A Blog Called Wanda

You Have My Heart! Happy Valentine's Day 2019!

Helloooo my loves! Happy Valentine's Day! Wishing you a day filled with love, happiness and good things...you know, like chocolate! Can't believe it's mid way through February already. I have the feeling 2019 is going to go by fast! I can tell the season is changing because all my crafting lately is bright colors and leaves and flowers and rainbows! Ready for fresh things and new beginnings that Spring always brings. My husband is super busy at work this week so we'll be going out to dinner this coming weekend to celebrate Valentine's Day. We are pretty low key about these things after 26 years' worth of Valentines! Hope your day is lovely.

I have a funky, artsy card to share today. A few weeks ago I colored these cool water color hearts. I set them aside for a bit, but then finally got a card idea! I love the artistic look of the watercolors, gold and black together. It's an A2 card finished size. Not too many layers on this one...but I added some sewing! 

 

To start, I made a white A2 card base and set it aside. I used watercolor paper for the background piece. I had SO MUCH FUN dripping my favorite gold paint down the paper! I started with a very juicy brush and held the brush at the top of the panel and just let it drip! I kept adding more and more paint until I thought it looked good! I dried it with my heat gun and it was ready to go.

 

I had made these hearts a while ago. I die cut them from water color paper and then loosely water colored them in shades of red, purple and pink. Perfect valentine colors! I kept is messy and artistic. I love how they came out! I lined them up on the paper the way I wanted them and then used my sewing machine and a zig zag stitch to attach them to that top panel. I didn't want it to look perfect so I went back and forth a few times across the hearts. 

 

The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder onto black cardstock for contrast. It was affixed to the card using foam tape. 

 

Here's a photo of just the hearts when I was making them. They are also splattered with gold paint.

 

 

 

Look at all that yummy dripping paint! 

 

 

 

From my heart to yours today! XOXO

Thanks for stopping by on this day of L O V E! Have a fantastic day! I'll be back on Monday with a fun tropical post! XXOOXXOO

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Pretty Peonies from Spellbinders artist Stephanie Low!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! Are you ready to be creative this week? I am for sure! And it's Valentine's week so there's love in the air too! I hope you had a good weekend. I rested and did some crocheting. Most of our plans were for outside and everything got cancelled because of the rain. That's okay though. We need the water, and I never mind a rainy day. Actually rainy days are my favorite days. Here's to a great week!

Today I'm excited to share a project made with the brand new stamp release from Spellbinders, and Artist Stephanie Low. I am the guest designer today over on the Spellbinders blog! Please CLICK HERE to head over and share some love there too! BIG thanks to the crew at Spellbinders for inviting me to be a guest with them. I'm happy for this fun opportunity. My card is a super bright floral creation made with the beautiful new Large Peonies stamp set and watercolors. Spellbinders has recently merged with Fun Stampers Journey so I used products from both companies. 

I love to water color flowers. That's my favorite thing to water color actually. This finished card is an A2 size, made with a kraft card base. I layered pretty bright pink paper and then a layer of watercolor paper and then those pretty blooms!

 

To start this card, I stamped several blooms and leaves onto watercolor paper. I colored them with vivid shades of pinks and greens and let them dry. I used the awesome Lots of Dots Background Die Cut and watercolor paper to create the dotted background. Then I added a wash of blue watercolor paint. I set that aside to dry also. 

 

The sentiment was heat embossed with gold embossing powder onto a strip of vellum. I wrapped the vellum around the dots layer before I assembled the rest of the card. 

 

 

 

Here are my step out photos! After the flowers were colored, I added paint splatters and white paint splatters. All these pieces are watercolor paper.

 

 

To put the card together, I layered the hot pink onto the kraft base. Then I wrapped the vellum around the dots layer. This part was attached with foam tape. Then the flowers and leaves were added, also with foam tape. One of my very favorite FSJ products is the Rainbow Drops. OMG I just look at them on my desk and they make me so happy!!! I'm trying to use them and not hoard them, so I added a sprinkling of the pretty blue drops onto my card. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today! THANK YOU to Spellbinders for having me as a guest today! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Get crafty! Have a Happy Valentine's Day! (I have one more heart themed card, so I'll be back on Thursday to share it!) XOXO

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A love letter with watercolor roses...

