I used vintage sheet music that I bought from my friend's antique store. That book of sheet music gets a lot of use! I wanted my project to be neutral tones so I can add things to it later that have more color. I used loads of Tim Holtz supplies some yummy gold mousse, and my favorite gold paints. Let's take a look!! 

 

Here's a close up of just the top. I used a metal adornment and smudged it with gold mousse with my fingers. It ended up sort of looking bronze. I love it! I glued the charm adornment on with E6000 glue. The sheet music was affixed to the front of the clipboard with Collage Medium (Matte). It is inked, painted, moussed, stenciled, splattered....yum.

 

Here's a close up of the stenciled portion. I only used two ink shades: Vintage Photo and Antique Linen.

 

I used a corner rounder before affixing the sheet music to the clipboard. I used the Collage Medium to affix it to the board and then a layer of Collage Medium on top. Kind of like Mod Podge. Lots of inking around the edges!! The gold you see is mousse that I rubbed on with my fingers. It has such a pretty effect. So much nicer in person. Hard to capture the shimmer in a photo.

 

I used Tim Holtz wallpaper sheets for the back of the clipboard. I looooove that the screws come off to take off the clip so you can decorate your board and put it back on. So easy and looks so polished. This print is so pretty.

 

Supplies are listed out at the bottom of this post!! 

 

I love mini stencils!!!

 

 

 

I only stenciled the lower right corner of the sheet music. 

 

I splattered beautiful rich gold paint over the entire sheet music. MMMMMMM. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Something a little different! Hope you liked it, and hope I've inspired you to try something different too! Happy Crafty New Year! I'll be back soon with lots of fun things. Have a great week everyone! XOXO

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

 

Scrapbook.com January stamp release - Wish You Were Here!

Hi there crafty friends! Happy New Year (again!) If you haven't already, make sure to pop in to my last blog post and enter to win the prize giveaway for Season's Givings!! How is your week/year going so far? I have lots of fun things to share in the next couple of weeks, and then I'm off to Phoenix for Creativation 2020! I didn't go last year, and I really missed it. Looking forward to the trip, to seeing all the new products, and hugging my crafty people! 

Today I'm sharing a card I made with the brand new January stamp release from Scrapbook.com! I combined the new stamps with some of my newer supplies from Doodlebug and made a sweet travel themed thinking of you card! Something fun and cheerful to kick off the year just right! This finished card is an A2 card base in white. Red and aqua are my 'feature' colors... I used Copics to color in the images...

 

These images are the sweeetest! I used two patterned papers for my layers. The top layer is Kraft cardstock that I stamped with Scrapbook.com embossing ink and the new Months and Years stamp set. I stamped only the Summer months because this felt like a Summer card to me with all these bright hues.

 

The heart circle and the sentiment are from two other Scrapbook.com Exclusive stamp sets (Supply links at the bottom of my post)... I love combining elements like this. I wrapped aqua patterned paper around the card layers and then some happy red twine before adding the sentiments. I think this is a great card to give a friend who lives far away!

 

Here are the two new stamp sets for January: great for BUJO, Scrapbook pages, Cards, Journals, planners....

 

I used Embossing Ink onto the kraft cardstock! I love this effect...Subtle change in the shade of the paper. Makes for great backgrounds. Tuck this technique into your crafting toolbox.

 

I added white gel pen accents to the colored images. I also added some glossy hearts to complete the look! 

 

 

 

 

 

Scrapbook.com has TONS of new products right now!!! CLICK HERE to check them all out! I can vouch for everything - only the best quality!

 

Why do I suddenly feel like I need a vacation? LOL! Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you are getting your new year off to a creative start! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you soon! XOXO

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

Season's Givings Blog Hop 2020!! Happy New Year!!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED! 

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

MY WINNER IS NATALIE WINTERSTEIN

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!

MANY BLESSINGS FOR A HAPPY, HEALTHY, CREATIVE 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 SIXTH year doing this great hop! (CLICK HERE TO SEE last year's post!) I want to say a  HUGE THANKS TO LATISHA for organizing this amazing blog hop every year. I am very proud to call her a friend! 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! I love that this event keeps growing every year! If you have a blog - consider joining us next year - it's open to everyone. 

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 2020! Thank you for all of your love and support this past year. It was a hard year for me and you guys always make me smile with your kindness. Bless you all!!

Also, if you are a new visitor to my blog - again, Welcome, and Thanks for coming by! Please check out some of my other blog posts! Also, you can find me on Instagram (@stampcatwg), Facebook (A Blog Called Wanda) or on Pinterest (Wanda Guess). I love sharing via social media!  

PRIZE ALERT! PRIZE ALERT! 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 Sunday, January 5th and notify you via email. What projects are you going to work on in 2020? 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! A pretty journal for the new year, some fancy markers, and three fabulous stamp sets! Good Luck!

 

And, because it's what I do, I'm also sharing a card today! My fun New Year card for 2020! Made with gorgeous supplies from Concord & 9th and Pretty Pink Posh! I used black and silver with some gorgeous teal for this year's project! The finished card is an A2 white card base. I am OBSESSED with this embossing powder and have been using it on everything! Lots of layers, as I like to do....

 

POP FIZZ CLINK!!! How cute is that sentiment?? I used the Tall Type Numbers to spell out #2020 on my card in silver cardstock. In this photo you can see the million layers! I love to layer the same color twice - it adds a bit of pop.

 

The sentiment and the confetti were heat embossed onto the top teal layer. It's soooo pretty in person. Really hard to capture the shimmer in a photo. I used Copic Markers for the balloons and the champagne glasses.

 

 

I used Stickles in the center of the champagne glasses to look like bubble! I added lots of clear gems to look like more bubbles coming out of the top. This seriously was the most fun card to create!

 

 

 

DEEEEEEELICIOUS!! 

 

 

 

SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY CLICK HERE!

Thank you for coming by! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are going to have lots of fun creating together in 2020! I wish you and your family a blessed, happy, healthy, CREATIVE, and successful new year! Love ya! XOXO

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL BLOG HOP LIST!

 

Let's Celebrate! It's Wanda-Palooza!

UPDATED 12-31-19

WINNER - MARY KOBY! 

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES!

I LOVED READING EVERY COMMENT!

Hi crafty friends! Did you have a very Merry and Happy Christmas!? I hope you did! Our holiday was low key and lovely and fun! One of the big churches by our house had a concert series that had as a guest Brian King Joseph! He was one of my very favorite people on America's Got Talent! We were lucky enough to attend the show on Sunday night! It was fantastic. We enjoyed gorgeous services at our own church too and spent quiet time together at home. I can't believe the holiday is over and it's time to get ready for a new year!

I have some big things to celebrate this December and I'm very excited to share my joy with you!! I started stamping in December of 1994 - Twenty Five years ago!  And I started my blog in December of 2009 - Ten years ago! So this month has two huge milestones for me! I'm calling it Wanda-Palooza! What do you think? Please read this entire post!   

It's hard to believe it's been so long since I started stamping! My friend and I started out by buying supplies to make our own Christmas gift tags - because we thought it would be cheaper! (LOL LOL LOL!) Well, here we are, all these years later. And we know it definitely wasn't cheaper! Oh, but what a fun ride this crafting journey has been! I started blogging in 2009 because I wanted to join in the fun with the other creative bloggers I was following. I wanted to make my own contribution to the community. I had no idea where it would all lead. (READ my very first blog post here) I'm super grateful for all the people I've met along the way and all the wonderful opportunities I have been given. I'm so looking forward to whatever is coming next! So far I've written over 1500 Blog Posts! WOW! CLICK here to see the archives! 

I wanted to do something nice for my awesome blog followers. You guys have supported me for years with your love, kindness and encouragement! So, in order to fully celebrate Wanda-Palooza I asked my friends at my favorite companies to help me do the biggest giveaway ever!!! I have an enormous prize package for one of my lucky crafty friends! There are products from 17 different companies included in the big giveaway package!!! Everyone was so generous with what they sent me for the prize. I can't even stand it - it's so amazing! Here's a photo of the prize package! (I'll be adding some more things from my stash too!) 

 

The prizes are from companies that support me and my creativity by sending me products, letting me be an affiliate, asking me to be a designer,  and/or hiring me to do social media or photography. They are THE BEST. I'm going to list out below the links for all the companies that have contributed to the prize package and ask that you visit their social media and their websites to shop, follow, comment, etc. I want to share the love and appreciation! And I need you to help me thank them!

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN THIS AWESOME PRIZE PACKAGE:

After visiting the sponsors, come back here and leave a comment below on this post - and tell me when/how/why you started stamping! I want to know your stamping story! The comments will stay open until midnight PST on Monday December 30th. I will pull one random lucky winner from all the comments and notify the winner on December 31st via email! 

 

SPONSOR LINKS! PLEASE VISIT EVERYONE! THANK YOU!

(Some are affiliate links)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME CELEBRATE MY CREATIVE MILESTONES! And thank you for entering the Wanda-Palooza Giveaway! Good luck! Have an amazing day. XOXO

Merry Christmas 2019 from our home to yours!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2019!

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS

WISHING YOU HAPPINESS AND BLESSINGS

ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY!

Very Merry Stockings!

Hello my dear, sweet, crafty friends! Popping in today with my last two Christmas cards for 2019! Can't believe it's here! Time to wind down things and be in the moment and enjoy these last few days before Christmas. Really get into the meaning of it all and spend time with friends and family. I start to mentally shift this week each year - from hustle and bustle - to quiet and calm. Remembering the reason for the season. Whatever is going to get done is done, and whatever isn't done, well it just isn't going to get done. And that's okay. It took me a long time to admit that but it is okay. I'm a reformed perfectionist as I'm getting older!! I'm posting these fun cards today and then I will see you next week!! Wishing you and yours a very very special Christmas!!

Next week I have a MASSIVE giveaway!!! I am not even kidding!!! There are some special things for me to celebrate, and my favorite companies are helping me out. It's a bit of a secret for now but please stay tuned!! 

My two Christmas cards for today were made with awesome supplies from my dear friends at Concord & 9th! Cheery, fun, colorful and happy - that describes these cards. What a joy to create, too! Hope they make you smile!

This first card is a 5x5 inch square card made from white cardstock. I layered some pretty snowflakes paper and then another white layer. The stockings are the stars of the show on both cards. I'll talk more in detail about each one as we go through the post!

 

The second card is an A2 size Kraft card base. I layered some striped paper from my stash and then a stitched rectangle in white. I loooooove kraft and red together at the holidays!! The stocking and the items inside - and the sentiment - are all from the amazing Stocking Stuffers stamps and dies. 

 

The stamp set comes with two stockings and then three different bunches of cute items to pop out of the top! I instantly thought of 'brown paper packages tied up with string' and so I made my package by paper piecing kraft cardstock!! I colored the items with Copic Markers. I have some photos later on of how I made the stocking!!

 

Everything is layered onto the card with foam squares. A few clear gems and white gel pen accents complete the details. Oh, and a sweet little heart! The sentiment was stamped in black right onto the top layer.

 

Here's a close up of the stocking. I looooove how this came out! I got the idea to use the Ornamentals Dies to create the pattern on the stocking!! And my idea actually worked out! Red and white are so pretty.

 

 

 

In this photo there is the Stocking Stuffers die and the Ornamental die! I die cut two stockings, one white and one red. Then I laid the red stocking over that center piece of the ornament die and cut out the alpine pattern. Then I glued the red stocking on top of the white stocking. Yeah!

 

 

 

 

 

For my second card I used the wonderful Tall Type Alphabet dies (a new favorite thing in my studio) to spell out Very Merry! So I quickly realized I needed more card real estate to make it all fit. That's how this became a square card! LOL. I stamped and die cut the stocking stuffers and colored with Copics. 

 

 

I stamped a few snowflakes onto the top white layer and added gems and snow! (this one kind of looks more like a blizzard than a light dusting of snow! HAHA).  I also stamped some snowflakes onto the stocking (red ink on red cardstock).

 

 

 

The tiny tag and bow come with the die set!!! Perfect!! I drew the heart with a Copic marker.

 

 

Thank you for visiting today! I am sending you hugs and love and many blessings for a great week full of holiday cheer! Thank you for following along with me all year. I truly appreciate you! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today! (Affiliate links used). 

Merry Christmas Deer!!

Hi guys!!!! Oh my gosh! I have the cutest project every to show you today!! Merry Christmas Deer!! EEK. How's your week going? Yesterday was my husband's birthday so we're celebrating everything this month! It's fun to do lots of activities and hang out together. We've been going to craft fairs and movies and the ice rink...all kinds of things. Only two weeks until Christmas now!! And then it's 2020!!! OMG I feel like we were all just celebrating 2000! And freaking out about Y2K! Twenty years already!! I have just a couple more projects to share before the end of the year. I'm kind of winding down here in the studio.

I have something REALLY BIG AND FUN coming the week of Christmas. I am so excited to tell you - but we have to wait a bit longer! It's a celebration of some milestones for me and my crafting journey. 

On to today's project! It's a Christmas Deer! And he's drinking cocoa! And wearing mittens! I literally can't stand the cuteness! The supplies for today's project are all from Lawn Fawn, Concord & 9th and Doodlebug. This card was pure joy to make. You know how you're making something and you find yourself smiling because you love it so much? Yeah, that. The finished card is a kraft A2 card base....

