A Blog Called Wanda

Taylored Expressions Butterfly Wishes Card Kit Launch!

Hi friends! I have exciting news today! There's a brand new, beautiful, awesome card kit launching today from Taylored Expressions! The Butterfly Wishes Card Kit is sooooo gooooood! I made two cards to share with you today, made with the kit. The kit has a large background stamp, two smaller stamp sets, a set of stencils, dies, envelopes, seals and MORE! You're going to love it! And it features one of my new fav things - stamp + stencil combos. It was really easy to get beautiful results and you can you any colors!! Woot! CLICK HERE to shop the new kit at the TE Store. Now, let's look at some cards!

This first card was inspired by the colors of the graphics for the actual kit. Pretty shades of yellow, aqua and coral... My finished card is an A2 white card base, then layered with dark aqua, then my stenciled/stamped panel...

 

To start this card, I used the large background stamp to stamp the butterfly bodies and heat emboss them in gold... SO FRESH!! I used my MISTI to get a nice clean impression. I also gold heat embossed the sentiment so it would all go nicely together.

 

There are exactly matching stamps and dies to create separate butterflies to go with the large background of butterflies - genius!! 

 

 

 

The matching stencils (There are TWO) go right on top of those embossed bodies. That way you can do a completely different color for the top and bottom of each butterfly. I chose to do them the same, but I did use two colors or ink to get the shading closer to the bodies. I also splattered gold paint on top of everything (you know me!). It's very easy to get the stencils lined up perfectly - see how nice it looks?? LOVE!

 

For my sentiment element, I heat embossed the words in gold onto a stitched circle. Then I die cut a slightly larger stitched circle out of vellum. I stamped the butterfly trails in black and then mounted my two matching butterflies.

 

Here's a side view so you can see that SHIMMMMEERRRRR! :-)

 

This second card is also an A2 white card base. I wanted this set of butterflies to look like monarchs so I used shades of black, yellow, gold and orange. I also used the tiny accent stamps to add black over the stenciled parts! 

 

I cut a stitched square out of another white panel to form a window over the butterfly stamped panel! I heat embossed the bodies in black embossing powder. 

 

I stamped that pretty sentiment onto the top panel in deep black ink. I added a few gems from my stash to pick up the warm colors.

 

 

 

Here is the full contents of the kit, including that nice storage back with the beautiful graphic on the front!

 

Thanks for dropping in today to see what's new! I am very certain that you will love this kit as much as I already do! CLICK HERE to shop the kit and the TE Store. Have a great day! I'll be back on Friday with something funnnnnn! XOXO

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

Jane's Doodles Blog Hop - Life is a journey - enjoy the ride!

Hi guys! Happy Friday! I have two posts today - woot! Must be some fun crafty things happening if I have two posts in one day! Yeah! Wishing you a fantastic weekend! This post is part of a blog hop celebrating the new release from Jane's Doodles! They have the absolutely cutest stamps! This company is based out of Croatia and their products are sold through their website. Good news: They have flat rate $7.00 international shipping and my order arrived in about a week! So be sure to head over and check out their stamps!!

Today I'm sharing a card I made with the ADORABLE Road Trip stamp set!! Cute images, perfect for coloring! My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with a teal striped patterned paper...and then my images.

 

I stamped all the images in crisp black ink and colored them all in with Copic Markers. The company does not make matching dies, so I cut out everything by hand (kickin it old school) and added white gel pen accents. 

 

Don't those critters look like they're having a blast in their van?! 

 

For the sentiment, I heat embossed in white onto a black banner - love how graphic that looks with all this color already on the card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for my Road Trip card today! CLICK HERE to shop the Jane's Doodles Store....   CLICK HERE to see the fun Jane's Doodles Blog for more inspiration and ideas. Jane's Doodles is having a 25% off Sale (Fri-Sun) and a Giveaway - one winner chooses stamp set of choice with the winner announced on Monday April 12!!  Thanks for stopping by today (Again!) XOXO

BLOG HOP STOPS FOR TODAY'S HOP:

Kaja

 

Marion

 

Neha

 

Claudia

 

Katerina

 

Bobbi

 

Daniel

 

Wanda

 

Laura

 

Jane's Doodles Blog

TGIF - The Greetery Inspiration Friday - Aloha Card!

