A Blog Called Wanda

Graceful Watercolor Leaves with The Greetery!

Hi there my creative and crafty friends! Happy weekend! This past week I had the honor of having a project featured over on The Greetery Blog! I wanted to make sure to post my card here for you as well. I know we're switching between a lot of things lately...Fall, Christmas, Halloween! Tis the season for sure! My Greetery project is an ode to fall....because my heart is still happily in Autumn mode and I am excited about falling leaves and crisp mornings... This is what inspired my card for today! I tried to capture the serene mood of a Fall morning with a bright blue sky and pretty trees.... I kept it clean and simple and graphic....

 

My finished card is an A2 white card base that I covered with Woodgrain cardstock. The rest of the card pieces are all watercolor paper for a nice creamy look. I am featuring one of my favorite Greetery stamp sets - Autumn Sketches! I used the matching Autumn Sketches dies along with the beautiful A2 Arches dies and the Blessed Blooms Stamp Set. 

 

 

 

I used one of my favorite techniques - which is stamping with Distress Inks and then water blending the inks to mimic watercolor painting. This is such an easy and fun technique that gives great results! I started the project by using Distress Ink pads to do my layered stamping - one layer brown for the branches, and then yellow and orange layers for the leaves. After I was done stamping, I die cut out the branches/leaves clusters. I then took my water brush and "painted" over my stamping! I also went back in and added a bit more color to some of the leaves....

 

 

 

 

I die cut out an arch, using the A2 Arches dies. I again used Distress Ink Pads in blues (smushed onto a stamping block) with a wet on wet watercolor technique to make my blue sky background. The sentiment is very simple to match the mood.... I used my MISTI and brown ink for perfect placement. For my finishing touch I added some clear enamel dots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for my card for today! I hope you are enjoying a happy Autumn season.... I'm wishing you a wonderful and creative day and I look forward to sharing with you again soon. In the meantime, happy crafting! XO Wanda

 

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

 

 

Pretty Pink Posh - Holiday New Release 2023 - Christmas Cards!

Helllooooo and howdy and Happy Friday! I have MORE Christmas cards to share with you today! I am almost done making all my Christmas cards now! Ha! There were so many beautiful new releases this year and I'm so honored to be part of the fun to show them to you here on my blog. Today is yet another awesome Holiday release - this time from Pretty Pink Posh!! The new release is already available in the PPP store and it's SO GOOD! Perfectly cheerful and happy and warm. Today is day three of a big blog hop celebrating the new October/Holiday release from our friends at Pretty Pink Posh. I hope my cards today get you in the mood to so some holiday crafting! I have two cards today, and then I'll share another card next week when we do the Instagram Hop. 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

My first card for today features the brand new Holiday Birds dies, the brand new Pierced Snowflakes Die and the new Sentiment Strips Christmas Stamp Set! I also used the gorgeous Decorative Birdhouses dies and some other favorite PPP items. All my exact supplies are listed at the bottom of my post!! My finished card is an A2 white card base. The blue layer mimics a pretty winter sky with snowflakes...then my focal images.

 

 

Here's a side view of my card to show you the layers and elements.... That pretty sentiment fits perfectly across the bottom of my card....

 

 

The new Holiday Birds are SOOO CUTE!!! There are three little birds (I made cardinals), a little hat, a scarf, and more! EEP. He's about to nest down for the winter in his cute house!!

 

Here's a close up of that gorgeous new background die with the snowflakes. I splattered on some white paint/snow....

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

 

I used plaid, black and green to make my birdhouse. I wanted it to be very Christmas-y!

 

For the opening of the birdhouse I used the little tree that comes in the new Stocking Shaker set. It was the perfect size! I added a little heart over the opening of their love nest. I added snowflakes too.... 

 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

 

My second card today features the brand new Candy Cane Stencils Set, the new Merry Christmas Shadow dies, and the new Eyelet Rectangles Dies. I used a traditional color palette of red, white and silver, with just a little pop of green!! My finished card is an A2 white card base. Layered with red, kraft, vellum and white. 

 

 

Here's a side view of my layers.... I used vellum with that beautiful new rectangle die and I love it!! The sentiment was die cut from silver glitter paper for some Christmas shimmer! The candy canes are from the Winter Mug Die Set. They are so fresh and pretty.

 

I added red enamel dots for the holly berries and two shades of green for the holly leaves. 

 

In this photo, you can get a close up look of the new stencil set! LOOOOVE! (I always love a candy cane theme).... I used kraft cardstock and stenciled with white pigment ink (Using a small sponge dauber). I dried the pigment ink with my heat tool. Then I used bright red ink and a dauber to go over the white. The key here is to really make sure that white ink is dry first before doing the red ink. It came out so nice.

 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today for this fun introduction of the beautiful new holiday release, and for the exciting blog hop! It was nice to share with you! Have a great day today and keep on crafting! I have one more card to share next week that I made with this new release. Can't wait to show it to you! XOXO

If you're new to my blog today because of the hop - please take a moment and subscribe to my content! You will be emailed any time I do a new blog post! HERE'S THE LINK TO SIGN UP AND SUBSCRIBE! 

BLOG HOP PRIZE INFO! There are FOUR $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day of the hop). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop from all the comments. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 10/19!! Winners will be announced on the PPP blog. Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies I used for today's projects!

TODAY'S FUN BLOG HOP LINEUP!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Cathy Zielske

Wanda Guess

Barbara Tarayao

Jeanne Jachna

Dana Kirby

Mindy Eggen

 

Hey Boo! Fun Halloween Projects with bling!

Hey Boo! Hope your week is going great! I have had a great week so far. It rained here on Monday! Just enough to make everything fresh and clean. Oh, I am really ready for that nice gloomy weather! I'm working on another Halloween stitching project right now and hope to finish before the end of the month.  I'm going to run out of time to post Halloween projects! So I have some more to share with you today! I got in some good crafting time this week already and I have really cheery and cute things to show you! My color inspiration is down further in my post, but I am loving the use of pink for Halloween this year. It seems to be the new in thing, and I'm here for it! Makes everything a little more faboooolous! I am sharing a card today and some cute cat shaker bits and bobs....

My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with white and black and a cool background die cut. The star is that cute ghostie holding a heart! I popped in bright orange and hot pink along with silver glitter and I like the look. All the dies I used are from The Stamp Market.

 

The little ghostie arms are a separate die so you can move them around! Isn't that fun?? I layered orange and silver for the 'boo' word to make it stand out. I added both pink and orange gems because, well, bling!

 

I die cut the background die a second time using silver glitter paper and sprinkled some extra pieces onto that top panel.

 

 

 

I also made some sweet kitty cat shakers!! I used patterned paper from The Stamp Market and all the bits inside are from my stash. I chose orange, black, clear and pink fillings! The whiskers are from glitter paper.

 

 

 

I think I might make these into some mini cards - or maybe some tie ons for goodie bags!

My husband found me this awesome mug and got it for me for a present! I've been drinking my water out of it every day. It is SO CHEERFUL and it makes me smile. So this mug was the inspiration for my card - for obvious reasons! TOOOOOO fun. 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay ghoulfriends, that's it for today! Have a happy and creative day and I'll be back on Friday as promised! XOXO

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

Sweet Trick or Treat Kitty Cross Stitch!

Hello friends! Happy Monday! Hope you had a nice weekend! It was hot here this weekend and that's what usually happens in early October - we have one last blast of heat then we settle into Autumn. The mornings are so beautiful and cool and the leaves are starting to turn! My husband put out all the Halloween decorations in our front yard (he goes all out, even a fog machine and a graveyard!) I love it! We celebrated our wedding anniversary last week and on Saturday night we went out to dinner and an awesome concert for our anniversary. We saw The Lumineers and they were so amazing live. WOW....just wow. They sounded ten times better than on the record. Something about the piano and the violin live with his voice. I am still thinking about it. 

Before I start today's post - just wanted to say - again - thank you for alllllll the love on my Greetery posts last week! It is so much fun to show you the new releases and I can feel your excitement too. I hope you have lots of fun crafting with your new goodies!! I will have some more fun Christmas cards to share later this week, but for today it's all Halloween! 

Today's share is a fun little cross stitch project I finished up late last week! I LOVE Halloween cross stitch! The pattern is called Trick or Treat and the designer is Barbara Ana Designs. I bought the pattern off Etsy. I used 14 count Aida fabric and DMC floss. I did change up the colors on the pumpkins and the leaves motif. I almost always add my own personal touch. I also added a little button to her bow! Like with my last project, I haven't decided how to finish it yet, so it will go in the stack of almost finished projects!! 

 

I love her little top hat!! And her fluffy skirt!! She is a kitten princess with her pumpkin staff....

 

Look at those curly shoes!!

 

Trick or Treat!!

 

 

 

 

That's it for me for today! Hope you have a GREAT week! I'll be back on Wednesday and Friday! See you then! XOXO

 

The Greetery Holiday 2023 Collection Release Day! Yippeee!

 

HEY FRIENDS!! EXCITING NEWS!!

THE GREETERY NEW RELEASE IS LIVE NOW!!

RECOLLECTIVE HOLIDAY IS HERE!

CLICK HERE!!

It was my pleasure to introduce the brand new Recollective Holiday release to you this week!! And, I hope you love it as much as I do!! Happy Crafting!! If you scroll back through my last three blog posts you can see all my projects, and the accompanying supply lists. If you have any questions - reach out! 

Thank you for ALL the amazingly kind comments on my project reveals post!!! You are so nice to bless me so kindly! I would be so grateful, as always, if you would shop via my Greetery affiliate link! Have fun!

 

The Greetery - Recollective Holiday Collection - New Release Day 3

Whew! Okay friends, welcome back to DAY THREE of The Greetery Release Week! If you haven't already, be sure to scroll back through my last two blog posts so that you make sure to see everything! It's been a lot of projects this week!! The Recollective Holiday Collection from The Greetery is here! And, just one more day until you can shop and create your own projects!! Thanks again, as always, for the lovely comments and the support. It means a lot to me and I read all the comments - and you guys make me smile. Bless you! Today I am sharing my final two projects from release week, and they have an interesting theme that you probably won't guess - Cars!!! Yes, cars!! Hee hee. Let's go!

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6TH  AT 10AM EST! TOMORROW!

Remember back when Betsy did the cutest Van Die?? Well, now we have a Hatchback! It's called, appropriately enough, the Holiday Hatchback! And it's like Barbie, because it has accessories! (I am cracking myself up right now)! The brand new Holiday Hatchback opens up from the bottom so you can tuck in little candy treats, small gifts, or even a gift card! It would be so cute as an ornament, or home decor, or place settings! And, of course, it's not just for the holidays. I'm thinking new drivers, a car themed party.....the ideas are endless. Let's take a peek at my car I created! I used the Hatchback Dies, the matching Tree Die, and the matching Skis Die! There is also a Luggage Die! My inspiration is my love of skiing (when I was younger!) and Lake Tahoe. We live not too far from Lake Tahoe and it's a regular occurrence to see cars on the freeway with trees, skis, and tons of snow packed on them! 

 

I made a little home decoration theme for my project! The sign was made using one of the stamps from the also new Holiday Cheer stamp set (featured later in my post today).

 

It's very easy to figure out where all the parts and pieces go, and it's totally customizable! Choose any color, any trim, etc. I used some gems for the headlights and I also used matte silver cardstock for the bumpers, etc. The trim is from my favorite woodgrain paper. 

 

Oh gosh, those skis are SO fun! And the tree on top is the perfect size. I assembled the tree by putting together three of the tree dies so it would be 3d. I added tons of snow to everything!

 

My knees are too old for skiing now, but I'm not opposed to some hot cocoa by the fire!

 

 

 

 

 

And, my final project for release week is featuring the brand new Cheer Mobile Stamps and Dies! I used the new stamps and dies along with some of my previously released Greetery favorites!! My finished card is a white A2 card base, layered with red and then white. I used the Snowflake Soiree stencils and added some pretty pines...again inspired by skiing at the lake!

 

This car is definitely on the way to gramma's house, loaded up with presents! Driving through the snowy woods ready for a celebration! And again, this car isn't just for the holidays! Presents are good any time as a theme with cute cars. The sentiments have matching dies which I love. I created my cute red card by stamping with my MISTI.

 

I stenciled my Snowflake Soiree Stencils using only two shades of blue, instead of using four color shades. I wanted the look to be icy and cool. 

 

 

 

 

Okay, friends! That's it for me for this new release week! Oh, what fun we've had dashing through the snow and getting ready for the holidays! Thanks for spending some (lots of) time with me this week! XOXO

DAY THREE PRIZE INFORMATION!! The Greetery will be giving away TWO more $50 gift certificates for today! That makes a total of SIX gift certificates over all three days.... To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!  

The new release is LIVE tomorrow, October 6th, at 10am EST!  It is definitely my pleasure to share The Greetery products with you! I feel very lucky to be part of this team. Happy Shopping tomorrow! I am very excited to see what everyone makes with these gorgeous new winter themed products.

I truly appreciate it if you remember to shop via my links! tomorrow. It helps me so very much! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE!

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

 

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

Dawn

Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda

The Greetery - Recollective Holiday Collection - New Release Day 2

Welcome back to day two of the new Recollective Holiday Collection for The Greetery! Thanks again for joining me today! The new winter collection continues today with the design team featuring more new products! (And we'll have even more tomorrow too!) I hope you've been enjoying the release so far. Thank you for all the love and nice comments. This is such a fun time of year to share with all of you!! I hope you're in the mood today for some bright and sparkly projects! Yesterday's projects were classically Christmas and today's projects are fun, retro, colorful Christmas!! A little something for every style and even more gorgeous new stamps and dies.... Hope you're having a good day so far. Let's get started!! 

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6TH  AT 10AM EST!

My first card for today features the brand new Bright and Bubbly stamps, sentiments and dies! Everyone remembers those cool ornaments from the 60's...well Betsy brought them back to life for us to craft with! My finished card is a white A2 card base layered with aqua, vellum, and more white... All to serve as a background for those bright colorful ornaments. My sentiment is sparkly silver and the whole card makes me smile!

 

Here's a side view of my card and die cut layers.... I used the new Juniper Dies as my 'tree' part of the card. All the die cut pieces were generously splattered with silver metallic watercolor ink. 

 

 

I shaded each ornament with Copic Markers and I also used some Stickles for the candle portion. I added clear gemstones to look like the old liquid ornaments. This card has a lot of details and I love it all!

 

 

 

The sentiment was heat embossing with very sparkly silver embossing powder!

 

 

 

My second card for today's reveals features the brand new Christmas Sampler stencils and stamps!! It's homespun, warm, cozy Christmas! My finished card is an A2 card base covered in black woodgrain... This card is all about those stencils!! A perfectly put together set of stencils to easily make this pretty background. The sentiment was stamped on last and the stamp set has several options that fit into those spaces.

 

After I was done stenciling, I added white paint splatters as 'snow' to the card. Just felt right!

 

I rounded the corners and added a gem there at the top...

 

 

 

 

I am excited to see the color combinations everyone else came up with for this stencil set! The possibilities are endless!

 

Last up for today is another cheerful card with a festive plaid! This card features the brand new Plaid Tidings Suite of stamps, stencils, and dies. I mean, c'mon! Plaid words?? YES!!! My finished card is an A2 white card base layered again with aqua and white. I used the 'glow' stamp from the Bright and Bubbly set to make some details in the background. 

 

The stencils are so easy to do!! Pick your colors and make it festive! I stenciled and then die cut out the words using the matching die. I added the rounded sentiment from the accompanying/matching stamps. Simple and pretty. 

 

These two step holly sprigs are also part of this set and I tucked some in there for good measure. 

 

The big words are attached to the card using foam tape and then I added a few blue pearls...

Alright my friends, that's it for day two! But, guess what? Tomorrow is day THREE! More projects and more products for you to see! Cannot wait to see you again tomorrow morning!! Isn't this fun?!

DAY TWO PRIZE INFORMATION!! The Greetery will be giving away TWO more $50 gift certificates for today! That makes SIX gift certificates total over all three days.... To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog post for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!  

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6TH  AT 10AM EST!