 

I will tell you - yes - this has a lot of pieces! But it was easy to put together!! The main body of the deer is from the Woodland Critters Dies set. You can make a deer, a squirrel, a raccoon, a fox and an owl all from the same die set! So cute! Then I added on the Winter add-ons...The scarf, mittens, ear muffs, cocoa, etc. So this is two die sets. They are called Huggers - because they 'hug' things in their arms. You could put a flat candy, a note, a gift card...whatever you think of! I chose to give my little sweetie a mug to hold.

 

I used cardstock for the body, feet, ears, etc. The scarf and ear muffs were made with patterned paper from my Doodlebug Stash. The sentiment was heat embossed onto a black strip.

 

In this photo you can really see how the arms fold over to hold things. Can you even stand it? I'm already thinking of Valentine projects for these dies! Maybe a little squirrel holding some candies!!??

 

I used a white gel pen to add some dots on her face, and highlights on all the pieces. This is a quick and easy way to 'jazz' up cardstock pieces and die cuts. I added Diamond Stickles to the heart, whip cream and ears.

See the pretty background swirls on the white layer? That's one of my favorite dies from Concord & 9th! I stamped a few snowflakes on that white panel also. 

 

 

 

The details are incredible - see the snowflake pattern on the mittens?? Love.

 

I used small sponge daubers and a few Distress Inks to add shading to the antlers and the face parts.

Thanks for coming by today! I hope your week has been awesome! I'll see you next week with something new! Take care and Happy Merry Wonderful Holidays to you! XOXO

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

Pinkfresh Studio Essentials 3 Release Blog Hop!!

Hey everybody! Happy Monday! And it's a super fun and fabulous Monday because I'm part of a big blog hop! We are hopping today to celebrate the brand new Essentials 3 Release from Pinkfresh Studio! Yeah! LOADS of new essentials dies that will take your card making to the next level! Frames, background dies, tags, stitched shapes...it's all so so good! I am very excited that I get to be one of the crafters to share it with you first. CLICK HERE to shop the Pinkfresh Studio store. The blog hop links are at the bottom of my post... Guess what? Prize information is at the bottom of my post too! Yippeee! Have a blessed and beautiful day my creative friends. 

My first card is an Alpine inspired card. I am obsessed with the adorable skiing animals in the Skiing By stamp set! I used that to inspire me, along with pretty plaid paper. But, the best part of this card is the brand new Ornate Oval Die! I can think of a million uses for this gorgeous die. My finished card is an A2 white card base. I layered black and then plaid papers. I mixed in red and kraft for an overall cozy winter feel. 

 

I die cut the Ornate Oval Frame from woodgrain cardstock from my stash. I splattered some white paint on it for a snow effect. I used the Skiing By stamp set and matching dies to stamp and cut the bunny, squirrel, trees and mountains. LOVE. The mittens are from the Skating By stamp set. It all works together perfectly!

 

I love these tiny mittens!!

 

Here is a close up of that pretty frame die! It cuts like a dream! For the animals' sweaters I cut out red cardstock and then drew snowflakes on the front with a white gel pen. They needed alpine sweaters! LOL.

 

Next up is another Christmas card featuring one of my favorite Pinkfresh Studio stamps of all time - that pretty Christmas Unicorn (Chrismacorn!). I chose the awesome new Radiating Background 2 Die and the perfect background for this card. My finished card is a white A2 card base. The background die fits the A2 size exactly, so I die cut it in gray cardstock and glued it to the front of the card base.

 

I stamped and die cut out the Unicorn and colored her with Copics. I paper pieced silver cardstock for her mane and tail. (Of course, right?). I added a small pink bell and silver cord for her neck. I stamped snowflakes and splattered white paint onto the background piece.

 

The fantastic double layer Classic Holiday Words dies were used for the sentiment. The bottom layer is vellum and the top layer is red cardstock. I glued this piece together and then glued it to the front of the card with liquid glue.

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full Essentials 3 release on the Pinkfresh blog, and on their Instagram feed. 

I will be giving away a $25 gift card HERE on my blog!! The winner will be randomly selected from the blog comments here on my blog! YEAH!!

PLEASE MAKE NOTE: Pinkfresh Studio will pull the winners & post them on Monday, Dec 16th on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. You must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks!! 

FREE US shipping promo - for all orders $100+, you will receive free shipping within the United States without a code. The shipping will be discounted automatically!

THANK YOU for stopping by today! If you're a new visitor from the Blog Hop! Welcome! I hope you come by again! Nice to meet you!

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

 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Reverse Confetti - Beautiful Snowflakes!

Hi guys!! Popping in here today with a news flash about a special release with special sale pricing from Reverse Confetti! Today they are launching this GORGEOUS Snowflakes stamp set with matching dies. I had so much fun working with these beautiful stamps. The snowflakes are the perfect sizing for cards. OOOH LA LA. Wintery goodness right here! I used lots of embossing and a graphic color palette of red, white and silver. Brrrrr! CLICK HERE to go to Reverse Confetti and check out this new set!! 

My finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered A LOT on this card. First, silver glitter paper, then white paper, then vellum! Then I wrapped all of those with a pretty band of striped paper and silver thread! Oh yeah!! Lastly a bold red circle to feature my embossed snowflakes...

 

I used some brand new embossing powder for this project. OMG it's SO beautiful! Silvery, sparkly magic. I heat embossed the snowflakes onto vellum and die cut them with the matching snowflakes dies. I made two snowflakes for the focus of my card. (Supply links are at the bottom of my post)

 

I used red enamel dots for the centers of the snowflakes and also scattered a few others on the card. The sentiment was heat embossed in white embossing powder onto a red flag. The sentiments in this stamp set are perfectly retro and modern at the same time. Pretty font!

 

This silver cord came from Michael's in the notions section. I think it was the perfect touch here!! Cuz, you know, more is MORE!!

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you are getting all your Christmas crafting done! It's that hurry scurry time of year!! I'll be back tomorrow with a fun blog hop and new release from Pinkfresh Studio! See you then! XOXO

 

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card.

(Affiliate Links Used)

Granny Square Blanket Project is done! Yeah!

Hey everyone! Popping in here on this Friday afternoon to share my latest crochet project.... BECAUSE IT'S FINISHED! YEAH!! Go me! This one took me a long time to finish and I was very happy to put the edges on and photograph it last week! It's another Granny Square Blanket - because I totally love Granny Square Blankets! This one is for our home! It's made from the nicest yarn I've ever worked with so far. It's super soft Merino Wool. YUM. (Debbie Bliss Rialto DK). I chose a bunch of colors I liked and it came out so nice! I'm really proud of it - it's the largest thing I've made so far. It's finished at about five feet square. I think I will drape it over a chair in the family room for decoration and color. This is a great project for any level of crocheter. It's just a giant Granny Square. You start like you're making a small square, and just keep adding on rows until it's the size you want. I have carried this thing with me everywhere! I love it already. Here's some photos!! Have a super weekend! XOXO

 

To finish this one I did two rows of single crochets. I thought it really needed a simple border this time...and no pom poms. LOL. I ended on a white row and my two single crochet rows are in that same white color so it looks finished. 

 

 

 

And here are some photos of it along the way... Like I said... It's been a minute since I started this one!! This yarn is so dreamy. Like a cloud. My crochet hook size was a G 4.0.

 

 

 

It was about half way done in this photo.

 

And there's Lucky - creeping in the background! He really wants to get his little mittens on this!!

 

 

Okay friends! Have a wonderful weekend! Be sure to come by on Monday because I'll be sharing two cards as part of the new release blog hop for Pinkfresh Studio and there are some prizes!! Yeah! Take care and I'll see you soon! XOXO

 

Let's be merry and drink cocoa!

Hello friends! December is rolling along, and I'm frantically trying to make all the ideas that are inside my brain! I'm going to run out of time! Eeeeks! This morning I went through all my Christmas bins (there's a lot!) and sorted through things and re-discovered old favorites! Dang I have a lot of stuff! Twenty Five years worth! I also made my tiered tray for Christmas time and it has gnomes in it! So adorable. Are you on team gnome? I love them! It's foggy and dreary, but we are warm in the craft room today. My favorite kind of day.

We have officially switched from Pumpkin Spice Season to Peppermint Season! YESSSSSS. We bought Peppermint Whip Cream at the grocery store the other night and we've been making coffee and enjoying that hint of mint. You really need to try it!! It's the inspiration for today's card.

Yesterday I made a super fun card to share with you! No stamping - just die cuts and ink! Sometimes it's fun to make cards with die cuts only. I used a die set I bought last year. I finally used it! (Does that happen to you?). It's called Hot Chocolate and it's from Elizabeth Crafts! I am loving pink on Christmas cards this year too, so I used pink, red, cream and kraft as my color palette....

 

I started by die cutting out all the pieces to make the mug of cocoa: mug, topping, marshmallows, snowflake, drips, and candy canes. I used small sponge daubers and Distress Inks to ink around all the pieces. I used chunky Stickles on the marshmallows.

 

The snowflake was attached with a small foam dot and then topped with a glitter enamel dot. I splattered the mug with white paint to look a bit snowy...

 

The background is the gorgeous Sweater Weather Cover Plate from Taylored Expressions. It's a favorite. The sentiment die is also from Taylored Expressions!

 

Be Merry!!! Here's a close up of that cover plate die...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Cheers to you! I'm lifting my mug of peppermint cocoa to you! Are you still making Christmas cards? I haven't sent any yet! Yikes, better get on that! This month always goes by too fast. Have a wonderful day. See you soon! XOXO

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

Pretty Felt Mittens! For Ornaments or Gift Tags!

Ho Ho Ho! It's officially December! Yikes! Christmas is coming FAST! Better get your sleigh ready! Hope you're having a beautiful Sunday. We are all snuggled in because it's pouring outside! Hubs just went to get us a pizza and Lucky is fast asleep in his bed. I love this kind of day! Friday I did a little crafting and made some sweet felt mitten ornaments to share with you! (I made ornaments, but these could easily be package tie ons or gift tags or bottle tags, or a garland...whatever you want them to be!) I used beautiful felt from TE along with die cuts and embellishments. SUCH a fun project. Also an easy one to do with kids or beginning crafters! 

I made two ornaments. I wanted to make a bunch more but I simply ran out of time! Yeeks. There is never enough time during this time of year, right? I just popped into the TE Store, and all of the dies I used for this project are ON SALE!! So, if you're interested in anything - don't wait!! Their Black Friday Sale is outstanding. SUPPLY LIST is at the bottom of this post!

Here is the first one! Pink and red together...yum. So here's a funny story. I took these photos in the garden center at Lowe's! LOL. I wanted to take the pictures on a real tree (ours is faux) so imagine me standing there with my camera! Ha. The things we do for a blog post...

 

Here's the second one! Yummy aqua and pale green...with a pretty bow. (That ribbon is sparkly, and it's from Paper Source!)

 

Here are my color selections of felt. I use this gorgeous wool felt from Taylored Expressions because it is SO easy to work with and comes in a million colors. And see how it cut out that intricate die above??? Yeah!!! CLICK HERE to see all the colors.

 

I die cut two mitten dies for each ornament and filled them with a tiny bit of stuffing. I used a sharp needle and embroidery floss to stitch around the outside edges for a homespun look. You could also glue them together. I like the bit of contrasting stitching.

 

I used various die cuts and embellishments to decorate the mittens. Here I used the Evergreens Dies and the Sweater Weather cover plate. I glued them onto the top of the mitten. Then I added a button from my stash.

 

At the top of this mitten, I used thread to attach the bow and the Tim Holtz silver token charm. Jingle! Perfect!

 

 

 

This next mitten is pink and red. At the top I glued on some vintage ribbon I had here in my studio and then glued on a pretty holly cluster from Prima. So sweet!!

 

I die cut a couple of snowflakes and layered them onto the top of the mitten and then added a silver snowflake charm - also from Tim Holtz. For this one I stitched in white thread.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today! Happy DECEMBER! I hope your month is full of fun, delight and merriment!! Welcome Winter!! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's project! (Affiliate Links Used) AND everything is on sale as I'm typing this!! Happy Crafting! 

Snow Sampler Cross Stitch and Framing Project!

Hi everybody! Happy day-after-turkey Day! How are you? How was your holiday? We had a very nice and calm day here at our house. We started decorating the house for Christmas and my husband decorated my car too! YAY! It's full on pedal to the metal Christmas mode now! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Are you going shopping today? We are! In the past we were those crazy people who got up at 3am and went shopping on Black Friday. But now, we are more reasonable and go out later. Mostly because there isn't much 'stuff' that we want! Now we go to enjoy the spirit of the day and listen to music and drink coffee! Cheers to a nice weekend!

On Tuesday I worked on a project most of the day, and now I'm here to share it with you! I finished a cross stitch sampler maybe two weeks ago. I wanted to frame it myself and make it all fancy. I had the idea in my head. We headed out to Hobby Lobby Monday afternoon and picked out all the stuff. And Tuesday I went for it. And, you know what? It came out just like I wanted! I'm so happy with it! It was really fun to create and craft something different. Paint and glue and ribbon...all the good stuff. A LOT of people followed along on my Instagram Stories as I made it - and that was fun too. I saved the stories in a highlight in case you want to go back and watch the videos. 

