A Blog Called Wanda

Something fun and new in the craft room - A Cricut Joy!

EDITED 4/19 - MY LUCKY WINNER IS LYNDA P! Thanks for all the kind comments!!

Hey everybody! How are you doing? How was your Easter? We had a super mellow day at home (of course) and watched tv and crafted most of the day. I made a spaghetti dinner! What a weird Easter - one we will remember. I was so sad not to be able to go to church and sing and see the beautiful flowers and all the cute kids in their nice outfits. Easter's my favorite holiday and this one just passed on by with no fanfare. Next year for sure will be so special! I hope you're doing well at your house and keeping busy and staying healthy. 

I have something REALLY fun to show you today! A new toy in my craft room - A Cricut Joy Machine! YEAH! The amazingly generous folks at Cricut sent me an awesome package full of goodies to try out, experiment, review and share with my followers. These items were a gift to me as a blogger, and my opinions are all my own. This is the newest machine in the Cricut lineup and it's smaller and easy to tote around with you. And, as I discovered, so easy to use, and perfect for my crafting needs!

Overall my impression is a ten out of ten! I am not a 'technology' crafter. I admire all the gorgeous things people create with their machines. But I am more of a hands on crafter/creator. That being said, the new Joy machine is the right fit for my craft room. I can use it with my phone (more on that below), It's small and easy to store and use, it's cute :-), there are so many materials: vinyl, paper, labels, iron ons, and I can make everything that I want to make! CLICK HERE to see the entire Joy collection! Here is my set up all displayed on my craft cart...

 

It's so fun! And check out that awesome carrying case! Perfect for bringing to a crop or to a friend's house. In the photo you can see the machine, the carrying case, the tool set, pens, vinyl, cards and cutting mats. For us card makers, there is a specific mat that helps you cut out card fronts - genius!

 

Cutting mats and cards!

 

When you first unbox the Cricut Joy you will see the machine, the power cords, and an envelope with instructions and test papers! Literally, you just plug it in! The blade is already inserted and ready to rock and roll. 

 

To get started I downloaded the Cricut Design App onto my iPhone! So easy. The app is very intuitive to use and I was making cuts in less than five minutes. Inside the welcome envelope there is a sheet of vinyl and a sheet of paper for you to practice on. You design your project and the app walks you through the cutting process. I was worried that this part would be hard - but it was not!! Inside the app there are all kinds of graphics and designs. You can buy a membership to access all of the graphics or you can buy one at a time. Also, there are plenty of free svg files on the web for us to access. 

 

This was my first project on some grey metallic vinyl! SO beautiful! Each graphic can be sized up or down to the correct size for your project. LOVE it!

 

Up next I wanted to cut a butterfly out of the enclosed paper... Again, less than five minutes, and I'm cutting out a beautiful butterfly! Here is another photo of the design app. There is a grid and you pinch/zoom to make the image bigger or smaller. You then choose your material and cut!

 

Beautiful!

 

 

 

And here it is! You use the tools to 'pick' out the small details in the cuts and reveal the image. So intricate and yet perfect on the first try. I was truly impressed and excited to make this. I've been intimidated by this whole process and it could not have been better.

 

 

 

Next I cut out some letters in permanent vinyl and put the word 'create' onto my stamping mat! Looks fun! I feel like now I'm going to customize all the things in my room!! Yeah!

 

Next up - I made a card! Here is the card mat with the card front tucked inside the top layer. The card packs come with cards, inserts (cool unicorn insert here) and envelopes. Really simple to create multiple cards. 

 

One cut and there you have a pretty birthday card! Voila! Tuck that pretty shimmery paper inside and you're done. Boom.

 

 

 

Now I had some confidence going in using my machine so I made my favorite project of them all! Customized drink tumblers!! I had ordered these tumblers on Amazon for this purpose while I was waiting for my Cricut Joy to arrive. I found a cool graphic and cut it out with the Permanent White Vinyl. For this project you will use Transfer tape to remove the vinyl from the backing, lift it, and transfer it to the tumbler. I LOVE THIS! I have always wanted to be able to make stuff like this. There's not stopping me now! It says Coffee Craft & Repeat! I made a pink one and a blue one.

 

I cut another butterfly from vinyl and put it onto the front of a yellow metal tin. 

 

 

For Valentine's Day my husband bought me a Cricut EasyPress Mini to make iron on projects! (I also use it for my cross stitching projects) Now I can use my Joy and the iron on transfer materials to do iron ons. Stay tuned for those projects to come. Yeah!

 

Here are my cool tumblers!! Like seriously, how fun is this???

 

In this photo you'll notice that there are marker pens! The markers fit into the slot in lieu of the blade and you use them to write onto your projects. Fun and perfect to use with the label maker materials or to write on your card projects. I didn't try this out yet, but I can't wait to! Also, notice on the packaging, everything says Cricut Joy so you can't make a mistake and buy the wrong materials! Love.

 

 

 

I want to take a minute to share the things I love about my new Cricut Joy! I feel like now I have the creative tools to make customized things like cups, mugs, t-shirts (iron on materials), labels, and cards without it being a big undertaking. I can pop the machine out of the case, plug it in, and create. I like that I can design on my phone via the app and save projects for later. So if I'm sitting in line, or in the car, I can create a project and save it for when I get home and then cut! (It works via bluetooth connection). I love all the different materials. The Cricut Joy has specifically made materials that you just feed into the machine without a mat. Wow. That's cool. No way to mess it up! I am super impressed with my Joy machine. I would definitely recommend it for card makers and crafters or all types. So far I do not see any negatives - All of the projects I've shown here in my post were the first cut, first time trying it out. 

As a fun treat for this post, I thought I would give away the pink tumbler I made! So one lucky winner will receive this Coffee Craft & Repeat cup for your craft room! To enter to win, please leave a comment on this post with an idea I should try with my new Cricut Joy - or an idea that you've already tried with your Cricut!! Enter before 4/18/20 at midnight PST. I will draw one random winner and email that winner next week. Good luck! 

Thanks for coming by today and sharing in my excitement about my new tools! CLICK HERE to see all the Joy products! I would suggest if you're interested to buy it directly from the Cricut site. They have everything in stock (some things are already hard to find other places) and super fast shipping. The price is the same everywhere right now also. And, as I'm typing this, there is free shipping!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used today to create my projects! (Affiliate links used). I will be back soon with a fun card with supplies from The Greetery! Take good care! XOXO

 

Happy Easter 2020 from our home to yours!

 

HAPPY EASTER 2020!

FROM THE GUESS HOME TO YOUR HOME!

God of Promise and God of Hope,
who through your great mercy
have granted us new birth
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
we praise your wonderful name!
God of Glory and God of Might
who through your great power
have granted us new strength
to endure all things through faith in Christ our risen King,
we praise your wonderful name!

 

Introducing a sweet new release from Hello Bluebird! Happy GOOD Friday!

Hi friends! Happy Friday! Happy GOOD Friday! It's a blessed and beautiful day indeed! I hope you have a beautiful Easter weekend this weekend, as we all try to make the most of the holiday. We'll be watching church online all weekend and having a backyard party with just the two of us. It's going to be a gorgeous weekend here in Sacramento. Sending love your way.

There was a brand new release yesterday from Hello Bluebird. I was lucky enough to have Kaydee mail me some of the stamp sets early so I could make a project to share with you. Like every other release from Hello Bluebird, this one is perfectly sweet and beautiful. I love everything from this company!! I chose to make a little Easter Hello greeting with a cute bun bun and a girl in her Easter dress!!! 

My finished card is an A2 kraft card base. I layered some pink and white mini gingham and then a white panel for the top. I combined three of the new stamp sets to make my scene. I kept the background lighter because I was going for a storybook feeling!

 

I started by stamping the trees directly onto the background. Then I stamped the rocks/grass, the bun bun, the girl, and the bird. I colored everything with Copic markers and cut them out by hand (the dies are backordered because of Covid...)  I used a little piece of the gingham to paper piece her shirt and bow to match the bottom layer of the card.

 

I die cut a cloud die and stamped the sentiment directly onto the top of it. I used Distress ink to gently ink the clouds and the ground.

 

Everything was affixed to the card using foam tape for dimension - you know I love that!

 

The rocks/grass image is part of a giant background stamp, I stamped just this part using my MISTI and cut it out to place under the trees. Tip: To add some rock interest I used just the fine tip of my marker to add some dots. 

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I will see you next week with some more cards and other crafty things! XOXO

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

Hey Busy Bee! Fun with Create A Smile Stamps! Bzzzzzz

Hi everyone! I'm buzzin by with a cute little bee card today! I can't wait for the days when we can all go out and be busy bees again! Hope you're doing well and staying healthy. We are good here - just stir crazy and ready to get back to normal. Like everyone... Happy Easter Week also! I have LOTS of fun and cheerful cards to share in the next couple of weeks. 