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

 

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana 

Dawn

Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda

 

The Greetery - Recollective Holiday Collection - New Release Day 1

Hello there my crafty friends! Today is the start of something big! Something we all look forward to all year! It's time to reveal The Greetery Holiday Collection for 2023! (It's also my wedding anniversary, so a lot to celebrate today!) I know that you know that I know (hahaha) that Betsy goes all out for the Christmas release every year and this year is spectacular! The new release is called the Recollective Holiday Collection! Stamps, Dies, Stencils, and 3d projects, all with a beautiful homespun holiday feeling. I think you're gonna love it! There are THREE reveal days this time around! The design team will be sharing our projects Today, Tomorrow, and Thursday and revealing all the new products for you. I have eight different projects to show you over the next few days. There will be tons of fun, photos, inspiration, prizes, and more! Let's grab a cup of cocoa and have some fun together! Welcome! As always, my full supply list is at the bottom of this post, and I'll update it once the new items are available!

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6TH AT 10AM EST!

My first card for today features the brand new Big Beautiful Bow Die, along with the new Juniper Dies, and the sentiment from the brand new Wrapped In Love stamp set!! I also used previous products - Ruscus and Pine Wisp! I created a present on a card! My finished card is an A2 card base made from cream cardstock, and then covered in small gingham. That gorgeous bow is the star of the card....

 

This new sentiment set is awesome! Mix and match different sentiments/fonts with a gift theme! Love it! I used brown ink to stamp my sentiments since this card has a vintage feeling to it. The top layer is cream and then I used shades of green and vivid red.... I splattered my card with gold watercolor ink too.

 

I mixed in some vellum and two green tones for interest. I also added some snow to make it feel more vintage and wintery! This bow is easy to assemble of course - Betsy thought of everything - and the dies line up easily to create this pretty bow.

 

 

 

 

 

I used a dark red/mahogany Copic Marker and inked parts of the bow to look like a shadow/shading...

 

My second card for today's festivities features the brand new Wrapped In Love suite of stamps and dies!! This is so cute, fun and clever!! A whole line of products set around gift wrapping!! My finished card is a kraft A2 card base. I layered the Nordic dies as my top layer and put red underneath to show through. 

 

Cute scissors, tape, tags, twine....everything you need for gift wrapping!!! And more beautiful, thoughtful, sentiments. Here's a side view of my layers...

 

I used kraft, white, red, and green for a very classic Christmas palette. The dies are matched up to look like a roll of wrapping paper!! And those tiny tags!! I used a tiny bit of vellum for my 'tape' dispenser! The scissors were die cut with both gold and silver cardstock. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mean, seriously, can you stand this??!!! It's so great!!

 

 

My final card for today features the brand new Winterland Layers stamps and dies and the brand new Comfort and Joy stamps and dies.... My finished card is an A2 card base layered with cream, kraft, and red.... The Winterland layers are pretty foliage meant for the holidays. The Comfort and Joy stamp set has caring messages for people who might be having a difficult holiday season (SO thoughtful and wonderful)....

 

I kept this card clean and simple by layering the Nordic Dies and inking the edges for a soft look.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm always so very happy for a new release!! Especially a holiday release! That's it for day one of the new release reveals! Be sure to come back tomorrow and Thursday and I will be sharing five more cards and projects featuring the new items! What's your favorite thing so far?  The new release will be for sale on Friday, October 6th at 10am EST!  See you tomorrow with more projects! XOXO

DAY ONE PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away TWO $50 gift certificates each day (for three days)!  To be entered to win, leave a comment on each designer's blog  post for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

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

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

Dawn

Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda

 

Guest Designing with Doodlebug - Sweet & Spooky Collection - Pop Up Halloween Card!

Hi friends! Happy October! YEAH! We even had some rain yesterday! Hope you're having a good weekend. So excited for my favorite month (well, one of them!) How have you been? I'm very excited and happy to be making a Doodlebug project and to be back as a guest designer on the Doodlebug Blog today!! You guys already know how much I love Halloween, and the only thing better than Halloween is....Doodlebug Halloween! I look forward to the new collection every Fall! Today, I'm sharing a project I made with the new Sweet and Spooky Collection. It's fantastic! I love how Doodlebug incorporated some aqua and pink in with all the other traditional Halloween colors. It's fresh and cute with just the right amount of spooky! 

SUPPLIES ARE LISTED - CLICK HERE - OR AT THE BOTTOM OF MY POST!

My card today is a pop up card! I made a little street scene for Halloween night - with trick or treaters, a haunted house, and some adorable ghosties! I used a die set that makes a pop up card - it's so simple and easy to put together.  I love that Doodlebug papers are double sided, so the front is just as cute as the back!! This card folds into an A2 envelope, and I used the awesome Cards and Envelopes Sweet and Spooky pack for the envelope. 

 

 

 

I assembled my card from 12x12 Spooky and Sweet paper using the aqua spiderwebs paper as a nice neutral background. I used lots of stickers and die cut pieces to decorate everything! When I first started paper crafting it was a 'thing' to make cards entirely from stickers! And it's so easy with the gorgeous stickers from Doodlebug! I put the haunted house in the background and the cute trick or treaters.... And then I glued the ghosties to the top to make it look like they're flying around. 

 

 

SUPPLIES ARE LISTED - CLICK HERE - OR AT THE BOTTOM OF MY POST!

Those big cardstock stickers are perfect for sentiments! I used the Happy Halloween banner sticker across the bottom of my card and decorated with a few shape sprinkles. 

 

I used the orange envelope from the Cards and Envelopes pack and decorated the front of it with matching stickers. I also splattered on a bit of black paint for good measure. 

 

 

 

 

SUPPLIES ARE LISTED - CLICK HERE - OR AT THE BOTTOM OF MY POST!

Here is the back of my card - again, the double sided papers make any project just that much cuter!!

 

 

 

 

SUPPLIES ARE LISTED - CLICK HERE - OR AT THE BOTTOM OF MY POST!

That's it for me for today! My supplies for today are listed below.  Happy October!! I hope you have a very Sweet and Spooky Halloween! All treats and NO tricks! Have a great day, and Happy Crafting!

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

 

Halloween Tiny Town Cross Stitch!

Hi there my friends! How are you today? It's a new week and it feels like Fall here! This morning when I woke up it was 60 degrees outside! YES! Time for some fresh air in the house. Love that so much. We had a pretty quiet weekend around here....most of our plans got cancelled since my husband and I are both sick. Ugh. 2023 has been a very trying and difficult year for us. But we are hanging in there. The coming of Autumn always makes me in a hopeful mood. I am organizing in the craft room and making tons of Christmas projects to share with you. I know the rest of the year is going to fly by so quickly! I finished a new cross stitch piece last week and I thought I'd share that with you today!! I haven't decided how I'm going to "finish" it so for now it's ironed and tucked away until I come up with an idea! I do love a Halloween cross stitch!! 

If you want to see more of my finished cross stitch projects you can CLICK HERE!

Here is my finish! It's called Halloween Tiny Town and it's by Heart In Hand... There are a series of "tiny towns" and I've bought a few of them! There is a Valentine one, and a Seaside one, and a Fall one...They are so cute!! If you're a beginner, this would be a great series to start with. The finished pieces are not overwhelming... I stitched on 14 count Aida and I used DMC and Weeks threads. I used mostly the called for thread colors, but I did pop up that bright orange a bit with a stronger color.... The finished size of just the pattern is 3" x 13" so I cut my fabric to 7" x 17" for a two inch border.

 

This was such a fun stitch!! I love the flying bats, and the ghosts holding the boo banner...and those tiny pumpkins on the fence!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How cute is that hanging bat beneath the full moon?? Adorable!!

And a wise old owl in a tree!

 

And I do also like that touch of pink in there too! Seriously just the cutest little Halloween town. I wish I lived there!!

 

That's it for today! I'll be back this weekend with a Doodlebug Project! I'm guest designing with their new Halloween Collection and it's sweet and spooky for sure. Wishing you a wonderful week! XOXO

 

Concord & 9th Holiday Charm Collection - Part 2!

Hellooooo again....it's meeeee again! Hi! Happy Friday! This week went by in a flash!! I hope you had a good week. Fall is the busiest time of year, and that's proving true for me lately. Lots going on, but it's all good stuff. The weather is changing finally and that makes me in a great mood!! I'm back today to share the rest of my cards I made as a guest designer for the 2023 Concord & 9th Holiday release! I shared my other five cards a few days ago, and these are the last three! It's always so much fun to work with the lovely people at Concord and 9th and their wonderful products! And, as a bonus, I have a bunch of my Christmas cards made! Excellent. One of the many things I love about C9 is that you don't need a lot of 'extras' with their dies and stamps. They think of everything, and it all comes together so nicely - you just have to choose your mood and color palette! Let's get started for today's cards!

Right now I have an Instagram giveaway going from Concord and 9th! So pop on over to Instagram and leave a comment on the post with the little houses and you'll be entered to win a $25 Gift Card to Concord and 9th! Woot! 

First up is this cheerful ornament card - it's an A2 white card base covered with one of the brand new patterned papers.... I used the brand new Ornament Stamp and Stitch stamps and dies set... I chose to go with soft peachy pink and bright red, oh and a pop of silver glitter paper. I used the Stitched Vines die for my background.... All the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post!

 

 

 

 

 

Now, this next card was SOOOO fun to make! My card is an A2 white card base layered with soft pink and more white.... This card features the brand new Over the Rooftops stamps and dies. What a joy! I had fun mixing and matching colors for everything and I love this retro color palette, using the Oceanside paper.... How cute is that tiny car? And that little reindeer? And those teeny wreaths!? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my final card from this new release! This is an A2 card base, covered with one of the new patterned papers, then vellum, then white. This card features the brand new Christmas Cloche dies! LOVE! I used gold glitter paper to make my cloche, and backed it with very soft blue paper. I stamped white snowflakes onto the tree and used enamel dots as ornaments. It's just so classically Christmas....

 

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've had a great week! Thanks for hanging out with me all week! What are you inspired to work on right now? Are you already starting Christmas? Or are you in Halloween mode?? Let me know! Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see ya soon. Love you! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE HOLIDAY CHARM NEW RELEASE FROM C9!

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

 

Meet Me at the Pumpkin Patch - Fall Sweater Card!

Hi there my creative and crafty friends! I told you I'd be back soon!! Hee hee. I am up on The Greetery Blog today to share a fun project, and I'm sharing it here on my blog too. As you know, Autumn is my very favorite season, and it's my favorite time of year to craft, too.  I am so happy it's September and the season is changing! Can't wait to wear a sweater, and a jean jacket, and be cozy!! So, that cozy feeling of Autumn is what inspired my card for today.... Sweater Weather!! 

 

My finished card is A2 sized, and made from kraft cardstock. I layered cream and russet and then more kraft! My card features that adorable Hearts at Home Sweater Die! The sentiment is from one of my favorite Greetery sets - Top Down Autumn. I used all the warm fall tones.... This card is kinda clean and simple and graphic. When I first saw the sweater die at Valentine's Day, I immediately thought of Fall!! 

 

Here's a side view of my layers.... 

 

I started by using my MISTI to stamp the classic Windowpane background in brown ink onto cream cardstock. I die cut two Crimped Rectangles dies to frame the sweaters. I mixed and matched warm Fall tones of cardstocks to make the sweaters and the small images for the front of the sweaters. Leaves and pumpkins - perfect! The colored cardstock pieces are gently inked around the edges with matching inks.... Leaves and pumpkins - so perfect!!

 

 

 

The sentiment is stamped in brown ink and die cut with the matching die. This is from the Top Down Autumn Set! To assemble the card, I intertwined the sweaters and mounted them to the card with foam tape.  I kinda wish I had some sweaters like this! (Too bad it's still 90+ degrees here too!)

 

 

 

That's it for my card for today! Wishing you a very happy Autumn season.... I hope you have a wonderful and creative day and I look forward to sharing with you again soon. In the meantime, happy crafting! XOXO

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

 

Pretty Pink Posh New Release - Stack o' Jacks! Jack O' Lanterns Card!

Hi crafty friends! How are you today? Are you ready to start a new week again already? Dang, the time is going by fast this month!! Today I'm sharing another project I made with the brand new Pretty Pink Posh Fall Release! I adore this new release so much! I shared two cards last week for the big blog hop, that had a fall theme. Well, today I used the new products with some other PPP items, to make a Halloween Card!! I'm calling it a Stack o' Jacks!  Today is the start of the big Instagram Hop to celebrate this new PPP Release! So be sure to head over to Instagram and leave a comment to be able to win a PPP gift certificate! As always with an Instagram Hop, I'm sharing my card here too. This card is full of bright colors and it makes me smile - just like those jack o' lanterns! 

My finished card is a custom size: 4.5" x 6.5" and it's a white card base. I made a slightly larger card in this case to fit all the pumpkins in! I layered pretty black stripes paper, then my ink blended layer.... Those big fat smiling pumpkins are the stars of the card! I combined the Pumpkin Shaker Dies, the Stitched Pumpkins Dies, and the boo script for my sentiment!

 

For this pretty background, I cut a sheet of white cardstock to fit the layer. I used Fossilized Amber Distress Ink and a blender brush to ink blend just the top 2/3 of the panel. I used the Boo Stamp Set (the stars) and stamped stars over my ink blending using the same color. I feel like it looks like an Autumn sky!! And I love the stars!! 

 

I die cut all the pumpkins from orange cardstock. I used a blender brush and two shades of orange distress inks to ink blend the bottom portion of each pumpkin. I also added some black paint splatters. I die cut the faces from black cardstock.

 

 

For the stem, I used woodgrain paper and for the leaves I used plaid patterned paper. I felt like that plaid just looked so perfect with the orange!

 

 

For my finishing touches, I added the word "boo" as my sentiment, and I sprinkled the card with Platinum Pearls...They are the perfect gray shimmer!!

 

 

That's it for today's spooky fun project!! Be sure to head over to Instagram to leave comments in the hop! I hope you have a fantastic day! Thanks for spending part of it with me here! I'll be back tomorrow with a new card for The Greetery! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

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

 

Concord & 9th Holiday Charm Collection - Guest Designing!

Hi there!! I told you that I have been making tons of cards! Well, starting today, I'll be sharing tons of blog posts! LOLZ! So much is happening - for every holiday!! This time of year is just crazy for crafting! Today's post is all about Christmas cards! I was very happy to be selected as one of the guest designers for September for the Concord and 9th Holiday Charm Collection! Their holiday/winter release is now available for shopping and I made EIGHT cards with all the items from the new release. Myself and the other guest designers have been sharing everything on Instagram all week, but I wanted to get my cards posted here on my blog too. Today I'll share five cards, and next week I'll share the other three! Everything from this new release is bright, and happy and cheerful. I love it all, and I hope you do too! My supplies for these cards are listed out at the bottom of my post - by clicking the supply list link!! Let's get started!

First up is an A2 card made with the brand new Ornaments Turnabout stamp set! I do loooove a turnabout stamp!! I used red, pink, green and aqua for a retro color palette here! The sentiment is from another brand new set - Holiday Sayings. Some vellum, and silver glitter paper....delicious!!

All my supplies are listed out at the bottom of this post or by CLICKING HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

This next card is an A2 white card base and features the brand new Stocking Stamp and Stitch dies and stamp set! I also used the awesome brand new patterned paper pack - called Fa La La!! This little stocking is just the very cutest thing!! I added some snowflakes and a stamp for good measure...

All my supplies are listed out at the bottom of this post or by CLICKING HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

My next card features the brand new Festive Corner Cuts Dies set!! A gorgeous detailed pattern that cuts out a corner from your card. So clean and graphic. And the set comes with those beautiful poinsettia dies.... Look at how detailed the embossed lines are. I used gold glitter paper for the sentiment for a pop of shine!

All my supplies are listed out at the bottom of this post or by CLICKING HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This card is also and A2 white card base, and features the brand new Holiday Sayings Dies set!! I combined it with the previously released Fa La La Fringe tree and I love how this came out. Traditional red and green, but with a graphic look from the text/font. 