The pattern is called Snow Sampler and it's from Country Cottage Needleworks. The fabric I used is Aida 14 in the color Raw. I used all the called for colors of DMC floss, except I made the house red instead of brown. This was a nice easy stitch and it came together quickly. All of the framing supplies are from Hobby Lobby. This is an 11x14 size frame.

 

I purposely made the little house red because I knew I wanted a red frame for this piece. The bow and greenery are attached to the top of the frame using a zip tie! I used two layers of quilt batting under the stitching to make it 'puff' out just a little bit.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few in-process photos of this project as I was stitching it!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are all my framing supplies from Hobby Lobby! The paint color is Country Red from Deco Art's Americana Collection. The ribbon is wired. 

 

 

 

I chose this frame specifically because I love that little bit of scroll work and the uneven edge of the outside of the frame.

 

Here's the first layer of paint. I used a sponge brush.

 

 

This was after three coats of paint!

 

I ended up doing FIVE coats of paint before it was finally good and solid!!! I was really surprised at how fast the paint dried. I was able to just keep working without having to let it sit too long.

 

 

Now for that giant bow! I was a little intimidated by this part! I have never made a bow like this before. I ended up following this VIDEO TUTORIAL on how to make a wired ribbon bow. Guess what? First time! It was perfect!! I love this!!

 

I'm pretty proud of this part!!! LOL.

 

I used a little flat snowflake ornament and some greenery sprigs to finish off the decorations.

 

In this photo you can see the finished frame. I used some sandpaper and gently sanded away some of the red paint to make it look a bit more vintage or distressed. I am happy with how this looks!! The frame really looks like it came this way. I can't wait to do more of this kind of project.

 

I used a zip tie to hook the two sprigs together and another zip tie to attach the bow in the center. A long zip tie wrapped around the top of the frame to hold it on. Tip: Never use glass with stitching because it needs to 'breathe' and will get discolored faster under glass. (I learned this while researching for the project!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for popping by my blog today! I have discovered that MANY of you who follow my blog and Instagram are also cross stitchers! I guess I am late to this party! I am totally hooked on stitching now! (Cuz you know I needed another hobby - LOL!) It's so relaxing and pretty, and kind of old fashioned too. I am completely into it. 

There are TONS of crafty Black Friday Sales!! Below are my links to all my favorite shops - including Target and Amazon! I am always SO GRATEFUL when you shop using my links. THANK YOU! Take care until I see you next!! XOXO

Happy Thanksgiving 2019!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2019!

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS!

 

LOVE WANDA, MARK AND LUCKY GUESS!

Yeti or Not - It's Christmastime!

Hi friends! It's Sunday afternoon and I've been relaxing in the studio today! My husband and Lucky are in here too - watching football and hanging out. It's been a perfect day. Also, finally, the weather has turned and it's cold outside and cozy inside. Yay! I haven't posted or crafted in a few days.... Last week I was really sick and didn't leave the house all week. I had a bad reaction to some medication and my entire mouth, tongue, cheeks swelled really big and I had hives on my tongue. OMG it was awful, and so painful, and so depressing. I couldn't eat anything, or talk (two of my favorite things to do)... I couldn't even drink water - it hurt sooooo bad. Thursday I finally started turning the corner and today I feel about 80%. I'm so grateful to feel better. Because yesterday was my college rivalry football game - and I haven't missed one in 38 years!! I was afraid we weren't going to be able to go. But, thankfully, we went and had a fantastic day. Feeling super grateful this afternoon. I hope you've been having a great weekend!! 

So I had some time to craft today without any assignments or rules. I knew exactly what I wanted to make! YETIS!!! LOL. I am in love with this set from Hello Bluebird and have been wanting to ink it up. Well, today was the day! My little Christmas Yeti is soooooo cute. I even gave him a sassy plaid scarf! The finished card is an A2 white card base. All the stamps and dies are from Hello Bluebird. I used Copics to color him and lots of Unicorn Stickles!

 

I used the Snowy Sky Dies and the Glacier Peaks Dies to create the background scene for my Yeti! The top portion of the scene is blue paper that I edged with blue distress ink for a bit of blending. The mountains are grey paper and the peaks are white paper covered in Stickles. I stamped the Yeti and colored him with Copic Markers. His scarf was paper pieced with this paper collection! Isn't he sweet??

 

 

The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto red cardstock! So festive!

 

 

He's holding a little Christmas Tree!

 

 

 

Here's a picture of me at the game yesterday - when we were tailgating! I love my bear ears!! I am a CRAZY school spirit person! Can you tell? LOLZ. 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving week with your friends, family and loved ones! We are going to have a low key holiday and be at home at our house. Rain is coming this week and I can't wait! XOXOXO Take care friends!

 

The Greetery Winter's Song Mini Release - Day Two! More Christmas cards!

Hi there crafty friends! Welcome back! Today is an exciting reveal day for The Greetery! It's day two of the mini release to launch more beautiful Christmas stamps, dies and stencils! The release reveals are two days (yesterday and today_ and then all the goodies will be for sale at The Greetery on Friday November 22 at 10am EST. I am so excited to show you the new products, and I am also super excited to see what all the other designers made to share today! I'll be sharing two more cards today! All Christmas! CLICK HERE to visit the Greetery Website and Blog.

This first card is bright and shiny, like a Christmas ornament!! I used the awesome Nordic Frames Dies, along with the beautiful Winter Sketches stamps and the Fit To Be Tied Dies.... Traditional colors of red and green, with a pop of silver! The finished card is an A2 white card base. Layered with some gingham and woodgrain from my stash...

 

Here's a top down shot of all the layers... I used a bit of twine for the ornament hanger, and stuck it through the hole in the die cut piece. I used a circle die to make an ornament from silver cardstock.

 

I stamped the pretty bough from the Winter Sketches stamp set. So easy to line up and stamp these pretty pieces. I die cut a bow from bright red cardstock and then attached them all together. One pretty glitter enamel dot in the center of the bow to finish off...

 

 

 

This is the second largest size of the Nordic Frames. 

Next up is my final card for this release! I used the new Budding Beauties stamps and dies along with the existing mason jar stamps to create a winter scene! The new stamps are pretty little bouquets for winter. The finished card is an A2 card base from white cardstock. I layered aqua and then just a bit of red gingham...

 

Here's a side view to see the layers. I stamped and die cut out the pretty holly bouquet. Then I used the stamps to stamp more foliage onto the card layer to go behind the die cut piece. So easy to get this nice effect. 

 

 

 

The elements were attached to the card using foam tape. I added the curved sentiment for something different! I like how it frames the florals... 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO visit The Greetery Website and Blog! Remember, all the new items will be available to purchase tomorrow - Friday, November 22nd at 7am EST! Thank you for following along with me as I help introduce the new release! What is your favorite thing from the new release?? I'd love to know! XOXO

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

The Greetery Winter's Song Mini Release!

Hi there crafty friends! How are you? How's your week going so far? I hope all is well with you! Today is an exciting reveal day for The Greetery! This is a mini release to launch more beautiful Christmas stamps, dies and stencils! The release reveals are two days (today and tomorrow) and then all the goodies will be for sale at The Greetery on Friday November 22 at 10am EST. I am so excited to show you the new products, and I am also super excited to see what all the other designers made to share today! I'll be sharing two cards today, and two cards tomorrow. All Christmas! I'm getting a really good start on my Christmas cards. CLICK HERE to visit the Greetery Website and Blog.

The first card to share today is a vintage inspired traditional Christmas card. Made in shades of red, green and gold, and then tons of distress inks and glitter! Yummmmmy. I used the brand new Nordic Frames Dies along with the gorgeous new Pine Blossoms Stamp set. Lots of one layer stamping for the win on this one. I started with an A2 card base in kraft, and then one layer of bright Christmas red. The top layer and the oval are die cut from cream cardstock.

 

Here's a close up of the stamping/floral cluster. This is a layered stamp set that is easy to line up with your Misti or stamp positioner! I covered parts of the images with chunky Rock Candy Distress Glitter.

 

I die cut the Nordic Frames panel and stamped directly onto that die cut. Greens, reds, golds.... I edged everything with brown distress inks and a sponge dauber. The oval was die cut out and also edged with distress inks. I used a hole punch and some twine to attach it to the card front.

 

Here's a side view so you can see the glitter and the layers... I stamped a few snowflakes onto the oval for a bit of a pop of color.

 

And here's a close up of that beautiful Nordic Frames Die!!! This is the largest size of the dies in that set. 

 

The next card was made using the amazing new Speed Tagging Paper and the brand new Inside Out Berry Branch Die. The card base is A2 in kraft cardstock. The top layer is cream cardstock. I tried to think of an innovative way to use the Speed Tagging Paper. IT'S SOOOOO PRETTY! OMG. The paper matches up with the Speed Tagging Die launched last release! I die cut out one of the sheets and then used the tags to make my own patterned paper! I'll explain more...

 

The center focal point of this card is a layered piece with three die cut circles! I layered kraft and cream cardstocks until I had the right size I wanted for the center of the card. I love using metallic paper, vellum and all that good vintagey looking stuff! I piled it all on this card!

 

In this shot you can see how I used the tags to make my background patterned paper. I glued the tags to a piece of cream cardstock. Then I ran it through my die cutting machine using the Crimped Frames Dies. I love how it came out!!

 

I die cut the Inside Out Berry Branch Dies from silver paper and vellum and mixed and matched them with my focal element circle. So many textures and colors going on in this card.

 

I'm loving how pink is an on trend color for Christmas this year too! 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO visit The Greetery Website and Blog! Remember, all the new items will be available to purchase on Friday, November 22nd at 7am EST! Thank you for following along with me as I help introduce the new release! What is your favorite thing from the new release?? I'd love to know! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see two more cards! XOXO

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

Guest Designing with Sunny Studio Stamps! A Frosty Hello!

Hi friends! I'm sharing a happy snowman card today as the guest designer for the Sunny Studios Blog!! I'm always happy and excited to be the guest designer for Sunny Studio! I'm delighted to work with the beautiful and fun stamps and dies from Sunny Studio! The newest release is holiday fabulousness! I am obsessed with the Feeling Frosty snowmen and those Scenic Route Stamps!! I had so much fun creating a card to share with you all today. Let's get started and take a look at my project. I'm sending you a frosty hello!

This card is BIG! It's a 5.25 inch square card. I wanted lots of room to build my snowy scene, so I made my card base into a square from Neenah Cardstock. I used the amazing Very Merry Paper Pack too add that snowy sky to the scene. My layers are: white square card base, lime green cardstock, Snowy Sky patterned paper, Scenic Route die, Stitched oval. (Yes, I love layers!).

 

I stamped and die cut out the three snowmen and the snowy hills/trees. I stamped a second snowy hill/trees and fussy cut out another grouping of trees. I had fun coloring everything with Copic Markers in vivid shades. For accents I added bits of white gel pen and Diamond Stickles. I also stamped some snowflakes onto the top most white layer.

 

 

 

The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto black cardstock. I love that look! Very graphic and clean. To assemble the card I used foam tape and a tape runner. The snowmen are popped off the card with foam tape. A few sparkly clear gems completed the card. 

 

 

 

 

 

How adorable are those snowmen?? I love them! I want to stamp a million of them. Ha! Sunny Studio stamps make me smile. The stamp sets are all perfectly sized and scaled to mix and match, and that makes it so much fun to create with all your stamp sets. I think I might make this card a second time and use tones of red and grey for a more farmhouse look! The possibilities are endless. 

 

Big thanks to Mendi for having me as a guest! I'm very blessed that she always invites me back!

Thanks for popping by today! I hope you'll head over to the Sunny Studio Stamps Blog and leave some love there too! Have a blessed and beautiful day everyone! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's card. (Affiliate links used). 

Ellen Hutson November Release is live now! Sharing two happy cards today!

Heellllooooo frannnds! Happy Sunday! I just finished cleaning the kitchen after making a giant batch of blueberry pancakes and a slab of bacon. My tummy is full and I'm resisting a nap! However, lots of work awaits me in the craft room today! How is your weekend going? I hope you're enjoying a nice Fall weekend. We are having the strangest weather - it's been 80 degrees all the past week! We had to go out and do yard work and water the grass! Too weird! I really just want to wear a sweater and boots tho. 

Today is the launch of the brand new November release from Ellen Hutson! Yahooooo! Everything is already live in the store now for shopping. It's all very happy and bright and fun. Think butterflies, trees, flowers, and blimps! (Yes I said blimp!) I have two cards to share with you to showcase the new stamps and dies from Ellen Hutson and Brandi Kincaid. It was nice to take a break from holiday crafting and make something super colorful!! 

First up is this fun and artsy butterfly card made with the "Be the Change" stamp set. I used grey to ground all the colors and to make it fun. I started with an A2 card base in gray and then layered one more layer of gray die cut with a stitched rectangle die.