I used a super adorable stamp set called "Best Bugs" from Create A Smile Stamps! Seriously SO cute. I used copic markers and some pretty purple and yellow hues... Oh, and gingham too! The finished card is an A2 white card base.

 

This stamp set doesn't have matching dies so I stamped the flowers directly onto a white stitched circle! I stamped the flowers three times across the bottom of the circle. I stamped the flowers one more time on another paper and cut them out to layer on top. I stamped and hand cut out that sweet bee. Everything was colored with Copic Markers.

 

Could he beeeeee any sweeter?? I added some white gel pen accents and Diamond Stickles... He's holding a love letter!!

 

In this photo you can see my layers... I covered the front of the white card base with pretty purple gingham. Then I wrapped more gingham, and cord around the center of that top rectangular panel. Two stitched circles...

 

I stamped the sentiment onto the white rectangular panel. I hardly ever use purple - but I love it with this bright sunshiney yellow!!

 

Here are my Copic Colors for this project.

 

 

 

 

 

Just a sprinkling of enamel dots finish off this card and it's ready for mailing!

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back on Friday with a card using BRAND NEW stamps from Hello Bluebird! Yeah! Can't wait to show ya!! Take care friends until I see you next. XOXO

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

Amazing Grace - Palm Sunday 2020

Hi everyone! Happy Palm Sunday, and Happy Holy Week! I sure do miss going to church and really am going to miss it this week especially. This morning I got up and watched church on my phone in the craft room. Um, okay, we're doing things a little differently now right? I was happy to hear the music and even had a little tear in my eye. I will be so happy when we can all get back to normal things again... Wishing you a blessed and beautiful week. Easter is my favorite holiday and I will try to make it as special as I can for us here at our home. Sending you hugs and love. I hope you are holding up okay right now. 

Yesterday I had kind of a breakthrough. Breakdown? Not sure really. I poured my heart out in a very very long Instagram post and it felt good to get all my feelings out into the world. My hope was that just maybe I could make even one person feel better by letting them know they're not alone. Well, the outpouring of love in the comments and wise words filled my cup and uplifted me so much. I awoke this morning feeling a lot better than yesterday and ready to try to create. 

This morning I ended up making a clean and simple card to celebrate the amazing grace shown to me yesterday by my IG friends and every day by my savior. I used pretty palm leaf dies and a gorgeous sentiment, and my fav watercolors. The finished card is an A2 card base from brown paper from my stash...

 

I used my MISTI to stamp this GORGEOUS sentiment directly onto a watercolor cardstock panel. I wanted it to look watercolored to match the leaves. I put the stamp onto my MISTI and inked it with water based Distess Ink. Before stamping it, I used a sprayer to mist the ink on the stamp... Then I stamped it. The water on the ink on the stamp makes a soft flowing edge, like watercolor ink!! Perfect. This stamp is from the set called Handlettered Easter by TE. This stamp series (handlettered) is really really pretty. I'm working on collecting all of them for my stash. LOVE. 

 

I die cut three of the palm leaves using watercolor paper. Then I used watercolor paints to color them in pretty green shades. Once they were dry I added green splatters. I also used gold paint to splatter the background panel.

 

Here's a close up of the leaves and coloring. This is really a wonderful die set! Flowers and leaves both. CLICK HERE to see a card I made with them last year! I tied a bit of twine around the bottom of the cards also for a bit more somethin somethin. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for coming by today! Sending hugs your way! XOXO

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

Pretty Spring Lemon Cake!

Hey friends! It's almost the weekend... Wait, what day is it?? The only way I am keeping track of days lately is that my husband is working from our dining room so I know it's the weekend when he's not buried in his laptop! Otherwise.... How are you holding up with being sheltered at home? I have good days and bad days. I'm trying not to think about it and keep busy here at home. Today was a brilliant day to go for a walk. I've been cooking a ton, too. Trying recipes and taking my time in the kitchen. Because normally it's rush, rush, rush all the time. We have a huge window in our kitchen that faces the most beautiful big oak tree. I'm taking it all in....stirring and whisking and chopping. I hope you are doing good and staying mentally and physically well. XO

One of the things I made last week was a beautiful lemon cake! Our neighbors behind us have a big lemon tree in their backyard, right where it joins our backyard. And, lots of the branches have grown over the fence... You know the saying... When life gives you lemons! The lemons are a variety I've never seen before. When you cut them open they have just the very slightest tint of pink!! They are sour but juicy and delicious. And because I have so much time on my hands I decided to do a photo essay. Because I miss going out and taking pictures of FOOD! Lol. 

Here is the finished cake - dusted in powdered sugar.

 

And one of those pretty lemons right off the tree.

 

See how they are slightly pink inside?? This color is divine!!! Only nature...

 

Here's a photo I posted on Instagram when I was getting ready. This is my cool lemon pan from Crate and Barrel. I've had it for years! 

 

I love this pretty and simple design that the cake pan makes! I have a little muffin pan that makes bees and honeycombs! I haven't used it yet!!

 

 

 

 

 

It was pretty dang delicious too! Didn't last long!! HERE'S THE RECIPE - FOUND ON PINTEREST!

Okay friends - please stay well and happy! I will see you back here soon with a crafty project! Love ya! XOXO

Welcome Spring - cute little bluebirds!

Hi crafty friends! Guess what? It's Spring outside! Even though we're not out doing all the spring things...we can still craft for Spring! I have been making lots of cheerful, colorful greetings... Maybe trying to cheer myself up! I'm drawn to critters lately too! Lots of coloring. Because coloring totally gets my mind off of things. I love to put on music in the craft room and lose track of time and color. I hope all of you are doing well when you read this note. Thinking of you and wishing you the best during this strange time in life. XOXO

Today's card features stamps and dies from Hello Bluebird and Lawn Fawn. This finished card is 7" x 4" and I made it using white cardstock and my trusty Scor-pal tool. This card will fit into a business size envelope for mailing. I colored these cute birdies for the coloring challenge and then on Saturday I made them into this card to WELCOME SPRING!! 

 

These cutie patootie bluebirds are from Hello Bluebird Stamps - how appropriate! This set has been in my craft room for a while and I finally used it. YEAH! I stamped and die cut out three birdies and colored them with Copics. Then I colored some flowers and one wee little ladybug too!

 

This little guy is affixed to the card with a mini action wobble!! He's flying off the card!! This makes me ridiculously happy. The words are spelled out using a brand new alphabet die set from Lawn Fawn - Oliver's Alphabet. I have this obsession with alphabet dies! I'm not gonna deny it. This one is PERFECT for cards. It's just the exact right size to spell out anything and that stitched detail is one I always love. 

 

I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and the MFT cloud stencils (both the regular one and the mini one) to create a cloudy backdrop for the little guys. Just a faint blue... The background and the letters were spritzed with white gloss spray! (Another new product in my room)... Yes, I'm using all the new things!

 

Here's a side view of the action wobble! Have you used these before? I love them!! SO easy to add something to your cards!! 

 

wobble wobble wobble

 

I glued the letters directly to the top layer with Lawn Fawn glue and tweezers. The critters were attached with foam tape.

 

 

 

I tucked in some pretty yellow flowers behind the bird. I felt like the card needed a bit more yellow...

 

 

Okay, friends, that's it for today! I'm posting on Instagram every day now - all different things. If you're not already, find me over there, and we can keep in touch throughout this lockdown. I'd love to see you there too! Be well, stay healthy, and craft on! XOXO

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

Bunny Kisses and Springtime Wishes! Colored Pencils on Kraft paper...

Hi there crafty friends! How are you doing? How are you holding up to all the crazy news in the world today? I have to admit I've had my bad days lately. All of this is so stressful and I am a worrier by nature anyway. My husband is working from home and that means 24 hour togetherness....We are doing good together but I am very used to time alone!! Lots of lessons in patience and grace right now. Yesterday I drove to the park and read a book under the trees and it was marvelous to be out in the fresh air. My thoughts went to how much we take for granted. I hope that whatever is happening in your life because of the Covid Virus - that you are doing okay. I hope that your family is all safe and well. That's our main priority right now - keep everyone safe. I'm sending out a big giant virtual hug from Sacramento. XOXO

I've been trying to keep up with the Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge! I've missed quite a few days, but that's alright! I'm making my way along with less mojo than normal, and it's all good. For today's project I used my Prismacolor Colored Pencils on Kraft paper. It's a look/technique I love, but I forget to do. I used an adorable stamp set with a Spring theme. Easter is on the way after all!! Cute bunny and some flowers....