All my supplies are listed out at the bottom of this post or by CLICKING HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My final card to share today is an A2 kraft card base, layered with soft blue shades. This card features the brand new All Is Calm stencil and stamp set. A beautiful and serence Nativity scene that makes a pretty, simple card. I accented with gold embossing and gold paint splatters. I used C9 inks and blender brushes to do the stenciling. 

All my supplies are listed out at the bottom of this post or by CLICKING HERE!

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for today - and my first batch of Concord and 9th 2023 Christmas Cards! I will be back the next few days sharing a lot more projects! Take care, and I will (definitely) see you soon!! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW HOLIDAY CHARM RELEASE!

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

Pretty Pink Posh - September 2023 New Release Blog Hop! Cozy Days and Autumn Greetings!

Warm Fall Greetings my friends! I am VERY happy today to share some warm and cozy Fall cards with you!! Happy Fall Y'all! I've been getting in the mood for sure, and these cards today will hopefully get you in the mood too!! Today is day two of a big blog hop celebrating the new September/Fall release from our friends at Pretty Pink Posh. Paulina has crushed the fall mood for us and I know you're going to love it all just as much as I do! I had the best time making cards with the new release, and I was smiling the entire time! I hope my cards today get you in the mood to switch seasons! I have two cards today, and then I'll share another card next week when we do the Instagram Hop. The new release is already available for shopping!! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP FALL 2023 RELEASE!!

My first card today features the newest addition to the 'mug' collection! The Fall Mug Additions dies go along with all the other mug series dies, and I created a warm and cozy scene with a Pumpkin Spice Latte theme (of course!).... I used a new stencil, and new sentiments too!! Everything is orange and brown and warm..... I love how this card came out! My finished card is an A2 cream cardstock card base, layered with pretty brown plaid. Then my top layer and design elements....

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my paper layers and a close up of that pretty new Deco Leaves stencil! I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and a blender brush to make the soft background. It's perfect!! The brown plaid screams FALL!

 

Here's a side view to show all the layers and elements... The mug was made with three stacks of woodgrain paper and the lightly shaded with Distress Ink. The pumpkins and leaves are from different sets (Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post).... I kept my color palette to orange, cream and brown mostly, with a touch of gold.... Also, yes, that mug is wearing a scarf!!!! I am obsessed!!!! Doesn't this make you want a PSL right now??!! 

 

Cozy days indeed! This die cut sentiment comes with the Fall mug additions set.... I made an orange and cream straw using the birthday candle from the birthday mug additions set!

 

 

All the pieces were die cut from colored cardstock and then shaded with Copic Markers... Then some white paint splatters and some Diamond Stickles glitter glue on certain pieces.

 

 

 

My second card for today features the brand new Acorn Shaker Die set, and the new Autumn Pumpkins Stamp set...And another gorgeous new stencil, Layered Woodland... My finished card for this one is a square 5.5" x 5.5 " because I really wanted to showcase all of the stencil!! I again kept with a warm Fall color palette with gold accents and also some vellum.

 

I die cut the acorn from dark woodgrain paper and a rust colored paper. I splashed gold paint on everything to look nice and shimmery.... The sentiment was gold embossed onto cream cardstock.

 

I used cream cardstock for my stencil portion. I think it's just warmer with the rich fall tones. I used lots of Distress Inks to make the elements...and white ink to make the spots on the mushrooms. LOVE!!!!

 

To finish off the stem of the acorn, I wrapped it with thin twine and added a button and a heart... I always love the little touches...

 

The leaf on the acorn is from one of my favorite PPP sets - Small Stitched Foliage! I wanted a pop of Olive on there....

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today for this fun introduction of the new release and for the exciting blog hop! It was nice to share with you! Have a great day today and keep on crafting! I hope you feel all warm and cozy inside!! XOXO

If you're new to my blog today because of the hop - please take a moment and subscribe to my content! You will be emailed any time I do a new blog post! HERE'S THE LINK TO SIGN UP AND SUBSCRIBE! 

BLOG HOP PRIZE INFO! There are THREE $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day of the hop). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop from all the comments. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 9/19!! Winners will be announced on the PPP blog. Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies I used for today's projects!

TODAY'S FUN BLOG HOP LINEUP!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Amy Rysavy

Wanda Guess

Laurie Willison

Leica Palma

Jeanne Jachna

Amy Tsuruta

Lauren Taylor

 

Pretty Paper Pumpkins!

Hi friends! It's Thursday night, so I'm gonna call it Friday! Happy Friday! LOLZ. I've been in the studio like a bizzy bizzy bee all day and finally got this post written! I cannot even tell you how many cards I've been making! I've been making cards before breakfast, all day, and even at midnight. It's that time of year when all the crafing companies are releasing Fall and Holiday all at once. My head is spinning from crafty goodness. It's all good and I'm excited to share so many things. It's going to be a fun weekend here - we are going to a concert Friday night and I'm very excited. Haven't been to a concert since before Covid and it's one of my favorite bands... The Counting Crows! (I actually went to college with the lead singer!) Hubs and I will go out and get a pizza before the show.... We have been all work and no play around here so I'm happy we are going on a date!! 

Today's project is alllll abouttttt fallllll! I made some pretty paper pumpkins using new supplies from Concord and 9th! I used the brand new Pumpkin Builder Dies along with their newest paper pack...called Harvest Home. These were a really fun project to make and came together so easily. Concord and 9th always makes everything a breeze to assemble. These little cuties are now on our fireplace mantle for fall decor. I also think they would be adorable place setting decorations for Thanksgiving!! You could easily put a little cello bag of candy inside too. Who doesn't love colorful pumpkins? 

 

The Pumpkin Builder Dies set comes with the dies to make three different sized pumpkins. These are the two smaller ones here. You cut six strips and glue them together to form the pumpkin. Then there are dies to make the stem, the leaves and the 'curls' for the leaves. You can make them with colored cardstock or patterned paper to match your favorite color palette. I was thinking I need to make some pink ones!! Pink is so in this year for Halloween!

 

As you know I love to do, I added twine and enamel dots to some of my pumpkin stems. Also, I generously splattered all the pumpkins with gold watercolor paint for some shimmer and shine and warmth.  

 

To make the 'curls' you die cut the strip of paper and use a paint brush handle to curl it like you would curling ribbon! Easy! It adds such a nice design element don't you think? 

 

 

The leaves have nice deep scoring lines and you can fold them into these gorgeous 3D leaves. LOOOOVE that!!

 

 

 

 

The next few photos are ones I took with my iphone as I was crafting - to show you the process. I did these assembly-line style. I die cut out ALL the pieces first and then assembled them in order: Pumpkins first, then leaves, then stems.... Didn't take long at all. This would be a good project to work on in front of the tv or with kids too!

 

Here are all my pieces die cut out on my crafting table...

 

To get the rounded pumpkin shape, I used my bone folder to curve the pieces. This also made it super easy to glue all the sections together!!

 

Here they are coming together....

 

And, done!

 

Just a few more pretty pictures...just because....

 

 

I used kraft paper for the stems...but I was thinking it would also look nice to use woodgrain paper or even dark brown....

 

 

Okay my little chickadees! Thanks for popping by today to see a project and have some fun. I hope you have a delightful fall weekend and that you are doing well. What are you working on in your craft room right now? Let me know in the comments. XOXO

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

 

Halloween Envelope Card - fun with Spellbinders Envelope of Wonder Dies!

Hellllooooooo from me to BOO!! How was your Labor Day Weekend?? Did you do anything fun?? We stayed local and did things around the house. We had gorgeous cool weather here! My husband is working on a huge work project for the next couple of weeks and that's taking up most of his time. I'm staying busy in the craft room - sooooo many things are coming! I'm having a hard time keeping up! I have Christmas, and Fall, and Halloween - it's all happening here in the craft room. There's stuff everywhere!! And, happy September! We are now officially in Fall mode in my mind anyway!! Hee hee. I already had my first PSL and I'm just yearning to wear a sweater! Hope you are doing great! 

I have a fun and colorful Halloween card to share today. I used lots of brand new items from Spellbinders! And, in particular, the new Envelope of Wonder suite of stamps and dies. LOVE IT! The base is an envelope and then there are flowers, Halloween items, Christmas items, etc. to put inside. Well, my little envie is overflowing with ghosties and bats and pumpkins....and even a cat and a skeleton! Let's take a look! 

 

I love the font on the sentiment stamp set! It's a pretty cursive font and it fits onto a little tag that goes on the front of the envelope. I made the envelope from tiny gingham from my stash and lined it with orange gingham. My background layers are orange cardstock and OOOOOLLLLDDD striped vellum from PTI that's been in my stash for a while!! 

 

The fun part of this card was die cutting out all these fun images and elements!! I shaded everything with Copic Markers and added white gel pen accents. I like doing this type of crafting - all the little pieces.... On some pieces I added Diamond Stickles for shine.

 

I love that the ghosties have a little banner! I die cut out the letters from green, orange and purple to make it more fun...

 

Do you recognize the skeleton? He's the one driving the fun car in the set from a couple years ago! I thought he was funny tucked in there!! And that cute cat wearing a pumpkin hat?! I added in a few elements from different Spellbinders sets. All the supplies are at the bottom of my post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mixed and matched everything around until I got a good layout and affixed everything with foam tape. I added some orange gems for sparkle. I do like putting lime green and purple in with traditional orange and black for Halloween! 

 

 

 

 

Have you started your Halloween crafting yet?? Are you in the fall mood, or sad to say goodbye to summer?? I'm definitely ready for a change of season around here. We've had a few cool mornings and it's been nice to have the windows open. Looking forward to getting some apple donuts soon!! Take care, my friends, and have a great week!! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE ENVELOPE OF WONDER COLLECTION!

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

 

The Greetery - Harvest Fest Collection is Here - Shop Now!

 

HEY FRIENDS!! EXCITING NEWS!!

THE GREETERY NEW RELEASE IS LIVE NOW!!

HARVEST FEST IS HERE!

CLICK HERE!!

It was my pleasure to introduce the brand new Harvest Fest release to you this week!! And, I hope you love it as much as I do!! Happy Crafting!! If you scroll back through my last two posts you can see all my projects, and the accompanying supply lists. If you have any questions - reach out! 

Thank you for ALL the amazingly kind comments on my project reveals post!!! You are so nice to bless me so kindly! I would be so grateful, as always, if you would shop via my Greetery affiliate link! Have fun!!

 

The Greetery - Harvest Fest Collection - New Release Day Two!

Welcome back to day two of the new release reveals for THE GREETERY! Thanks for joining me!! The Harvest Fest Collection continues today with the design team features of the rest of the new products!! I hope you enjoyed yesterday's reveals! Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone!! I think you're excited too!! I have FOUR more cards to share with you today, more falllllll..... I am definitely in the mood now for sweaters and leaves and pumpkin carving! Too bad it's so hot here still!! Hope you have a beautiful day today. Grab a cuppa and let's gooooooo!

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30TH  AT 10AM EST!

My first card to share today features the brand new Round About Foliage Dies set, the brand new Autumn Harvest Dies, and the brand new Thanks All Ways stamp set! My finished card is an A2 cream card base, layered with woodgrain, and then that gorgeous new wreath!! The inspo for this card came from my own front door! Our front door is wood, and I always hang a big fall wreath on it, just like this!

 

I chose to watercolor for this card....so all the white/cream pieces of paper are watercolor paper. I used my favorite watercolors in a wet/wet technique to add loose and flowy colors in those warm autumn tones. I do love to sit and watercolor... It's so relaxing! I die cut two of the wreath dies, and then die cut a few extra to add double layers to some of the parts - a little more dimension. 

 

Here's a side view of my layers and pieces.... The pumpkins are from the new Autumn Harvest Dies set and I think they went together perfectly with the wreath. I love that Tied Up Bow set too!!

 

I heat embossed in gold - the word thankful....and then added a little banner above it to complete my sentiments.

 

As I'm known to do, a little splash of gold paint to make it warm and pretty....

 

 

 

Next up is a BIG and BOLD card with some pretty pumpkins! This card features the brand new Plump Pumpkins Dies, and the brand new Fall Folk Dies!! My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with black, vellum, and those gourd-geous pumpkins!! I chose orange and teal to make them pop! I've never seen this kind of cool look with the inset dies. I absolutely love it!!

 

Here's a side view of my layers and a close up of those pumpkins!! I wanted this card to be super graphic and kind of modern...

 

 

I die cut the matching leaves from gold glitter paper because I didn't want to add green into the color palette here....Also, makes it very modern...

 

I wanted the pumpkins to look like the were lit from inside. I die cut a large teal pumpkin and a small orange pumpkin. Then I used the Folk dies to cut the design into the front. I die cut a second pumpkin for each one, in white cardstock. On the white pumpkins, I used distress inks and blender brushes to ink blend golden tones. Then I glued the shaded pumpkins behind the colorful pumpkins. It was hard to photo, but it looks really pretty in person!!

 

For my sentiment I gold embossed the sentiment onto a vellum strip. The background is black cardstock with the Patchwork Quilt Die!

 

Okay, guys, this next card is SUPER fun and unique!!! This card features the brand new Elegant Arches/Entrance dies, the brand new Thanks All Ways stamp set, and the brand new Autumn Harvest dies. It also features the pretty Stencilscapes/Autumn stencils.... The card opens up like a door or window!! It's really neat. My finished card is an A2 card base, layered with woodgrain paper for my door....

Here is the outside of the door and the front of the card....

 

 

And when you open the door....it's a fall scene!!!

 

I die cut the new Entrance Arches from the woodgrain paper. I affixed vellum to the back of the windows.... 

 

I used the new Autumn Harvest dies to make the wheat stalks and the little pumpkins to place outside... I cut out some little rectangles to look like panels on the front door. A little ink blending and splattering to make it aged...

 

I really adore the Stencilscapes stencils! I die cut an arch from white cardstock and then inked up the stencils in warm fall colors... I added more pumpkins and the rest of my sentiment on top of my stenciled panel.

 

 

 

And here's the top down view! I really am excited to see what Betsy and everyone else made with this die set!! 

 

 

And last but not least for today, a pretty Fall floral card featuring the brand new Wildwood stamps and dies!! My finished card is an A2 kraft card base, layered with yellow, cream, and vellum...

 

 

Here's a close up of my layers... I die cut the Potal Die from cream cardstock, and used the beautiful Berry Branch Stencils to lightly stencil the background...

 

The new Wildwood stamp set is a big set with loads of multi step flowers! You can mix and match to your heart's content.... I used vintage tones of yellow, aqua and coral for my florals.... The sentiment is one of the pretty sentiments in the stamp set, and it has a matching die!! 

 

The flower centers and the sentiment were stamped in dark brown ink to keep the warm, vintage feeling. I feel like black would have been too harsh...

 

 

Okay, friends! That's it for me for this new release week! 

DAY TWO PRIZE INFORMATION!! The Greetery will be giving away TWO more $50 gift certificates for today! That makes for FOUR gift certificates total over both days.... To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!  

The new release is LIVE tomorrow, August 30th, at 10am EST!  Thank you for spending part of your week here with me! It is most definitely my pleasure to share The Greetery products with you! I feel very lucky to be part of this team. Happy Shopping tomorrow! I am very excited to see what everyone makes with these gorgeous new Autumn themed products.

I truly appreciate it if you remember to shop via my links! tomorrow. It helps me so very much! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE!

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

 

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

 Dawn

 Kelly

 Laurie

 Melissa

 Wanda

 

 

The Greetery - Harvest Fest Collection - New Release Day One!

Hi friends! WOOOHOOOOO! Let's start this week off right!! Happy Monday, and happy Greetery Release Week! I am so happy to share this newest collection with you! Are you excited?? It's almost September, and time to do Fall crafting! I could not be happier! The new release is called Harvest Fest and it is all the beautiful and wonderful things for Autumn.... Think caramel apples, and pies, and leaves, and pumpkins.... Oh YES! We have two reveal days this release, today and tomorrow. The design team will be sharing our projects on our blogs and revealing all the new products for you. I have SEVEN cards to show you over the next two days! Lots of fun, photos, inspiration, and new things!! Let's get started and have some fun!! Get your pumpkin spice latte ready to spend some time with me this week! XO

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30TH AT 10AM EST!