Hi friends! It's one week until Valentine's Day and my craft room has been a flurry of hearts and flowers lately! I really got into Valentine's Day this year for some reason. Made lots of cards and had fun doing it too! I am also inspired by the 30 Day Coloring Challenge which is really making me think, and getting me to create something each day. It's leading to all kinds of fun. I'm rediscovering some of my older stamps and dies and trying new/old techniques. This card I'm sharing today took on a life of it's own last weekend. I thought - I'll just mess around with these cool roses dies. Well, before you know it, I was doing all kinds of Instagram stories and water coloring and inking and distressing and embossing...Oh my! And a card was born. I love it when that happens... When creativity takes it's own organic pathway. Something cool usually emerges. So today's card is a "more is more' creation full of techniques and stuff. It was a labor of love - literally! Ha! This post has lots of pictures, and I also saved the Instagram stories of my step by step process if you want to see that too. Let's go!

Here is my finished vintage Valentine inspired card!

 

The finished card is an A2 size white card base. I covered the top of the card with red cardstock. This way, the inside of the card will be white. Then I layered an embossed layer, then the heart, then the roses and love die! This card is heavy! Gonna need some extra postage for this one! LOL. I used loads of distress inks to 'vintage' it up. It was fun!! The roses are in pieces (you'll see later in the post) and I watercolored them, and the leaves. Like I said - SO FUN!

 

Here's a close up side view of the roses and leaves. Here you can see all the different layers. I glued them together using quick dry clear glue. 

 

In this side view you can see all the card layers. The love die was glued on at each end and left 'free' in the center to float over everything else. 

 

I looooooove these Tim Holtz Ideaology charms! This bird was perfect for a love letter!! 

 

 

 

Each rose has four die cut pieces. I watercolored them in shades of dusty pink/rose. One rose is dark in the center and gets lighter and the other one is the opposite. I was experimenting to see which one I liked the best. I die cut all the pieces out of watercolor paper so they would stand up to my coloring. When they're dry, you glue them together! It's magic. 

 

Here are my roses and leaves before all the splattering and distressing! The leaves are in two die cut pieces before you glue them together. 

 

I splattered the roses and leaves with Vintage Photo Distress Ink mixed with water. Then I used a sponge and inked around the edges. YUUUMMMMM.

 

 

 

Now on to the card... I die cut a heart out of watercolor paper. I used the Tim Holtz Random Quotes stamp set because one of the stamps is a love letter in pretty script! It was perfect! I tried two different ones because I didn't like the first one - it was toooo blurry. On the blurry one, I sprayed the heart paper with water first and then stamped into it. For the second one, the one that I ended up using, I inked the stamp, then sprayed the stamp with water, then stamped onto dry paper. Just the right amount of 'messiness' for this project.

 

The next step was to ink up the heart and splatter it! (Of course)

 

I had this cool embossing folder from We R Memory Keepers in my stash. It looks like old wallpaper to me! I embossed it onto watercolor paper. Then I used Distress Inks and water to water color each of the roses! LOVE!!! Then I distressed the edges and inked everything up. Doesn't it look like I just peeled it off the wall of an old house!!?? 

 

Now it was finally time to assemble! I glued on all the pieces with glue and foam tape! Then I added a few pearls! I'm now thinking that instead of a Valentine, this might make a great wedding card?! 

 

 

 

And some random photos of stuff! The light was so pretty the day I was photographing this project!!

 

 

If you're still reading along - yay! It was a long post! I was so excited to share this with you! Hope you have a lovely day! It's almost the weekend! XOXO

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Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Lunar New Year 2019! The Year of the Pig!