This finished card is an A2 white card base. One layer of pretty teal cardstock and then my kraft layer. Clean and simple card design, with the focus on the images. 

 

This stamp set has the adorable rain boot image, and then a bunny and a kitty, and flowers to put in the top! SO cute!! There are also flower pots and a hanging pot. I chose the rain boot, flowers and bunny. I started by stamping the boot on a kraft panel. Then I used my Mini MISTI to line up the flowers coming out of the top. The I used mask paper to mask off the boot, and stamped the little flower pot. On a separate kraft paper, I stamped the second boot, the bunny, and the small flowers and die cut them out using the matching dies.

I colored all the images using Prismacolor Pencils. I used a lot of the white pencil to add bright highlights. I think the white pencil looks so nice on kraft paper!! I splattered some white gloss spray on just the top and bottom of the kraft layer. 

 

I stamped this sweet sentiment in black ink directly onto the kraft panel. I used my MISTI for perfect placement. I added a few clear droplets onto the card. I love using those when I think that the image should have water... Just a little bit of morning dew!

 

 

 

To assemble the card I put the second rain boot onto the card using foam squares. I tucked the bunny over the lip of the boot. EEP.

 

The teal layer was made with a gorgeous new Frilly Frames background die! As you can see, it makes the PERFECT layer for an A2 card!! AND it has a center piece that you can use with it that makes eyelet!! I am obsessed. Check it out here. You can use the center piece alone, this outline piece alone, or use them together. Brilliant!!

 

I want to tell you quickly about something new too! For this project I used my new Hero Arts Mini MISTI!! One of the 'big deals' at Creativation this year was the announcement of the partnership between Hero Arts and My Sweet Petunia to create a line of new sleek black MISTI's! They are super cool. I did a series of Instagram videos about the sizes, etc. You can find them in my Instagram Stories Highlights if you want to see more about them! The mini is perfect to pack into your crafting travel bag!! And there is a giant 12x12 one for Scrapbook pages - so awesome. CLICK HERE if you want to check them out!!

 

 

 

Thank you so so so much for coming by my blog and spending part of your day with me. I am so excited to hear from you! I'm lonely here in my craft cave. I miss everyone and everything. I hope you are doing well and please take care. XOXO

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

Introducing The Greetery - Fresh Air Collection - Day 2!

Welcome to day two of the project sharing for The Greetery's March Release! I hope you saw my post from yesterday (if not, scroll down and you'll see it!) The new release is called the Fresh Air Collection. And, boy, is it a breath of fresh air indeed! Pretty florals, new clouds dies, stripes, alphabets, and a sweet little convertible car! It is my distinct pleasure to share these new things with you! I love being part of this amazing team! Full list of our wonderful team members' blogs is at the bottom of this post. 

The new products go live in The Greetery Shop on Friday, March 27th at 10am EST! Mark your calendars! Quick note from Betsy - a few of the dies have been delayed in production because the factory had to shut down due to the corona virus situation... She predicts the dies will be available in early April - so two weeks' delay. We are all adjusting on the fly these days, right? 

The products being introduced today are: Print Shop Fresh Floral stamp + stencil + dies, Fresh Floral Background stamp, Slim Alphabet Dies, and Alpha Buds stamps + Dies. You are in for a treat!! I used the florals and the slim alphabet to create two totally different cards to share with you. One is vintage and feminine and the other one has a big rainbow on it!  Please pop over to The Greetery Blog to see the cards and information from Betsy! 

My first card today is an A2 size vintage style card with tons of yummy, pretty layers! I used the new floral background and the floral stem in a favorite color combination of pink and green...

 

In this photo you can see all the layers... Pretty cream postage stamp layer, green, and another cream layer with a stitched border. Everything was inked up with a sponge dauber and Vintage Photo Distress Ink... That background stamp is SO gorgeous! I stamped it in a mid shade green to look like wallpaper. YES!

 

For the floral panel, I used cream cardstock. I stamped the background stamp in green using my MISTI for a nice impression. Then I used one of the word stamps from the Pretty Postmarks set to add the faint text on top of the floral. Then I splattered the panel with gold paint. THEN...I inked the edges! I really like how this came out. Very vintage!

 

 

 

I stamped and die cut out the floral stem and smaller flowers. I used cream cardstock and edged everything with distress ink. I heat embossed the sentiment onto a strip of vellum and wrapped the vellum around the top layers. Finished off with a pearl for a bit of shimmer and some ribbon from my stash. These florals are so beautiful!!

 

Okay, put on your sunglasses!!! This next card is a rainbow! The finished card is an A2 white card base. I used the Crimped edges dies to make my layers along with some golden yellow cardstock. I used the Fresh Florals set to stamp sprigs, leaves and flowers in a dark grey ink. I used vellum for this card also.

 

I die cut the letters of the rainbow using the new Slim Alphabet dies and my favorite tropical cardstock. I glued the letters onto a vellum strip... The sentiment is from the Top Dow Day stamp set featured yesterday. I LOVE that sentiment!!

 

The fonts in this stamp are PERFECTiON!!!! I used my circle dies to create this sentiment piece. Love the bright yellow with that saying.

 

To finish off, I attached some rainbow stickers from my stash (sometimes it's good that I'm a craft hoarder!)...

 

 

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

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's projects. (Affiliate Links Used) The new items will be for sale on Friday the 27th at 10am EST! 

MORE INSPIRATION FROM OUR TEAM TODAY!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

Introducing The Greetery - Fresh Air Collection - March 2020!

Welcome to day one of the project sharing for The Greetery's March Release! YEAH! We could all use some fun crafty things right now to cheer us up!  The new release is called the Fresh Air Collection. And, boy, is it a breath of fresh air indeed! Pretty florals, new clouds dies, stripes, and a sweet little convertible car! I had so much creative fun making the cards I'm sharing today!! Full list of our wonderful team members' blogs is at the bottom of this post. 

The new products go live in The Greetery Shop on Friday, March 27th at 10am EST! Mark your calendars! Quick note from Betsy - a few of the dies have been delayed in production because the factory had to shut down due to the corona virus situation... She predicts the dies will be available in early April - so two weeks' delay. We are all adjusting on the fly these days, right? 

The products being introduced today are: Top Down Day stamps + dies, Silver Lining Dies, and the Painterly Stripes background stamp (which is red rubber!) I used all three products and it was a joy to work with them!! I'm sharing two cards today with that cute convertible! Please pop over to The Greetery Blog to see the cards and information from Betsy! 

My first card showcases the Painterly Stripes background and the Top Down Day stamps and dies. I used my favorite watercolor paints to color the images! The finished card is an A2 red cardstock card base. I layered the stripes and then one more layer with the cute car. This stamp set lends itself to a clean and graphic style of cards I think!

 

I stamped and die cut the car, the balloons and the girl using watercolor cardstock. Then I painted them all using Mijello watercolor paints. I kept the color palette fresh and bright with rainbow colors! My first car I ever bought brand new was a convertible!! Oh, man, how I loved that car!!! (A Volkswagen Cabriolet!) 

 

Here's a close up of the stripes background stamp... I stamped it in Candied Apple Distress Ink and used a damp paint brush to soften the edges of the stripes. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the top layer. 

 

Everything was attached to the card using foam squares to pop off the page!

 

Doesn't this just make you want to go for a drive??!! YES!

Next up is another graphic and clean card. It's a finished A2 card base made from white cardstock - that was covered with gingham patterned paper. The top layer has the convertible stamped directly onto it.... Then I layered those yummy new clouds dies!!

 

I used the happy word die in rich black paper and then stamped the sentiment Summer onto the top cloud. I thought the fonts worked nicely together! See how gorgeous those clouds are?? Just a bit of detail with the pierced dots. I edged the clouds with Distress Ink and then went over them with a bit of Wink Of Stella pen.

 

The car has a floral option for the back that is just gorgeous!!!!!

 

 

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

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links for today's projects. (Affiliate Links Used) The new items will be for sale on Friday the 27th at 10am EST! 

MORE INSPIRATION FROM OUR TEAM TODAY!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

  Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

Pretty Pink Posh March 2020 Release! Love you bunches!

Hello my sweet friends. How are you?? Like, really, how are you? I'm freaked out, to be honest. I feel weird. This is the strangest time ever. I have super high anxiety and I am so worried for my friends who own their own small businesses. Not to mention being freaked out by this virus and what it might do. I honestly don't know what to think. Yesterday, my husband's work finally sent them all off to work from home. So now here we are, me, Lucky and hubs... Now what? I guess I'll keep crafting and try not to watch the news too much, and pray. What else is there to do? I am sending hugs and good vibes your way and I'm hoping you are all doing fine and staying healthy and busy. Much love. XO

Pretty Pink Posh has a new release today - a small release for Easter and Spring! Paulina, the owner of PPP just had a sweet baby boy two weeks ago, so she has her hands full! So she asked some of us to spread the word about the new products. Everything is so fresh and pretty. My favorite item is the new Hedgehogs set, so I colored that one right away and made a card. Please CLICK HERE to see the entire new lineup. 