 

My first card for today features the brand new Caramel Apples Dies and the brand new Foodie Phrases (so cute) and the brand new Herringbone Parquet dies. The card was inspired by our local orchards we love to visit in the Fall. My finished card is an A2 cream card base, layered with red, cream, plaid, and kraft. I created a little shop scene! I wish I could eat this card!! Do you like red apples or green apples with caramel? I like the green ones!!

 

How cute is the font on this new sentiment set??? LOVE it!! I also used it in another card today so you'll see more of it! 

 

The caramel apple die set has that juicy apple, the stick, two kinds of caramel (for the top or the bottom), leaves and the bow. It's actually perfect. I die cut out everything from cardstock and then shaded with distress inks and a small dauber. I splattered on just a tiny bit of gold paint for warmth. For the caramel, I glued together two die cut pieces so that it would stand up more off the apple. 

 

 

Here's a close up of that new Herringbone Parquet Die!!! I die cut it, ink blended it, splattered it.... Ha. I wanted it to look like an old wooden counter in the orchard store.... I die cut a plaid tablecloth from the Coaster die.

 

 

 

Next up is a sweet Acorn card with a bit of a vintage feeling.... My card features the brand new Jumbo Acorn Die along with some of my other favorite Greetery supplies. The finished card is a kraft A2 horizontal card base. I layered with more kraft, some patterned papers, and then a pretty cream tag. 

 

 

I used the Aida Cloth Background to add some texture to the background layer. I die cut my acorn pieces from colored cardstock and inked up the pieces with Copic Markers. I used the Crimped Circle Tag for my focus point. 

 

I stamped some text in the background on my tag and tied the top with a button and twine... 

 

I used the Autumn word dies in dark brown and vellum to add my sentiment - keeps it simple and classy....

 

 

 

Okay, so if you're still hungry after that caramel apple, how about some pumpkin pie!?! Yeah!! My last card for today features the brand new To Pie For dies along with the brand new Fall Foodie Phrases! My finished card is an A2 cream card base, layered with orange gingham, woodgrain and more cream.... Now I'm hungry again!! Hee hee.

 

 

Here's a side view of my layers and textures.... I wanted my card to look like a Thanksgiving table place setting!! 

 

 

Here's a close up of that delicious pie!! MMMMMM. I die cut the pie pieces from dark orange and cream cardstocks. I inked the edges of the pie pieces with Antique Linen Distress Ink to look like it was baked and brown like it just came from the oven. I used chunky glitter to look like sugar on the little accent pieces. Looks good enough to eat!! 

The square background piece is actually the Stitched Scallop Notecard die, but cut in half! This way I could use it as a frame for my pie. I ink blended just the top of the square, ombre fashion, to add some more color.

 

Hey Pumpkin!!!

 

 

I'm always so very happy for a new release!! That's it for day one of the new release reveals! Be sure to come back tomorrow and I will be sharing FOUR more cards featuring the new items! Yippeeeeeee! What's your favorite thing so far? I'm ready for a fall snack for sure!!  The new release will be for sale on Wednesday, August 30th at 10am EST!  See you tomorrow with more projects! XOXO

DAY ONE PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away TWO $50 gift certificates each day!  To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

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

 

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

 Dawn

 Kelly

 Laurie

 Melissa

 Wanda

 

Sunny Studio Stamps - 8th Birthday Celebration Blog Hop! Holiday Cards!

Wowza! There's a lot going on around here in crafty land!! It's all good!! SOOOO many beautiful new stamp collections coming out lately, and lots of Christmas already this year. I guess it's good if you're organized and ready to start Christmas! (I am not that organized! LOL) I do love sharing everything with you and introducing you to new goodies from my favorite companies. Today is a big blog hop to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Sunny Studio Stamps! Yiipppeeee! Congratulations to Mendi for eight fun years of creativity!! Here's to many more! To go along with the anniversary, there is a brand new release, and there are prizes and discounts! Please scroll to the bottom of my post for Prizes, Sale Codes, Supply lists, and the Blog Hop List!! It's going to be fun hop for sure. I have two Christmas cards to share with you today. If you're new here because of the hop - welcome! XOXO 

My first card today features the brand new Woolen Mittens Dies, the brand new Diamond Die, and some old favorites from Sunny Studio!! It's a cozy card perfect for any winter occasion. I used pink and aqua because I love those colors for holidays... My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with striped paper, then that big cozy mitten!!

 

Here's a side view of my card to show all the layers and elements. I die cut out all the pieces from colored cardstock and used distress inks to add shading. I also generously splashed on some white paint 'snow'! 

 

I die cut the mitten from pink cardstock and then ran it back through my Big Shot using the new Diamond cover die - love that look!! I die cut some pretty aqua snowflakes to add color and wintery goodness...

 

I thought this was the perfect sentiment for a mitten card!! 

 

For a little embellishmnent, I die cut out the small tag and added a snowflake and red twine... 

 

There are so many pretty details in this die set! I love the holly.... And I love that the cuff has two pieces to mix and match more colors.... I stamped some aqua snowflakes around the mitten...

 

My second card for today features the brand new Holiday Hugs stamps and dies!! It's the cutest bear, and he has items he can hold in his hands. Of course I chose the mug of cocoa for him to hold! I debated making him a white polar bear, or a fluffy brown bear.... He is colored with Copic Markers and I love his colorful scarf! My finished card is an A2 card base...

 

Here's a side view of my card. I used the pretty striped background in red and white because it reminded me of candy canes... I stamped and colored the bear and mug and colored with Copics. I added white gel pen accents and a bit of glitter on the marshmallows....

 

There is a separate die cut included in the die set, and it cuts out his hands so he can hold the items. It's so clever! I added his mug and a little heart for good measure...

 

 

 

 

I used Stazon ink on vellum to add my sentiment....

 

 

 

SALE SALE SALE!! Sunny Studio will be offering 20% off Sunny Studio branded products (excluding clearance and new release products) using discount code EIGHTYEARS at checkout through August 29th!! Limit one discount code per order.  They will also automatically include a free mini snowflake die on all orders!! How exciting!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today to help celebrate the anniversary for Sunny Studio! I love their stamps and I'm so happy to help Mendi share her exciting anniversary. Wishing you a blessed and happy day today! XOXO

PRIZE INFORMATION! Sunny Studio has generously given each of us a $25 gift certificate code to give away on our blogs for a total of $425 in prizes throughout the week. WOW! The contest will run through Monday, August 28th. To enter to win, please leave a comment here on this blog post!  Sunny Studio will announce all winners on the Sunny Studio blog on Friday, September 1st, and will email all the winners their shopping codes directly! GOOD LUCK!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW SUNNY STUDIO COLLECTION!

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

 

TODAY'S FABULOUS BLOG HOP LINEUP!

Sunny Studio
Wanda Guess
Rachel Alvarado
Sandy Allnock
Marine Simon
Tammy Stark
Caly Person
Isha Gupta
Bobbi Lemanski
Gladys Marcelino
Tina Henkens

 

Hero Arts Holiday 2023 Blog Hop! Snowmen and Candy Canes!

HEEEEYYYYY everyone! Welcome! Hope you're having a great week so far! Today is a fun day - a big, amazing, blog hop! The Hop today is to celebrate the brand new Winter 2023 Hero Arts Catalog launch! All the new holiday products are available today in the Hero Arts Store! Yippeee! I have two fun and cheerful Christmas cards to share today! If you're new here to my blog because of the hop - welcome! Nice to meet you! XO 

Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of my post for all the prize information, supply list/links, and the full hop lineup! 

My first card today features the adorable, brand new Peeking Snowman Die Set! I also used the brand new Snowflake Stencil and brand new Holiday Season Messages Stamps/Dies! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I layered white (stenciled with snowflakes), then red, then a cute postage die. I wanted it to look like a Christmas stamp!! It was fun to die cut this little sweet guy!! 

 

 

 

I stenciled the background with Distress Ink and a blender brush - those pretty blue snowflakes! I die cut all the snowman pieces from colored cardstock and gingham paper...and added a little bit of shading. The fun part was adding some snow to his hat!

 

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SUPPLY LISTS/LINKS!

Here is the side view, showing my layers...The sentiment set comes with matching dies, which just looks so nice and neat!

 

Instead of paper I used black enamel dots - I think it looks like shiny coal...and makes them stand out more! I used the stencil to add one more snowflake behind the snowman hat. 

 

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SUPPLY LISTS/LINKS!

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SUPPLY LISTS/LINKS!

 

Next up is a sweetheart candy cane card! I used the brand new Candy Cane Dies and the new Holiday Season Messages stamps and dies... I used a pretty vellum heart to feature the candy canes. My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with kraft, teal and then vellum. The star is those fun and cheery candy canes!

 

 

I made the candy canes with white and red cardstock and then sprinkled on some white paint for snow.... The bow is die cut from sparkly cardstock and finished with a big red enamel dot. I kept this card very clean and simple, and it would be a good one to mass produce for Christmas cards....

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SUPPLY LISTS/LINKS!

The die set has two different sizes of candy canes and two sizes of bows. It's perfect!

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE SUPPLY LISTS/LINKS!

I had originally made some red, and some pink candy canes. I used the red ones for my card and decided to use the small pink one to make a sweet little gift tag! I definitely need to make some more of these!!

Thanks for stopping by today as part of the Holiday 2023 Catalog blog hop!! Nice to have you here! Wishing you a very happy and creative day, my friends! XOXO

PRIZE INFORMATION! Hero Arts will be giving away two $50 gift cards, drawn from the comments left along the hop. Comment on all the blogs for more chances to win! You have until Thursday, August 31 at 11:59pm to enter. The winners will be announced on the Hero Arts blog! GOOD LUCK!! 

 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE FROM HERO ARTS!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE BLOG HOP LINEUP! SO MANY ARTISTS TODAY!

 

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

 

 

Pretty Pink Posh New Release - Halloween Mug and Spooky Wishes!

Hi crafty friends! Won't you have a cuppa with me today? A very spooooooky cuppa!! Today I'm sharing another project I made with the brand new Pretty Pink Posh Halloween Release! I adore this new release so much! The PPP Halloween release is one of the highlights of my creative year!  (CLICK HERE to see my other three cards made with the new items)!   Today is the start of the big Instagram Hop to celebrate the new PPP Release! So be sure to head over to Instagram and leave a comment to be able to win a PPP gift certificate! As always with an Instagram Hop, I'm sharing my card here too. I have been waiting to share this one, because I love how it came out! I had a blast making it, combining so many fun elements.... Let's go! 

My finished card is a white A2 card base, covered with cool black and white stripey paper. I layered an inked up wonky rectangle, and then my mug and add-ons. I am featuring the brand new Halloween Mug Additions....along with lots of the other mug dies. I can't wait every month to see the new add ons!! I used purple on this card - which I rarely use - but I love it! Especially contrasted with the orange and yellow.... My card has everything: pumpkin, candy corn, stars, spider and even a tombstone! 

 

Here's a close up of ALLLLL the spooky things on my card!! I started by die cutting all of the elements from colored cardstock. Then I shaded/colored with Copic Markers on top of the cardstock pieces. I also added some splatters and also white gel pen accents. I added glitter glue to the whipped cream and the stars... It was really fun to put this all together. 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY!

I used the Graduation Mug Dies to make the "31" numbers. I shaded around the numbers with a gray Copic. For the Tombstone I added different gray shades to make it look like granite. The candy corns are from the Candy Treats Die set released last year. 

 

The sentiment is from the Ghost Friends stamp set and matching dies.... 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY!

The big mug is purple cardstock and I matched the purple to the shading and stenciling on the background layer.

 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY!

To shade the background I used Wilted Violet Ink and a blender brush to ink only the top. Then I used the same color to add the stars with the Starry Background Stencil!! 

 

I used the brand new Sentiment Strips Dies and Sentiment Strips Halloween stamp set to add this perfect sentiment to the inside of the card!!! We are definitely brewing up some fun! What do you think is in that mug? Potions? Hahaha. 

That's it for today's spooky project!! Be sure to head over to Instagram to leave comments in the hop! I hope you have a fantastic day! Thanks for spending part of it with me here! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

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

 

The Greetery - Pretty Yellow Spring Meadow Card!

*** A quick note to my blog subscribers! I was able to finally change the time my emailings go out whenever there is a new blog post! My hope is that with the new time, you will see my content and posts on the same day they're published, instead of the next morning! If all goes right, your email from me with new content will arrive later in the morning around 7-8am PST - so keep a lookout! Let me know what you think - and if you notice the change! XOXO ***

 

Hi there my creative and crafty friends! It's my turn today over on The Greetery Blog to share a fun project with you! Of course, I have to share here too! Summer is winding down and I always start crafting with yellow this time of year. I made a card with one of my favorite color combinations: yellow, kraft, and white! I used the beautiful Greetery Spring Meadow Stencils and Dies in kind of a different way! Instead of using all different colors for the flowers, I made them all shades of yellow! I've never tried that before with the floral dies, and I like how it looks this way too! I previously used this stencil set in blues and purples so this is a completely different vibe!

My finished card is an A2 Kraft card base, layered with White and some yellow patterned paper then the pretty oval for my bouquet to fit onto. I used the new Hoopla Oval Inserts Dies (see that pretty pierced detail?) as my background. The sentiment is from the Tagged Elegance Set, and it fit perfectly onto the round die from the Sentiment Suite Basics Die Set. This just screams Summer to me!

 

I stenciled in four shades of yellow inks, two shades of green inks, and then brown ink for the flower centers. I splattered on some white paint for an artsy feel, and also added a few yellow gems. This card would be great for any occasion, and you could make it in any color! I'm thinking all pink would be pretty too!

 

Here's a side view of my layeres. I love that new patterned paper (Doodlebug of course)! I wrapped twine around it too....

 

A sprinkling of soft yellow gems...

 

 

 

 

Okay friends! That's it for today! Have a blessed and happy and creative day! I will see you soon....keep on crafting! XOXO

CLICK HERE to see the supply list and links for today's card (affiliate links used)!

 

Fun with Pixi Dust Christmas! Gingerbread mugs and pretty rosettes!

Hi friends!! Well, we started off on Monday with Halloween projects, and we're ending on Friday with Christmas projects! Ha! There's a lot going on in my craft room lately. The next couple of months will be a mix match of every topic and every holiday! All the companies are getting ready with their Fall and Winter new product launches and it's all good! I am totally ready for a change of season, actually! I need to get the Christmas crafty bins down from the garage shelves and get (more) ready! Hope you had a wonderful week! Let's get started for today's post! 

These projects from today are part of a big Instagram Hop today for Pixi Dust - so be sure to head over to Instagram and enter to win a gift certificate!! 

Today's post is to celebrate the Christmas products from our friends at Pixi Dust Designs! I LOVE their mug dies!! I made the penguin and reindeer last year, (CLICK HERE to see that post!) and this year I made the sweet sweet Gingerbread couple!! EEP. I also used the Fancy Rosettes dies to decorate some candy treat cones to save for Christmas decor. I accented my projects with cute Doodlebug papers and gingham ribbons.... CLICK HERE for the supply list and links! 

First up is my happy Gingerbread couple!!! These literally were the most fun thing to make! The die set makes both the boy and the girl and you can embellish them any way you like! I used traditional red and green and pink for my mugs. These are going to be gift bag decorations!! LOOOOVE! 

 

To make the mugs, I used Kraft cardstock. I used Vintage Photo DIstress Ink to ink around the edges. Then I splattered on brown ink and white ink to make them look like gingerbread cookies! I added some pink cheeks using craft chalk...and then white gel pen accents...

 

I used the mug die to cut out red plaid handles for both mugs. I used Doodlebug papers to make the bows and the scalloped circle background....It's all just so happy!

 

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS!

I generously applied Diamond Stickles onto the whipped cream and candy canes to make it sparkle!! 

 

 

 

 

You know I love to put little hearts on everything!

 

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS!

 

 

 

Next up I made some pretty candy treat cones! To make the cones, take a 12x12 paper and cut it in half diagonally... Then just roll it around and glue the seam. So simple! I used a hole punch to add holes on either side and put gingham ribbon through to hang these either on the tree or on a knob!! CUTE - and they will be even cuter filled with Christmas candy!