 

I used the Pattern Play stamp set to stamp stripes, crosses and flowers onto some bright cardstock and then die cut the cardstock into banners. The cardstock and inks are from The Stamp Market. I used Citrine, Party Pink, Leafy, and Tropic Teal. I gently wrinkled the banners with my fingers and glued them to the card using clear glue. I stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner. 

 

I stamped the large butterfly in black ink onto white paper and die cut it with the matching die. Then I die cut a second butterfly from vellum. I layered these two to add some more texture and interest.

 

I put everything together and then added some clear enamel dots and staples from my Tiny Attacher... I love the mix of soft and hard and color and metal all mixed together.

 

 

 

Next up is a super happy card made the the "Up in the Air" stamp set! OMG that blimp is so adorable! I started with a white A2 card base and used gingham throughout the card in primary colors for a playful feeling.

 

I paper pieced the blimp using red and yellow gingham papers. I stamped and die cut out the blimp, the banner, the clouds and trees. I colored in with my Copic Markers, again in primary shades.

 

There are a few different sayings you can put onto the banner! Isn't that fun??

 

I stamped a few birds flying by, before attaching all the elements to the card.

 

 

That's it for today! Happy Sunday! Thank you very much for popping by today to see the new release from Ellen Hutson. I hope you find something you like! I'm not sure when I'll be posting again... Next week is super super busy for me. I'll be gone almost every day out doing things, meetings, etc... I will try to pop in soon with something crafty. Until then, I'll catch you on Instagram! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's cards. (Affiliate Links Used). Thank you for shopping my links! 

Christmas Recipes Book - Fun Project!

Hi everyone! I have a really fun project to share with you! I made it a while ago, but then the kit went out of stock so I wanted to wait to post it. But, it's finally ready to share! Yipppeeee! Something a bit different than a card. And something cheerful and Christmas-y too! I used supplies from Queen and Company and some other supplies from my stash to create a cute Christmas Recipes Book! It's going to be a gift and I'm so excited about how it came out. 

The book is a fun flip journal sort of book that stands up on its own. It's OLD - like 20 years old - from my stash!!! It's from K and Company! Remember their cool products?? I miss that company. Even though my book is old - you could easily create this project with your Cinch machine - or use any cool book or scrapbook. The book itself is made from kraft paper which I thought was perfect with bright red and green for this project. 

 

I used the AWESOME shaker card kit called Happy Holly Days - from Queen and Company! The paper, the shaker elements, the stamps...all from one kit! The ribbon at the top is from my stash (Stampin' Up I think) and the die cut letters are one of my favorite dies from MFT. (Links are at the end of the post). How freakin' cute are those Gingerbread peeps?? I love them!

 

I started by using glue and papers and laying down the foundation of the project - kind of like how you would start a scrapbook page. I used the pretty green floral, the red, the snowflakes and the pretty stripes! Everything from this paper pad is so good together!

 

The Gingerbread peeps are shakers! ACK! The Happy Holly Days Kit comes with EVERYTHING you need to make these - and so easy. The acetate is already cut to the shape, the foam is also already cut to shape...they take all the hard parts out of making shakers! You do the fun part - add the shaker bits! I put two of them on the front cover and added a heart. They are 'grounded' by a cream circle edged with Distress Ink. 

 

I stamped the sentiment right onto the snowflake paper. The recipes word was die cut from the same paper as the Gingerbread peeps to keep a consistent look to the project. The letters were die cut and glued onto a banner which was then inked with Distress ink. I assembled everything with foam squares and clear glue. Added a few finishing touches - and bam! A gift is finished!

 

This kit comes with everything you see in the photo. 18 steel dies, 6x6 paper pad with 24 double sided sheets of paper, 4x6 stamp set, glitter paper, 7 toppings and 24 foam shakers with acetate covers. You can make so many things with one kit. You can also buy extras of any of the individual pieces. The entire kit is $44.95. Such a great deal. 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today! (Affiliate links used). CLICK HERE to shop directly at Queen and Company to see all their fantastic kits! 

Make it Jolly, SO Jolly!

Hi friends! Happy November! Haven't seen you in a few days! And now I'm a year older! My birthday was this past weekend and the hubs and I took a little getaway to Oregon for a few days. We got home late last night and now I have to go into catch up mode! I am speaking (about Pinterest) at a Wedding Planner Conference next week and I need to get my handouts ready and my presentation finalized. Can't wait for this fun event. November is my second favorite month (after October) and I am going to try to squeeze in every last drop of it!! Hope you are doing great!! 

Today's card features one of the brand new stamp sets released by Scrapbook.com for the month of November. I am so happy to be a Brand Ambassador for Scrapbook.com. They are respectful and professional to me as an artist...they are fun and generous...and they package everything beautifully and ship super fast! And there is always a sale! They have become my go-to company and I'm proud of my relationship with them. I like to spread the word! 

I combined the new Scrapbook.com stamp set (called Make it Jolly) with some of my favorite stamps from Honey Bee Stamps and created a JOLLY card to share! The finished card is a white A2 card base. 

 

I layered some pretty aqua gingham onto my card first, and then a stitched rectangle I die cut from Neenah cardstock. I used the snow stamp from Honey Bee to stamp some snow flurries at the top of the stitched rectangle layer, and set that aside. 

 

Here is a look at the FIVE brand new stamp sets for this month!

 

I used a piece of white cardstock and inked it with two shades of green Distress Inks. Then I used the Honey Bee Stamps Bee Bold dies and die cut the letters to spell J O L L Y. I also splattered some Lawn Fawn Stardust and white ink over the letters. Then, I added Diamond Stickles!

 

I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder onto black cardstock. Next I stamped and die cut out the snowman, bird and accessories. The fence die was cut from some woodgrain cardstock from my stash.

 

I colored the snowman in with Copic Markers. I added white gel pen accents and Diamond Stickles too. The hat has some red Stickles on the band.

That's my JOLLY card for this first week of November! It's time to start Christmas card crafting mode! But I still have a few Fall ideas for Thanksgiving too! I hope you're having a great week and I'll see you soon! XOXO

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

 

Concord & 9th October Guest Designer - Hey Girl!

Hi friends! Happy Friday! Feature Friday that is! Today is #4 of 4 guest designer posts for Concord & 9th for the month of October, featuring their new release. WAHHHH. I'm sad it's over! I always have the best time working with the Concord & 9th crew. Some of my very favoritest people in crafting. So it's my birthday weekend too! Yipppeee! But I'm not going to reveal the BIG number that I'm turning. Hubs and I are maybe going to take a little road trip for a few days. Getaway for both of us during our favorite time of year. I'll let you know! 

My final Concord & 9th card for Feature Friday is featuring the new Daily Wear Bundle. OH MAN...I love these stamp sets. I combined the new Daily Wear set with Winter Wear and Fashion Wear to create my card. All of the sets mix and match to make the cutest gal pals for us to stamp. You'll see! My finished card is a white A2 card base covered in plaid paper....

 

Isn't she adorable!!!! So don't laugh at her hairdo!! I couldn't decide between buns or ponytails...so she has both! (she's a trendsetter LOL). Heck, it's stamping and it should be fun! I stamped my girlie girl onto a white panel and then added her ponytails, and colored her with Copic Markers. I stamped and die cut out the coffee mug and the mittens and colored them with Copic Markers also.

 

I used the AMAZING Swirls dies to die cut the pretty details around her to look like snow... I affixed the mug and mittens onto the card with foam squares. The sentiment was stamped directly onto the top card layer.

 

Hey, girl, hey!!!! Want to go have coffee with me?

 

 

 

Here's a close up of those swirls. Delicious! And I stamped some snowflakes onto the card as well in a pretty aqua.

Thanks for joining me this month for Concord & 9th Feature Fridays!! Yipppeeee! Have an awesome weekend everyone! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today! (Affiliate links used)

Happy Halloween 2019! Trick or Treat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL MY GHOULFRIENDS!

Hope you have a fun and cheerful day today and get lots of treats! This is kind of a strange thing, but I miss going to work at an office job on Halloween! I always loved driving to work on Halloween and seeing all the clowns and witches and minions driving to work... And I usually worked in an office that would decorate cubicles or have a costume contest... And candy! LOL. So Lucky and I will have a peaceful day in the studio today and then wait for trick or treaters later when hubs gets home! Happy Halloween! 

I thought today would be a good day to post my second finished Cross Stitch project! YEAH! I reeeeallllly wanted to finish this one by Halloween so I worked on it all the time and carried it around with me everywhere (just ask my friends LOL). I finished it last week and framed it, and it's been displayed in our family room. I really love how it turned out! It's been a nice change creatively to try something new - I love that feeling of satisfaction at having completed it! I learned from my last post about cross stitch that a lot of you guys do stitching too. Excellent! 

This pattern is called Trick or Treat and it's by The Prairie Schooler. I bought it at my local Needlework Shop, but you can get it on Etsy. I used 14 count Aida in the color Oatmeal. I used a brighter orange than the pattern called for. The frame is from Michaels and I framed it with a bit of quilt batting behind it! 

Happy Halloween! See you soon! XOXO

Catherine Pooler Retro Winter Collection!

Hey guys! I'm here today with a fun post introducing a new paper/stamp/ink collection from Catherine Pooler! The entire collection is called Retro Winter, and the bundle I'm showcasing is called Feelin' Chilly! And guess what? It's about coffeeee stamps! LOL. It's perfect for me! I made two very different cards using the same stamp set and pretty patterned papers... Chilly fun for sure! In this collection, there are also four new ink pad colors. Gotta love it! It's a very interesting color palette - kind of mod and 60's in my opinion. I think Retro Winter is the perfect name for it. The collection is for sale now! Check it out for sure. Let's look at my cards!

First up is a fun coffee card using the chalkboard technique. I haven't made a chalkboard card in quite a while. It was so fun to create! I started with a white A2 card base and layered pretty light blue patterned paper. I also used one strip of patterned paper across the bottom third of the card for some more color. The rest of the card is black cardstock and white embossing.

 

How cool is that sentiment! Love it! The main panel is a stitched rectangle and the sentiment is inside a stitched circle. I stamped the sentiment, the coffee mugs and the little whip creams using white embossing. 

 

The trick to getting a nice chalkboard look is to emboss in white first. Then, take your finger or a small sponge dauber and use some white ink to smear across the sides or wherever you want that look! EASY! And I think it loos so cool. 

 

Here's a peek at the collection!

 

I attached the mugs to the card using foam tape. I also added a few sequins as accents and some white paint splatters.

 

Next up is this fun and snowy card! I used two more of those awesome patterned papers and lots of white layers to create this one. It's an A2 card base, layered with white and then patterned papers.

 

How fun is that paper with scarves and mittens?? Adorable!

 

I stamped snowflakes and sentiment onto the card using the new ink colors.

 

A little bit of Diamond Stickles for the whipped cream!

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, now I want coffee! (A peppermint mocha, don't ya think??!!)

Thanks for coming by today! Happy Halloween week guys! Hope you have fun tomorrow trick or treating! Wouldn't it be fun if we could trick or treat for craft supplies?? LOL!! See you soon! XOXO

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

Hello Bluebird October Release Day! Winter Wonderland of stamps and dies!

Helllllloooooo Friends! Happy Monday! And, what a happy Monday it is! It's time for the October brand new release from our friends at Hello Bluebird Stamps! WAHOOO! I was so excited to be a guest designer again this month with the talented crew of the Hello Bluebird team. Such an honor to help reveal all these new stamps. I've been showing cards the past few days on Facebook and Instagram, but today I can show you all four cards I made. Because today is Release Day! All the stamps and dies will be available tonight at 7pm MST. 

There are SEVEN new must-have Christmas and Winter stamp sets (all seven with coordinating dies) and five stand alone die sets! They are all WINTER MAGIC! There is no way for me to pick a favorite this month! All the adorable critters you could ever want, trees, snowy banks, word dies. It's all so so good. CLICK HERE to check out everything from all the designers on the HB Blog.

I'm going to show you my four cards and give you the details about how I made each one! Let's Go! First up is this warm and sweet card made with the Warm Wishes Die and the Cocoa Party Stamp Set (LOVE). I also used the bird and lights string from the Merry Mice Stamp Set. This is a square card to give me some room for all those critters! I started with a white card base and layered brown paper and then gingham paper. I die cut a stitched circle into another white layer to place on top.

 

I die cut the Warm Wishes Die and used three shades of Distress Inks to make it brown ombre. Then I splattered white paint on it to mimic snow. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder onto black paper. The animals and lights were colored with Copic Markers. I added bits of Diamond Stickles too! To tie the card together and make it warm like cocoa (ha) I used shades of brown Copics on all the animals. This brings the design together through the use of like colors. 

 

Next up is Santa and Mrs. Claus posing for their Christmas portrait! I used the Family Photo Stamp Set with the Bold Holidays Stamps and Dies too. This one is also a square card (I'm into square cards lately!)... I used traditional colors for this card - red and green! I used my favorite gingham paper to paper piece Santa's coat and Mrs. Claus's skirt. 

 

I die cut around the image with a stitched rectangle die. Quick tip - use a gray Copic Marker (C1) to go around your image to make it 'pop' off the page. This tiny bit of a shadow makes a huge difference! I added white gel pen accents. The Joy die cut was cut from red cardstock. I stamped the first part of the sentiment in black directly onto the card base. 