My finished card is a white A2 card base. I layered some gingham patterned paper (my fav) and then used one of the gorgeous new border dies as an accent. 

 

I stamped the hedgie, the mushrooms, the heart and branch and die cut them all with the matching dies. I colored everything with Copic Markers and used a white gel pen to add accents.

 

To make the 'ground' for the hedgie I used two shades of Distress Inks and added blue to the top and green to the bottom of a rectangular panel. Easy way to add some color and still keep the layout clean and pretty.

 

I die cut the new scallop border die from white cardstock and added it on top of the gingham. I stamped the cute sentiment directly onto the scalloped panel. I placed the heart in the hedgie's hand...

 

Just a few Nuvo Drops accents to finish off the card! Oh! And some pearls too...

 

 

 

Here's a little peek at some of the other products being released today! I will do some Instagram Stories today and show you the new release - so pop over and check it out!! 

Thank you for coming by today! CLICK HERE to shop the new PPP release!  Please take good care during this strange situation. I hope we're all out having fun and enjoying Spring very soon!! Love ya, mean it. XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)... Thank you for shopping and supporting me and my favorite shops. 

Guest Designing with Catherine Pooler! Fresh & Fruity! Introducing the Forever 13 Collection!

Hi there everyone! Whew. How are you? Like truly, how are you? Things are weird right now, and I haven't left my house in a week. Not sure how to correctly process everything that's happening in the world so I'm just trying to stay positive and creative. I hope that whatever's going on with you - that you are good, and healthy. One good thing about being crafty is that we have a LOT of things to do when we're stuck at home, right? Silver linings and all that. I was supposed to go to a three day creative class/workshop this weekend and that just got postponed. Kinda bummed, not gonna lie. Me, hubs and Lucky are all doing okay. I have a very very cheery post for you today!

I am guest designing today for the brand new release from Catherine Pooler. The release is called Forever 13 and OMG it's all soooo adorable and FUN. Think roller skates, and rainbows, and fruit... Cheery things. Also, images of Lisa Frank go through my head with this collection. COLOR!! This is the third or fourth time I've guest designed for Catherine Pooler and I have to tell you I am always so impressed by the quality of everything. The patterned paper is THICK and gorgeous...luxe even. The stamps give a perfect impression right from the package. And don't get me started on those awesome ink pads. YUM. If you've never ordered from her store before - I'm gonna ask you to go over and take a peek. I think you'll like it. 

I'm sharing a card and some pretty rosettes I made with the Fresh and Fruity paper pad and the Sweet Life stamps and dies. Let's get started! This finished card is an A2 white card base. I covered the front of it with polka dot paper flush with the card base. I used stitched die for this layer. Next I used the pretty pink lemons paper and then a tag...That's the base for my stamping. 

 

I stamped and die cut those juicy lemons and the leaves and set them aside. I inked the sentiment directly onto the tag. I love black against all that bold color.

 

I used some green sequins from the new sequin collection. The tag is attached to the card with foam tape for dimension...

 

At the top I put some twine and a clothespin from my stash. EEK. So delightful. The stamp set is kinda mod and 70's and I'm loving it.

 

Here's a peek at the collection!

 

So I wanted to make another project, and I really wanted to use all that pretty paper, so I decided to make some rosettes! This is a cool and fun thing to make! I have a little basket in my craft room with rosettes in it. I will grab one to tie onto a gift bag or present just to jazz it up. I like to use kraft wrapping paper and then embellish with ribbons and rosettes and things. Kinda my vibe. You can get a pretty gift box and put a gift card in it, put a rosette on top and voila - pretty gift all ready!! I'm crushing on the strawberry stamp - it's my favorite from the stamp set. 

 

Super easy to make a rosette! I cut 2 strips of paper 1.5 inches x 6 inches. Then I used my Scor-pal and scored every 1/4 inch. Then you just fold then like an accordion and glue them together. I like to use my little cordless hot glue gun so it's quick. After the rosettes were made, I used circle dies to layer papers to the look I wanted. Then they were topped off with fruits and sequins.

 

I added some paper banners to each rosette - just quickly cut them by hand. Then I added twine and gemstones... I used one of the pretty accent stamps to add light pink scallops under the berries. 

 

 

The entire new collection is available now for shopping! Have fun! It's time to stamp in color for Spring and Summer. And I'm totally ready.

Thank you for coming by today! So good to see you! Are you crafting more right now? What are you working on?? I'll be back on Friday with a card I made for the new release from PPP and then next week is The Greetery new release. Lots of fun things coming up!! Until then, please take good care. XOXO

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

Free to Fly - Beautiful Bee!

Hi there my creative and crafty friends! Spring has sprung and we sprang forward, and here it is Monday again! We had a giant rain storm on Saturday and I spent all day in the studio. I LOVE the rain!! Makes everything so fresh and pretty. Do you know that we went the entire month of February with ZERO rain here in Sacramento? That is very odd. I was happy to see that water comin' from the sky!! I am participating in the Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge so my creativity is flowing! Are you joining in?? You can participate on Facebook, or Instagram or any other sharing site. Basically Kathy Rac is challenging us to color every day for 30 days! I'm in! I also challenge myself during this time. I have a basket in my craft room with new to me stamps that haven't been inked yet. So I try to use things from that basket. Also, I try to push myself creatively to go outside my comfort zone and try new things. Today's card was born from these ideas: a new stamp and a new way of coloring with my Polychromos.... I'm super happy with the results and ready to share!!

This finished card is a 5.25 inch square made from cream cardstock. The patterned paper completely covers the front of the card. I also used cream cardstock for the top layer and the wings. Makes it a bit softer than bright white cardstock, and I wanted this card to have a vintage feel to it. This bee stamp is GORGEOUS!!!! (Supplies listed at the bottom of my post)

 

Here's a close up of the wings... This was the new technique I tried! Wings! I am usually 'afraid' to blend all these different colors together...but I did it! Yay. And I got the result I wanted - the look of translucence and shimmer!! I blended blues, purples and even green onto the wings. Then I coated them with Glimmer Gel. OOH LA LA.

 

The bee was stamped onto a cream cardstock square. I used my MISTI for a crisp impression since this is a big mama stamp. I used the accompanying stamps to stamp some honeycombs in pretty yellow ink around the bee. The wings are separate stamps. I stamped the wings onto cream cardstock and cut them out with small scissors.

 

I generously inked around the edges of the paper with distress inks and a big sponge dauber. I also splattered vintage photo distress ink onto the panel... I added clear yellow Nuvo drops to look like honey. Everything was colored with my favorite Polychromos Pencils.The sentiment is a word sticker from the Tim Holtz Collections.

 

Here are the wings on my work desk....

 

And here is the bee = before any inking and distressing. I looooooove how the contrast emerges once you start inking around the edges.

 

Getting closer....

 

AHHHHH. That's the buzz!!! I added yellow Stickles to the bee body, and also some white highlights.

 

To put the wings on the card, I used a small knife to cut slits in the paper. Then I put the wings into the slits, and attached them with foam circles to pop up off the paper. I added a small black layer of cardstock around that top layer to make it stand out from the background paper.

 

Here's a top down view....Love those Nuvo drops! SO yummy.

 

While I was taking pictures...I decided to go out in the front yard and get some camellias off our tree! They are in full bloom right now! I set up a little vignette to stage the flowers...and had fun taking pictures. Doing my photography a little different is another way I challenge myself during the coloring challenge. Try to step up my game instead of doing the same thing each time. My friend who owns an antique store gave me these old books on Valentine's Day and I am going to love taking pictures with them!! They're the perfect small size. 

That's it for today! Thanks for buzzing by my hive today! Hope you have a great week, everyone. See you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's card. (Affiliate Links Used). CLICK HERE to see more stamps from Pink Ink Designs - they are SO cool. I need more! (I really want the Old Salt one next!)

Craftiness is Happiness! Happy Friday!

WAHOOOOO! It's Friday! Hope you had an amazing week everyone! I got in some creative time finally, later in the week, and have a fun card to share today! I colored the image for Instagram for the 30 Day Coloring Challenge...and then made this clean and simple card. This card is perfect for a crafty girlfriend. So happy and cheery, with loads of color. It was so relaxing to color these pretty pencils. I used some new favorite stamps from Taylored Expressions and my trusty Copic Markers. 