I used the Pixi Dust Fancy Rosettes to make the red and pink rosettes that decorate the cones. These dies are really easy to use and have pretty and unique edges... 

 

I decorated with stickers from the Doodlebug collection. I added a cute candy cane made with the addons in the Reindeer Mug die set!

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS!

 

 

 

Now I'm ready to sing Christmas carols!!! 

That's it for today!! Be sure to head over to Instagram to see the hop today - and enter to win a prize! I'll see you back here very soon! Have a super fun and happy weekend! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE PIXI DUST STORE!

CLICK HERE to see the supply list and links for today's projects (Affiliate Links Used)!

 

Pretty Pink Posh - August 2023 New Release - Ghosts and Pumpkins!

BOO! Hello friends! I am SOOOOO excited today to share some Halloween cards! I am beyond ready for Fall crafting, and Fall in general! Yippeeeee! Today is the first day of a big blog hop celebrating the new August release from our friends at Pretty Pink Posh. You guys know that I absolutely LOVE the Halloween release from PPP every year...and this year is no different. I had the best time making cards with the new release, and I was smiling the entire time! I hope my cards today get you in the mood to switch seasons! I have three cards today, and then I'll share a fourth card next week when we do the Instagram Hop. The new release is already available for shopping!! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HALLOWEEN RELEASE!!

My first two cards feature the brand new (and super adorable) Ghost Shaker dies, other brand new supplies, and one of my favorite stencils from last year - the Spooky Sky!! I ended up making two ghost cards because I had made two cloudy backgrounds. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I used them both! Yay! This first card is an A2 white card base, layered with brilliant teal and a cutie pie witchy poo ghostie!! Hee hee. She's a good witch, so don't worry. 

 

For the boo sentiment, I used the new Large Boo Shadow Dies.... The hat, broom and moon are frm the new Halloween Mug Additions Dies set. ADORABLE!!! I die cut the ghost shape and colored on her with some Copic Markers and added some cheeky cheeks...

 

 

 

I die cut my pieces from colored cardstock and added Copic Marker accents and white gel pen accents. The "you're spooktacular" sentiment is from the new Sentiment Strips Halloween stamps and matching dies.... 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

I stenciled onto teal cardstock with the Spooky Sky Stencils set. The set has clouds, stars and bats and it's awesome. I used white pigment ink for the clouds and Oxide ink for the stars.... 

 

My second card is also an A2 card base - in gray cardstock. I layered the stenciled panel (also the same gray cardstock). This time I made my ghostie out of vellum so he's sparkly and see through!! I splattered him, and the background, with silver paint. 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

This little ghostie is holding his jack-o-lantern he just made! The pink cheeks are Copic Markers - they work great on vellum!

 

I die cut the happy halloween words from black cardstock!

 

For this background, I used gray cardstock and inked on Salvaged Patina Oxide Ink around the edges...It made a cool blue/gray kind of color! I used the same white and yellow ink for the stars and clouds....

 

My craft room is haunted by cute ghosts now!! Hee hee!! I'm okay with it!

 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

Here are the stencils and both of my finished backgrounds... I love them both, even though they are so different. Remember to play around with your colors!

 

 

 

My third card goes in a totally different direction - AUTUMN!! I used the brand new Stitched Pumpkins Dies (these are going to get used A LOT!) and the brand new Argyle Stencils to create a warm fall card... The finished card is an A2 cream cardstock, layered with my stenciled panel, and then those pumpkins!! I used a warm palette of amber, brown and deep orange...

 

Here's a side view of my card. As usual, I did some paint splatters (in gold) and ink shading on my die cut pieces. I used a deep orange cardstock and ink blended with distress inks and blender brushes just to the tops of the pumpkins and the bottom of the leaves.

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

I used Amber and Vintage Photo Distress Inks on cream cardstock for my stenciling.... I love this deep warm golden yellow....

 

 

The sentiment is from last years gorgeous Falling Leaves stamps and stencils...Love... 

 

The pumpkins die set has three sizes of pumpkins, leaves, and little curlies... Also it has jack-o-lantern faces. I think this is perfection! You can make harvest pumpkins or halloween pumpkins. Paulina thought of everything!! Literally the perfect pumpkin set. 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today for this fun introduction of the new release and for the exciting blog hop! It was nice to share with you! Have a great day today and keep on crafting! XOXO

BLOG HOP PRIZE INFO! There are THREE $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day of the hop). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop from all the comments. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 8/15!! Winners will be announced on the PPP blog. Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

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

TODAY'S FUN BLOG HOP LINEUP!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Caly Person

Nichol Spohr

Mindy Eggen

Marine Simon

Wanda Guess

Gemma Campbell

Lauren Taylor

 

The Greetery - Handiwork Collection - New Release Day Two!

Welcome back to day two of the new release reveals for THE GREETERY! The Handiwork Collection continues today with the design team features of the rest of the new products! I hope you're as excited as I am, because I love this release, and especially today's cards!! I have threeeee more cards to share and they all have a nostalgic flavor to them... My grandma was the one who taught me how to embroider and cross stitch and crochet. She always had a needle in her hand and was always making something. Those things warm my heart now, at my age, and I am drawn to stitching and crocheting. Today's Greetery products give me the warm fuzzies.... Let's go! 

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY JULY 28TH AT 10AM EST!

My first card for today features the brand new Notionable Die set and the brand new Stitched Sentiments stamps and dies. My finished card is an A2 cream card base, layered with red, cream and a touch of gingham. My top panel is also cream cardstock (for a warmer feel than bright white) die cut with the Postal Dies. 

 

Here's a side view and close up of the pretty new sentiments stamps and dies....Love it SEW much!!

 

The Notionable die set has all of these elements: a pin holder, scissors, threads, thimble, needle, and MORE!!! Gosh, it's awesome! To start my card I sat down and die cut out everything!! Then after they were all cut out, I decided on my layout and which things to use. 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

I die cut the tomato from pretty felt to make it look realistic! I backed the red felt with cardstock to make it easier to attach to the card. It's so dang adorable!! I used matte silver and glitter gold cardstock to make the scissors. They are held together with a brad - and guess what? They actually move like real scissors!! 

 

I added some pearl pins, and red buttons from my crafty stash, and of course some little hearts...

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

See that cool needle and thread?? Love it!!! Betsy thought of eveything in this die set. 

 

Next up is a vintage sewing machine card that features the brand new Sew Vintage Dies, the brand new Oval Hoopla Dies, the brand new Aida Cloth Texture Plate, and the brand new Stitched Sentiments stamps! My finished card is a horizontal A2 card base made from cream cardstock. I used the Patchwork Die with vintage text paper for the background...then the hoop. This hoop is the larger of the two ovals in the Oval Hoopla Set!

 

When I first saw this die set, I was like WOW. This is so super cool and detailed!! It was fun to make!! I die cut the sewing machine from black cardstock and then heat embossed the details in gold embossing. It looks real, doesn't it!? And the tiny details make everything just right....

 

I again used the Aida Cloth Texture Die for the inside of my hoop. The sewing maching looks just right in there! I added some embellishments from my stash - buttons and a butterfly, and some hearts too. Each detail is a separate die so you can make everything a different color - the pink thread, the gold dials... And can we talk about how the thread winds into the needle??? Genius!!

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

Here are some detail photos....

 

I stamped the sentiment in black on a stitched rectangle. Such a sweet sentiment, right?? I love everything about this card!

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

And, my final card for release week.... This card features the brand new Rose Tapestry Stencil Set and the brand new Stitched Sentiments stamps. These new stencils = WOWZA!!!! This is a dream!!! How cool is this look??? My finished card is a white A2 card base, layered with tiny gingham and then my stenciled panel. I stamped the sentiment on a vellum strip because I didn't want to cover up any of that beautiful design.

 

 

Here's a side view of my layers.... Just a few pearl accents for this card - nice and simple.

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

I used Stazon Ink and my MISTI to line up the sentiments perfectly...

 

This is supremely cool - don't you think?? Can't wait to make more, and in different colors! I'm thinking maybe a purple??? 

DAY TWO PRIZE INFORMATION!! The Greetery will be giving away TWO more $50 gift certificates for today! That makes for FOUR gift certificates total over both days.... To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!  

The new release is LIVE tomorrow July 28th at 10am EST!  Thank you for spending part of your week here with me! It is most definitely my pleasure to share The Greetery products with you! I feel very lucky to be part of this team. Happy Shopping tomorrow! I am very excited to see what everyone makes with these products.

I truly appreciate it if you remember to shop via my links! It helps me so very much! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE!

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

 

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

Dawn

Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda

 

Pinkfresh Studio July 2023 Blog Hop - Hello Fall!

Hi crafty friends! Lots going on this week! Lots of FUN! Today is a busy day. I have two posts today - so make sure to visit both of them because there are prizes and fun information on both! Yeah! Thank you for being here!

Welcome to my stop on the awesome blog hop to celebrate the brand new, beautiful release from our friends at Pinkfresh Studio! Gosh, I do love Pinkfresh Studio and their pretty style.... NEW NEW NEW Stamps, dies, stencils, hot foil plates, accessories...and more!! There is supply information, prize information and the list for the hop participants at the bottom of my post. Let's take a look at my card for today! It's my first Fall project of 2023! 

My Hello Fall card to share today features the brand new Foliage Shaker Dies and the brand new Fall Leaf Die! I used those new items along with pretty Pinkfresh inks, and some of my other favorite dies from Pinkfresh! Everything works so well together. I used a warm fall color palette of red, orange and brown, with a few touches of gold and sparkle. My finished card is an A2 cream card base, covered in dark woodgrain paper. I layered cream cardstock and then my design elements....

 

I started by die cutting out all my pieces: hello, FALL, leaves and vellum leaves.... I used my beautiful Pinkfresh Studio Ink Cubes to add color to the leaves and the letters....I set those aside to dry. The hello is die cut from the same brown woodgrain paper as my background. I love brown with orange and red - so warm! I used blender brushes to ink just the tops of the letters to give an ombre feeling...

 

 

 

Here's a close up of my leaves. SO pretty, and the perfect scale for a card! After I inked them up, I of course splattered on some pretty gold paint.

 

On my background layer, I stenciled in brown and orange with the pretty Sweet Leaves Stencils. I only stenciled one portion of the stencil, to give a nice border across the bottom of the card.

 

That gorgeous new Fall Leaf Die! Oh my - so pretty in vellum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for my card for today! If you're new here, from the blog hop, welcome! Thank you for stopping by to spend part of your day with me. I'm always super grateful to work with the talented and generous team at Pinkfresh Studio - they are a dream to work with. Thank you so much for joining me today on this fun blog hop day! Happy crafting! I will see you soon!

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel! They will also be giving away a total of TEN $25  gift cards along the hop. As per usual with blog hops - the winners will be picked from the comments left on each blog!! Pinkfresh Studio will pull the winners & post them on August 4th on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. Remember, you must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks. GOOD LUCK!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PINKFRESH STUDIO RELEASE!

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

 

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE ALL THE BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS!!

The Greetery - Handiwork Collection - New Release Day One!

Hi friends! Today is an exciting day! I am very happy to share with you that it's new release week at The Greetery! YEAH!! The new release is called "Handiwork" and it has a beautiful sewing/floral theme! The collection is super feminine and pretty, with gorgeous new florals and even an antique sewing machine! I had a great time making my projects for release week to share with you. We have to reveal days this release - today and tomorrow. The design team will be sharing our projects on our blogs and revealing all the new products for you. I have six cards to share with you over the next two days and they are all so different from each other.  I got to make some vintage cards this time around, which I love! It's hard to choose a favorite thing from the new release..... Are you excited too?? Let's gooooo!! 

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY JULY 28TH AT 10AM EST!

My first card for Day one is an embroidery hoop with a honey bee inside. You guys know I love to stitch, and one of my favorite themes is bees, so this was a perfect match. My card features the brand new Hoopla Round Die and Inserts Die, and also the brand new Aida Cloth Texture Plate. I used previously released Honey Bees and Buzzworthy sets to complete my project. The finished card is an A2 card base. I layered on striped paper, then a cream panel, then my hoop and bee. 

 

Here's a side view of my layers.... The Hoopla Round Dies come in two sizes in the set - this is the smaller size. I die cut the hoop from woodgrain cardstock. I layered three of the hoops together to make it a bit thicker. I used the new Aida Texture Plate for the inside to look like emroidered cloth...

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

The Hoopla die sets (there is an oval also that I will show you tomorrow) have the perfect hardware to put on top! Here I die cut the hardware from matte silver cardstock. 

 

I attached the bee using foam squares.... She pops off the page! I also popped up the sentiment. I had stamped it first (flat) and then thought I would like it better with the die cut. You can see the other sentiment underneath. Sometimes you gotta adjust on the fly!

 

I stamped the yellow honeycombs using my MISTI and two shades of yellow inks. I also ink blended over the honeycombs for a soft effect!! 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

For the bee, I used black and yellow cardstocks and then some white paint splatters. I also shaded the body using a dark yellow Copic Marker. The wings were die cut from vellum... Then I used a shimmer pen over the top to make the wings look real! These hoops are awesome - and there is no end to what you can put inside!! 

 

Next up is a set of pretty notecards I made with the brand new Stitched Scallops Notecard Die and the brand new Embroidered Blooms Dies!! I am going to be using this notecard die A LOT! I can already tell. It cuts out so nice and crisp and perfect! The folded notes measure 3.75" x 3.75" which I feel is a perfect size! It will fit into an A2 envelope, or be perfect as a gift tie on.... 

 

The Embroidered Blooms florals are big and bold, and classic! I used red as my main color and then green, yellow and aqua. Look at the details in the leaves! Oh my. The possibilities are endless....

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

 

 

I used splatters for an artsy feeling and I like the vivid colors here... I think it'd be so pretty in pinks too...

 

 

 

 

The sentiments are from the Hearts at Home stamp set (which I looooove).

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

 

My last card for today features the brand new Floral Sampler Stamps and Dies with a pretty postage theme. My finished card is a horizontal A2 white card base. I layered white, yellow, and gray gingham for a soft look. Instead of stamping the florals, I used the die cuts and cut the outlines from colored cardstock... Then I used the stamps and gold embossed the details. It's kind of cool looking!

 

Here's a side view of how I layered everything. I accented the florals with stamps and dies from the Pretty Postmarks suite. I attached the flowers and leaves using foam squares for dimension...

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR TODAY'S PROJECTS!

 

I used gray ink to stamp the accent images - to match the subtle gray gingham. 

 

 

I'm always so very happy for a new release!! That's it for day one of the new release reveals! Be sure to come back tomorrow and I will be sharing three more cards featuring the new items! Yippeeeeeee! What's your favorite thing so far?  If you are a seamstress, you are going to LOVE tomorrow's reveals! Can't wait. The new release will be for sale on Friday July 28th at 10am EST! See you tomorrow! XOXO

DAY ONE PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away TWO $50 gift certificates each day!  To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

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

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

 Dawn

 Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda

 

Taylored Expressions Wreathed in Joy Card Kit!

Helllooooooo crafty friends! How are you?! I hope you're ready for this week! It's going to be verrrrry busy here on the bloggy blog! I have four blog posts this week, and today is the first one! Yippeeeeeee! We've got Christmas, and Fall, and a new release from The Greetery, and so much more! It's all good! And it's that weird time of year when we are crafting ALL the things and ALL the seasons! Ha! I hope you have a wonderful day, and a wonderful week! XOXO

Today's post is all about the brand new, awesome card kit from Taylored Expressions. It just launched today, and I am 100% on predicting a sell out. This one is going to sell out! So if you want it, grab it! The kit is called Wreathed in Joy, and it has stamps, stencils, dies and sentiment inserts!! I used the kit for my cards today, along with some of my other favorite supplies from Taylored Expressions. I made two cards. One is an A2 card and the other one is a 4"x4" square card. The kit makes two wreaths, combining stamps and stencils (and matching dies). It also makes sprigs to match, and the letters J and Y to spell JOY! It's beautiful!

