A Blog Called Wanda

Longing for a cool breeze….

This weekend the DH and I went in search of a cool breeze and a respite from the heat here in Sac-town. It was going to be 108 degrees at our house on Saturday – so in order to escape, we got in the car, got a Starbucks, and headed west! When we pulled out of the driveway just before 7am it was already 78 degrees here. Oy. We had no plan, nothing to do, no time schedule….just one goal…beat the heat!

At first we headed to Berkeley…still hot there…next on to San Francisco…still hot there too…so we kept on driving west and south. We stopped in Pacifica to visit with one of my dearest friends for a little while and then went on to our end destination – Half Moon Bay! Where, as the afternoon went on, it reached a lovely 55 degrees! Goal achieved! I love the smell and feel of the ocean and the fog. (As a follow up note, when we got home around midnight it was STILL 90 degrees…blah!)

I used to live in Half Moon Bay right after I graduated from college and I love that little town. It has a lot of memories for me. They had built a Ritz Carlton Hotel right on the ocean's edge a few years back and I really wanted to see it. So we pulled in there and walked the grounds for a while. Oh My! That is how the other half (not our half) lives! It was gorgeous and the setting was magnificent! I thought I would share some of my photos with you from Saturday – maybe you need a little cool off too? Hope you enjoy them!

This first picture is looking south on Highway 1 right before Pacifica

This is part of the golf course and grounds that are part of the Ritz Carlton. I think this might be my favorite shot from the day. Those crashing waves never get old.

If you look closely in this photo you can see a flock of pelicans (isn't that a band? LOL)… They kind of freaked me out. They came swooping down right over us! I'd never even seen a pelican fly before! They're huge too.

Some of the pretty flowers on the grounds.

Some native California iceplant baking in the sun…

The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay…so majestic up on the bluff like that.

This was so random…a bagpiper! I'm not sure if he was getting ready for a wedding or if he's there every day??? What the heck? The music was so haunting and beautiful though. That was neat!

Nope, that's not Tiger Woods! He was down the road about 20 miles at the Olympic Club that day! Hahaha. The golf course is amazing here.

And so the sun sets on our beautiful day…

Thanks for looking! Sometimes it's nice to post some photos instead of a card! Have a wonderful day everyone!

June 19, 2012
A Special sweet birthday treat for a special gal!

Hi friends!! How was your weekend? It was H-O-T here in Sactown this weekend. Yowza! We escaped to the ocean on Saturday to get away from it and I'll have some nice, cool oceany pictures to share tomorrow or Wednesday. Did you do anything fun? Dad's Day, grads, weddings? Summer is fully upon us now and time for all kinds of happy celebrations! – Birthdays too!

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a special gal – Taylor! Last week was Taylor's birthday and so I just HAD to make her a cuppie birthday card, right? Of course! Her fav color is pink, and so you know how this turned out! A sweet pink card confection for a sweet lady!

I added some pops of black to ground all that pink. It doesn't take much and it frames the image nicely. Some tiny black brads and some gingham ribbon…

I kept my Copic coloring very simple – just pinks, light browns and light red. I used my Nestabilities for the frame cut out. The stamp set is called Sweet Party!

Can you see the little pops of fine glitter on the card? YUM! Makes it extra sweet!

So, Taylor, may you be surrounded by sweetness on your birthday….and every day! This one's for you, with love.

Thanks for stopping by the bloggy blog today! Have a super-fun-fantastic week!

June 18, 2012
I’m berry happy it’s Friday!

Hello there blog friends! Happy Friday from me to you! I'm berry happy it's Friday and berry happy to share this post with you today! Have you had enough of my berry silly humor yet? Okay, I'll stop. But I was cracking myself up right there! LOL. Summer means strawberries and also cute crafty and tasty treats made with strawberries! I have both a card and a treat to share with you today.

I made a card using some awesome Papertrey Ink products, and then I'm also sharing my way of making chocolate covered strawberries – I made some this week for a co-worker's birthday. I hope you have a super fun weekend of Summer stuff planned. Whatever you do, make it memorable!

Here's my card, using Papertrey Ink's Strawberry Patch stamp set and the ultra favorite Quatrefoil Die. All the paper is cream cardstock, not white, for an antique feeling.