Hello crafty friends! Happy New Year! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Today is the celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year so I'm posting a card I made to mark this special occasion. I love to make festive and pretty cards for this wonderful celebration. I have lots of friends who celebrate this beautiful cultural tradition, so I like to acknowledge it by creating something special each year. (CLICK HERE to see my card from last year) Do you and your family celebrate the Lunar New Year too? This year is the Year of the Pig. Is it your year? CLICK HERE for the list of the years and the corresponding animals. I am a DRAGON! Yep! Gotta love that. 1964 was a very good year indeed. I have lots of Dragon friends. We are strong and fierce! 

People born in the year of the Pig are loved for their kind, honest, helpful and forgiving nature. Pigs believe in maintaining peace and harmony and they dislike anything which causes conflict. Those born under the Pig zodiac sign are self-indulgent and enjoy the finer things in life. The twelfth sign of the Chinese zodiac, Pig is one of the most likable signs out there. Pigs are honest, forgiving, good-tempered, cheerful, generous, and compassionate. They are responsible and determined. They will never refuse to give those in need a helping hand, but they rarely seek help from others. They are idealists who will do anything to keep the peace. They will remain committed for life to their friends and their principles, and would never do anything dishonest. Famous people born in the Year of the Pig include: Hilary Clinton, David Letterman, Stephen King, Elton John and Carrie Underwood!

I don't have any pig stamps so I used the gorgeous "Lion Dance" stamp set from Mama Elephant. I love this set soooo much. I used it last year too! The perfect dragons and sentiments. For the fireworks, I used the "Around We Go" stamp set, also from Mama Elephant. I tried a new technique of blending tone on tone with the same color ink and paper. I really like how it came out. Very dramatic on the red!! My card features red and gold with embossing and bright colors. I used an old stamp I had in my stash - the Chinese Calligraphy symbol for Double Happiness. This is usually a symbol to be used for wedding cards - but I thought - can't go wrong by wishing someone Double Happiness!! Plus, it's just such a beautiful stamp...

 

My card is a long skinny card - finished size 4x8 inches. I wanted room for everything! Especially those dragons! Here is a close up of the Double Happiness stamp. I embossed it in pretty gold embossing powder onto a stitched circle die cut. I used traditional colors of red, gold and black. It's so classic and strong! 

 

I colored the dragons with Copic Markers and then added accents with Diamond Stickles. The sentiment was heat embossed in gold onto a strip of black paper. The 2019 numbers are from a very old stamp set (maybe 25 years old) and the company is no longer around. I love the characters. I also heat embossed the numbers directly onto my top layer. The card base is black, and then layered with a bit of gold paper.

 

Here is a close up of the ink blending and the fireworks. It's all tone on tone with shades of red and mahogany. I inked three shades of Distress inks onto the red layer. Then I stamped fireworks in red and mahogany. The effect is subtle and I really like how it came out. I used my Finetec Gold paints to splash gold everywhere! I was trying to evoke the feeling of a Chinese New Year parade. I used to go to the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade every year when I lived there. MAGIC. Pure magic. The colors, the sounds, the cheer. A true feast for the senses. 

 

This is a second version.... For this one I also sprinkled gold embossing powder onto the red paper and heated it. A little bit of a different look!! 

 

The dragons and the sentiment were attached to the card using foam tape.

 

I made some red envelopes using the Venice Envelope Die from Mama Elephant. Unfortunately it's not available any more. It has a die to make the small envelope and then a separate die to make the perfectly matching layering pieces. I used red and gold again of course. SO pretty.

 

 

 

 

GOOD CHEER and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Happy Lunar New Year - Year of the Pig! A chance to go out and celebrate a beautiful cultural tradition. Have a wonderful week everyone. I'll be back with a Valentine card on Thursday! (You may have seen the step out photos on Instagram stories!) XOXO

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Sweet kitties from Pretty Pink Posh!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! How are you?? Did you survive the polar vortex this week? I hope everyone is safe and sound and enjoying the start of a new month. I felt sort of guilty this week as the temps hit 70 degrees here, and I was outside taking pictures of apple blossoms and daffodils. We didn't even have Winter this year in Sacramento. I feel like it was hot all through Fall and then one day of cold, and it's warming up again. Definitely a different pattern this year. I am super grateful that I don't have to shovel snow or wear ten layers of clothing. Californians are weather wimps. I digressed....just really meant to say I hope everyone is safe and sound. Happy February!