 

This card uses the larger wreath of the two in the kit! Isn't it pretty? I used one of my favorite background cover plates, some snowflakes and a bit of vellum to jazz it up! And I also used some of those gorgeous sparkly Glitter Drops. SUPPLIES are at the bottom of my post! 

 

 

 

This card uses the smaller wreath in the kit along with the letters J and Y! Pretty red and green perfect for Christmas....

 

The stencils are a set of three - two greens and one red. The brown portion/branches are a stamp! Genius!

 

Here's a close up of the background die. I pretty much use this for every season! It's so detailed....

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the entire kit contents....

 

And some of the contents of the kit....

That's it for today's fun introduction to the new card kit! I'll be back tomorrow with my first post for The Greetery new release! So be sure to come on back y'all!! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE TE STORE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list and links for my projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

Some quick cards to share! Happy Monday!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! Whew, it's been so hot here! I'm trying not to melt, and I'm drinking lots of iced coffee!! Hope you are doing well, and getting in some creative and crafty time. Life is all good here in Sactown, ready for a new week! Sometimes I will make 'quick' cards to share on Instagram and Facebook and they don't always necessarily get posted on my blog. Today I'm sharing two of those quick cards because they are happy, Summery cards and I wanted to show you! So just a quick blog post today, and some hugs and good wishes for a great week. XOXO

First up is this card - think happy and bee happy! Gosh, as soon as I saw this new Echo Park paper collection I had to order it! I love the patterned papers, and I always love a bee theme. The card is an A2 card base and then I just mixed and matched patterns and stickers together. I finished with a few hearts, of course, and a wee bit of twine too!! You can find the paper collection here! 

 

And this rainbow card was made with supplies from Concord and 9th! A cheerful modern rainbow with good wishes attached!! This card is also and A2 size and I used the gorgeous C9 cardstocks to make my rainbow. It feels very Lisa Frank to me....hearts and rainbows.... So sweet! You can shop Concord and 9th here!

 

And here's a quick photo of my sweet Lucky Boo Boo! When it's hot, he likes to sleep on the chairs underneath the dining room table!! He is very smart to stay cool like that!! He is the bestest boy. 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!! XOXO

 

Cross Stitch for the 4th of July! America by Little House Needleworks!

Hey hey hey friends! It's Friday! Yippeeeee! And it's gonna be a hot one around here!! Hope you had a great week! I've been busy this week, crafting and fun things with friends, and stitching! Yay! I have a fun project for you today - a cross stitch I finished for the 4th of July! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've been seeing the progress of this cross stitch piece. My goal was to have it completed by the 4th of July.... Well, you know what? I finished it at 9:30pm on July 3rd! Go me! Haaaa. I framed it this week and took my final photos, so it's time to share with you the final look. I think I'm going to leave it up year round, now that I see it done. 

All the supplies, pattern info, etc are in the supply links HERE or at the bottom of this post. Also, if you like cross stitch and want to see my other projects and/or finishing ideas, you can click on the "Cross Stitch and Crochet" Category on the right sidebar of my blog! It will take you to all my projects. Or CLICK HERE for that category. 

My favorite place to buy cross stitch supplies is the Fat Quarter Shop! They have super fast shipping and always the newest patterns and fabrics! I am an affiliate for them and love working with them too. 

Here is my finished and framed piece! It's called "America" by Little House Needleworks! It's so pretty! Just the right amount of prim, and modern. It was an easy stitch. I used 14 count Aida. I almost always use my own color choices for my cross stitching because I tend to like brighter colors. I swapped out the colors here to make it my own. The finished stitching area on 14 Aida is 6" x 8" so I used an 8x10 frame and it was perfect!

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR THIS PROJECT!

I found the frame at Michael's and it was the perfect look I think. I also bought a brown frame to see if I liked that better, but I think the contrast with the white is better for this piece. I did a really simple framing on this one because of the look of the pattern. It's very old school. To frame, I iron my piece really nicely. (iron on the back side of your piece). I used natural cotton batting between my fabric and the frame to make it a bit 'puffy' in the frame. I think it looks better with some softness, but this is totally a matter of preference. 

 

A bit about my thread choices! I used all DMC floss except for the red, which is 'fancy floss.' I use this awesome color chart from DMC to decide my colors and bring it with me when I go thread shopping and cross reference with the called for colors. The chart has actual pieces of the floss, not just a color chip. If I'm choosing colors, I will look at what the pattern calls for, and then look at similar colors to see what I like the best!! You can definitely shake it up and use your creativity on the patterns. Make it your own!!

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR THIS PROJECT!

 

I love that little birdie!! Hee hee, so fun to stitch! Just a side note, I almost always stitch on Aida... I have VERY bad eyesight and need a lot of light and a magnifying piece!! I just take my time and enjoy the process.

 

Here are some of my "in progress" photos....

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST/LINKS FOR THIS PROJECT!

 

 

 

Here it is all done, before ironing!

 

And before framing!

 

 

Thanks for spending some time with me this week! It's fun to share new things with you! What are you working on right now?? In the mail this week, I got my first delivery of Halloween stamps and dies! YEAH! This makes me happy! Fall is around the corner and I'll be switching modes pretty soon. Have a great weekend and whatever you do, keep on crafting! XOXO

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

The Greetery - Mushroom Terrarium Garden Card!

Hi everyone! I am SOOOO excited to share today's project with you! I've had it made for a long while, and am ready to show you! My card for today was made for The Greetery Blog, and of course I'm sharing it here too. I hope you are having a great week so far. I'm counting down the days until Autumn now that the 4th of July is over! I've been doing a lot of stitching lately and hope to share some cross stitch projects soon too!

I hope to inspire you with today's card! The goal is to encourage you to see your stamps and dies in a new way!! It's fun to mix and match different products and create a new idea!  I used tons of my favorite Greetery Dies and I watercolored with Distress Inks, which is one of my go-to techniques. I created a little terrarium, filled with beautiful ferns and toadstools...and a little snail too. (I guess I am still in a garden frame of mind after the latest Greetery Urban Jungle release!) Ha! This card was inside my brain for a while, and it came out exactly as I wanted. That doesn't happen all the time - but don't you love it when it does?! 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

I'm featuring the Large Ferns Die set from the new release, along with the Toadstool Garden Dies, the Spring Curio Dies and a few more too. My finished card is an A2 card base that I covered with woodgrain paper. I layered watercolor paper and text print patterned paper with a bit of twine, then I created my terrarium/cloche scene on top!

 

To start out this card, I die cut all the pieces (terrarium, ferns, toadstools, snail, background postage frame, and sentiment tag) from watercolor paper. Using watercolor paper, or plain paper, for your dies gives you complete freedom to color! 

The terrarium top was made using one of the larger A2 Arches Dies. For the bottom base, I die cut just the lower portion of the Jumbo Jar Die out of woodgrain paper and it fit just right! The sentiment tag was made using the Market Basket Dies and the stamped word "nature" is from the Curio Labels Stamp Set. I really love to encourage you to use your stamps and dies in different and new ways! There are no rules in crafting!

 

Here's a close up photo of the dies and ink blending. One tip to make the coloring look 'more watercolory' is to let one layer of color dry completely, then go back and add another layer of color - either the same color or a darker color!! Keep playing until you get the look that you like!

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

After everything was die cut, I mixed the elements around to see how I wanted them arranged. Once I had my layout settled, I colored all the pieces with Distress ink cubes and small water brushes. I like to watercolor with my Mini Distress Inks because there are so many colors to choose from and they blend nicely. I simply smoosh some ink onto my glass mat or a stamping block, and then pick up the color with my water brushes. This is such an easy and fun technique. I let everything dry and then splashed on some white paint splatters! 

 

I thought some text/patterned paper would add a nice little vintage touch!

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

 

To color the top portion of the terrarium I used blender brushes and Distress Inks to blend blue on the top (sky) and brown on the bottom (dirt).... I attached all my elements using either glue or foam squares. Lastly I added a few clear drop embellishments. It reminds me of a little fairy garden and it makes me happy! 

 

 

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

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

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

 

Some quick announcements and business!!

Hi guys! I hope you had an amazing weekend! Our weekend was jam packed full of....chores! LOL. The weather was perfection and we got so many things done. It's predicted to be in the 100's again this week so we wanted to scurry up and do things around the house and in the garage. Whew. We also went out for a nice dinner and church of course. Hope you are ready to take on a new week! I will have a fun blog post with a cool card Tuesday morning - cannot wait! But today I just have some quick things to share with you! 

Tuesday starts Amazon Prime Days - yay! Some of you know, but most of you don't know, that I am an Amazon Affiliate/Influencer. What that means is that I have an Amazon Storefront where I list out all my favorite products! I have different lists for craft items, my photography equipment (people ask me about that a lot), my favorite books and even my favorite beauty tools and things. If you buy something from Amazon, using my link, I get a small commission from the sale. And I truly appreciate every click! I wanted to share my storefont link here before Prime Days start... 

HERE IS THE LINK TO MY AMAZON PAGE!

My loyal subscribers are so great about shopping my other favorite online stores using the link on my homepage (thank you!) My Amazon page is listed within all those links also. So if you ever want to go back and look at one of my Amazon lists you can do it there too. 

HERE IS THE LINK TO MY FAVORITE ONLINE STORES THAT I SUPPORT - AND WHO SUPPORT ME!

That's all the bizness for today - thank you for always helping me out and supporting me in my endeavors. You guys are the very best. I will see you very soon  with a card! XOXO Wanda

MY SHOPS!

You've Got Mail! Guest designing with Ellen Hutson!

You've Got Mail!! The best kind of mail - happy, stamping mail! I have a fun post for you today! Just saying "You've Got Mail" reminds me of the movie, and of actually having dial up AOL! Ha! I love all kinds of mail - letters, emails, packages, it doesn't matter. There's something nice about getting a sweet message. But as a card maker, I am particularly fond of snail mail in my mailbox. I love everything with a mail/letter/postage theme. So, when I saw the new release recently from Ellen Hutson I flipped out (In the best way)! Everything is SOOOOOO cute and cheerful and pretty and PERFECT! I was thrilled when they asked me to be a guest designer today on the Ellen Hutson Blog - an immediate Yessssss. Ellen is literally the kindest, nicest person and her team is the very best. It's a dream to work with them. I'm on the EH blog, but also wanted to post my cards here on my blog today too!! Everything was made with the new Essentials By Ellen Stamp/Die release.

My first card features several of the new sets: First Class, Postage Dies, Mail Call, and Sending Love.... My card is an A2 horizontal card. I covered the card base with pretty aqua cardstock. I made a little rainbow array of stamps! And what about that font on the sentiment!!!??

 

My second card features the new stamp sets in a vertical layout. My finished card is an A2 card base. Layered with pink, vellum, and then that awesome postage die. There's another cute You've Got Mail sentiment!! And a snail! 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

 

My stamps and other elements were affixed to the cards using foam tape for added dimension of course....

 

 

 

I used awesome new Sketchmarker Aqua watercolor markers. The watercolor markers gave my projects a soft and artsy look. To use the markers, I colored on my glass mat and then used a water brush to pick up the pretty colors to color my images. Just like painting! These are really fun to work with!

 

I started by stamping all of the postage stamp images, the snail and the other icons for both cards, using waterproof ink. I die cut out all the images using the matching dies. The sets I used are: First Class, Mail Call, Sending Love, and Everyday Doodles. After I die cut out everything, I used the markers to color in the images.  Each stamp has a matching die so it was really easy to cut them all out at once. 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY'S CARDS!

Before I colored everything, I laid out all my elements to make sure I could make a rainbow!

 

My color choices! Bright and pretty, but they go on soft....like watercolors.

 

 

 

I splattered on some white paint for an artistic look. I used the beautiful Postage Dies as my backgrounds on both cards. So fresh! I also added white and clear enamel dots to both cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These cards and dies make me smile so much! I hope I made you smile by sharing some new stamps and dies with you today! Please head over to Ellen Hutson to check out everything! Big thank you to Ellen and the crew for inviting me to be a guest designer! Have a fantastic rest of the week! I'll see you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE ELLEN HUTSON NEW RELEASE!

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

 

Patriotic Pinwheels and more!

Hey guys! Happy almost 4th of July! Hope you're having a fun holiday weekend (even though it's Monday!) It's been hot hot hot here! Whew. I am ready for Fall already!! But we're enjoying the summer and the flowers are so pretty right now. The house is all decorated for the 4th with lots of flags and festive decorations. I made a quick project to share with you today. So easy to put together and so fun to make too. I love pinwheels and rosettes for festive occasions and that's what I have for you today!! 

The pinwheels were made with these awesome dies from PPP! One pass through the die cut machine, a few folds, and you're done. I used the Doodlebug Land That I Love Collection for everything. These pinwheels are especially perfect for double sided papers. I made them and affixed them to festive straws. If I was more organized, I was going to make cupcakes and put these in the cupcakes. But alas, I wasn't that organized. So they're in little jars around the house! Ha!!

I used jumbo gems for the centers, and splattered on a little bit of white paint for good measure!! I love the scallop edge detail too.

 

 

 

 

These papers are so cute, and such a good way to use your stash of pretty patterned papers!! Here's another blog post I did using these pretty pinwheels dies!

 

 

 

 

 

While I had all my supplies out, I decided to make a big puffy rosette too! I used three different 12x12 papers. I used 2.25" strips and scored at 1/2 inch intervals. I glued them all together and then placed on some fun accents - stars, hearts, and even a cute little eagle!!

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for the crafty part of my post! Here are a couple of photos from our house, one inside, one outside in our front yard, to show how into it we are! There are flags everywhere!! It's so pretty, actually and I love it! We tend to decorate with flags all summer - starting with Memorial Day. In our hallway is a giant flag that is tea dyed that we got at a cool store in Napa years ago. 

 

 

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

 

Summer notecard set with beautiful floral stencils!

Hello friends! It's Friday, and the last day of June!! Wishing you a blessed and happy weekend full of fun and Summer! I have been super busy here and I have lots to show you in the next few weeks. Love it!! Hope you're doing well, and getting in lots of crafting time too. I have a fun project to share today - a set of notecards I made with the innovative Create In Quads Stencils from Taylored Expressions. These are seriously the coolest concept! (remember the snowflake cards I made last year?).... I saw the new stencil set called Ever In Bloom and I HAD to buy it! My cards came out really fresh and Summery and pretty!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

Each card is an A2 white card base. In order to keep the look cohesive, I used yellow cardstock and mini gingham and vellum on all of them as my accents. I started by stenciling the GORGEOUS panel of florals. (I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a photo of just the stenciled part!! Sorry!!) The concept is this: One set of large 8x11 stencils that stencil an entire sheet of cardstock at once...with four different designs. Then you cut the paper into four and you have four card front panels!!! Here are all four of my cards, and you can see the background on each one is different - but they were all stenciled together!! LOVE!

 

Here are some photos of each individual card.... After I stenciled the panel, I generously splashed on white ink spray to make the look softer! It's soooo pretty in person. I used the stamp set from the Here Comes The Sun Card Kit - it's called Shine So Bright. Unfortunately this sentiment set is only available in the kit. However, sometimes Taylor will release the sets later individually. I adore the fonts in this set. You can use any of your favorite sentiment stamp sets though!

 

There are matching dies to cut out parts of the stencils - as here - the corners can be flat on the paper or die cut out and mounted onto the card as I did!! It's such a nice look.

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

I used a vellum oval to stamp the large Irish Blessing Stamp for the sentiment for this one. I used Stazon Ink for the vellum so it wouldn't smudge or smear!!

 

 

For this fourth card, I used the matching die cut to cut out the floral spray!! For my stenciling, I used both my large and small blender brushes and shaded with inks on all the elements. It gives such a nice look.

 

As my accents, I used pearls, since this look was so feminine. These would be great to use as bridal shower invites, or thank you cards too...

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

 

I am going to use this card as a housewarming card! That sentiment is so lovely!

These stencils are so fun and fabulous to work with. Makes it a breeze to make a bunch of cards at once. You could easily use fall colors or Christmas colors and change the entire look of these notecards. The possibilities are endless - and your creativity can run wild! Thanks for spending some time with me today. See you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE to shop the TE STORE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies, links and inks I used for today's cards (Affiliate Links Used).