I went through ALL my flower doo dads and couldn't find one I liked for this project, so I made my own out of some gingham paper and a punch. I scrunched it up to make it vintage and then added a brad and a pearl. The brad was colored with my Copics to match exactly to my other coloring. The sentiment is also PTI.

Here is a close up of my layers – cream + cream + cream = yummo! I like how this looks and I'll probably do this again.

Here is my Copic palette:

Now for the snack section of our blog post today! Yay! I wanted to make my friend KS some strawberries for her birthday on Wednesday. Hadn't made them in a while and it just sounded so good. Strawberries are in season and there were some beauties at the store…Here they are all washed and ready to go.

Tip #1 – make sure the berries are 100% dry before dipping them in chocolate! If there is any moisture, the chocolate won't stick and the chocolate may seize on you.

Here they are after their first dip into some semi-sweet melted chocolate. Tip #2 – use good chocolate and add a smidge of Crisco to the melting chocolate – it makes them shiny!

And here they are after a little white chocolate drizzle… Tip #3 – let them cool in the fridge completely before adding another layer or a drizzle. Otherwise it all oozes together.

Yup, they were just as delicious as they look!!! You know I had to eat the ugly ones…. Only the best survived the process! Hee hee. (Kinda like eating the rough edges off the rice krispies treats – yeah, you know what I'm sayin')

To package them up for work, I used my trusty cupcake carrier. I put the berries into some pretty, small size cupcake liners so people could pick them up and have some way to hold them….

Thanks berry much for coming by today – you're berry sweet to do so! Okay, I'm done now. Have a great weekend!

June 15, 2012
Happy Birdie Birthday! More KI Kit Goodness!

Hellloooooooo! What's Up? How is your week going? Thanks for stopping in and hope it's all good in your corner of the world today! Today's post features some more love from the Taylored Expressions June KI Kit! You saw this on my blog on Sunday and I have one more happy project to share from this great kit. It's (sort of) clean and simple…I really wanted to keep it sweet with those little birdies and that adorable cloud paper. Hope you like it

I stamped and cut out those adorable birdies and colored them with my Copic Markers. I stamped them again and cut the wings out and popped them on some foam tape to give them some more depth. I ADORE the sentiments and the word bubbles that come with the exclusive stamp set that matches the paper. I know I'll be using them a lot – probably with Mr. Cuppie!

Here's a side view so you can see my layers.

Here are photos of the KI Kit, and what's included, and also the EXCLUSIVE stamp set that matches! Yay!

Here are all the deets on the KI Kit - The Key Ingredients monthly subscription helps you plan your crafty pursuits AND you enjoy a 10% discount on everything the TE Store has to offer! Shipping is included in the price of the monthly subscription and if you're within the U.S. then shipping on additional items is FREE! Another bonus is that all of the kit supplies are packaged together in an 8.5" x 11" plastic storage case! It's a great organizational tool to keep all of your coordinating supplies together and then once you're finished with the kit ingredients the cases can be used to organize lots of crafty items! The plastic storage case (a $3.25 value) is passed on to our subscribers absolutely FREE!

For some more inspiration using this amazing June Key Ingredients Kit, check out my friends here: Sankari and Melissa! For all the details on this fabulous value, and how you can get the exclusive (and adorable) Delightful Day stamp set, check out The Key Ingredients Blog!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!

June 14, 2012
New stuff from Poppystamps!!

Hi everyone! Did you have a nice weekend? I sure hope you did! Mine was a very productive weekend and fun too. I like it when I get a lot done around the house and still have time for some fun. Saturday we worked out in the front yard planting and pruning and fertilizing (and getting a sunburn). Then we made a run to Home Depot and out for lunch together. Sunday I re-did part of my craft studio with some Elfa shelving that a friend gave me when she moved (YAY Elfa), and then I stamped the rest of the day… Lastly I made one of my favorite dinners – taco salad! Whew, I'm tired just typing all that! LOL. It was great to get some things done. Back to work so I can rest today!

Many of you know that I am the blog mistress for Poppystamps. Well….brand new dies are out from both Poppystamps and Memory Box, and lemme tell ya, they are awesome! I have two cards to share today made with the new PS dies. Hope you like 'em.

First up is a card using "Clever Owl" and a new leaf die, along with some Memory Box papers and sentiment. Isn't he a hoooooooot?!