ALOOOOOOOOHA!!! Hello and Welcome to TGIF for The Greetery! Around here TGIF stands for: The Greetery Inspiration Friday! Woot! This project is on The Greetery Blog today.... And I'm here on my blog today too - sharing some of my favorite things! I live in California and last week we had a high temperature of 86 degrees! Well, that got me to thinking about Summer, and pina coladas,  so I created a Summer card to share with you! Never too early to plan ahead for the season, and work with some of my favorite themes... I am always inspired by vintage postcards, and I absolutely love vintage Hawaiiana too. Well, combine those two things with lots of wonderful stamps and dies from The Greetery and you have today's card! A tropical postcard card! Aloha friends! 

My finished card is an A2 card base made from Woodgrain cardstock (Supplies at the bottom of my post... All the other paper used in this project was water color paper. And I colored with Distress Inks and a Water Brush!

 

I started by die cutting several of the small stamps dies from the Pretty Postmarks Dies, one of the larger stamp pieces and the circular postmark piece. I used watercolor paper for all the pieces of this card except the card base. I also die cut several palm dies from watercolor paper. Once I had my elements all die cut, I had fun water coloring with Distress inks and the awesome Destination stamp sets.

 

I chose the elements that made me think of summer: Palm Trees, flowers, and that cute woody wagon with the surfboard. I stamped with Distress Inks and then used a water brush to 'paint' over the stamped images to look like water coloring. I also splattered everything with brown ink to look vintage. I edged all the pieces with light brown ink and a sponge dauber. For the base layer, I die cut the large Postal Die from watercolor paper and brushed on some blue ink mixed with a lot of water.  

 

 

 

For the palm leaves I also used Distress inks and a water brush. A few shades of greens... AHHHH. So fresh and pretty!  Such an easy technique that gives great results! Everything is attached to the card using foam squares for added dimension. For the sentiment, I used the Pretext Dies and stamps from the Lemon Blossom stamp set to write out 'happy summer' on two different tabs. 

To finish off today, I will wish you Aloha! I hope I've inspired you to look at your stamps in a new way and try something different. Thank you for spending some time with me here on my blog. This project is featured on the The Greetery Blog today too - please stop by over there and leave some love!  Wishing you a beautiful weekend full of happiness and creativity! Take care friends.

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

Doodlebug Fairy Garden Birdhouse Project!

Hellloooooo friends and fellow crafty mamas! How are you doing this week? Did you have a nice Easter? Our Easter was amazing! Mostly because we were able to attend all the church services and get out in the fresh air and bask in the beauty that is this time of year. I'm so grateful! Now, it's April already and this year is going to fly on by I think! Today is my design team day to post on the Doodlebug Blog and of course share my project here too! CLICK HERE to head over to the Doodlebug Blog and leave some love! 

I'm doing my first project with the brand new Fairy Garden Collection. OMG I squeeeeeeed when I opened the box! It's adorable and fun and beautiful of course.... Little fairies, mushrooms, bugs, and tons of bright paper!!! I had purchased this cool wood plain birdhouse at Hobby Lobby a while back just knowing the right idea would come to me...and here it is! I decided to decorate the birdhouse using papers, stickers, die cuts and more from Doodlebug. I just love how it came out! It's on display in our family room. I hope you'll try this project - it was so much fun.

Here is the front of the birdhouse...

 

And this is the back of the birdhouse....

 

And the top down view!

 

This is what the plain birdhouse looked like. I bought Mod Podge Thinking I would cover the papers... But I only ended up using it as the glue to attach the paper. I liked the way the paper was without covering it. So you can use liquid glue, tape or Mod Podge! Whatever you have on hand.