The card is pretty simple - for me especially! The card base is an A2 white card base. No paper layers! (what??? LOL) I stamped the gorgeous Create In Color Background stamp in black ink. I used my MISTI because this is a big stamp and I wanted a super crisp image. It came out perfect! (I love that TE uses red rubber)... This stamp has sold out more times than I can count, and I finally got one! Yay for me! (It's back in stock now)

 

I used the clear stamp set called Craftiness is Happiness for the sentiment and the pencil marks. This stamp set is really fabulous. I always love Craft/Creativity themed stamp sets. I have tons and they make me happy!! 

 

After I stamped the image with my MISTI, I hand cut it out using small detail scissors. It was an easy cut.... Lots of straight lines. And I like how it looks without a border. Then I used my favorite rainbow shades of Copics to color all the pencils.

 

Lucky was especially interested in helping with this project! I couldn't get him off my desk!! He usually will go sit down in his bed once I start working...but not today! Silly boy.

 

 

 

After all the pencils were colored, I added white highlights with a gel pen.

 

I stamped the sentiment directly onto the card base and added a few Doodlebug Tiny Hearts!

 

I mounted the pencils onto the card base using foam tape to make them pop.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm wishing you Crafty Happiness, and a great weekend!! What are you up to?? What have you been creating? I will see you soon my friends! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list/links for today's card. (Affiliate links used). As always, thank you for using my affiliate links! 

Hello Gnomies! Happy March!

Hey friends! Well, January took forever to go by this year, but February went past in a hot minute! Dang! Happy March! We are knee deep in election primary season here in California and I'm an election officer so I'll be working 10 hours tomorrow and 15 hours on Tuesday! Yeeks! I have to remember to go to be early tonight! (not easy for this night owl). I've been Spring cleaning and organizing and getting back in the swing of things in the craft room. I'm also trying to be super conscientious about using my new supplies instead of hoarding them! Today's project is made with something that literally came in the mail this week! I am kinda obsessed with gnomes, and I had to have this gnome stamp set as soon as I saw it!! SO FREAKING CUTE!!! 

This finished card is a kraft A2 card base. I layered lots of bright white and yummy yellow along with the patterned papers that go with the collection. Rainbows and polka dots. Yippeeeee! What's cuter than that??? Um, nothing!

 

I stamped and die cut out the two gnomies and colored them with Copic markers. I also added white gel pen accents. A clean card layout - one of my favorites when I want to feature patterned papers...

 

Tip: The red in this paper collection is more of an orange red versus a blue red.... This could be tricky. Before I colored, I made sure to choose Copic colors in the warm/orange family - R02, R05, R08. Now my natural tendency would be to pick out R24, R27, R29. That would not have looked good here! It would have clashed. Instead, since I took the time to choose the right color family, the whole card looks polished and matchy. When I'm working with patterned paper I almost always choose my papers and do my card layout before I start coloring. 

 

I stamped the sentiment in black onto the bottom of a stitched rectangle panel. I wrapped some twine around the bottom layers before mounting the final layers. I used lots of foam tape!!

 

How adorable is this collection!!??

 

Gnomies!!!

 

 

 

The stamp set also has this adorable bee image!!

 

I think our neighbor saw me out in the front yard in my sweat pants taking pictures in the bushes! LOLZ. 

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today! I hope you have an awesome week ahead! XOXO

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

Crochet Granny Square Blanket for a Special Baby Boy!

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

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Tiny Houses for Spring!

Hello crafty friends! Happy Monday - here's to a great week! I just realized it's been over a week since I blogged! OH NO! I've been a busy bee! We got our taxes done (ugh) and I had to get my car fixed (ugh). I've had some good photography jobs to keep me busy (yay), and I've been stitching and crocheting a lot too. I just haven't really been paper crafting. Sometimes that happens. I have a lot of creative pursuits, and not enough hours in the day, that's for sure. Today I have a super fun project to share with you. I spent almost the entire day in the studio yesterday. Had the music on, and there was sunshine streaming in the windows. It was a lovely, slow, creative day. It's been a while since I had one of those. I feel like my best projects come from those kinds of days. And I reallllly like today's project!

I used lots of supplies from Tim Holtz for this project. I also used the AMAAAAZINGGGGG new paper collection from My Mind's Eye - called Gingham Gardens. This paper collection was hands down my FAVORITE thing from Creativation this year. I literally stood in their booth with my mouth agape, drooling over this paper. I even tried to have my friend Becky distract them so I could rip it all off the wall and run! LOLZ. But, soon enough, I now have it in my hot little hands. And I bought everything!! Really excited to create with it. This idea for today's houses came to me when I popped open my eyeballs Sunday morning (before coffee even!).... Let's look!! They are tiny houses for Spring! I made three houses and had so much fun decorating them!! No stamping either! 

 

The Sizzix Die has two sizes of house on the same BIGZ die. You cut two of each house (front and back) and glue them together, and then glue the roof on. I used chipboard to make mine because I wanted them to be sturdy. I covered them with gorgeous papers in all different patterns and florals. Then I went through my stash and made them fancy. 

 

All the pieces were splattered with both Vintage Photo Distress Ink and White Paint. All the pieces were edged with a sponge dauber and Vintage Photo Distress Ink too. I really love the contrast between the soft colors and that juicy brown ink. Just makes it feel so shabby chic to me.

 

I used some other Tim Holtz Sizzix dies for the butterfly and the leaves on this house. I put on some chunky Rock Candy Glitter on the leaves as well. I used the Big Chat stickers to spell out words and phrases on each of the houses. Those stickers are a go-to product for me. Each pack comes with black and white stickers.

 

You cannot go wrong mixing and matching all these beautiful papers!! Don't be intimidated by all the pattern play!! Stripes, gingham, florals, houndstooth...it all works!! And it's soooooo yummy. If I lived alone, my entire house would be decorated exactly like this!! LOL. (Somehow I don't think my husband truly appreciates English Country decor!!)

 

The front/back, the sides, and the roof, are all different patterns on each house. I die cut the chipboard and then die cut the paper and glued it to the chipboard. The small house is paper with no chipboard. I think I prefer the chipboard better. It's more sturdy, but both are good.

 

 

 

Right now these are on display in my studio on a shelf with a candle and my old camera.... Just makes me happy.

 

 

 

This is what the tops look like.

 

Here are some in process photos....I like to lay out my projects first before I glue everything together...

 

Inking and glittering....makes me happy.

 

Some more close up shots of details...Ideaology embellishments, ribbons, enamel dots, word stickers...ephemera.... These are a few of my favorite things!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that was fun! Thanks so much for popping by my blog today! I hope you are doing well, and I wish you a happy and productive week! XOXO

As I'm typing this post and doing my supply links - I see that the entire paper collection is on SALE at Scrapbook.com! YEAH. (Maybe I should buy some more to hoard???) Also, I didn't realize that this Tim Holtz Tiny Houses Die was discontinued until after I made my project (boo). I did find some on Amazon and I linked them for you in my supply links below. (Thank you for shopping my links - I REALLY appreciate it!!)

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

Pinkfresh Studio Background Stamp new release blog hop!

Hey there everyone! I'm back today as part of another awesome blog hop! Pinkfresh Studio is launching a new release of beautiful background stamps! We are all showcasing different ways to use background stamps and there is tons of inspiration in this hop. So happy to be part of it! I made two fresh and bright cards that are just right for Spring. So ready to use vivid colors again in the craft room, aren't you?? There are prizes and tons of crafters involved today. So please be sure to read all the way to the end of this post! So happy to see you today! Hope you have a great week! 

First up is a modern and graphic floral card made with the awesome new Diamond Tiles Background stamp and the Simple Blossoms stamps! I always love to use black and white with pops of color. That is one of my go to card designs. This finished card is an A2 card base in white. I layered black cardstock first. Then I layered a white panel with the background stamped onto it in crisp black ink. My focal floral cluster sits onto a pretty banner...

 

 

I stamped and die cut out a bunch of flowers and leaves and set them aside. Then I die cut the pretty banner and the word die. The word die is layered with black cardstock and vellum. (I love that the Pinkfresh word dies have a background die too - it's so polished).

 

To assemble the card, I attached the banner with foam tape. Then I glued the words onto that banner. I layered the flowers and leaves, also using foam tape squares. I added black enamel dots to the centers of the flowers to make them pop.

 

 

My next card is a big square card! I wanted to feature that gorgeous Lemon Lush Background stamp!! The background stamps are 6x6"!! This finished card is a 5.5 inch square. The card base is white and then I layered pretty lemon yellow cardstock. I used another pretty word die to finish this card. Very clean and simple layout...