 

My next card is a sweet snowy scene! I used the awesome new Snowy Sky Scene Die along with the O Christmas Tree Stamp set! This is an A2 card base made from white cardstock. I used Distress Inks and foam daubers to ink the sky. Yellow in the center, then blue, then darker blue. Then I stamped and die cut out the tree and the animals and colored them with Copic Markers.

 

This new die comes in three pieces that completely fill the front of an A2 card - the top (sky) and then two separate hills. It's sooo easy to create this scene, but it looks so nice! The animals were affixed to the card with foam tape. The sentiment was stamped onto a tiny banner and attached to the bottom for a clean and simple design.

 

Last up are these cutie patootie penguins! This finished card is an A2 card base. I used the First Snow Stamp set and matching dies. Lots of my favorite color on this one - bright aqua! SO icy and wintery. I layered one layer of aqua paper then a stitched rounded rectangle with a circle cut out of it. 

 

I stamped and die cut the little penguin pals and colored them with Copics. I also die cut a few snowflakes... The sentiment was stamped directly onto the top layer in black ink. I used one little enamel heart in bright pink...

Okay! That's it for today! Thanks for stopping by! Remember the entire new release will be available on Monday, October 28 at 7pm MST! Have fun shopping and creating. Have a great week everyone! XOXO

 

Concord & 9th October Guest Designer - I like you more than coffee!

Hi friends! Happy Friday! Woot! Hope you had an awesome week. I had a lot of fun this week taking over the Pretty Pink Posh Instagram Stories! Did you see my videos? I really enjoyed it. That's the second time I've done that for PPP. I'm thinking of maybe incorporating some weekly videos over on Instagram... Maybe talking about that weeks' projects, or showing a card up close. What do you think? Do you follow along with me or other crafters on Instagram? I'm pretty addicted. And I really love watching IG Stories! Seeing where people live, and their craft rooms, and their pets... Makes me feel closer to them. So, I'm already off on a tangent here. 

As you know, I'm one of the guest designers for Concord & 9th for the month of October! Yeah! My assignment was for four Feature Fridays using their brand new release. Today is week #3 of Feature Friday. I have two cards to share with you today. I'm featuring the awesome new Coffee Blend stamps and dies. OH and the brand new Coffee Blend Turnabout! Let's get to gettin'.

First up is a big square card! It's 5.25 x 5.25 square. I did that in order to feature more of that cool background/turnabout image. I wanted it ALL to show! I started with a kraft card base and then layered my stamped panel (with a strip of my fav gingham) onto the kraft. I used foam tape so it's popped up just a bit.

 

The new Coffee Blend Dies Set features this cool coffee mug, with extra dies to create a heart foam art top! And a little heart too! I die cut the cup out of aqua paper and then ink blended the edges with a sponge and ink pad. If I like you more than coffee, then I like you A LOT. A WHOLE LOT! Hahaha.

 

I stamped the sentiment onto black cardstock with embossing ink, and used white embossing powder. I created this little strips to use as a fun way to decorate the front of the mug.

 

Can we talk about this new Turnabout stamp??? OMG. I LOVE IT! Coooooffffeeeeee! Do you have any Turnabout Stamps? I have six or seven in my collection now. They are super fun to use and you can get so many looks by switching up the colors of the inks and papers. 

 

I used warm colors and then added a pop of aqua (as I'm known to do)... Here is a photo of the stamping in process. Using the MISTI makes it easy!

 

 

 

Next up I made a second coffee card using the Coffee Blend Dies and the new Sew Striped Die. I started with an A2 white card base and layered red gingham. For the top white layer, I used the Sew Striped Die three times to create that dotted background. I love how the red shows through the dots. I used foam tape to mount the white layer over the gingham.

 

I die cut the mug out of red cardstock and then heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder...

 

I tied on a cute little heart onto the handle. I love this as a thank you card! It would be easy to mass produce a lot of these and keep on hand. Maybe in different colors?

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! Now, let's go get some coffee! (My favorite!) I hope you have a fabulous weekend! I will see you back here real soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used). CLICK HERE to shop the new release over at Concord & 9th! Let's get creative!

Taylored Expressions New Product Launch - Masking Stencils!

Hi crafty friends! Thanks for stopping by today! I have something awesome to share with you! A brand new product launch from Taylored Expressions! Wooot! Our creative pal Laurie Willison invented some very cool masking stencils and teamed up with Taylored Expressions to manufacture them and bring them to all the rest of us! A small team of designers is launching them today with fun ideas and projects to show you all about them! I made two cards, and I have lots of step out photos to show you some neat ways to use the new stencils. There are four sets - Circles, Ovals, Rectangles and Squares. You can buy each set individually, or in the package of four all together. The stencils allow you to mask off a (for example) rectangle opening or the rectangle itself. I'll explain more later - but trust me - it's very helpful!! 

My first card is an orange-y Autumn creation made with the new Masking Stencils and another stencil in combination! LOVE IT. It's going to be so easy to get perfect masking and do lots of creative things with our cards.... This finished card is an A2 Kraft Card base. I layered some dark orange cardstock. Then my top layer is cream cardstock.

 

I started by masking off the inside rectangle and using my TE Blender Brushes to color it with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I placed the rectangle over that light tan part and laying down the patterned stencil over it to do the pretty orange border! I like to use Pixie Spray - makes it a nice neat project. After the stenciling was done, I splashed some brown ink on the paper and inked the edges with a sponge.

 

Here's a close up of the layers and stenciling.

 

Next I die cut the gorgeous pumpkin die and used my TE Blender Brushes and Distress Inks to ink it orange, brown and olive green! I used black ink to stamp that beautiful sentiment onto the inked pumpkin. Seriously, how pretty is that?? The stamps and dies come packaged together.

 

I used yet another one of my favorite TE Products to make the sentiment strip. I'll show you some more pictures of that later in my post. This card overall has a warm tone, perfect for a Thanksgiving card.

 

Here's a graphic that shows all four stencils packs! They will be sold in sets of 2 sizes per shape and in squares, rectangles, circles, and ovals. What’s unique about these stencils you might ask!? No more masking with washi tape hoping your lines are straight and your paper doesn’t rip when you remove it. Simply use Pixie Spray or purple tape to adhere the stencil to the back of your cardstock panel - no more ripping! There are two lines etched into each stencil for perfect alignment of an A2 card base or the layer just inside an A2 size (4” x 5.25”). Takes the guesswork out of centering the mask! The stencil mask also includes the solid shape that falls out from the middle allowing you to reverse mask or apply two tones of ink to the project. Now you see how cool this is??

Each Masking Stencil set is $14 per set! Taylor has a promo launch bundle which includes all four shapes for $48 - plus receive a free roll of 1/2" purple tape with the purchase of the bundle from Oct. 22 - Oct. 28! Good deal! 

 

My tools...

 

 

 

 

 

This next step out process photo set will show you what I was trying to write! It's much easier to show you in photos!! 

 

For this next super cheery and sweet card I used the Circle Masking Stencils to create a focal point for my cutie patootie treats! The finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered Cookie Monster cardstock that was embossed with an embossing folder, and then another layer of white paper. 

 

I used yellow distress inks and the masking stencil with my blender brushes to color in this sunny yellow circle! I also splattered some white paint over it. I love how just that little bit of color sets the tone for the project and gives the images something to 'rest' on.

 

I stamped and die cut my images and colored them with Copic Markers. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the card layer. I finished off with a few clear gemstones for some sparkle! Aren't they SWEET!!??

 

 

 

I think he has a brain freeze!! LOL

 

 

 

I want to talk about Simple Strips for a second...The first card in this post was made using them. And, it was my first time using them. I. AM. HOOKED. Like whoa. Such a cool idea - perfectly executed. You can stamp and die cut out ALL THESE SENTIMENTS in one stamp/cut!!! YES!!!

 

I used my Tim Holtz Stamp Platform, on the rubber side, to stamp the big stamp with all the sentiments. I LOVE stamping with red rubber. It's so perfect and crisp every time.

 

 

 

Here's the genius part! Line up the die with the squares that stamped with the stamp... See the circled parts below... Use a bit of washi tape to tape the die to your paper and run it through your machine... AND... Just like that....

 

These all cut at once and are ready to go! Don't you love this?

Okee dokee... I've showed you lots and lots of things today. Hope you've learned something and are inspired to create today! Thanks for popping by! If you have any questions, shoot me an email or leave a comment. I hope you have an absolutely awesome day! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's projects. (Affiliate Links Used).  CLICK HERE to shop the Taylored Expressions store with all these cool stamps and dies and stencils. 

Pumpkin Spice Stitching Project!

Hi crafty people!! How are ya? I'm popping in here on a Sunday to share cross stitch project! Woohoooo! Lately, I have become kind of obsessed with cross stitching! I used to embroider and cross stitch when I was a little girl - with my mom and grandma. But it has been YEARS (like a lot of years) since I picked up a needle and some floss. There are so many fun and fabulous patterns now. I have quickly become entranced by another hobby! LOL. One of the many reasons I love cross stitching is that it's easy to bring it with me everywhere. Just a few supplies in a small case and you're ready to craft anywhere. Today I'm sharing the first one I've actually finished! LOL. It's been delivered to its recipient so now I want to show you! Do you cross stitch?? I am loving it!

Here is my piece, mounted and framed (and bowed!)

 

This adorable pattern is from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. Their stuff is soooooooo cute!!! I used Aida 14 fabric for this one. I finished it with a frame from Hobby Lobby and some fabric from my local quilt store!

 

I used a bit of quilting batting and a easy press board to mat both the gingham and the cross stitch piece. Just looks a little nicer to me with a bit of puff. I used a hot glue gun to attach the pieces together, and then to the frame. Look at that tiny coffee cup!!! So sweet!!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you're having an awesome weekend! Now I'm off to find something to craft! Love ya! See you soon. XOXO

Concord & 9th October Guest Designer - You're my Type!

Hey guys! Happy happy Friday! I'm back with another "Feature Friday" from Concord & 9th! So happy to be one of their guest designers for the Month of October! I have today's project, and then two more Friday's too! Yippeee! Each Friday I'll be showcasing one of the product bundles from their awesome October New Release. I'm loving it...and I can't wait for you to see everything I made! Today I'm featuring the Talk Type Bundle, which has a cool retro typewriter and all kinds of perfect sentiments and interactive parts. In other words, it's amazing. The best thing about Concord & 9th is that everything is always innovative and clever. I love it!! I combined the Talk Type Bundle with one of my other fav products from Concord & 9th - Rainbow Wishes! (If you don't have this set, you need it!) 

Today's card is very clean and graphic. Lots of white space too. I tried this card a few different ways, but ended up really liking it with the only color being the rainbow. The finished card is an A2 sized white card base. One white layer die cut with a stitched die, and then the design elements...

 

 

Here's a side view to show the dimensional parts of the card. I stamped and die cut the typewriter and the paper with hearts. I set those aside and made my rainbow in bright tropical colors. The rainbow sections are glued directly onto the card. The typewriter is attached to the card with foam squares.

 

Before assembling the card, I splashed some black paint over the layer to look like flying ink! Then I stamped the sentiment directly under the rainbow. Tip: Attach your rainbow sections before die cutting the stitched rectangle - for a clean edge!

 

I added a few clear gems because I always want a little sparkle!

 

 

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by my blog today! Always happy to see you here! Welcome new subscribers! Thanks for following along with me - let's have some fun! Hope everyone has a great weekend planned! XOXO See you soon!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's project. (Affiliate Links Used). Have fun creating! CLICK HERE to go directly to the Concord & 9th Store!

Pretty Pink Posh October New Release Blog Hop! Christmas Poinsettias two ways!

Wahooooooo, it's blog hop time! And, more importantly, it's New Release time for Pretty Pink Posh! We are celebrating with a two day blog hop and today is the first day! So glad to see you here. The entire new release is LIVE now in the Pretty Pink Posh Store. The new release is all about Winter and Winter holidays. Pretty stamps, dies, stencils, and sequins for all your creative desires! More details, supplies, prize information, and the blog hop list are all at the bottom of my post. There are so many wonderful designers in our hop. As I'm typing this, I am curiously and anxiously awaiting the time until I can go see all the projects too! Hope you have a wonderful day, and enjoy the hop! CLICK HERE to shop the new release! 

I am sharing two cards today, made with the same supplies. One is a bit more complicated and one is more simple. Just wanted to show you two different ways to work with the same products. I am featuring the amazingly gorgeous new Poinsettia Dies. OOOH LA LA.

This first card is a 5x5 inch square made from kraft cardstock. I layered some gold glitter paper as my first layer, and then my focal/top layer. I love making square cards! I usually just use an A7 envelope (5x7 inches) for my square cards because then it's not more postage. Why do square envelopes cost more? LOL.

 

Here's a close up shot of my sentiment circle. This top layer is cream, red, and more kraft cardstock fitted together into this pattern. I used the gorgeous new Snowflake Stencil to make the cream part of the card. And here you can see that I stenciled one more matching snowflake on top of the sentiment. Just adds one more fun detail I think.

