Hi there my friends! Can you believe it's time for another challenge from A Blog Named Hero!? I can't! This time around the challenge is Vellum. I can't wait to see what all the other design team members have to share today and also what YOU are going to make and enter! I love vellum and always have. It is so classy and cool. I had a good time coming up with this card to share with you today. All the supplies, and everyone else's cards are over at the ABNH BLOG! This is also where you should go to enter your creation!

I sat down at my desk and tried to think of something new and fresh to do with vellum. I almost always use it to put a sentiment on a card, or to make flowers. Hmmmmm. I went through my stash of Hero Arts stamps and came up with a map! Here is my card!

Here is a close up of my vellum map, and my sentiment! All stamps are from Hero Arts of course! The anchor die is from Simon Says Stamp. LOVE.

I stamped my map in black Memento Ink onto a sheet of vellum. Then, I took my Copic markers and colored the BACK of the vellum in different shades of blues and greens…

I sandwiched my vellum panel in between a sheet of cream cardstock and my cut-out layer to add some dimension to it. I added some travel stamps and an anchor. Oh, and don't forget the hot air balloons too!

It's always so much fun to share with you! Have a fabulous, crafty day! Thanks for checking in. Click here to go over to A Blog Named Hero for my supply links and to enter the challenge.   

Hi everyone! Ahhhhhh Summer Sundays…. Don't you love it? Kind of lazy and quiet and peaceful…. I can feel the light changing in the mornings and it's just a bit colder when I wake up. Fall is on the horizon and we will all be so busy in the coming months scurrying around. I'm trying to slow down and enjoy this bit of calm. It's been a rough few weeks emotionally for me and I truly must say again how much it means to know that people are sending me good thoughts and prayers, not to mention the beautiful cards and letters. I'm so grateful and really can't put it into words how uplifted I am by the kindness of all my friends, and so many sweet people I've never even met. Restores my faith in the world and I am humbled. 

I had some time in the craft cave this weekend and I made a fun Summer-y card to share with you. Do you ever have those times when you make a card and it comes out EXACTLY like you hoped? And then you're like…man I love this card!? This is one of those cards for me!! Hope you like it too. 

I cut the die cut out of the manila tag and the turquoise paper and then put them together! YEAH! Totally doing this more. I put some funky chevron paper underneath it and it came out so cool. I made the paper daisies with two craft punches (supply links below). 

I put some 'goosebumps' blings on my bicycle tires…ya know…just cuz. Added some pretty washi and a ribbon….

This beautiful washi tape came from my AMAZING pen pal in the Netherlands!!! I barely got it out of the package before I had to use it. It matches perfectly. Thanks HS!!! XO Last week I was honored to be the Featured Stamper over at Splitcoaststampers! That was super fun! I loved seeing everyone's cards and feelin' the bloggy love! Thank you to everyone who made a card!! AWESOME. CLICK HERE to see the thread if you're a member of SCS!

Before I forget, I have to mention my FAVORITE new iPhone app! It's called Flipagram, and it turns your Instagrams into a video!!! ACK. LOOOOOOVE this! I made my first one last night, and then realized it was my 500th post to Instagram! Woo hoooo! Please follow me over there (stampcatwg) so I can see your pix too! I hope that you are all having a great weekend and I wish you a good week ahead! Take care and as always, thanks for spending a little time here with me! XO

Yowza! Day Three of Sneak Peeks is here! Are you enjoying seeing all the new items from Taylored Expressions? Tomorrow is the big day, when all the stamps and dies will be available for purchase! I hope you've found some things that you MUST have! Today I'm showcasing two more new stamp sets. 

This first card I'm sharing is made with the "Chalkboard Elements" stamp set and the "Blackboard" die. Wait until you see this stamp set! There are a bunch of different elements and swirls and words…and then you design your own look. It's awesome! I went a little crazy on this card… 

To get a good blackboard look, don't be too careful and perfect. Stamp in nice gooey white ink (I used Brilliance White) and then take your finger and smudge it all around. I used linen finish paper also for some more texture. 

You know me….I kept adding stuff! Love this color combo!! This card is heavy! LOL. 

My next card for today is a happy, cheery to do list! I used the new "From the Desk Of" dies along with the new "Classroom Cuties" stamp set. I adore that little clipboard! 

Definitely buy more stamps should be the first thing on the list! LOL. 

Thanks for stopping in today! Be sure to check out everyone else's blogs for more Taylored Expressions fun today. 