 

I stamped the Lemon Lush background stamp in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I used my favorite watercolor paints and had a fun afternoon water coloring this gorgeous image!!! Man, I love to sit and color!!! I love how it came out too.

 

It was really hard to photograph this card - I feel like it is so much prettier in person!! This image is great for anyone who likes to color: Copics, pencils, or watercolors...

 

 

Thank you sooo much for stopping by my blog today! If you're new here because of the hop - welcome! I hope you'll come back sometime!! Thanks to the crew at Pinkfresh for inviting me to join in the fun today too! XOXO

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!!! Pinkfresh will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog, and on their IG feed! WOW! Also, each stop on the hop will be giving away a $25 gift card on each of our blog posts. WOW! The winners will be picked from all the comments. Pinkfresh will pull the winners & post them on Monday, February 24th on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. You must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks. Good luck everyone!

Pinkfresh Studio We is offering free US or discounted international shipping on all orders $35+ From February 17-21. Please reference  the codes in the graphic below! One code for US and one for International shipping!

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Hero Arts Spring 2020 Blog Hop! Fresh and Pretty!

Hey guys!!! Two posts two days in a row! Yahoooo! And, Happy Valentine's Day! The hubs and I are out vintage hunting today, and having a nice lunch together in this gorgeous weather. I hope you are having a delightful heart day too! Today is the awesome and GIANT blog hop celebrating the new 2020 Hero Arts Catalog release! It's Spring, and it's time to craft with color!! I chose some of my favorite brand new products from the catalog to share with you today. I made two cards and can't wait to share!! Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of my post to see the hop list and enjoy the inspiration. 

First up is a zesty lemon card with a cute sentiment! Squeeze the day! I used the gorgeous new citrus background stamp along with the new Zest Wishes stamps and dies to create this yellow, cheery card! I always looooove yellow in the Spring, don't you? (supplies are all listed at the bottom of my post) The finished card is a white A2 card base, then layered with kraft and they yellow and white! So fresh!

 

I stamped and die cut out the lemons, leaves and flowers. I colored them all with Copic Markers in greens and yellows. I hand cut the branch out from the stamp - stamped in brown ink.

 

The sentiment was stamped onto a banner and then I die cut out a couple more little banners for an accent piece. The focal point with the lemons is two die cut circles in white and yellow. This color scheme goes throughout the card. 

 

Here's a photo of that gorgeous Citrus Background stamp! OOH LA LA! It's red rubber, which means it stamps like a dream. I used white pigment ink and stamped it onto a kraft panel. It came out perfect the first stamp!! Love that about working with rubber. 

 

Here are my Copic colors for the lemons...

 

I placed the lemons and leaves onto the card using foam dots for more dimension! A few sparkly glitter enamel dots to finish it off!!

 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW CATALOG!

My second card is full of lovely Monstera plants!! I used the new Layering Plants dies and Greenhouse die cut to create a scene! It was such a fun card to create. The finished card is a teal cardstock A2 card base. I layered kraft with white and then all those yummy leaves...

 

I die cut out a ton of leaves first - in all different shades of greens. I inked all around the edges and the splattered them with white paint. On some of the leaves I used two different colors.

 

I also inked the pots with shades of terra cotta.

 

Here is the greenhouse panel. I die cut out the shape using the die. Then I die cut it a second time in white and fit the white part into the kraft opening. I layered a piece of vellum behind that to look like frosted glass!! I like how it came out - looks pretty on top of that teal.

 

 

 

The sentiment was stamped directly onto the kraft... Such a cute sentiment!! 

 

When I put the leaves onto the card I used foam dots to raise them up off the card. Aren't these leaves so beautiful?? I am going to use these a ton!!

 

 

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT! Hero Arts will be giving away THREE $50 gift cards to the Hero Arts shop to some lucky winners drawn from all comments left across the hop.Comment by Wednesday Feb 19 at 11:59pm pst, Winners will be announced on the Hero Arts blog next week! Good Luck!

Thanks for coming by on this fun blog hop day to celebrate Hero Arts! The full hop list is at the bottom of my post. CLICK HERE or CLICK the graphic below to see my supplies for today. (Affiliate Links Used). I hope you have a great day! Happy Hopping! XOXO

BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!! HAVE FUN!!

Hero Arts Blog
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Channin Pelletier
Debi Adams
Michelle Short
Caly Person
Emily Midgett
Janette Kausen
Ilina Crouse
Yana Smakula
Daniel West
Lydia Fiedler
Wanda Guess
Seeka
Laurie Willison
Amy Kolling
Erica A-B
Nichol Spohr
Jennifer McGuire
Libby Hickson

Introducing The Greetery - Lily and Palm Release - February 2020!

Hello everyone! Today is an exciting day! It's time to introduce the brand new, beautiful February release from The Greetery!! It's called Lily and Palm and it's all about Spring and Easter. Gosh, it's really all so beautiful and classic. I feel so lucky to be part of this team! Betsy blows me away each month with her vision and the gorgeous, timeless stamps and dies. I love Easter, so this release is particularly a favorite!! I know you're going to love it too. I'm sharing three projects today - as is the rest of the team. Be sure to pop over to The Greetery Blog today to see allllll the inspiration, and the links to the rest of the design team. All the new products will be for sale tomorrow morning! Yay! I hope you have a blessed and beautiful day! Now, let's look at some projects!!

First up is a gift/candy box and matching mini card. I am thinking this is a lovely idea for place settings at the Easter table. Or small gifts to give your friends and family at church. The pillow box holds a gift card or some candies.... I used the gorgeous new Lily Botanicuts Dies...

 

I made the pillow box using the Pillow Box Punch Board! I used the Summer Sketches leaves stamp and stamped onto the aqua paper with Versamark ink to add some interest. Then I assembled the box. I wrapped the box with vellum and added a small doily. The focal point of the piece is that gorgeous Stargazer Lily!!! It was SO EASY to assemble!! In all the die sets, there is a graphic sheet included to show you exactly how to put everything together. Love that. I used cardstock and then added accents with Copic Markers and white paint. I love how it came out!!

 

I made a mini note card from cardstock and did some simple stamping....Sometimes one layer looks so clean and pretty!!

 

Here's a close up of the flower and the stamping on the pillow box...

 

 

 

Next up is an Easter card in non traditional hues... The finished card is an A2 kraft card base. I layered white and teal and then white again to make my focus on the cross and palms. I used the new Caring Cross stamps and dies along with the Palm Botanicuts... SO pretty!!!!

 

The palms were die cut from Bristol cardstock and then water colored with distress inks. the cross was die cut with woodgrain cardstock from my stash. The sentiment was stamped onto vellum and wrapped around the cardstock layers. This is one of my favorite looks. In fact the very first stamp class I ever taught was all about how to use vellum!! 

 

 

 

I layered the palms in front of and behind the cross. I used liquid glue to glue them down. The cross is popped up with foam dots.

 

 

 

Lastly, is another Easter card made with the new Easter Jubilee Kit!! This kit is made up of dies, stamps and stencils and you're going to love it!! No one makes a kit like Betsy. She is a genius at designing things to work together so perfectly!! The finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with some pretty spring green cardstock and then a Crimped layer.

 

 

There are three stencils included in the kit and you use all three to layer down your base colors. In my photo, the first stencil was done with blue hues, the second stencil with green and the third stencil with purple. Then you go back with the stamps and add dimension to the flowers (dark green and dark purple). Like I said - genius!! The Easter letters fit inside the stenciled area.... love it!!

 

I wanted a watercolor effect so I splattered some more ink onto the panel. I added pearls for accents. And I used the new happy word die in purple and added it on top of the Easter part.

 

 

 

The color combinations for this are ENDLESS! I wanted to try something different so I used pretty purples....

Thank you for stopping by today! Please visit THE GREETERY Blog to see more inspiration! Please also remember to leave a comment on everyone's blogs to be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to The Greetery Store!! There are two gift certificates up for grabs! Scroll down to see the links to all the blogs for today! Happy Crafting! See you soon. XOXO

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

 

TODAY'S INSPIRATION!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

All My Love Vintage Typewriter Card!

Helllooooooo! Happy Monday and happy February! January seemed like it took forever! Geez. But here we are in the month of love! It's been really warm here and on Saturday we picked daffodils in our front yard already. Things are blooming for sure. Feels like the beginning of Spring. Hope you had a great weekend! I have a really fun project I'm excited to share with you. The idea for this card has been in my head for a while. I am really into old vintage typewriters with flowers. I love everything about that look and image. When Tim Holtz came out with his new Retro Type Die I knew I wanted to somehow create a typewriter card with pretty florals....