 

Here is a close up of the stenciled part of the card. I used Antique Linen Distress Ink to make subtle, vintage inspired snowflakes paper! Then I splattered "snow" onto it! I'm very happy with how this came out! I am becoming more of a stenciler for sure! I also inked all around the edges of this part of the card - also using Antique Linen Distress Ink.

 

I used the innovative Stacked Edges Dies to make that perfect red swoosh over the bottom 1/3 of the card... Then, of course, that beautiful poinsettia is the star of the show! Oh, I had so much fun making this!

 

 

 

Here's a close up of just the poinsettia flower. It's a layering die set, and there are three different sizes of flower shapes that you layer on top of each other. There are also two different leaves dies, and two dies for the center. I went with a watercolor effect - and also splattered ink and snow over all the pieces. It just looks wintery and icy to me this way! I wanted to make my favorite color of poinsettia - that deep rose pink.... I love those!!! So I mixed and matched watercolors until I got just the right shade.

 

 

 

Some of my supplies...

 

These next few photos are some step-out photos of my process. I hope you find this helpful!! I started with a giant slab of watercolor paper. I freehand painted big swaths of pink/red and green onto it - no rhyme or reason. I let that part dry, and then splattered gold paint and white paint - and then let it dry most of the way by air. Then, a quick shot with my heat tool.

 

Once the watercolor paper was dry, I die cut out the flowers and leaves. I had enough paper to make two big poinsettias. I layered them together using liquid glue so they would stay together nicely. 

 

And here's my stenciling process... I really like to use cream cardstock instead of bright white when I'm creating a vintage feeling card. And, I love red, cream and kraft for Christmas!

So I originally thought two poinsettia flowers would fit on that big square card, but they didn't. LOLZ. So that's how we arrived at this second version! I used the leftover stenciled piece to form a border onto an A2 Kraft card base. Then I mounted the flower onto it. Done. Boom. Oh, yeah, plus some white paint splatters. (Gotta have snow, right?)

 

 

 

For this card I stamped the sentiment directly onto the card.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I'm so happy to have you here!! This is a wonderful new release from Pretty Pink Posh and I know you're going to find something you love and want to create with!

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT! There are 4 $25 gift certificates up for grabs (two winners each day). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 10/22/2019. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog!! Good Luck!!

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

BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!

Pretty Pink Posh blog   

Jennifer McGuire

Gemma C.

Angelica Conrad   

Adelle Emery

Lucia Cao

Suzy Plantamura

Debbie Olson  

Yoonsun Hur   

Jeanne Jachna  

Eloise Blue   

Wanda Guess    

Kelly Latevola   

Happy Autumn Card with Prima Autumn Sunset Collection!

Hey there, my little foxy friends! Happy Autumn! I'm thankful for you! Happy weekend! I am here today to share a card I made with the GORGEOUS new Autumn Sunset Collection from Prima! Oh. My. Goodness. It's soooo beautiful! I bought two paper packs...and ALLLL the embellishments! I couldn't resist it. Seriously. I made this card, and some tags for birthday presents and I'm sure I'll be using it again this Fall and next. I like to make cards with lots of layers and textures and this card fits the bill...

I started with an A2 card base made from cream cardstock. Then I went to town adding paper, twine, gems and acorns. Let's look!

 

On top of the cream card base, I layered some woodgrain paper from my stash, and then that pretty brown and cream gingham from the paper pad. Then I layered a strip across the bottom of the card horizontally. After that it was a matter of picking out stickers and bits and bobs from the papers. I hand cut out the butterflies and that tiny bit of music. Everything is edged with Distress Ink and a sponge.

 

For the sentiment, I die cut a stitched circle and edged it with ink. I stamped the sentiment in brown ink (that stamp is a VERY old wood mounted stamp)... I added some twine and pretty gold acorn from the collection.

 

Finally I added a few of the pretty checkerboard cut gems to add some sparkle.

 

 

 

 

 

The elements were affixed to the card with foam tape and clear glue as needed. Overall, it's a pretty, muted color palette and I just love how it came out! Classy and pretty, with a nice message.

Thanks for stopping by today, friends! Happy Autumn (again! LOL). Wishing you a blessed, happy and creative day! I'll see you soon! XOXO

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

Concord & 9th October Release! I'm a Guest Designer!

Holla! Hey! Hello! Happy Friday! I'm super excited to say that I am one of the guest designers for the month of October for Concord & 9th! I'll be sharing projects every Friday for the next four weeks, using new stamps and dies from the October New Release. YIPPEEEE! I've known for a while, and now I'm excited to share the news and show you some projects. CLICK HERE to visit the Concord & 9th Blog!

I hope you had a good week - and are looking forward to a fun weekend too. My week was busy and full of activities and creating. Some of you have emailed or messaged me about this crazy power outage situation here in Northern California. UGH. So I live in Sacramento County. When you look on the big power outage map, my county is the only one that has power. We are not on PG&E grids for electricity. We have SMUD. So I've been good here. About five miles east - all my foothill friends have zero power. It's the strangest thing I can remember happening around here. Thank you for checking on me tho. Now, back to cards! 

The first product bundle I'm showcasing is the Annuals Bundle. A beautiful stamp set, matching dies, and calendar pages. You can create your own beautiful calendars with it (there are monthly words), make cards, and use it in your bullet journals and scrapbooking. Super versatile! I chose to make a card with the gorgeous florals and the pretty word dies. I used a graphic color palette of black, white, grey and pops of bright pink. 

 

 

 

My finished card is A2 sized with a white card base. I layered dark grey cardstock, and then vellum. The top layer is white cardstock that I stamped with the graphic image from the stamp set. Basically making my own patterned paper! I love doing that!

 

I stamped and die cut the floral image and colored it with my Copic markers. I die cut the words dies from pink and black cardstock. The friend word was stamped in Versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I love this look of sharp contrast.

 

The center rectangle part of the card is mounted onto the card with foam tape. Then the floral is mounted on with foam tape also. I added a few sequins for just a bit of sparkle!

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting today! If you're new to my blog and came over from the Concord & 9th Blog - welcome! Happy to meet you! Happy crafting! I'll see you on Sunday or Monday - not sure when I'll get posting! LOL. 

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see they supply list for today's card. (Affiliate Links Used). CLICK HERE to shop the new release over on the Concord & 9th website!

A little something to perk you up! Autumn Spice Coffee!

Hey guys!! How is Wednesday already?? This week is flying by! It's my favorite month, and it always goes by too quickly! I'm trying to get out and do all the Fall things and enjoy the season! I finished my first Fall Cross Stitch project on Monday, and then yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby to brainstorm ideas to finish/frame it off. Man, was I overwhelmed... I felt like I fell down a black hole of craftiness. I didn't know if it was Halloween, or Christmas or what!! LOL! I found a cute little rustic frame thingee and I think that's going to work out! I'll post it once it's done. There's a photo on Instagram of my stitching, if you can't wait! I love how it looks. I have two more Halloween stitching projects I want to finish and then I have a really lovely Winter one to start on. Anyhoooo, I got off track here. 

I have a fun Fall/Coffee card to share today made with stamps and dies from Honey Bee Stamps! It's a card with a gift card inside! The finished card fits into an A2 envelope - for size reference. The die is one long piece that folds in the middle, and it fits on an 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock. I used cream as my base and then added Fall colors and a cute pumpkin!

 

Here's the card folded up and decorated. I used woodgrain paper with the cozy dies and then more gingham and woodgrain for the lid. These are all just scraps from my stash. I made an olive green circle for the center part. The cup, the lid, the cozy are all included with the die set. It also has a frame piece. The pumpkin is a set of five dies! That's why it looks so great! You glue it together and it makes the perfect wittle pumpkin! I used orange paper and then edged with orange distress ink.

 

I stamped and die cut the leaves and colored them with Copic Markers. I stamped the sentiment in Cocoa Memento Ink onto the card just under the cozy. I splattered everything with Vintage Photo Distress Ink mixed with water. 

 

 

 

Everything is attached to the cozy. It just slides right off the card in order to open it.

 

Here is the card opened up. I mounted a Starbucks Card inside as a little gift! It fits perfectly! (Fun fact - at my house I have about 500 unused Starbucks cards from all over the world! I've been collecting them for over ten years. My friends send them to me when they go places, and my husband and I collect them too. I have them in a cool binder! Then, when I need a specific one, I just get it out and load it!) I thought this was the perfect gift card for this project!

 

Here is the cozy piece. It's two die cut pieces glued together... SO EASY!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I hope I gave you a little something to perk you up! I love coffee, and coffee themed things...So this was the perfect project for me to make this time of year. I hope you have an awesome rest of the week. I'll be back on Friday with some FUN news! Yippeeeee! See you then! XOXO  

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies I used for this project. (Affiliate Links Used). As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for shopping my affiliate links. Every bit matters to me! I've added new shops to my affiliates (Like Target and Paper Smooches, so pop over to my links if you have time.) THANK YOU!

 

Happy World Card Making Day 2019! Hey Ghoulfriend!

Hello everyone! WOWZA, first of all, thanks for all the lovely comments on my last few blog posts! You sure know how to make a girl feel good! I really enjoyed sharing the new Greetery release with you!! Thank you!! Today is WORLD CARD MAKING DAY! Yipppeeee! I've been saving a super fun card to share today. I love it so much and wanted to post it on WCMD! Are you celebrating with friends today, or at your local store? There are so many activities and sales going on. It's a fun celebration for sure. What better thing to celebrate than card making! I hope you have a good day and that you get in some creative time! 

My card today uses loads of new supplies from Lawn Fawn. The finished card is a five inch square because I thought that big round pumpkin looked better on a square! Hee hee. Lots of layers on this one too... White card, then stripes, then black, then that gorgeous background die... I'll give you all the details, but let's look! Hey Ghoulfriends!!

 

I started this card by making my own card base from Neenah Solar White cardstock. I layered some Halloween Stripes (from my LSS) and then black. The top white layer was made with one of my all time favorite supplies from Lawn Fawn - that background die....swoon. It's perfect for every card! I set that all aside and set to work on the images.

 

I stamped the two little ghosties and the word bubble in black ink, and die cut them with the matching dies. I did a tiny bit of Copic Coloring to give them some color... The sentiment was heat embossed with white ink onto black cardstock. I set all those pieces aside...

 

BOO!

 

The pumpkin, stem, face, and leaves are all from two brand new stitched pumpkin die sets. I mixed and matched both sets to make the pieces. I used Distress inks to ink all the edges of everything, and the center of the pumpkin. I used my white gel pen to add accents over the face pieces.

 

Before I attached the pumpkin to the card, I used a bit of twine around the stem. I added glitter enamel dots to the leaves and gently folded the leaves up with my fingers. 

 

Lawn Fawn has a new product out called Liquid Stardust. OOOH LA LA!! It's like pure liquid silver. So gorgeous and sparkly! I put some onto a stamping block and then used a small paint brush to splatter it all over the pumpkin and leaves. It's hard to see in the photo, but trust me... IT'S AMAZING!! I want to put it on everything!!

 

 

 

I turned the card towards the light to try to capture that shimmer from the Stardust. Oh man, that's pretty! The elements were all attached to the card using foam squares in different shapes and sizes. I used liquid glue to glue the two pieces of the pumpkin together. 

Thank you for coming by to celebrate part of your World Card Making Day with me!! SO happy to see you and share this card today. CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's card. (Affiliate Links Used). Let me know in the comments what you're doing today! XOXO

 

I started to write a separate post for you about all the different sales going on for WCMD, but then I soon discovered, practically every crafty site is having a sale! It's amazing the deals!! So, here's my list of places I shop - easy to click on links of your favorite store and see what's up today. Enjoy! Happy crafting! Thank you to everyone who uses my affiliate links - I am very grateful! 

 

The Greetery Winter 2019 Release! Day four - Candy Pops and Christmas Tags!

Hi friends! It's a very exciting day again today! The Greetery Winter 2019 Release will be on sale tomorrow!! Today is the last day of product reveals!! And the entire new release goes on sale Friday, October 4th at 7am EST. WOOHOOOOO! Have you been following along all week with me and the other designers? I have been in awe of the amazing projects everyone has created! Wowza!! So happy to have been part of the celebrations! CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Website and blog.

Today I have two more projects! One card, and one set of Christmas packaging tags. The new products I'm using today are the Candy Pops Collection and the Speed Tagging Collection! Both are again, so innovative and creative...Can't wait to show you!

First up is this cheerful and vivid card made in green and red for Christmas. I used the Candy Pops Dies to make a shaker card! These dies can be used like this, or with clear bubbles to enclose candies and other treats. The finished card is a white A2 card base...

 

Here's a close up of the different dies! The stamp set has curved sentiments to fit around the edge!! I die cut the main portion from white cardstock and then used vellum for the ends, to look like candy wrappers. I used bright red for the peppermint center!! It's so clean and graphic.

 

 

 

 

 

This was super easy to assembly and I love how happy it is! I buy my shaker card bits and baubles here. Can you see the tiny snowflakes?? And I always love sparkly things inside my shaker cards. 

 

Next up is a set of vintage inspired Christmas Tags made with the Speed Tagging stamp and die combo! OMG this is soooo clever! I took lots of process photos to show you how easy this is!! I made ALL OF THESE TAGS at one time! Yes! I used Cream cardstock and lots of distress inking and vintage colors.... I really like how they came out.