I haven't posted on my blog for a while. Not sure what happened, other than life. I have been a busy bee and time just got away from me. I was so excited that Kathy Racoosin started up the 30 Day Coloring Challenge again today! Just the push I needed to get out the markers and make something...but what to make? Lucky and I came in the studio and poked around and it came to me! Cuddly Cats from Pretty Pink Posh! Yay! I haven't inked up this set yet, so it was time. Today is the one year anniversary of the day my sweet boy Buddy passed away. I think of him every day, and especially today, so a kitty card was the perfect thing to make. 

The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge always pushes me to use my supplies, and I love that. I try to challenge myself to use different mediums and switch things up. Maybe try a different technique or be a bit more daring. Bust out the colored pencils more, or try a new Copic method... Have you joined the fun?? I love how it creates a sense of community when we are all posting our coloring on Instagram and Facebook every day! (And you know I love Instagram!)

I colored two kitties to look like my two favorite boys - Lucky and Buddy! I think they would have been sweet friends. How did I get so blessed to have two such sweet furry kids in my life? I feel like those of us who have been lucky to be touched by an animal soul never are the same. This past year many of my friends have lost sweet pets. It's so hard. But I always think - wow, it was good to know that kind of love. Now, on to my card...

 

I started with a white A2 card base and kept the entire card really clean and graphic. I used the fun and fabulous Stacked Edges Dies to make some diamond strips out of grey paper and then splattered white paint on them. Next I stamped and die cut out the two cats and the yarn.

 

I colored the images with Copic markers and added accents with a white gel pen. I die cut a stitched rectangle and stamped the sentiment across the bottom of it in black ink. I mounted the grey diamonds across the center of the card using foam tape. 

 

The cats are so cute!! I love how the stamp set has cats that face both ways - so you can have them facing each other, or facing the way you want them on your project! 

 

I searched through my stash for a stamp set that had tiny paw prints! I found a Paper Smooches set, and stamped the paws in the corner of my card. I finished it all off with a few enamel dots. (of course).

 

 

 

Here is my super sweet studio assistant helping me choose Copic Marker colors! LOL.

 

And then he went to sleep on the job! I love how he has to be right next to me all the time. Lucky truly has healed my broken heart and is such a good boy. He is eleven months old now! 

 

Here's a photo of some pretty blossoms I took yesterday when I was out doing errands. Spring is definitely arriving early in Sacramento!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Hope you have an amazing weekend! And, I hope you get some time to create! I'll be back next week with a fun and bright project for Chinese New Year! Until then, take care! XOXO

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Smile! Pretty Butterflies from Pinkfresh Studio

WOOHOOO! Happy Friday, friends! Why am I happy it's Friday? I don't work in an office at an 8-5 job anymore.... But my husband does! So I'm happy it's Friday since I will have my best friend to hang out with for a couple of days. Our weekend looks pretty boring right at the moment but I'm sure we'll find something to do. Tonight I have crocheting/knitting meetup! The weather is sunny and the flowers are starting to bloom already around here. We saw some plum blossoms the other night already. I hope to get some time in the craft room too! What are you up to this weekend? Hope you have a good one!

Today I'm sharing a card made with lovely LOVELY stamps and dies from Pinkfresh Studio! OH GOSH, how I love Pinkfresh Studio! They have the prettiest, most feminine florals and innovative dies. One of my favorite companies for sure! If they're new to you CLICK HERE to see their entire collection! My specific links for the products used today is at the bottom of my post. I have had this awesome 'smile' die cut for a while and finally used it! The word is all hooked together in one die - it's not separate letters. Super easy to die cut onto an A2 card front! Then I added my favorite gingham, and some soft florals and butterflies. I am inspired by the coming of spring so I used a light and fresh color palette of green and aqua.