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Heather Jensen

Jami Sibley

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Hi friends! Welcome back to Day 2 of Sneak Peeks for Taylored Expressions August 2013 Release! So glad you're here with me. Today I'm sharing projects from the other stamp set that I concepted for this month! Woo hooo! This set is called "Workplace Wishes!" For a long time, I have been wanting a stamp set that I could use to make cards for work situations…and it's finally here! You guys know I work in an office and there are times when you need a card that maybe isn't too personal or a card from the whole gang…. Hope you like it! 

First up is a fun coffee card to give a gal pal! There are little sayings to put on the coffee cups! So much fun. I chose the flower and the I hate Mondays ones for my little scene.  I made a background of black outline mugs by masking and then cut out two and popped them on foam tape. 

Clean and Simple design…

I think this saying is pretty funny! We drink A LOT of coffee at my office! LOL. 

The next card is perfect for my office too! Papers and files everywhere! It's like the last day of school and you can throw all your papers and jump for joy! (The older version of that!) I cut out a bunch of the little papers and scattered them around my card. 

Okay, so that's day TWO only! There are still three more days of Taylored Expressions Release Week to come! Here are your links for today….

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin

Kerri Michaud

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess

Hello and welcome to Taylored Expressions Release Week for August 2013! SO glad you're here to play with me this week. There is so much good stuff this time around. Wowza. Really excited to share with you. This month there are TWO stamp sets that were my concept! How cool is that? The first one is featured today here and is called "Butterfly Parade (matching dies too)" and the other one is called "Workplace Wishes."  

Let's get started! First up is a fun and bright butterfly card I made using the new dies called "Butterfly in the Sky" and there are three dies in the set. The sentiment is from "Butterfly Parade" and the stamps match perfectly to the dies!

I thought the cool "Ride the Wave" border die made a cool swirly background for my butterflies…It's from a sheet of paper in the same collection, so it all matches beautifully. (See supply links below).

My trick for butterflies is to gently fold them in half (I use my bone folder to make a crease first) and then I put a tiny bead of clear Tombow glue on the crease to glue it to the paper. Then I use my bone folder edge to gently hold it in place until the glue sets a minute. This way they are nice and secure and don't get lost in the mail! 

So, I couldn't make just ONE butterfly card! You guys know me better than that! This one took a different direction into modern shabby-chic territory! If there was only one patterned paper that I had to use for the rest of my life (gasp) it would be this Vintage Bliss Collection. I just kept layering and adding…

I think this quatrefoil butterfly stamp is my FAV! 

Lots and lots of layers and dimension on this one…

Next up for today is the CUTEST set called "Hey Sweet-Tea!" OMG love this one! And I love these cute paper straws Taylor sent us to use! ACK. So much fun to color and play with this set. 

I very lightly colored the glass and ice with Copic BG000 to give the hint of cool glass and water. The little yellow pearls are from Doodlebug… and here's a tip… If you only have white pearls, you can color them whatever color you want by using your Copic Markers! Yeah! 

Let's Chill! 

Okay, so that was a whole lot of stuff to share…but you're not done yet! Be sure to hop around to all the other Design Team Blogs to see what they have for ya! XO

Carole Burrage

Charmaine Ikach

Heather Jensen – Guest Designer!

Jen Shults

Joan Ervin   (YAY! Welcome Joan as our newest BDDT Member!)

Kerri Michaud

Nancy McKinney

Sankari Wegman

Shannon White

Shelly Mercado

Stephanie Kraft

Tammie Edgerton

Taylor VanBruggen

Wanda Guess 

Hi everyone! Thank you so very much for all of your kind thoughts and wishes on my post from Wednesday and thank you to everyone who sent me an email. It helps to know that people care and are thinking of you. Thank you!   

I got some time in the craft room yesterday and it did my heart good to relax and get out of my head for a bit. Especially since I was making a card for a happy occasion. My hubs needed a baby card for his friend at work and I was happy to have something to do. It's been a long week. 

I think maybe I went a little over the top! (ya think?) I kept finding cute pink stuff in my craft room that I wanted to add to the mix. I started by combining some pretty papers and then stitching them to a piece of pink paper. My card is five inches square. Then I started die cutting and stampin and distressing…

Isn't Lila a pretty name!? I was glad her name isn't Stephanie, since it wouldn't fit on that heart! LOL. I added some tiny scallops in pink, and then some pearls. The sentiment stamps are from Taylored Expressions. 

 This butterfly is from Memory Box….

These papers were in my stash, but I think they are from Webster's Pages….

Thanks for stopping in to say howdy. Next week is Release Week for TE, so there will be posts all five days. I have two stamp sets that I designed this time around! Yippee! 