 

The stamp set has tons of sentiments and also extras like bows, and bells and leaves... You can dress up your tags or leave them clean and simple. Mine are somewhere in between! These are so great to have on hand, or to give as a little gift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so here's the deal! It's genius. The stamp is a red rubber stamp, that stamps so nice and clean! I usually use my MISTI, but for red rubber I always prefer my Tim Holtz Stamping Platform and that's what I used for this project. ONE stamp makes SEVEN tags at once!

 

 

 

Magic! Seven tags - boom - done!

 

See in the photo how there are dots on the corners of the stamp??? Those dots line up precisely with the die!! So you die cut ONE time! And all seven tags pop out. 

 

PERFECTION!!!!! I love this so much.

 

I stamped in red ink to start, then gold, brown and olive tones to make it seem vintage. I splattered some Vintage Photo Distress Ink on them too. I think these will be so pretty with some kraft packages and red ribbons...

 

 

CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Website and blog!! Remember, all the new items will be available to purchase tomorrow - Friday, October 4th at 7am EST! Thank you for following along with me all week as I helped introduce the new toys!! What is your favorite thing from the new release?? I'd love to know! I will be back this weekend with another Halloween Card - and to celebrate World Card Making Day! Yippeeee! If you're not already following along on my Facebook Page - please do! I post sales and other fun stuff there! XOXO

PRIZE ALERT!!!! PRIZE ALERT!!!! 

• Comment here on my blog for one entry (one comment per person)
• Comment on all the Inspiration Team Members’ blogs for more entries (one comment per person, per blog)
• Comments close at Midnight EDT on Thursday, October 3
• Winners will be posted at 7am ET on Friday, October 4 here on the blog

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Wanda Guess

Kelly Lunceford

Lizzie Jones

The Greetery Winter 2019 Release! Day three - With Love at Christmas!

Welcome back to more release reveals from The Greetery!  The Greetery Winter 2019 Release is in full swing! All the reveals happen until October 3rd! And then the entire new release goes on sale Friday, October 4th at 7am EST. WOOHOOOOO! I'll be posting projects for the next two days to showcase some of the new stamps and dies. It's going to be FUN, that's for sure! CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Website and blog.

Today my card and envelopes feature the new stamp set called With Love at Christmas (SO pretty) and the new Addressed Die and the Flappable Stencils. LOTS to show you today. My projects are classic Christmas in traditional colors....

 

The finished card is an A2 card base made from deep red cardstock. I used watercolor paper and made two layers of white/cream. I used Distress Inks to make the image and also to ink the edges of the layers. This stamp set is a GORGEOUS Christmas floral that is made with several stamps. They are easy to line up and the results are perfect. To make my floral spray, I stamped with Distress Inks. Then I used clean water and a small brush to move the color around, looking like I watercolored it!!! I splattered white ink to look like snow... The sentiment was gold embossed onto black paper.

 

The Greetery now sells envelopes! This new die goes on the front of envelopes and it's soooo nice. I simply love the tiny scalloped edge. Cuts like a dream. I die cut it from watercolor paper to look luxe. I stamped a second floral spray to use on the envelope. Tip: When you make pretty envelopes like this, mail it in a clear plastic envelope!! That way it stays nice. Be sure to put the postage on the outside! 

 

This release has brand new "Flappable" Stencils that perfectly stencil a design on the back envelope flap! It's such a pretty effect... Sure to impress all your friends when they receive your cards!

 

 

CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Website and blog!! Remember, all the new items will be available to purchase on Friday, October 4th at 7am EST! More fun tomorrow with more new products! See you then! XOXO

PRIZE ALERT!!!! PRIZE ALERT!!!! 

• Comment here on my blog for one entry (one comment per person)
• Comment on all the Inspiration Team Members’ blogs for more entries (one comment per person, per blog)
• Comments close at Midnight EDT on Thursday, October 3
• Winners will be posted at 7am ET on Friday, October 4 here on the blog

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Kelly Lunceford

Wanda Guess

Norine Borys

The Greetery Winter 2019 Release! Day two - Fun Vans!

Hey hey hey! It's an exciting day today! The Greetery Winter 2019 Release is in full swing! All the reveals happen until October 3rd! And then the entire new release goes on sale Friday, October 4th at 7am EST. WOOHOOOOO! I know you're going to love it. Betsy's Christmas collections are always so so good. And this one is no different! I'll be posting projects for the next three days to showcase some of the new stamps and dies. It's going to be FUN, that's for sure! CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Website and blog.

Today's projects I'm sharing feature VW vans! Yes! How cool is that theme? I love it! My uncle had a VW van when I was little, and man, I thought he was the coolest person EVER. Ha! It was the 60's! LOL. I have a card and a fun 3D project here today! XO

This finished card is an A2 card base made from my favorite lime green paper! One layer of white paper and then those adorable vans, with Christmas trees on top. These little vans are racing too and fro, trying to get all the errands done! I can relate. The stamp set is called Care-A-Van! Love it!

 

I used the little snowflakes stamp to stamp random flakes around the white layer, and then stamped that perfect sentiment directly onto the card as well. 

 

The van is made up of several stamps that you layer together. I used my MISTI to get them all perfectly lined up. Then there are cool add ons! I love this sweet little garland, and of course, the tree!

 

I made three identical vans for this card. Then I cut them with my trimmer to go off the card front! It was hard to cut them!! You'll see how I used the other parts in a minute...

 

I attached the vans to the card using foam tape. I used the front of the one van to put on the front of the envelope! It matches perfectly!! FUN!

 

Next up is the brilliant 3D Happy Hippie Van! Adorbs! You assemble it from your own choices of cardstock and the back opens up to put in a gift or treats! EEP. This was so much fun to make. Here's the front!

 

And here's the back! I made a little license plate that says craft! LOL. I made the bumpers from silver glittery paper and used light grey paper for the windows. You can truly customize this a million different ways. I kept mine simple so you could see what it looks like!

 

Pop the hatch!!! LOL. Don't you love this? Lots of things would fit in there!

 

 

 

Here it is in my hand to show you the scale. 

CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Website and blog!! CLICK HERE to see my supplies for today's project. Remember, all the new items will be available to purchase on Friday, October 4th at 7am EST! More fun tomorrow with more new products! See you then! XOXO

PRIZE ALERT!!!! PRIZE ALERT!!!! 

• Comment here on my blog for one entry (one comment per person)
• Comment on all the Inspiration Team Members’ blogs for more entries (one comment per person, per blog)
• Comments close at Midnight EDT on Thursday, October 3
• Winners will be posted at 7am ET on Friday, October 4 here on the blog

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

Friendship is sharing and caring!

Hey hey hey! Happy weekend! I'm happier than a squirrel with a nut! It's FALLLLLL here finally! I wore a long sleeve shirt! Football is happening! So excited! Today's card is the final card of my guest designer gig with Hello Bluebird Stamps for their September new release. I REALLY really REALLY love their stamps! It was a fun month creating with all the new images and dies. I hope you've enjoyed my projects half as much as I've enjoyed sharing with you all. BIG thanks to KD and the crew at Hello Bluebird for inviting me to join along.

Today's card features two more new items: Oh Nuts! Stamp Set and Fall Leaves Die Set. Cutie patootie little squirrels, oak leaves, acorns, and the most adorable sentiments. EEP. Love. This finished card is a white A2 card base, layered with Olive cardstock and then Kraft cardstock. I kept it clean and sweet and simple. I chose Copics as my coloring medium. 

 

That little guy is so happy! He's carrying a little acorn for his friend as a gift! I stamped and die cut out the squirrel and the oak branch. I also die cut one of the oak leaves from the new die set. I stamped the sentiment onto a white banner.

 

The leaves dies come in two pieces - so you get the veins. It's soooo pretty in person! I used a bit of distress ink to ink the edges and then a tiny bit of white paint splattered over it...

 

 

 

I used foam tape to attach all the pieces to the card...and added white gel pen accents. 

Thanks very much for popping in today!! CLICK HERE to shop Hello Bluebird and give them some love! I'll be back on Tuesday! Have a blessed and happy (and creative) day! XOXO

Sweet Treats for Fall!!

Howdy! Hope you're having an awesome week! I'm doing well and crafting up a storm. So many things I want to make and share this time of year. I'm spending a lot of time in my studio. Another round of organizing... It's getting hard core now! LOL. I feel like you have to do it a few times to get rid of everything. Right now it feels so good in here! I had to find a place to put my small (but growing) yarn stash, and my stitching... I'm tired of having old things that I never use. It's brutal to get rid of it, but there's no longer a choice. I must admit, I feel more creative now that I can 'breathe' in here! And now there's room for a friend or two to come over also. Tomorrow our heat wave will break and it's going to be in the 70's. YES! Bring on all the Fall things. I'm ready for sweaters! Haha. I hope you're doing great, and getting crafty!

Today's project was in my brain for a long time! I finally bought all the supplies and I had a blast making these adorable sweet treats! They came together easily and it was a fun process too. I love that they are totally customizable... So I'm sure I'll be making more for Valentine's Day! (But let's not get ahead of ourselves)... All the supplies to build the structure of the treats are from My Favorite Things. I did lots of photos to show you how they work! Let's get started! Sweet Fall Treats!

 

Aren't they cute??? I'm so excited to finally get this idea out of my brain, and onto the craft table! Yippeeee! The paper pad I used is from Doodlebug and it's called Flea Market. Unfortunately it's no longer in stock anywhere. It's a few years old. When it came out, I bought five pads!! LOLZ. I knew I would love it forever. Hahaha. Yes, I'm a paper hoarder! The brown ribbon is from Papertrey Ink. All the other supplies are listed at the bottom of the post in the supply links.

 

Here's a close up of one of the treats! It's two tags glued back to back, with the Nugget holder sandwiched in the center. I used Almond Hershey's Nuggets since the wrappers are gold and it looked nice with the warm Fall colors. The Tag die is a separate die that you can use with all kinds of projects. Then you add on the Nugget Label Dies that have the frame and the opening, the wrapper part and the back part. It's really genius.

 

The Sweet Celebrations stamp set matches with the treats. I love this stamp for the back! It's definitely an emergency when chocolate is involved! The recipient can pop open the back without destroying the entire thing. I love it! 

 

 

 

These next shots show the process.... First die cut tags. Two for each treat. You can get six tags from one sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper. I used Lawn Fawn Kraft Cardstock.

 

Use the included dies to die cut the opening in the top tag and the perforated part on the bottom tag. It's so easy!

 

This is what the Nugget Pouches look like. They perfectly fit three Nuggets inside.

 

There is also a die that PERFECTLY cuts out a strip to wrap around the Nuggets! I love that!!! I was able to cut three at a time from the patterned paper. Simply wrap the paper around and add a dot of glue or adhesive tape runner.  I used embossing ink and some cute little leaf stamps to add some leaves to the top part. 

 

So I have to admit that I ate a few!!!! But they're so cute all lined up and ready to put together!

 

I used a glue pen to put the two pieces together because I thought it would give a better hold. You insert the candy into the pouch, and then that part gets sandwiched in between the two tags. 

 

I slipped the brown ribbon through the top and then tied it with some natural twine. 

 

I used brown ink to stamp the sentiment onto the bottom of the treats. The little enamel shaped leaves are from the same Doodlebug Collection called Flea Market. 

 

 

 

Perfect for giving and sharing! I love that you can customize these in ANY colors for ANY occasion! I'm thinking baby showers, graduations, Halloween, birthdays and of course Valentine's Day! The possibilities are endless.

Thank you so much for popping by today! I hope I've inspired you to create! Have a blessed and beautiful day! CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's project. (Affiliate Links Used). Take care! XOXO

BOO - I'm Batty About You!

Hi everyone! Dang, it seems like a long time since I wrote a blog post! I've been busy creating, but nothing I can share just yet. I have lots more ideas than time. Isn't that the way? How are you? How was your weekend? I had a super fun time on Saturday going to a Yarn Crawl! The hubs came with me and we made a day of it, driving around the lake on a gorgeous brisk day! It was a great event! CLICK HERE to learn more about it! On Sunday I worked all day on my projects for the upcoming The Greetery Release! I'm thinking you're gonna love it all! Coming next week! Yippeeee! Today I have to get new brakes on my car. Yuck. But such is life. I hope everything is going good where you are. 

As part of my guest designer gig with Hello Bluebird Stamps this month, I have two more cards to share! YAY! One today, and one on Sunday. Today's card features some adorable bats (yes, I said adorable bats) and Distress Ink Blending. The stamp set is called Spooky Spellers. SO FUN!! BOOOOO! I'm batty about you! The finished card is an A2 white card base... Let's look!

 

I had many ideas for this stamp set...but then the bats just spoke to me! I stamped and die cut three bats, and the three letters. I colored the batty bats with Copic Markers in shades of cool grays. I used pink for their ears and cheeks. Very simple palette.

 

I die cut a spooky tree from black cardstock and also stamped and die cut and colored a pumpkin and a crescent moon from Hello Bluebird also...