 

I started with an A2 card base in crisp white paper. I cut a white layer just a bit smaller than the card front and die cut the 'smile' into it. I used black mist to spritz a few splatters onto that panel and set it aside. I cut a piece of pretty aqua gingham paper the exact size as the top panel and adhered that to the card front. Then I placed the white top layer over the gingham using foam squares. 

 

Next I stamped and die cut out the florals, leaves and butterflies! I colored them all in the same Copic marker colors and matched the colors to the gingham. This makes your project all come together nicely. 

 

 

 

I'm using my new Waffle Flower Enamel Dots like crazy!! Here I added a few clear ones and one white one for the flower center. Just so sweet and simple. 

 

My tip for attaching butterflies to cards.... I use foam tape in a small strip just under the body of the butterfly. I press it down really hard to make sure it's attached. Then I used my fingers to gently bend the wings upwards to look like they're flying! As you know, I love lots of dimension on my cards!!

So SMILE! And have a great weekend! Thanks for flying by today to see my card! XOXO

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Bee Mine Valentine!

Hi everyone! Today I'm buzzzzzing by with a fun bee themed valentine card! Will you BEEEE mine? Please!? This card was a joy to make, and combined several of my favorite things! Lots of color, Copic Markers, Distress Ink blending, and cute stamps! All the stamps and dies used today are from Honey Bee Stamps. Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post as always! I got this card idea because I made a winter/Christmas card using the awesome Bee Bold Alphabet dies and I loved that card! (CLICK HERE to see it!) I wracked my brain - how to make a Valentine card with the same sort of layout and design?? Hmmmm. What word to spell out? Sweet? Love? Kiss? And then, in the middle of the night, I got it! BEE MINE! And then the entire card came together. I couldn't decide between red letters or pink - but I'm glad I decided on the hot pink. It's so happy! Picked Raspberry Distress Ink is delicious!

The finished card is 5.25 x 5.25 square. I needed some room to spread out! LOL. Sometimes a design needs a smaller card, or a bigger card, or a longer card! Don't be shy about making your card size fit your elements. I love me a big ole square card sometimes! 

 

This card started with a white card base cut and scored to size. Then I layered yummy hot pink textured cardstock. For the top layer I die cut a white square with a pretty stitched edge. Next I die cut the letters out and set them aside. I stamped and die cut the two bees next. Then I die cut the honeycombs from my favorite yellow cardstock. I stamped the word Valentine directly onto the top layer and stamped tiny pink hearts on that layer also. 

 

I really love the font in the words from the Brie Mine stamp set!! 

 

To make the letters pink, I used two shades of Distress Inks and ink blending tools. I did the Spun Sugar at the top of the letter and faded into Picked Raspberry at the bottom of the letters. I put on a lot of ink - because I wanted a huge impact and punch of color. Once the ink was dry, I splattered the letters with white ink (because that's my jam! LOL). The letters were arranged onto the square layer using strips of foam tape.

 

I colored these sweetie bees with Copic Markes and added white gel pen accents. I also added Clear Wink of Stella to the wings so they would shimmer in the light. 

 

Next it was time to put it all together! I arranged everything until I got just the right look and then attached it all to the card with foam tape.

 

 

 

 

I already have some other ideas for cards like this coming up! It's fun to color the letters and spell out whatever you like! You could make a card with a person's name on it, or their school or something meaningful just for them. It's one of the best things about being a crafty gal. Customizing things! BEEE MINE and have a happy, bizzy week! See you soon with another project. XOXO

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Crochet Journal Project with Echo Park and Simple Stories!