Sweet Honey Bee Hives with Lawn Fawn!

Hello my little sweet bees!! Bzzzz Bzzzzz! Happy Monday! How was your weekend?! We had our last weekend of nice weather, I'm afraid. Next week is going to be all 100's - yuck! So we enjoyed a nice weekend here. Friday we drove to the ocean and hung out for the day and it was wonderful. Then we went to church, and chores, and out for a nice Mexican dinner...and then the weekend vanished like that!! I hope you are doing great. Today I'm buzzing by with some FUN projects made with stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn! I finally sat down to use my new BEE themed supplies, and let me tell ya, it was a big ole mess in my craft room! Ha - but a good mess. I made one bee hive, and then another one, and then I made ten little bees.... And I just kept making stuff! I ended up making a card, a little treat box, and a tag, all using the same supplies, mostly dies.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

Let's get started with the card... So this card is going to win an award I think... The award for the MOST STUFF on one card! LOL! I couldn't help myself. I am definitely a More is More crafter, and it makes me happy. This is an A2 card and it has 4,378 elements and layers on it! I think it weighs five pounds! I'm joking, but it really is crammed full of goodies. When I sat down to make these items, I first started by die cutting out a bunch of the cute bee hives. Then I die cut bees, and fences, and leaves, and flowers, and hearts.... That's my process, to cut out all the pieces first and then sit down and play with everything to get my design layout. THEN I start coloring and shading, etc. This card is a white card, then yellow cardstock, then gingham (of course), then vellum, then the top panel that has ink blending on the top in blue. Whew.

 

Here is the matching Treat Box project. I used gingham for this project too! The 12x12 yellow gingham for the box and the 6x6 yellow gingham for the card. This is a treat box die from Lawn Fawn (everything today is Lawn Fawn).... I put a cute little beehive on the front of the box, some leaves, flowers, and of course BEES!

 

And here is my matching tag! It's a bee hive tag! I stamped the sentiment on vellum and sandwiched the vellum piece in between two bee hives to create the tag. I used my eyelet setter to put a gold eyelet at the top, and decorated it using the same elements as the other two items. This is really fun!!

 

Okay, let's talk more abou the treat box! It's the Scalloped Treat Box and I made the base/box from 12x12 gingham. It's so easy to assemble. For all the beehives I used Distress Inks and a blender brush to shade color - deep yellow. I also used Copic Markers to add even more shading. The little fence is from the Spring House Add On set and it fits perfectly with this theme. I used the top from the Outside in Strawberry dies set to make a little 'hat' on top of the hive. I really just thought it was cute and added a punch of green! 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

I die cut and shaded lots of little flowers and some hearts.... Here is a top down view of the finished treat box. I attached the beehive to the box using foam tape. The sentiment is from the Wavy Sayings stamp set.

 

And here is the back of my treat box - of course I added a few little decorations to the back too!

 

Those little beeeeees are seriously SO cute!! I gave them some shading with Copics, some little pink cheeks and glittery wings too!

 

Now a little bit more about the tag.... Here it is in my hand so you can see how big the bee hive is. I added a branch and leaves, and beeeeees....

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

Here's a view of the back of the tag. I decorated/shaded the back bee hive so it looks pretty from the back too!! The vellum makes a fun touch here.

 

 

 

And, let's show some more photos of the card!! Here is a close up of my paper layers... I used blue ink and my blender brushes to ink just the top part of the scalloped rectangle panel. I wanted it to look like blue sky. Everything is shaded and splattered, and then I added white gel pen accents. (More is MORE)...

 

 

Here's the bottom part of the card. I stacked two of the sweet die to make it a bit thicker. I stamped the sentiment from the Hive Five set and then cut it into pieces "you're" and "as honey." This bee hive is actually three die cuts stacked on top of each other to make it thicker too.

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

This was my Assem-BEE-lee line of bees! I die cut out all the pieces first and then sat down to put them together!! Each bee is three pieces - easy to put together.

 

 

And here's my little swarm of bees ready to go onto my projects!!

 

I used lots of pretty greenery and leaves from the Strawberry Patch die set. I love the stitched detail on them.... 

 

I always like to add a heart(s) to my projects so I sprinkled in some red hearts....

 

I used the strawberry top again here on my card - and added a pink flower in the center. I think it makes it look fancy! Ha.

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS FOR TODAY!

Thank you for spending part of your day buzzin around with me!! To bee or not to bee? I say BEEEEE! Sending hugs from my crafty hive to yours, and wishing you a great week ahead! Can you believe it's almost July?? And the 4th of July?! Dang, another year flying on by. Take care my busy bees, and I will see you soon!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list and links for today's projects! (Affiliate Links used)... Thank you so much for using my links to do your crafty shopping - I appreciate you!!

 

Patriotic Cards for 4th of July 2023!

Hello my little chicadees!!! Happy Friday!!! I hope you have a great weekend! The hubs and I are taking a day trip to the ocean today, for a little fresh air and Vitamin Sea...clear the cobwebs and enjoy the day together.  Just a couple more weeks until we celebrate the 4th of July! Do you have big plans for the 4th? We don't usually have big plans, but there are lots of local fireworks, parades, festivals, and BBQ's and everything else, so we'll decide what to do once it gets closer. I do love all the festivities and pomp and circumstance of the 4th. I love all the decorations and the flags, and the red white and blue t-shirts, and everything!! Just a nice time to remember to be grateful we live in America! I remember when the Bicentennial happened in 1976 - it was so cool. I remember being a little kid and thinking to myself....mmmmm. I wonder if I will live until the Tricentennial! Ah, to be young. I for sure will not make it that long! Ha. I hope you had a good week and that you have a fun weekend planned.

Today I'm sharing four 4th of July projects all made with some favorite old and new supplies from Taylored Expressions. Taylor does the whole patriotic thing right, that's for sure. I made three cards and a tag. All four feature the brand new Old Glory stamp set! It's a cool concept- a star and a heart with two stamps that go together so you can do the red and blue inking separately. Here are all my projects!

 

I went for a vintage vibe with all my projects....I used kraft and cream with the deep red and blue....and accents of gold. Kept it simple and clean. I did some ink blending with Antique Linen Distress Ink too, oh and a little bit of gold embossing. 

SUPPLY LIST AND LINKS - CLICK HERE!

 

When I sat down to create, I first stamped two hearts and two stars with the new stamp set. I used my MISTI for perfect placement. These stamps are yummy red rubber that stamps like a dream. For the tag project, I die cut the tag using the Hero Arts Infinity Tags set and embossed it with the Lots of Stars Embossing Folder from Taylored Expressions (discontinued). I added the heart and the 4th dies, and just a bit of twine. All my projects are splattered with gold paint and embellished with gold glitter drops.

 

I used the brand new Fly Your Flag stamp/die combo to stamp the sentiment to place around the heart. I inked the edges and this is cream cardstock for the heart! I stamped the fireworks onto a kraft layer for my background. The fireworks are from the discontinued set called Yankee Doodle Homestead. 

 

 

For this card I embossed the stars on kraft cardstock again and then layered blue and red cardstocks. The star is the STAR of the show on this card. I layered the pretty sentiment banner and added glitter drops. Super quick and easy!

 

For this card I used the large Flag coverplate! (This one is discontinued but there is a newer version - slightly different - and I listed that one in my supply links for you) I heat embossed that gorgeous sentiment in gold and die cut it out with the matching die. I added a star, some gold paint splashes and glitter drops too. It's sooooo graphic and pretty.

 

 

 

I shadowed blue and gold for the number here.... Love that gold glitter cardstock.

 

You really have to check out this sentiment stamp set - it's part of the Handlettered series and it's gorgeous!! 

 

 

 

I had fun making these projects to share with you....and I had fun photographing them too! I love to stage my cards and create little scenes to bring them to life in another separate creative process....

Hooray for the red, white, and blue and for 4th of July crafting! Are you crafting for the 4th? What are you making? Do you have a special recipe that you cook for the BBQ? Do you decorate? Let me know - I'd love to hear your traditions!! XOXO

CLICK HERE for the supply list and links for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

 

The Greetery - Citrus Burst Card!

Hey hey hey! How are you today?! Nice to see you! My week has been busy and fun and it's gone by in a flash! Guess what? I think today is my last fruit themed card! Ha! I am sort of cracking up at all the fruity goodness projects that I've made the past month or so. It just really worked out that way. But alas I think my fruit season is coming to a close! Hee hee. Next up I have some patriotic cards and some pretty florals to share! But, today I'm featured over on The Greetery Blog and sharing my card here too! It's, wait for it, lemons and oranges! I combined lots of my favorite Greetery sets into a bright and happy note.

My finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered the pretty Patchwork Die in light blue, and then had fun creating my citrus burst with lots of dies...and a bit of vellum, and a pretty sentiment....

 

I started by die cutting several oranges and lemons, and lots of leaves too, using bright cardstocks. I used a blender brush and Distress Inks to ink blend on some shading to the dies. I also splattered on a bit of white paint. I die cut the Ruscus Die from vellum to add more foliage to my fruit cluster. I die cut out some pink flowers from the Lemon Blossom Dies and added white enamel dots to the centers.

 

Here's a side view of all my layers and pieces!

 

For the sentiment I used one of my favorite Greetery sentiment sets: Opposites Attract. I stamped the 'just a note' in black and die cut it with the matching die. It's such a pretty and happy font. The fun part was assembling the card together with all those elements. Here's what I do: I play around with everything and the placement until I get it the way I like it. Then I take a quick photo with my iPhone to use as my guide to affixing it all. I used foam circles to pop everything up off the background. 

 

 

 

 

That's it for my project today! Hope you have a wonderful day. I look forward to sharing with you again soon. In the meantime, keep on crafting! XO Wanda

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below for all the supply links for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

 

More fun with Honey Bee Stamps - Strawberries and Animal Tags!

Hi friends! Happy Monday (again already?!) Hope your weekend was a good one! We had a mellow but fun weekend here in Sactown. The weather continues to be astonishingly beautiful. We have yet to have a day at 100 this Season (hope I didn't just jinx us!) We are enjoying being outside a lot. I've been creating a lot of fun things too, and decorating for the 4th of July! What are you up to these days?? Let me know! 

I have some more projects made with lovely supplies from Honey Bee Stamps! These stamps and dies have been sitting on my desk too long! I was so excited to finally use everything, especially those strawberries dies!! (More fruits! Ha) I have a card to share, and some cutie patootie tags also. Let's go!

First up is my vintage inspired strawberry card. My finished card is an A2 kraft card base, layered with strips, cream cardstock, vellum and a little fence too!! My card features the brand new Lovely Layers Strawberries Dies and the new Delicate Daisy Coverplate Base die. OHHH LA LA - these are perfect together.

 

Here's my side view so you can see all my layers and where I added dimension via foam dots... The striped paper is from Honey Bee also and it's the perfect vintage green color... I used cream cardstock for my base layer instead of bright white.

 

Here's a close up of that beautiful cover plate.... (Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post) 

For the sentiment I used the Seeds of Kindness stamp set and matching die and just cut out the part of the stamp that says 'strawberries.'

 

For the strawberries cluster, I die cut the strawberries from light pink cardstock and ink blended with a small sponge dauber and a couple of shades of Distress Inks. For the leaves I used green cardstock and inked them the same way. The flower is die cut from cream and yellow cardstocks. As I love to do, I used lots of ink splatters!! I die cut the fence dies from kraft cardstock and ink blended/splattered that too! I added bits of Stickles glitter and a few gems for good measure.

 

I used a vellum scalloped circle under the fence, because why not!? I love vellum on everything!

 

This card makes me happy!!

 

For my next project, I made some tags using the Heart Hugs dies! They are the cutest little critters! You can use them on cards or boxes or tags or anything! I chose to make a couple of fun tags that I can tie on a gift or put on an assembled card later. I used the awesome Hero Arts Infinity Tags to die cut my tags from cream cardstock. The sentiments I used are from older Honey Bee stamp sets that are discontinued, but you can add any sentiments from your stash!

 

 

It's hard to pick a favorite critter from this trio!! For this larger tag I layered a scalloped circle also in cream. I stamped the bottom of the tag with the sentiment and did a few black splatters of paint. I used red gingham paper for the top of the tag to match the hearts they're holding. 

I die cut the animals from colored cardstock and added white gel pen accents. I also used some chalks to give them rosy cheeks. These came together easily and were fun to make.

 

And here's that sweet bear! He reminds me of Yogi!! I love how the arms are die cut out so they can hold objects like these pretty gingham hearts!! These would be really fun for Valentines!

 

 

 

 

Okay, friends, that's it for today's post! Thanks for starting your week off with me and spending some time here on my blog! I appreciate you guys. Wishing you a fun week. I'll see you soon! XOXO

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

 

Pretty Pink Posh - June 2023 New Release - You're the Zest!

Hello friends!!! Guess what? I have more fruits for you today!! LOLZ. And I have more next week too!! Seems like it's the theme of the Summer! I don't care because I love this fruit theme. Makes me smile. Today's card is for the Pretty Pink Posh new release Instagram Hop! If you have Instagram, be sure to pop over to my post today and leave a comment for a chance to win a prize! But, in case you aren't an Instagram person, I'm posting here too. I think you are the ZEST! My card features lemons and oranges and makes me thirsty for a summertime cocktail! Cheers!

My finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered yellow polka dot patterned paper, my stenciled panel, vellum and my focal layer. It's such a bright and happy card. I do love yellow for crafting in the Summer!!

 

Here's a side view of my layers.... I love those wonky rectangles dies....

 

I started this card by stenciling the beautiful Layered Citrus Stencils in yellows and oranges (my ink colors are in the supply links at the bottom of my post). I used blender brushes and it was easy peasy lemon squeezy to stencil this pretty panel. I splattered on some white paint and set it aside to dry.... I used the Wonky Rectangle dies to cut both my stenciled layer and my vellum layer. 

I used the dies from the brand new Citrus set to die cut a lemon and an orange and the leaves. I used inks to blend on some shading colors. My top layer is a circle and I stamped that cute sentiment in black! 

 

 

 

I die cut a stitched circle to put my fruits and sentiment on. I added a few little heart sprinkles as my finishing touch! I love these vivid colors - so happy!! I want to make this card again in green for limes! That stencil is really cute! 

That's it for today!! Remember to head over to Instagram to see the whole hop for today. I hope your week has been good and here we are almost to the end of it. This year is flying by. Is it bad that I'm already thinking about Autumn?? LOL. Take care!! XO

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

 

Summer Seashore cards with Honey Bee Stamps!!

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I have a long post for you today with lots of pictures and stories... So grab some coffee or tea and spend some time with me! Last week was crazy with all the projects and posts! Thank you sooooo much for allllll the lovely comments! I appreciate all the love.  It seems like you guys love the new Greetery release just as much as I do! I hope your new goodies arrive quickly and that you have fun crafting! It finally feels like Summer here in Sacramento so I was inspired this weekend to make some pretty seashore/beach inspired cards. I used wonderful new stamps and dies from Honey Bee Stamps!! Melissa is very generous to me and I'm so grateful to be able to create with these products. I am reminded every time what high quality everything is... The dies are already apart so you don't have to snip them, and they cut like a dream... The project cards that come with the dies show you exactly how to match everything up. Truly makes it more fun to sit down and create! Supplies are listed at the very bottom of my post - just click the link!

Last weekend my husband and I celebrated THIRTY years together!!! Gosh, like how did that happen!? Because I'm only 25 year old!! LOLZ. We have been married for 22 years, but together for 30 so we celebrate both anniversaries!! We met on a blind date in June of 1993. We met at a restaurant for lunch on a work day (in case I needed a reason to leave fast)... Well you know, that lunch lasted three hours! And we've been best friends ever since. I still remember all my work friends anxiously awaiting my return to the office that day!! (waaaayyyy before cell phones!) As a couple, our favorite place is the ocean and we go whenever we can. The best thing about living in California actually!!  We got married on Cape Cod right by the water....(more on that story later in my post).... The ocean makes me calm and happy and at peace. It also makes me feel closer to God, who created everything.... If I was rich I would buy a house right on the ocean with a big craft room on the top floor with all windows!! Dreaming....