Ahoy Mateys! Happy Friday…. Although I am a bit sad that Nautical Week is over! I had loads of fun sharing my nautical projects with you all this week. Thanks for coming along on this ride with me! Today I have a set of classy Thank You cards to share – to say thank you to all of you for your kindness and bloggy friendship! 

Resharing one of my favorite Nautical Instagram shots from earlier this Summer…to remind us to be free and set sail….

For my cards I used a pretty stamp set from Stampin' Up (it's called By The Tide) along with a classic sentiment courtesy of Paper Source. My technique is one-layer stamping, which I hardly ever do. Good reminder to go back to the basics – because it always works. I really like how they came out.

My card bases and my layers are all a pretty, creamy vanilla cardstock. I think that just makes everything seem more fancy, don't you? I stamped the text first in Distress Linen ink…Then added all my pops of color. The sentiment was stamped in Stayzon ink to make it really crisp. 

Here's a side view/close up. I love anything that says Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket! The hubs and I got married on Cape Cod and explored the islands on our honeymoon. It was magical! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! For coming along on Nautical Week 2013!! Yay!! Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Okay, on a totally different topic! I have (partially) recovered from the BIG GIANT FUN that was Wednesday night's Bruno Mars concert! Here are a few pics I snapped with my iPhone! Look how close we were!! OMG. I have been to about a billion concerts in my life…and this one is definitely in the top ten! Awesome, energetic, cool show.  

Okay, now that's really it for today! XO

Hey friends and fellow nautical lovers! Thanks for coming back for Day 4 of my Nautical extravaganza here at A Blog Called Wanda! SO happy to have you here again! Well….I am SUPER tired today for a VERY good reason! At the last minute yesterday afternoon, one of my friends at work and I decided to go to the Bruno Mars and Ellie Goulding concert last night here in Sacramento! OMG what a show! It was fabulous!! Thanks to Stub Hub (which I totally recommend) we were in the sixth row on the floor…for much less than face value on those seats. Score! You know how sometimes you just throw caution to the wind and go do something fun (on a work night no less)??? I'm so glad we went.

Okay, so on with nautical week! Now, I am a preppy girl from the 80's and I used to wear lime green pants with pink Polo shirts and penny loafers with no socks… I still have my copy of the Preppy Handbook that I bought new in 1980. And, I also still have my original Vuarnet sunglasses from that same year. You get the picture… That being said, whales are fun, cute and preppy….and nautical! SO today's post is dedicated to the whale. I have three cards today!

Yup, I went there. Lime green and hot pink whales! This little whale die is new this season from Memory Box and I kept it clean and simple. Added some scallops and a little border and this one was done!  

Next up is a banner card with a little whale on some cute patterned paper from the By the Shore collection. I used my PTI banner dies to go to town on the banners and then used some more of those awesome wood anchors from Studio Calico. This was was FUN to make. I just kept adding stuff. The sentiment is from PTI as well. The cloud die is a Simon Says Stamp die!

Here's a close up of my banners and clouds….

Hello Mr. Whale!

And, last but not least, a bright and cheery GIANT whale in lime and bright blue! This stamp is from a Kelly Purkey set and I LOVE him! I made my background from the uber cool chevron die from Papertrey Ink.

I think this card is cuter in person…. The stickles I put on his back kinda makes him look like he swam through an oil slick!! Trust me on this one. He is shiny and sparkly!

Okay sailors! That's what I have for today! Whales….and fun! Thanks for coming by again! Tomorrow is the last day of nautical week (how sad) and I hope you will be back. Leave me some comments!! Have a most fabulous day. My day will involve a LOT of coffee! It was worth it though. XOXO

Hi everybody! Welcome back to Day THREE of Nautical Week on A Blog Called Wanda! Thanks again for joining me this week and for having fun with me as I share my love of all things Nautical and crafty! LOL. Today's theme is shabby-chic-vintage-beach! I wanted to use my collage skillz to make some cards too, instead of everything being very graphic all week. I had tons o' fun making these two cards. One is feminine and one would be more masculine. I hope you enjoy them too! And, I hope you are having a fabulous week! 

First up is a card I made and finally used this amaze-balls paper collection from Authentique that I've totally been hoarding! The papers are all from that same collection…. I jazzed my card up with some pearls and ribbon and shells….oh my. 

The anchors on my card are brown wood and they are from Studio Calico. I painted them with pearl craft paint and then glued little pearls on them. I must say I really like how that came out!! The shells are from a Tim Coffey collection called Seaside Traveler, that you can get at Joann's. The 'postcards' are cut out of the patterned paper.