 

Our new Target has a craft area that has these cool pots of acrylic paints. I found the perfect shade of blue and painted the parts of the birdhouse that would show. I used four or five coats of paint for a nice thick finish. It dries really fast. You can use any type of acrylic paint.

 

This was the most time consuming part of the project - the roof! I wanted cute shingles.... So I die cut ten scallop strips for each side and layered them onto the roof line! Came out exactly how I was hoping! I first cut a piece of 12 x 12 paper in half. Then I cut one inch strips. So each piece was 1" x 6". The I used the scallop die cut to cut the strips. 

Parts of my process.... To make the shabby chic flowers I used the Doodlebug Flower Dies. They come already cut! I sprayed them with water and crumpled them in my hands. I set them aside to dry. After they were dry, I glued them together using liquid glue and then splattered them with white paint. I added Glitter Sprinkles for the centers.

 

 

 

The little fence is PERFECT for the front of the birdhouse. It's from TE and you can find it HERE. I layered three dies together to make the fence thick and so I could glue it down. I added the welcome sign and then put on some bugs and birds and mushrooms!! The 'hello sunshine' is a word sticker from the 12 x 12 sticker sheet.

 

For the back of the birdhouse I added a big round sticker over the floral paper. Then I created a sweet banner to go across the back  -  held up by two sweet butterflies.

 

I hot glued the flowers to the top and corner of the birdhouse and added the leaves in.

 

I die cut a circle into a larger scallop circle die to make the green part for the front. I added a tweet sweet little birdie too.

 

 

Thank you for stopping by today to see my latest Doodlebug project. I am having the best time designing for Doodlebug. I hope my love and enthusiasm shines through. Truly one of my favorite companies for twenty years. I feel so blessed to work with them! My next project will be in two weeks! Hmmmmm. What should I make? Any ideas? Drop me a note in the comments! XOXO

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

Happy Easter 2021 - From The Guess Family!

Best wishes to you this Easter. May your life be blessed with joy and prosperity.... The risen Christ is celebrated in every opened flower, in every beam of nourishing sunlight, in every humble patch of green beneath our feet. Easter blessings from our home to yours! He is Risen! Here's a pretty photo from our front yard - that reminds me of the bounty given us by our Savior! 

Easter Stitching - and Good Friday!

Hello beautiful friends! It's Good Friday and it's a very special day. Sending you good wishes on this blessed and holy day today. I am very happy that my husband and I will be going to church tonight. I missed it so much last year. It never really felt like Easter since we couldn't do any activities. I'm so grateful that things are starting to return to normal and we can worship. I'm wishing you and your family a beautiful Easter weekend.

I thought I would share my Easter cross stitch project with you today and a bit of home decor.... I have the stitching piece on our coffee table in the living room along with some other Easter pretties.  I finished this piece on Tuesday and ran out to Michael's and found a frame and some ribbon. It was a quick and easy stitch and I love the pretty images and of course the message. 

 

The pattern is called Spring Doxology by Rabbit Valley Studio on Etsy. It was a downloaded pattern that I printed at home. I used 14 count Aida and close to the called for threads. I used what I had on hand! THIS IS WHERE I buy my stitching supplies - good service and fast shipping! 

 

How cute is that bun bun?? And that teeny beeeee! (You already know how I feel about bees!)

 

I hand assembled a bow with pretty gingham ribbon and added a button charm from my stash - I used my hot glue gun to attach everything. The frame is from Michael's.

 

Here's an in-progress photo I took while I was working on it...

That's it for today! Have a wonderful weekend everyone! XOXO

Celebrating A Blog Named Hero's Anniversary - Hey Honey!