I have two cards today, inspired by the Summer Seashore and my love of the ocean. First up is this soft pastel shell card... It features lots of dies from Honey Bee and I watercolored with watercolor pencils.... My finished card is a kraft A2 card base, layered with vellum and watercolor paper. 

 

I used the Lovely Layers Seashore Die Set and the Shoreline Scene Builder Die Set to make my beachy scene here. All the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post! In my mind I knew I wanted a really soft look for this card, and I wanted pink and brown for my main color palette. I die cut all the pieces out of really good watercolor paper. Here's a side view to show how the card is assembled.

 

Here are my card layers - Kraft, Vellum, Watercolor Paper. The sentiment was heat embossed in gold and die cut out with the matching die. Perfect.

 

 

Because I die cut the shell pieces out of watercolor paper, they are nice and thick. The two large shells have three layers and the smaller blue shell has two layers. The included project sheet shows you exactly how to layer them together. I used watercolor pencils for this project because I wanted to get the shell details to show up more. I think it worked out great!! Especially that pretty pink!!

 

 

I used some thick and crunchy glitter on the shells to look like sand. EEK. Love this so much!!

 

To make my top layer (background for the shells) I used Distress Inks on my craft mat and just smushed some color onto the watercolor panel. I did it a few times until I got it to look the way I wanted. I used Flamingo and Linen Distress Inks.

 

The final touches...pearls and pink gemstones!!! More is more as I always say! Here's a close up of those chonky shells...

 

My second card is a white A2 horizontal card base in white, layerd with another white panel that I ink blended and then my little scene.... As I said earlier in my post, we got married on Cape Cod! We got married in the little gazebo at the Chatham Bars Inn, right at sunset.... I know I have a few Cape Cod followers, and you guys know exactly where that is! It was just the two of us, and the judge who married us, and it was PERFECT. I made my own wedding outfit and I had a bouquet of blue hydrangeas and pink roses, and the fog was rolling in and we cried and cried. MAGIC. On our honeymoon one day we visited the island of Nantucket! Have you ever been there?? It's so beautiful it looks fake! Like a movie set! Exactly how you would picture it, only better. It's one of my favorite places I've ever been in my whole life.  You have to arrive via ferry boat, and as you arrive in the harbor you see the whole town....the boats, the houses, and this gorgeous church up on a small hill. So in this card my goal was to recreate Nantucket Harbor!

I used The Spring Cottage Village Dies (houses) and the Winter Village Dies (church) and the Shoreline Scene Builder. I chose tones of grey and white and marine blue to bring it to life. The houses there are all grey with white trim.

 

These dies could not be more fun!! All the little details so you can create exactly the type and color of house you want. I made a church and two cottages, some trees, some fences and clouds too! Here's a side view to see all the layers.

 

Here is a photo of Nantucket Harbor....Do you think I created it?? So much fun to create ideas with paper, right?? We went all the way to the top of the church (90 steps)! From the top you look out over the town and the harbor. This church was built in 1725!! My husband and I both love American History and as you can guess we spent time in Boston on this trip too...

 

Some shiny shimmery blue gemstones in the sky...and those clouds...

 

 

The sentiment is from the Seas The Day stamp set... Whenever I am down or sad I always tell my hubs "I need a day at the ocean for some Vitamin Sea!" So this sentiment is perfect!

 

 

Details details details.... That tiny cross! And the embossing is in the die to look like shingles. 

 

Here's a close up of all those pieces!! I put little blue hearts on the doors of the cottages.... Lots of splatters....

 

I ink blended the bottom part of the top scalloped panel because I wanted it to look like the ocean in the background. I used Distress Ink and blender brushes and blended just the bottom half or so. 

 

So I have this thing for blue hydranges because of our travels to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket...they are everywhere there!!! All over the sides of the roads, at everyone's house... And they are so big and healthy and prolific!! When we came home we planted two blue (Nikko Blue variety) hydrangeas in our front yard. So they are now over 20 years old!! They are my prized flowers and I treat them like pets. LOL. I fertilize and prune and protect them all year... This year we had soooo much rain and the temps have been mild so far. Our hydrangeas are going nuts. They are already over eight feet tall and it's barely June. Here's a photo from our front yard. The neighbors' pink hydrangeas are in the background. Nice, good memories.

Okay, I think that's enough rambling and stories for today! I am wishing you a blessed and happy week ahead. I have some fun things planned for the week and I'll have another blog post on Thursday. I'm kind of bummed that my weekday Bible Study is on hiatus until Fall so I guess I'm going to have to find some other things to keep me out of trouble!! I hope to get in some 4th of July crafting this week too. Take care! Love you guys. XOXO

CLICK HERE to see my supply list for today's projects (Affiliate Links Used)! 

 

Pretty Pink Posh June 2023 New Release - Fresh & Fruity!!

Hi guys!!! I have a really fun post for you today!!! Yes, more fruits!!! It's definitely a trend and I love it! (hint, I'll have more fruity fun on my blog in a couple weeks too! Ha!) It's just such a fresh and cheerful theme for Summertime... I have always enjoyed crafting with a fruity feeling. Got out my Copics for this post and had a blast coloring everything just so.... I forget how much I love to sit and color!! Today is day three of a giant blog hop celebrating the brand new June 2023 release from our friends at Pretty Pink Posh!! So happy, as always, to be included in the hop line up. Welcome to my stop today! I have THREE cards to share with you and I cannot wait to get started!! Prize information, hop list, and supply lists are at the bottom of my post. Thanks for joining me today! XO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE!

My first card is a strawberry explosion! This card features the brand new Fresh Berries Stamp Set and matching dies!! OHHHH my gosh! I also added in some little bees from one of my favorite PPP stamp sets of all time. A little bit of big gingham and we're good to go! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I layered black, then gingham, then vellum and white....

 

 

Here's a side view of my layers and a close up of the bottom of the card. For the berry basket I die cut out five baskets and then stamped the top one and colored it. This gives a LOT of dimension to the basket and makes it look 'real' to me. Did I mention how much fun it was to color these?? :-)

 

And a close up of those deeelicious berries!! Lots of white gel pen accents here...and yellow enamel dots for the flower centers too!

 

I wrapped twine around the berry basket and added a little heart to the bow. I looooove details.

 

Let's talk about how adorable that sentiment is!! And a matching die cut too!! Love it BERRY much!! 

 

 

 

 

 

My second card today is a POP UP! I have been obsessed with the PPP pop up box card die since it was released and I can't stop making these easy and fun pop ups!! This card features two more new sets - Watermelon and Citrus! I used the sentiment from the Summer Friends stamp set too!! I did some ink blending to look like a blue summer sky (or maybe a swimming pool!).... The folded pop up card fits into an A2 sized envelope. Again, lots more Copic coloring. Yay!

 

I started by stamping oranges and lemons and limes and watermelons!! I die cut them out and colored them in. I also added white gel pen accents. I also added some sparkly gems to some of the fruits. Why does this make me want a mai tai?! LOL.

 

I die cut the pieces for the pop up box out of juicy green cardstock. I die cut the accent pieces from white cardstock and used distress oxide ink and a blender brush to add blue shading... I stamped the sentiment on the front panel in rich black ink. 

 

Here is the folded card in my hand to show you the size and scale. I cannot recommend this die set enough. It is SOOOO easy to make these fun pop ups!

 

I staggered the fruits inside the pop up panels and glued some on and used foam tape on some. I put the larger fruits at the back and tried to make it so they all show up. It's an explosion!! And this makes me happy.

 

 

My last card for today is a wee notecard featuring the brand new (awesome) Mini Scallop Card Dies set!!! It is a two piece set that makes the folded card and the smaller square front panel. This is going to get used a lot!! I used the Sweet Cherries stamp set to make the cherries. I used the brand new Smile Shadow Dies to make the sentiment.... A bit of ink blending.... and that's it! The finished card is 3" x 3" - would be perfect for gift bags or table place cards....

 

 

I die cut out the card from some gingham from my stash. I ink blended the top of the square using oxide ink....

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today for this fun introduction of the new release and for the exciting blog hop! It was nice to share with you! Have a great weekend!! XOXO

BLOG HOP PRIZE INFO! There are THREE $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day of the hop). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop from all the comments. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 6/14!! Winners will be announced on the PPP blog. Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

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

 

TODAY'S FUN BLOG HOP LINEUP!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Raquel Arribas

Wanda Guess

Lindsey Larsen

Marine Simon

Jeanne Jachna

Lauren Taylor

Zsofia Molnar

 

The Greetery - Urban Jungle Collection - New Release Day Two!

Welcome back to day two of the new release reveals for THE GREETERY! The Urban Jungle release continues on today!! If you didn't see my post for yesterday be sure to check it out too! Product reveals finish up today and the new release day will be tomorrow June 9th at 10am EST!! Are you loving the green theme? I have three more planty cards to share with you today. One is modern and two are tropical!! Ooh la la! This release is crazy cool!! Thanks for dropping by for day two...let's get started!! 

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY JUNE 9TH AT 10AM EST!

I am aware that some of my project photos are still missing from random blog posts! I can't fix it on my end (ugh) and I'm waiting for Typepad to resolve it for me. Thank you for being patient while this all gets ironed out. It's been super frustrating! Photos are my mode of communication and it's making me kinda cray cray!

My first card for today features two of my favorite new things from the release!! I'm featuring the Modern Planters Dies, the Woven Cane Background Die and the new Spider Plant!! LOOOOOVE! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I used the new Woven Cane background in kraft and layered it directly onto the card. Then I popped some teal in a clean and simple card design.

 

Here's a side view! Another fun sentiment from the brand new Way To Grow stamp set. I used white embossing on a black label for the sentiment. Keeping it graphic and modern...

 

I used two shades of green to make my spider plant....it's so realistic looking! I made my pot a pretty teal color and added shading with Copics... My 'feet' for my planter were made from woodgrain cardstock....

 

I used white crimped circle for my planter to 'sit' on... 

 

Here's a close up of the background die. I'm going to say this is a must have! It's is perfection and I'm going to use it A LOT!!! In fact I used it in another one of my cards today!

 

 

 

 

My second card for today is colorful and tropical! This card features the brand new Hibiscus Dies!! They are SO pretty!! I used the Woven Cane Background die in blue on blue for a textured look. My finished card is an A2 white card base, covered in blue and then layered in the same blue. I used gold paint to splash on some shimmer to the blue!!

 

The new dies are so dimensional and SO super easy to put together!! I used pink and orange and green.... I used a small blender brush and distress inks to add a bit of shading to the flowers and leaves.

 

 

The sentiment is from the Sentiment Suite Birthday stamp set! I embossed it in gold onto a small banner....

 

 

 

 

 

My final card today features the brand new Large Leaves Monstera Dies!! Obsessed! My finished card is super simple and clean... The finished card is a 5.5" x 5.5" square card. Those leaves are huge!! Seriously awesome. My background layer is a soft pink cardstock. Really a Lily Pulitzer vibe, right?

 

 

I feel like this card design would be a fun party invitation - to a tiki party or a BBQ? I die cut four of the Monstera Leaves and affixed them directly onto the pink square panel. I trimmed the overlap with some nice sharp scissorys. 

 

I splashed on some gold paint to the panel and let that dry while I made my sentiment part. I used the Scripty Hello Die and layered it with gold cardstock and vellum for an overall elegant look.

 

 

 

 

DAY TWO PRIZE INFORMATION!! The Greetery will be giving away TWO more $50 gift certificates for today! That makes for FOUR gift certificates total over both days.... To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!  

Thank you for spending part of your week here with me! It is most definitely my pleasure to share The Greetery products with you! I feel very lucky to be part of this team. Happy Shopping tomorrow!

I truly appreciate it if you remember to shop via my links! It helps me so very much! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW RELEASE!

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

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

Dawn

Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda

 

The Greetery - Urban Jungle Collection - New Release Day One!

Hi friends!! We're gonna have some fun this week!! Soooooo excited and happy to share with you that it's new release week at The Greetery! Yippee! This new release is called "Urban Jungle" and it's for all of us plant lovers out there! Cool, elegant, and right on trend with new stamps, dies and stencils for us to play with! I do love plants, and I love a fun plant themed craft project! We will have two reveal days this release - today and tomorrow. The design team will be sharing our projects on our blogs and revealing all the new products for you. I have six cards to share with you over the next two days and they are all so different from each other. This release is super versatile in terms of styles and themes.... Are you excited too?? Let's gooooo!! 

THE NEW RELEASE DAY IS FRIDAY JUNE 9TH AT 10AM EST!

I am aware that some of my project photos are still missing from random blog posts! I can't fix it on my end (ugh) and I'm waiting for Typepad to resolve it for me. Thank you for being patient while this all gets ironed out. It's been super frustrating! Photos are my mode of communication and it's making me kinda cray cray!

My first card for today features three new products! The lovely Greenhouse Die, the new Garden Tub Filler Die and the new Way To Grow stamp set! I used a few other previously released products also for this encouragement card. My finished card is a white A2 card base. The greenhouse fits on the card front perfectly! How fun would it be to have a pretty greenhouse in your backyard?!

I had so much fun building my structure and then adding little details and textures!! To make the greenhouse building I stacked four die cuts together - to give it more thickness. I made the bottom part and the door out of woodgrain cardstock. I used distress inks and white paint to add 'age' to them both. I also used a small heart die to make a heart in the door!! EEP.  I added pots out front, just waiting for plants...

 

 

On just the top part of the greenhouse, I added vellum behind the structure to look like a frosted roof. I used the new Garden Tub Filler die to add the plants inside the greenhouse. I added a bit of interest by using Copic Markers...

 

 

 

 

The pots and the plant on the outside of the greenhouse were made using the Sitting Pretty Accessories Dies! 

 

 

You're gonna love the new Way To Grow stamp set! Fun puns with a plant theme... I'm rooting for you!! For the background behind my greenhouse I used blue distress inks and blender brushes to blend a 'sky.'  A beautiful sunny day out in the garden!

 

My next card for today features the brand new Petal Pusher Stencils and matching dies! SOOOOOO pretty! I loved stenciling this piece! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I wanted a Mary Engelbreit feeling to my card, so I added some tiny black and white gingham and used bright vivid Summer colors. I used the sentiment from the Spring Mix stamp set!!

 

 

To start my card I first stenciled my big background panel. I shaded the inks by using both small and large blender brushes. My ink colors are listed in my supply list at the bottom of this post. I wrapped a vellum strip around the card and added the sentiment on a crimped circle die...

 

Here's a close up of the stencil design! There is also a matching large die to cut out the stenciling, and smaller detail dies that I used in this card.... I added black enamel dots for contrast!

 

I die cut two red flowers using the new Petal Pusher Dies..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My last card for today features the brand new Garden Tub Die! Gosh, how clever and fun! I also used the new Garden Tub Filler Dies and the new Little Labels stamps and dies!! My finished card is a white A2 card base layered with green, and gingham.... This card is very....GREEN! I love the color green, so that's okay!

 

I die cut out the Garden Tub using matte silver metallic cardstock. I added some shading with a grey Copic marker. I die cut the handles from brown cardstock. I used the new Garden Tub Filler (greenery) die, and the previously released Side of Greens die to add the foliage to my tub....

 

I wrapped twine around the bottom two layers of my card and used a little heart with a twine bow for interest on the side.... I used the new Little Labels stamps and dies to make the sentiment.... I tucked the greens into the tub and attached that part to my card using foam tape.... The perfect card for your fellow plant lover friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm always so very happy for a new release!! That's it for day one of the new release reveals! Be sure to come back tomorrow and I will be sharing three more cards featuring the new items! Yippeeeeeee! What's your favorite thing so far?  Are you a plant lover too? The new release will be for sale on Friday June 9th at 10am EST! See you tomorrow! XOXO

DAY ONE PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away TWO $50 gift certificates each day!  To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for today!  Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog! 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

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

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION LINKS FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Dana

Dawn

Kelly

Laurie

Melissa

Wanda