My finished card is a 5.5 x 5.5 inch square card with a kraft card base. I layered pretty patterned papers and mixed and matched flowers and type - another of my favorite looks....

 

This card has lots of layers and elements. It was an 'all day' card! I love those. When I take my time and create, and layer and all that good stuff. At first I made a pink typewriter, but then I changed it up and made an aqua typewriter so I could use pink flowers. All the dies are from Tim Holtz - and are outlined in the supply list at the bottom of my post. Those tiny type dies are awesome!!!! The sentiment is spelled out on a piece of vellum - that I distressed with ink and paint.

 

I die cut the typewriter pieces and the heart and a ton of flowers our of kraft core cardstock. I then sanded the edges and inked everything with Distress inks. I crumpled the vellum with my fingers...love how that came out. A pretty metal accent tied with twine. I enjoy mixing hard and soft surfaces in this way.

 

 

 

Here are some process photos of my die cuts...

 

OH that pretty type!!!

 

Here's the Typewriter and letter dies for reference.

 

I attached the typewriter to the card using foam tape. Then I used liquid glue to affix the flowers to the typewriter and to attach the letters to the vellum. Tip - use tweezers!! I added enamel dots to the centers of the flowers for a bit of shine.

 

For the flowers, I die cut them from kraft core cardstock. Then I layered them and inked them... Then splattered them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then Copic Opaque White paint. (yes, this took a while!)... I let each layer of ink/paint dry before doing the next step.

 

 

 

 

I love how this card came out and I'm so happy to share it with you!! It's spring and valentines all rolled into one vintagey fun card. Hope you find it inspiring! This typewriter die is going to get used a lot. So many looks, and ideas. Yeah. Love it. Have a wonderful week - see you soon! XOXO

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

Concord & 9th Guest Designer - January 2020 Release - Celebrate You!

Hey hey hey! Happy Friday! And it's my last Feature Friday for Concord & 9th for the January new release! Sad to have my guest designer gig ending... I so love working with the amazing people and products at C9!! Today's card is a bright and colorful birthday card made with the brand new Endless Birthday stamp set! It's such a fun set, perfect for birthday cards for peeps of all ages. I used vivid colors and made a square card to feature those awesome candles. I also popped in some of the balloons from the Tagalongs die set!! 

My finished card is a 5x5 inch square. I layered pretty turquoise cardstock and then the semicircle with the candles. This is a pretty clean and simple and graphic layout. 

 

The candles and the flames are two separate stamps so it's easy to stamp different colors. I stamped the flames in a pretty yellow ink. I went back with an orange Copic Marker and added a bit of accent color to really look like tiny flames. I die cut the candle image out with a large circle die cut, and then trimmed off the bottom of the circle.

 

I heat embossed the sentiments onto hot pink banners!

 

 

 

I made my own background paper by using one of the awesome sentiment stamps with some Versamark Ink - and just stamping it over and over on the panel. I also used white ink to splatter the panel. I think the white looks like confetti or something! A few sequins complete the card.

Thanks for stopping by today! Please head over to Concord & 9th to see their January release! What was your favorite thing from this month?? I so enjoyed sharing with you each Friday! I'm not sure what I'll be posting next, but I have some ideas! LOL. Hope to get in some crafting time this weekend in between outings!! Have an amazing weekend. XOXO

Please CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's card. (Affiliate Links Used) CLICK HERE to visit Concord & 9th. 

Have a nice day! Beautiful bouquet from The Stamp Market!

Good morning friends! Happy Monday! Hope you have a nice day...and a nice week! I finished this card late last night and just got the photos taken, and couldn't wait to share it with ya! We had a fun and mellow weekend. We went to see Doolittle at the movies and it was so cute and fun. I am a huge Robert Downey Jr. fan so it was a treat for me. It was a light-hearted movie that made us laugh so I call it a win. I love how all the movie theaters have recliners now. OH man, how nice to really relax at the movies. One of life's simple pleasures for sure. Are you a movie fan? What's on your agenda for the week? I am getting back into my normal work routine and getting ready for taxes (ugh)... And I have my crochet group meet up on Wednesday night. 

My card today features stamps, dies and colors from one of my favorite new companies The Stamp Market! If you haven't checked them out yet, you must!! Amy's stamps are pretty and fresh and modern and SO CUTE. I'm totally obsessed actually. One of the best new companies to come along in a while. I used the new Oh So Lovely stamp set along with the Strips dies to create a graphic and bright card perfect for a friend!

The finished card is a white A2 card base, layered with red cardstock, stripes and then an oval...

 

The stamp set comes with tons of flower stamps, so you basically build your own bouquet! I stamped the leaves portion in pretty green and die cut it out with the matching die. Then I stamped a bunch of flowers in different colors and sizes and set them aside to assemble last once the rest of the card was done. The hand stamp is genius - it comes in two pieces! So it looks like a pretty hand giving a bouquet. How can you not love this??

 

The sentiment comes with the stamp set, and has a matching die! Score! I made the black and white striped background using the brand new Strips Dies! I die cut out several from black and white cardstock. I used an adhesive sheet to affix the stripes onto another piece of white cardstock (see the supply list for all the things I used). Then once the stripes were assembled, I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out the background layer. The red cardstock in the layering is the same color as the red ink used - this makes it look really nice.

 

I attached the bouquet and then the hand, using foam circles. I used Copic markers to color the hand, and the fingernails! (I mean, she had to have red nails, right?). I used two small foam circles on either end of the sentiment to affix it across the bottom of the stems.

 

I added a few hearts in with the bouquet, and also added a few enamel dots! Finishing touches!

 

This photo looks down onto the card to let you see the layers I built up!

 

I am so excited about this stamp set - I have so many more ideas!! The sentiments are beautiful tooooo....

Thank you so much for coming by today! I will see you soon, my sweet crafting friends! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies I used for today's card (Affiliate links used).... CLICK HERE to check out The Stamp Market Shop!

Concord & 9th Guest Designer - January 2020 Release - Sending some happy mail!

Hey guys! It's post #2 for me today! Happy Friday indeed! So many fun things to share! Today is my third project for my guest designer gig with Concord & 9th for January's new release! The products we're showcasing and featuring today are the Tall Type Tagalongs Dies and the Tiny Tagalongs Stamp Set. These two new products were made to be used with one of my favorite Concord & 9th Die Sets - Tall Type Alphabet! You guys know I used that one alllll the time. I decided to make a Happy Mail Card using the rainbow image from the Tagalongs Die set, and a pretty and fresh color palette!

This finished card is a white A2 card base, with a layer of soft pink and a second layer of white cardstock. I wanted it light and bright and pretty! 

 

I die cut the Happy Mail words from the Tall Type Alphabet (minus that second A of course). Then I die cut the heart and the rainbow from cheerful cardstock. I laid the images out before gluing them down and stamped the sentiment in black in the middle. I also stamped some random hearts onto that top white panel. I used liquid glue and my tweezers to affix the letters and the rainbow to the card.

 

I stamped and die cut out that sweet little letter and tucked it behind the H and the A. I also popped up that little pink heart with a foam dot.

 

A few clear gems complete this clean and simple card...

 

 

 

 

Thank you for joining me! I'll be back one more time next Friday to finish out my guest designer spot for January's new release! Something else fun is coming your way. I so enjoy designing with Concord & 9th supplies. Please head over to the Concord & 9th Blog to see what the other two guest designers have for you today! XOXO

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

 

TGIF with The Greetery! Winter Thank You Card!

Hey friends! TGIF! TGIF means Thank God It's Friday....but it also means The Greetery Inspiration Friday! I'm super happy to be sharing over on The Greetery Official Blog today! Woot! I'm also sharing here on my blog because, well sharing is caring! CLICK HERE to visit The Greetery Blog to see all the fun inspiration from Betsy and the rest of our team. You will not be disappointed. I guarantee that! Every Friday there will be a new project to inspire you to use your beautiful The Greetery stamps, dies and stencils. 

Today I'm sharing a pretty thank you card and I'm calling it - Winter Garden. This time of year I always need thank you cards. For Christmas presents, for parties I was invited to, for business associates. So I like to stretch my Christmas stamps and dies in new ways to carry on into Winter months by making thank yous. I thought it might be pretty to use the beautiful Pine Bough Botanicuts Dies together with the innovative and pretty Terrarium Die and create a Winter Garden.

 

That Terrarium die is SO pretty! I die cut it from Gold shimmer cardstock from my stash. I combined lots of textures on this card - I love the contrast between the woodgrain paper and the vellum and the gold. I used shades of Winter for this project: Icy blue, sparkling bright white, warm brown and all shades of green. I really love to combine textures on my cards and that's what I did here. Twine and enamel dots as accents add even more texture.