Hi everyone! I am buzzzzzing with excitement to finally share this beeeeeee card with you today! I made this card with supplies from Hero Arts for a big giant two day extravaganza Instagram Hop! But of course, you know I had to post here too! The Instagram Hop is for A Blog Named Hero - they are celebrating NINE years! And they invited past design team members to join in the fun and celebration of their anniversary. Some of you have been following along with me since way back in 2013 when I joined the ABNH team. I went back and found that very first post I did for them. CLICK HERE to see that first post! I love looking back to see how my stamping/photography has changed over the years.  Some of the people on that team with me have been my crafting friends ever since those days and I love that. You know that Hero Arts has a soft spot in my heart as it was the first company I bought stamps from WAY back (in the way back time machine) in 1994 when I started stamping!! Today I'm featuring some things from the new catalog and let's get a look! CLICK HERE to head over to Instagram to see all the projects in the hop!

My finished card is a buttery golden honey A2 card base. Layered with some brown polka dots and then some yummy gingham... 

 

I started by die cutting the honey post, 'lid', and twine and the two flowers. I added color to the honey pot with Copic Markers, Wild Honey Distress Ink and white paint splashes. I colored the flowers with Copic Markers and added Diamond Stickles glitter glue to make them shimmery...

 

I die cut the large hexagon shape and stamped the beautiful Abstract Honeycomb Background Stamp onto it with yellow ink.

 

I love that big 'honey' word die! I stamped the word 'hey' onto a small banner so my card would say hey honey! The honey die cut is glued to the card with clear glue and using tweezers to place it in just the right spot.

 

I stamped and colored the bee and added Diamond Stickles to his wings. Then I stamped the trail onto the hexagon. 

 

Here's a close up of that pretty die cut with the honey pot and top piece. I'm obsessed. (all the supplies are listed at the bottom of my post)

 

 

 

This photo shows how everything is layered onto the card (lots of foam tape as you probably guessed!)

 

Thanks for buzzing by, my little honey pots! It's always good to see you! Here's wishing you a blessed and happy and lovely Easter weekend! I am soooo thankful that church is open and we can attend Good Friday and Easter Services this year! I was so sad last year to miss Easter time. Many blessings to you and your family for a good holiday!

CLICK HERE to head over and see the Instagram Hop!

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

Pinkfresh Studio March 2021 New Release - Folk Garden Card!

Hi everyone! It's time for another beautiful new release from Pinkfresh Studio! And, we're celebrating with a giant blog hop today! Yippeee! Happy Monday indeed! Hope you had an awesome weekend. This new release is just what you would think - GORGEOUS florals!!! I am still loving the stamp/die/stencil combo of products that make it so simple to get amazing results. Today's card of mine features the Folk Garden suite of products, in a fresh spring color palette. All the prizes, discounts, and links are at the bottom of my post - so be sure to read through to the end. 

My finished card is an A2 white card base - then layers of soft blue, vellum, and more crisp white. I love building layers to frame pretty flowers....

 

The flowers are all ONE big stamp!! I stamped the stamp in black ink with my MISTI. Then I used Pinkfresh Inks in blues and mint greens and the matching stencils and stenciled the color onto the flowers. The die cut cuts ALL the flowers at once! Then you can leave them as the are on the stamp, or move them around like I did and create floral sprays anywhere on your card. I stamped and die cut the sentiment in matching blue inks.

 

 

 

Here's a close up of the flowers. I ended up stamping, coloring and die cutting a second set of flowers. I trimmed the colored part of the buds and layered a second one on top for more dimension.

 

I die cut the pretty Artistic Bows Die from matching blue paper to affix to the floral spray.

 

 

 

Some pretty white shimmery enamel dots help to finish off the card!

 

I stacked two sentiments for the 'wish big' part so it would have more depth to it.

 

Close up of my paper layers....

 

This is a photo I took a few weeks ago near our house. It was the color inspiration for this card! Such a bright and happy Spring palette of green, blue and white. SO FRESH!! 

PRIZE INFORMATION:   Pinkfresh Studio GENEROUSLY will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel!! They will also be giving away a total of TEN $25  gift cards along the hop. As with all our Pinkfresh blog hops - the winners will be picked from the comments on all the blogs! Pinkfresh will pull the winners & post them on April 5 , 2021 on their GIVEAWAY PAGE. You must check that page & claim your prize within 2 weeks. GOOD LUCK!! 