Hi crafty people! Happy weekend! Hope you have some fun things planned! It's been raining alllll week here. We're hoping to get in a day trip to Napa this weekend for the Lighted Art Festival. We'll see if the weather holds out! And there is an eclipse Sunday night with a full moon. I think my hubs is going to go out and photograph it with the photography club! Again, we'll see if the weather holds out for that too. Geez, Wednesday we had a record rain total. Most rain in one day for the past 40 years! And, of course, that was the day I had meetings and errands to do! I should have used a boat instead of my car! I survived and it's all good. I have a fun project to share today! It's something that's been in my head for a few months and I'm eager to use it now that it's made! It's a crochet journal! I intend to write down all my projects and notes about the stitches and type of yarn used... That way if I want to make something again - or if someone has a question - all the information is right there at my fingertips! I've been keeping it all in a spiral notebook so far. 

Now, funny story... The one great thing about being a craft supplies hoarder is that you can shop at your own house! LOL. I had ALL the supplies needed for this journal in my room. Hahaha. I've been saving this beautiful paper pack for a special project. And now I've used it. That feels good. The paper collection is called I'd Rather Be Crafting - and it's from Echo Park! It's so pretty, and colorful and fun. CLICK HERE to see the entire collection (Paper, stencils, stamps, enamel dots...) I had this perfect sized binder from Simple Stories in my studio too! Yay! I started this project late at night so it was good that I didn't have to go out shopping. 

No stamping in this project. Paper, die cut letters, stickers, twine.... But no stamping! It was a fun project - no stress. I didn't use wet glue - everything is held together with lots of scor-tape. That makes for a smoother finished look. (I am inept at using the right amount of liquid glue). I hope this will inspire you to create your own journal! Maybe for crafting, but also for notes, or recipes or even a pretty scrapbook! 

 

The journal is approximately 9x8 inches. It really is the perfect size! I started by covering the front of the journal with the scissor/ruler paper. Then I added everything else. The letter dies are from Taylored Expressions and I die cut them from some woodgrain paper in my stash. I used lots of the pretty stickers to decorate everything!

 

I made this little bouquet by using the flower stickers and the cute banner. I wanted to pop them up on foam tape in a little cluster! So I die cut some circles to frame my bouquet! It came out perfect!

 

Twine, stickers and enamel dots...

 

My cute assistant was very helpful in choosing which papers to use! LOL.

 

 

 

 

 

Coming along....

 

 

 

This is the back cover!

 

 

 

 

And the inside of the front cover using the scallop edge stickers...

 

 

 

 

That's it for today! Do you like making paper projects like this? I really enjoy being able to customize things for myself and as gifts. It's so special to have a one of a kind item to use! Best wishes for a happy and blessed weekend! See you soon! XOXO

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My Favorite Valentine - with Waffle Flower Stamps!

Hey hey hey! How are you? I'm busy again this week, which is excellent! And I have lots to share with you! I seriously crafted all weekend. It was great! I had no deadlines and no pressure so I just went around the studio and made cards with whatever I wanted. YAY for that! LOL. I made a cool journal and three cards. After I make my cards I always lay them out on the kitchen table for my hubs to look at them. He is very supportive and loves to look at the details. He is a good person to help with ideas too! After I laid them out on the table I noticed one main thing - all three cards had bright, vivid colors and LOTS of white space! Hmmmmm. Maybe I'm feeling like being light and airy like Spring cleaning?? LOL. Definitely moving on from the dark moody colors of Christmas and winter. I can't wait to share them all. 

For today, I'm using a brand new stamp set from Waffle Flower called Favorite Valentine! EEEEEP. SO adorable. It has a little boy and girl that face each other, and then loads of accessories for them to hold in their hands. I loved it the moment I saw it. And this stamp set has matching dies. This is my first set from Waffle Flower that has their 'new' die system. ALL OF THE DIES ARE ALREADY CUT APART!!!! What??? Yes, you heard me. Woot woot! Nina is a genius. Yay. 

 

I started with a white A2 card base from Neenah Solar White 110 pound. I layered soft and subtle grey gingham (From Sunny Studio) and then one more layer of white. (See I told you - LOTS of white space!) For the top layer I die cut a stitched rectangle... I gently inked just the top of that rectangle with Broken China Distress Ink. Perfect. 

Next I stamped and die cut out all the images: the girl and boy, the banners, CUPID!, the flowers, letter and balloons... And colored everything with Copic Markers. I added accents with a white gel pen and also added a bit of Diamond Stickles.