 

Here's a photo of my fun ink blended background! I used four shades of Distress Inks and the new Domed Blender Tools from Scrapbook.com. They worked awesome for this project. I used the MFT Mini Clouds Stencil to do my clouds in deep dark purple (shades listed below in the supply links)... I really like how this turned out. The colors are so vivid in person! I splattered white ink over the background to look like stars.

 

I glued the tree to the card. Everything else is attached with foam circles for added dimension and visual interest.

 

I am - BATTY - about you! EEP. So cute!!

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I have lots of Halloween Cards made now! Are you making Fall or Halloween cards? I just love this time of year. Never can have too many Autumn Craft Projects!! CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see my supplies for today. (Affiliate Links Used). I'm not sure if I'll post later in the week, but for sure I'll see you right here on Sunday! Have a fa-boo-lous day! XOXO

Trick or Treat Shaker Card!

Trick or Treat! Give me something good to eat! How's your week going?? I'm having a busy and productive week so far. I am so happy to be doing all these Fall projects. This weekend I made homemade apple juice too. Oh man, it was so fresh and delicious! I've been decorating for Fall around the house. I'm terrible because when I put stuff away the year before I always think "I'll remember where I put that" but then I don't. I don't remember. Ugh! Please say I'm not the only one!! All the pumpkin candles have been burning and the fireplace is decorated with cute pillows. I tried my first Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew drink at Starbucks the other day. NEW favorite Fall drink!! I actually like it better than the PSL. Don't tell! You need to try one if you like iced coffee. YUM. What are you up to?? 

Today I'm sharing a fun and colorful Shaker Card made with brand new supplies from Queen & Company! They have several Halloween kits now, and the newest one is called Hocus Pocus! It's really fun. One of the images is a broom! HA! And the sentiments in the stamp set are funny and fun. I love Queen & Company Shaker Card Kits because all the boring part is done for you! No need to cut acetate pieces or all that...You just put them together. Literally this card took 20 minutes to make... But it looks way better than a 20 minute card! CLICK HERE to check out the kits.

I chose the Trick or Treat square shape as the focus of my card, and my shaker piece. I used the Foundation Dies to cut two banners, one orange and one white. The patterned papers are included in the kit. My finished card is an A2 white card base.

 

I layered the black stars paper onto the card base, and then that pretty stripe... Next the orange vertical banner... Then I put my shaker on top! I stamped the sentiment onto the white horizontal banner... See, so easy!

 

 

 

I added lots of pretty toppings! The Kit comes with tons of toppings in Halloween colors! I added a bit of sparkle to mine!!

 

These kits are SO FABULOUS. Seriously - the quality of everything is awesome. See how clean those cuts are?? Every time. And super fast shipping too. I hope you'll try one. I have about 15 kits!!! EEEKS. 

Thanks for stopping by today! CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see my supplies for today (Affiliate Links Used). Hope I put you in the Halloween mood. Any excuse to buy tiny candy bars at Target, right?? Have a wonderful, happy day! See you soon! XOXO

Hello Sweater Weather! Concord & 9th and Scrapbook.com Fall Supplies!

Hi friends! Happy Sunday! Thanks for following along last week with all those blog posts! SO MUCH FUN! I am totally head over heals in love with that new Hello Bluebird release!! I will be making two more cards later in the month with more new stamps from them! Yippeeee! It's firmly, officially Fall Crafting Season! Football is in full swing, I've had a couple of Pumpkin Spice Lattes.... 

The weather turned this weekend too. Whew. We had one last 100 degree day last week but then, boom, today is going to be in the 70's. I'm so glad! And I'm declaring (early) Hello Sweater Weather!! Today's card uses brand spanking new exclusive stamps from Scrapbook.com! I'll talk more about that later in my post. And, I've also used the cool new Turnabout from Concord & 9th called, appropriately, Sweater Weather! I love it! 

This finished card is a 5.5 inch square. I cut the paper with my trimmer and made my own card using the Scor-pal. I wanted the entire Turnabout stamp to show and not cut off any of the cute sweaters! LOL. 

 

Here's a close up of the center, and that awesome new stamp! Dontcha love that font?? So cheerful! Have you ever used a Turnabout Stamp?? This one is called Sweater Weather. It's SO COOL! CLICK HERE to see them all. Basically, they've engineered the stamp so that you turn it and stamp it four times and you get a complete background! You can use all different colors, as I did, or the same color. You definitely need to use your MISTI to make this happen... But if you use your MISTI it's literally the easiest thing ever. I'm hooked.

For the center, I cut out some of the images and made them into charms to hang off the sentiment! I double stacked the foam squares to make more room for the charms to wiggle around. 

 

I used orange and aqua cardstock to add some colorful accents. The sentiment piece is inked with a foam dauber.

 

Here are the colors I used for this background! The Scrapbook.com inks are perfect! Stamped crisp and clean the first time! You know I like to add a pop of aqua to my Fall cards. 

 

 

 

I used some jump rings from my jewelry stash to dangle the little charms. I also added a few enamel dots to finish off the card.

 

 

 

Here's a photo of the new stamp sets from Scrapbook.com released for September! And, the new domed ink blending tools are AMAZING. Just that bit of a dome is super helpful when blending my inks. They are on sale now too! I really love being a brand ambassador for Scrapbook.com because I get to try everything first, and then tell you about it all! Yeah! 

 

 

There are also brand new stencils and blender brushes! (Also on sale!) The stencils are HUGE and such good quality.

 

My new favorite go to thing?? Those tiny circle foam dots! They are great for those tiny accents I like to use!! I pop them out with my tweezers.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Fall! CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's card! (Affiliate links used). Have a blessed and beautiful day! I'll see you soon. XOXO

Hello Bluebird September Previews Week! Release Day! Your Friendship is a blessing!

HEYYYY! Welcome to day four, the final day, of the Hello Bluebird September Release Previews!  As you learned this week, I was so graciously invited to join the Hello Bluebird Team to help this week. The entire release is all about FALL things! Yippeeee! Leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Pumpkin Spice, cute animals, cute witches... OH MY GOSH! It's all so amazing. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time I was creating my cards! I'll be sharing four cards this week leading up to the release, and then two more cards a bit later in the month. ALL THE NEW STAMPS go live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. THAT'S TODAY!!! Mark your calendars because you're going to go crazy for this release just like I did!!

For my final card of preview week, I made a pretty friendship card with a Thanksgiving or Autumn theme! I used three new products: Fall Banner Buddies, Banner Blessings, and grateful die. I used muted tones of brown, orange and olive to create a feeling or warmth to match the sentiment. The finished card is a kraft card base layered with olive gingham and then cream cardstock.

 

The banner and the top layer are cream cardstock edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and also splattered with ink. This gives an overall warmth to the card. The grateful die was cut from deep brown cardstock too. I stamped and colored the images with Copics in darker shades. I love how rich this feels, just by changing the colors to darker ones. 

 

Hello Bluebird stamp sets always have the BEST accent images!!!! This tiny crow and bitty branch are perfect for the top of my banner.

 

 

 

I layered the grateful die cut across the bottom of the banner and glued it on with clear liquid glue. I attached the elements with foam tape across the bottom of the card. 

 

Hello tiny chipmunk!!

THANK YOU for stopping by my blog all week to see the Hello Bluebird previews! All the new products will be live TODAYYYYY 9/13 at 7pm MST. Until then, check the Hello Bluebird blog for more inspiration, or stop by the Hello Bluebird website to shop around. I guarantee you'll find something you love. BIG thank you to the crew at HB for inviting me to join the fun this week! XOXO

Hello Bluebird September Previews Week! BOO to YOU!

Hellllooooo! Thanks for coming along with me this week! As you know now,  I was so graciously invited to join the Hello Bluebird Team to help launch the new release for September. The entire release is all about FALL things! Yippeeee! Leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Pumpkin Spice, cute animals, cute witches... OH MY GOSH! It's all so amazing. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time I was creating my cards! I'll be sharing four cards total this week leading up to the release, and then two more cards a bit later in the month. ALL THE NEW STAMPS go live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. Mark your calendars because you're going to go crazy for this release just like I did!!

Today's card combines the "BOO to you" Die and the Little Haunters stamp set. the stamp set has the CUTEST little critters all dressed up for Trick-or-Treating! Oh my goodness, there's even a hedgie dressed up like a mummy! I can't stand it! The finished card is a white A2 card base covered with another layer of white with a stitched edge. No patterned paper today! LOL.

 

Here's a close up of those cutie critters! Aren't they sweet with their little candy buckets?? I stamped and colored the animals and the jack-o-lanterns with Copic Markers in shades that looked nice together...and lots of orange!

 

 

 

I stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner and then splattered black paint over the white layer. I also stamped some bright yellow stars onto the panel. Next I attached the Boo to You die cut with foam squares to pop off the page.

 

I tucked the jack-o-lanterns into the words and attached them with foam squares.

 

 

 

Oh my gosh, so adorable!!

THANK YOU for stopping by today! All the new products will be live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. Until then, check the Hello Bluebird blog for more inspiration, or stop by the Hello Bluebird website to shop around. I guarantee you'll find something you love. More previews for the one more day - four days in all. Please come back tomorrow to see a sweet friendship card with a Thanksgiving theme! (And more cute critters!)

Taylored Expressions Blender Brush Update - and a Magical Unicorn Card!

Hi everyone! I'm popping in with an update on the Taylored Expressions Blender Brushes! You might recall that they sold out completely in a hot minute! Well, Taylor is about to re-stock, and she's allowing pre-orders! Yeah! You can order and pay, and then you go in line for the next release. No more checking and waiting... And you know you'll get your brushes asap! CLICK HERE to pre-order and/or add your name to the notification list! I think this is a great idea and I'm so glad to let you know. These brushes are so awesome!!! CLICK HERE and HERE to see my two other projects I made to showcase them. I know you're going to want a set for your craft room too! 

For today's card, I used the blender brushes and beautiful cloud stencils to create a dream background for a sparkly unicorn! I love these Build-A-Unicorn dies and my card is a fun birthday card for girls of all ages! The finished card is a white A2 card base, layered with silver, and then another layer of white. 

 

Here's a pic of those awesome blender brushes in the caddy!

 

 

I die cut out all the pieces of the Unicorn in pretty pastel shades of cardstock. Added some silver glitter paper for good measure! EEP. I assembled the entire unicorn and then set it aside to finish the rest of the card.

 

Isn't that the prettiest sentiment!?

 

I stenciled the clouds in a lovely bluish lavender ink...soooo pretty! I die cut a circle of vellum to place over the clouds and to give the unicorn a focal place. After I placed the unicorn on the card, I added some silver stars and pretty clear gems as accents.

 

 

 

 

Taylor has extended the free gift opportunity that was available when the brushes first launched! Just order the brushes and the caddy, and you will receive a cleaner tool to go with your supplies. 

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used today! (Affiliate Links Used). I hope you are able to get some blender brushes if you want a set. I keep mine on a shelf in my craft room and they make me happy! Have a blessed and beautiful day! XOXO

Hello Bluebird September Previews Week! Best Witches to you for Halloween!

Welcome to day TWO of Previews! As I discussed yesterday, I was so graciously invited to join the Hello Bluebird Team to help launch their new release for September. The entire release is all about FALL things! Yippeeee! Leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Pumpkin Spice, cute animals, cute witches... OH MY GOSH! It's all so amazing. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time I was creating my cards! I'll be sharing four cards total this week leading up to the release, and then two more cards a bit later in the month. ALL THE NEW STAMPS go live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. Mark your calendars because you're going to go crazy for this release just like I did!!

My second card for Preview Week is a sweet little witch named Tabitha! The stamp set is called Tabitha! Do you guys remember her from Bewitched? I love that name! Ha. She has her cats, her bats, her books and her potions! SO much fun in this set! I colored tons of images and then mixed them around until I made this little Halloween scene. The finished card is a dark grey A2 card base, layered with white, then grey gingham....and some purple! Let's look!

 

I stamped and die cut out all the images and colored them with Copic Markers. I set the colored images aside to create the backdrop for my scene. I tried a couple of new techniques and some new colors too! I don't usually craft with purple, but I love it in this case. 

 

I love the font in this sentiment!! Here's a close up of all the little elements. Can you see that I paper pieced her some green striped socks! Hee hee.

 

For that dark purple background, I started with deep purple cardstock and then used ink blending tools and Dusty Concord Distress Ink over it. So it's purple on purple. Then I splattered white paint to look like stars. It's really pretty in person!! 

For the moon and the light around the candle I used the same colors and technique. I started by die cutting two circles, and then colored them with sponge daubers and Distress Inks. Once the ink dried, I used a brand new to me product - Glitz Glitter Gel - and a paintbrush and added that pretty shimmer on top! I'm addicted now to this glitter gel!!  I mounted these two circles under the other images. LOVE that pop of yellow against the dark colors. 

 

 

 

This branch is from another Hello Bluebird set. Instead of coloring it pretty in brown and greens... I colored it with all gray tones! Looks more spooky that way. 

THANK YOU for stopping by today! All the new products will be live on 9/13 at 7pm MST. Until then, check the Hello Bluebird blog for more inspiration, or stop by the Hello Bluebird website to shop around. I guarantee you'll find something you love. More previews for the next two days - four days in all. Please come back tomorrow to see a fun Halloween card with some trick or treaters!! XOXO