Thank you so very much for stopping by on my part of this awesome blog hop! Be sure to follow all the links on the Pinkfresh Studio Blog to see all the inspiration we have to share with you! If you're new here - welcome! Hope to see you again! XO

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

 

Hippity Hoppity Easter Cards!

Hi everyone! It's Doodlebug Wednesday here on my blog! I'm also up over on the Doodlebug Blog today with this project! I am LOVING my time on the DB design team! I just got my new products for next month - cannot wait to share with you! In case you've noticed a pattern...you're right! Every two weeks is my turn to post for Doodlebug. Yay! Today I'm doing another set of projects with the Hippity Hoppity Collection for Spring and Easter. Today I've used the stamps and dies to create three Easter Cards. Full of fun and cute critters. I was so happy a few years ago when Doodlebug started making stamps and dies to coordinate with their paper collections. 

For my three cards, I used basically the same card layout, and changed it up with papers and die cut shapes. Each card is an A2 sized white card base. I used the 6x6 paper pads because the scale is perfect for cards. 

 

How freakin adorable is that carrot car?!!! I think I want a carrot car!!! That little bun bun is whizzing down the street getting some fresh air in his ears! LOL. I stamped and die cut the car, the tree, the sun, fence and foliage and colored everything with Copic Markers. I used bright happy colors to match the papers. The card layout is a good one to save for any occasion or any theme. Two coordinating papers and then two white focal shapes, then the images. I used twine and mini jewels as my embellishments on all the cards. (And you NEED petite gingham in your life, trust me)...

 

Everything was attached to the card with foam tape for dimension and pop! I stamped the sentiments in black ink on all three cards too.

 

Next up is a flying bunny, getting ready to jump head first into a pile of jelly beans! I colored the jelly beans to match that perfect plaid paper. How've you bean?!! So fun.

 

 

 

And my third card with some traditional Easter images - a lamb, bunny and basket! I used Copic Colors to match that adorable bunny paper - soft pinks and pastels... And that bow?! CUTE!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for hopping on by today to see my Doodlebug Easter cards! I think that's it for Easter cards, but you never know! LOL. I've made a ton of Easter cards this year. So many fun new stamp sets out there. Please pop by the Doodlebug Blog for more inspiration and ideas. I'll use the new collection in two weeks and I have a fun project in mind already. Can't wait to see if/how it turns out! 

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

 

Crafters Gonna Craft!

Hi crafty pals! Hope you're enjoying a nice weekend! We are getting out and about a bit more here in Sacramento. Friday we went to the gym for the first time in a year!!! It was so great to be back somewhere familiar and happy. I love our gym and it just feels like we could all use a little activity and positivity. So grateful that we are able to go some places. Improving my mood on the daily! I am sending big Spring hugs your way today along with a fun crafty card. One of my favorite themes for crafting is....CRAFTING! I love stamps of art supplies and cute crafty sayings - don't you? Today's card features two awesome crafty stamp sets from Taylored Expressions. And, some pencil coloring on kraft, which I haven't done in a while. 

My finished card is an A2 kraft card base. The crafty background covers the entire card base so just the one layer...then my focal circles...

 

How cute is that saying??? I love it - the font, the sentiment, all of it.

 

 

 

I haven't done pencils on kraft in a while and I had some free time in the afternoon the other day and I felt like coloring!! I did 'no line' coloring by stamping the background image in clear ink onto the kraft paper. The clear ink will blend in with the pencils later...

 

Here's that cool background stamp! I LOVE it.

 

My desk...art supplies make me so happy and content.

 

 

 

Here is the entire background image colored in with the pencils!!

 

For the focal circles I used the pencil stamp and stamped it along the bottom in some of the matching colors. I popped it up off the card with foam tape. 

Thank you for stopping by today and sharing part of your day with me! Sending crafty hugs and hoping that you get some time to create today. XOXO

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