 

 

 

I used a couple of different stamp sets on this card. The banner is from one set and the xoxo is from another set. Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post. For the sentiment I used white embossing powder on deep black paper. I always love that look. It's so crisp.

 

I added a few white enamel dots on the card. These are new enamel dots from Waffle Flower! YES! An entire package of white and clear enamel dots! With lots of small ones! Again, Nina is a genius. You need these. (I bought four packs).... 

All of the elements are affixed to the card using foam tape for dimension and pop.

 

 

 

 

I'm definitely in the mood for Valentine crafting! We have a month to get ready. Everything is so cheerful and happy with pink and hearts.... I love it all. Are you Valentine crafting yet? What are you working on?? Have a blessed and beautiful day! XOXO

P.S. Side note.... I am NOT going to Creativation (CHA) this year. It starts on Friday and I have severe FOMO right now. I am going to miss all my creative friends and I'm going to miss reporting back and telling you guys the scoop. Mostly I'm going to miss the hugs and laughter!!! It just didn't work out for me to go this year for lots of reasons. I can't wait to see all the news from everyone else though. Just wanted to tell you guys, because I know some of you wait for me to fill you in every year.

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Crochet - Granny Square Baby Blanket!

Hey everyone! How is your weekend going?? We've had rain rain rain here the past week or so. I love that! I feel all cozy and feel like reading and drinking coffee and making stuff. Winter is in full swing in Sacramento! Finally. The rain is much needed here and I'm grateful. Last week I had so many fun activities and meet ups. Seems like everything goes on pause during the holidays and then the week after New Years we all want to get back to our normal routine. I was ready - ready for things to get back on track - food, exercise, crafting...all of it! 

I finally finished my first big crochet project! I've made a few scarves, but only one big thing so far. I'm so happy to share it with you! One of my sweet blogger friends had a baby girl recently! I am so happy for her because she wanted to be a mama so badly, and I know she is going to be amazing as a mom! Her story was one of the 'good news' stories of last year. I wanted to make her something special for the nursery. The photos I saw of her nursery had grey and white and pops of bright colors (and pom poms!). I chose some pretty yarn colors in baby soft yarn (Caron Simply Soft - supplies and colors below) and set to work! This is a Granny Square Crochet Blanket! 

I am a brand new crocheter and I made this! YEAH! The reason I'm telling you that is because I want to encourage you to do it to! If I can make this, you can! When you are a new crocheter, your best friend is YouTube. There are so many people (kind and generous people) who post instructional videos on how to do everything! I suggest you search for the pattern you want to make and then find one of the You-tubers that 'speaks' to you - that you like their voice and pace. That's what I did to make this - I watched a ton of videos and then started... I belong to two local Crochet/Knit meet ups that have experts - and they were always willing to give me help and a tip along the way. Yarn peeps are just like paper peeps - sweet and helpful (and they just hoard yarn instead of 12x12 patterned paper! LOL).

The pattern for my blanket is a Granny Square. It's about 40x40 inches finished. But, the good part is you can keep adding rows forever! Make it whatever size you want it to be! I changed yarn color after every round. After I finished the square blanket, I added a shell stitch crochet border in white to polish/finish it off nicely. Then I made some pink pom poms for all the corners using my Clover Pom Pom Maker. I attached the pom poms with a tied bow, so she can remove them if they get in the way - or for washing. 

 

These colors are just like a bowl of candy! And it's sooooo soft and squishy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cutest photo shoot photo-bomber ever! Hee hee. What a helpful guy!! 

I'm listing my supplies and colors below. I bought one skein of each color and I used an H hook size. I made the entire blanket, border and pom poms and still had yarn left over. I would say I used about 75% of each skein. So the yarn goes a long way. I'm still learning how to gauge how far the yarn goes and how to read the labels/weight etc.

I'm loving learning something new. I hope you've enjoyed my project too! What are you working on right now?? XOXO

SUPPLIES FOR TODAY!

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