 

I die cut the pine leaves from watercolor paper and used small sponge daubers and Distress Inks to add shades of greens. Once the ink was dry, I splattered lots of white paint to look like snow. The background of the terrarium was also ink blended with Distress Ink. 

 

 

 

I used the little tag from the Sentiment Suites Basics to add a design element to the top of the card. The words are from the Christmas Caravan stamp set. I used Stazon Ink to stamp the gorgeous thank you sentiment onto a strip of vellum.

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! Please CLICK HERE to head over to The Greetery Blog and leave some love and get inspired!! I will see you soon! XOXO Have a fantastic weekend! 

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

Beautiful Sedona Arizona!!

Greetings! I'm back from a wonderful and fantastic trip to Arizona for Creativation 2020!! It was such a good trip - I am happy and renewed and inspired by all the sights and lovely people. My whole trip went smoothly and was super fun. My flights were on time and smooth. I rented an Air bnb for the first time and loved it! The Creativation Show was pretty quiet this year. It seems to get smaller every year. I saw so many of my crafty friends and got so many hugs and had so many laughs. My feet hurt, but my heart is very full!! No big product reveals this show... More beautiful new products from my favorite companies - but nothing that was the "IT" thing or tool. All my photos from the Creativation show are saved in my Instagram Stories Highlights! There are two folders (PHX1 and PHX2) and I think it's about 150 photos and short videos if you want to check it out!

I've been to Arizona several times, but always for the show or for work. And I've never rented a car or been able to sight see. This trip, I rented a car and went on a road trip the day before the Creativation Show started. I'm SO GLAD I did! I drove from Phoenix to Sedona on Highway 17 through the heart of Arizona. It was a magical, gorgeous day filled with beauty like I've never seen before. I wanted to share it all with you. Only a few times in my life have I seen a place so cool that it took my breath away. The Red Rocks in Sedona is now on that list! It made me feel small, and I felt the hand of God in creating His earthly masterpiece for our delight! It was a nice day for a drive - big puffy clouds and perfect temps. Hardly any people out. Just me and the cacti. LOL! 

WARNING: Lots of pictures ahead!

Here is the first view of the Red Rocks... It's a strange place, Arizona. You drive and drive and drive and see basically nothing. Then you come around a bend in the road and you see THIS! Like these giant rocks appeared out of nowhere! It was so cool.

 

It's hard to capture the scale of this place. If you look at the bottom corner of the photo, those are houses...that gives you some idea. I've really never seen anything like this before. I love to travel and see new things. It always changes you as a person...

 

 

 

 

 

These beautiful Saguaro Cacti are 100-200 years old!!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw so many interesting plants!!!

 

This is up at the helicopter airport looking down over the entire Sedona valley...

 

 

 

This is the front side of the Chapel of the Holy Cross! It was SO beautiful! Built right into the side of the Red Rocks!! It was amazing and I'm so happy I was able to see it. 

 

 

Once you park your car, you walk up this cool ramp through the rocks and end up at the back of the chapel (the entrance). I just stood there in awe.

 

And this is the way into the Chapel.

 

THAT VIEW!

 

This is the inside of the Chapel. It literally brought tears to my eyes. It's very small inside with a few benches to pray at and lots of candles. I sat down and rested and said some prayers of gratitude for this journey and for all the blessings of this magical day.

 

I pulled off to the side of the road to take this shot. One of my favorites of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that's my recap of my road trip to Sedona! If you're in Arizona, I highly recommend making this drive! The town of Sedona was quaint and pretty also. I stopped at a few souvenir shops and got some snacks for my drive. There's a lot of shopping there and many resorts to stay at. I wish I had a few days, but I made the most of the time I had. I hope you're having a blessed and happy week! I'll be back on Friday with two crafty posts! XOXO

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

Pretty Pink Posh 6th Birthday Celebration Blog Hop!

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

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

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

TODAY'S AWESOME BLOG HOP LINEUP!

Channin Pelletier   

Wanda Guess  

Adelle Emery  

Jeanne Jachna 

Sharna Waksmulski 

Melody Rupple  

Yana Smakula 

The Greetery - Love Letters Collection!

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Special Delivery just for YOU!!!

 

 

 

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

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

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

TODAY'S INSPIRATION!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

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

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

Mini Music Clipboard Project with Tim Holtz Supplies!

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

I love mini stencils!!!

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

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

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

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED! 

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

MY WINNER IS NATALIE WINTERSTEIN

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!

MANY BLESSINGS FOR A HAPPY, HEALTHY, CREATIVE YEAR AHEAD!

Thank you very much for coming by my blog today to celebrate "Season's Givings" with a giant blog hop and awesome prize giveaways! This is my SIXTH year doing this great hop! (CLICK HERE TO SEE last year's post!) I want to say a  HUGE THANKS TO LATISHA for organizing this amazing blog hop every year. I am very proud to call her a friend! I hope you are having fun looking at everyone's blogs! What a great way to start off the new year right? The entire hop link list is at the very bottom of my post. And every blog has a prize! There are all kinds of beautiful projects to look at and loads of great prizes! I love that this event keeps growing every year! If you have a blog - consider joining us next year - it's open to everyone. 

This blog hop is all about us thanking YOU, our awesome followers and readers, for supporting us and sharing our joy of crafting. For lots of us, the main reason we blog, is that we develop wonderful friendships with a greater creative community and we uplift and inspire each other. Truly, thank you for joining me on my blog journey. If you are new to my site - welcome! I hope you find something you like and I'm happy to have you here today. Welcome to Season's Givings 2020! Thank you for all of your love and support this past year. It was a hard year for me and you guys always make me smile with your kindness. Bless you all!!

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

PRIZE ALERT! PRIZE ALERT! PRIZE ALERT! EVERY STOP ON THIS AWESOME HOP HAS PRIZES! It's our way of saying thanks! I have a great prize package of goodies to give away to one lucky winner (see photo below)! In order to be eligible to win my prize package, please leave a comment on this blog post and tell me your New Year's resolution for crafting and creativity! I will draw the winner on Sunday, January 5th and notify you via email. What projects are you going to work on in 2020? Maybe a new technique? New style? Favorite new supplies? I want to know! I did this same question last year and just loved all the answers!! Happy Hopping today and Happy Crafting in the new year! XOXO

This is the prize package for my stop on the hop! Wooohoooo! A pretty journal for the new year, some fancy markers, and three fabulous stamp sets! Good Luck!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

DEEEEEEELICIOUS!! 

 

 

 

SUPPLY LIST FOR TODAY CLICK HERE!

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

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL BLOG HOP LIST!

 

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

UPDATED 12-31-19

WINNER - MARY KOBY! 

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES!

I LOVED READING EVERY COMMENT!

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

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

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

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

 

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

HOW TO ENTER TO WIN THIS AWESOME PRIZE PACKAGE:

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

 

SPONSOR LINKS! PLEASE VISIT EVERYONE! THANK YOU!

(Some are affiliate links)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Merry Christmas 2019 from our home to yours!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2019!

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS

WISHING YOU HAPPINESS AND BLESSINGS

ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY!

Very Merry Stockings!

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

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

Merry Christmas Deer!!

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

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

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

Pinkfresh Studio Essentials 3 Release Blog Hop!!

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

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

 

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

 

I love these tiny mittens!!

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Reverse Confetti - Beautiful Snowflakes!

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

(Affiliate Links Used)

Granny Square Blanket Project is done! Yeah!

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

It was about half way done in this photo.

 

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

 

 

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

 

Let's be merry and drink cocoa!

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

Pretty Felt Mittens! For Ornaments or Gift Tags!

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

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

Snow Sampler Cross Stitch and Framing Project!

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

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

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

This was after three coats of paint!

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

Happy Thanksgiving 2019!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2019!

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS!

 

LOVE WANDA, MARK AND LUCKY GUESS!

Yeti or Not - It's Christmastime!

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

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

He's holding a little Christmas Tree!

 

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

This is the second largest size of the Nordic Frames. 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

The Greetery Winter's Song Mini Release!

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

LIST OF DESIGNERS FOR TODAY'S INSPIRATION PROJECTS!

Kay Miller

Laurie Willison

Dawn McVey

Heather Nichols

Keeway Tsao

Angelica Conrad

Lizzie Jones

Kelly Lunceford

Norine Borys

Wanda Guess

Guest Designing with Sunny Studio Stamps! A Frosty Hello!

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

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

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

Christmas Recipes Book - Fun Project!

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

You can make so many things with one kit. You can also buy extras of any of the individual pieces. The entire kit is $44.95. Such a great deal. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! XOXO