Here's a close up of the little owl. I mounted him onto watercolor paper and distressed the edges a bit. I know I will use this die a million times…

I had to post a picture of the die and the little pieces. Isn't this cool? Only Dave could invent this! If I looked at that die, I would have no idea what it made! SO creative. I adore this.

The second card has more of a vintage vibe to it. The big bird die is called "Serene Bird" and could be used for so many things. I combined it with another new PS die and Memory Box papers from the Valise collection.

I distressed my edges and stamped the sentiment in brown so it looked like part of the paper. My layering piece is chocolate brown, but it came out really dark in the photo.

Here's a photo of Buddy helping with the Elfa project….

Thank you for coming by to see what I'm up to! I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you get to be creative and have some fun! XOXO

June 11, 2012
Key Ingredients Blog Hop – A Delightful Deal!
TE June 2012 KI Release Blog Hop!

*   Key Ingredients Information and Inspiration! June 10-15, learn all about this fantastic club and see samples from the Key Ingredients Design Team and the Baker's Dozen! Click here for all the info and start at Taylor's blog each day for all the inspiration!

*   June Key Ingredients – featuring Echo Park Hello Summer 6×6 papers begins shipping on June 15th! Click here to Enroll now!

*   Exclusive Delightful Day Stamp Set! Find out how you can get your crafty hands on this adorable new set for 50% off – only for a limited time! (see photos below!) This is the second exclusive KI stamp set from Taylor…remember Vintage Dreamer? Oh Yeah!

Today's blog hop teams up the Baker's Dozen and the Key Ingredients team to bring you fun projects made out of the Key Ingredients June Kit and the Delightful Day stamp set! Here are my projects to share today! First up is a fun/joy fold card made with the super cheery papers in the kit.

Here is a close up of the Petal Pop Ups Dies….they worked so nicely with the buttons and blings from the KI Kit to make pretty flowers…

Here is my card after the ribbon is removed and it's half open so you can see the concept of the card. You can now also see the entire sentiment.

This truly is the cheeriest set….look at these buttons and blings – all included!

Here are photos of the kit, the stamps and the dies….

After I made my first card, I couldn't help myself and had to make more! I decided to make a clean and simple designed card really featuring the stamps and stamping…So that's what this card is all about!

The quality and value of the Key Ingredients is awesome – you get enough products to make 16 or more cards each month. The kits are fun and easy to use if you're in a hurry and need everything ready to go. Also, you get cool exclusives! If you enroll in the Key Ingredients Subscription program you can take advantage of the opportunity to purchase Delightful Day at 50% off!

I hope you've had fun here on this gorgeous Summer Sunday! Please take your time and click around to see what the rest of our crew has cooked up for you! Thanks for coming by! Have a great week! XOXO

Link List for today:
June 10, 2012
Taylored Expressions June 2012 Release Day!
TE RELEASE DAY!
- All of the new products are now available for purchase! Check out the Fresh Out of the Oven Department to see everything in one place!
- More projects from the Baker's Dozen to inspire you. Just follow the link list below.
- Be sure to check the TE Current Specials page to find out how you can get FREE 4th of July Stamps with your purchase.
Today is our release day and also day 2 of Hydrangea projects! YAY! Today's card features a set from the Whimsical Wishes Collection by Nancy McKinney and it's called Hydrangea Bouquet – It is a Petite set of 6…and it is the 3rd in our little Bouquet series. Coordinates with Forever in Bloom. Customers are loving these bouquets and so am I! They are so versatile and make such pretty cards so easily! Also coordinates with the Mini Tags Taylored Dies.

Here is my card project for today… It's called a Recessed Window Card! There is more information below about how you can make one yourself! It's a nice card/gift for someone to put on their desk or table. I used a piece of striped paper from the MME Rosy 6×6 paper pack on the front and the popular Medium Scallop TE Die too!

Here is a close up of those yummy scallops and my coloring….

Once again, Taylor knocks it out of the park with the perfect sentiments…. This is a good side view so you can see the recessed window. My finished card is 5 1/4 inch square.

Another side view of the window so you can see exactly what it looks like…

Here is the LINK TO THE FULL TUTORIAL FROM SCS so you can go step by step on this one. I love it! It just takes a little time and some patience. It wasn't that hard, but you get a great result!

This is how you make your window….

What an awesome image to color! Here are my color choices for the flowers….

When I went to put on my adhesive I turned my project over and this is what it looked like! I thought it was kind of neat, so I snapped a photo of it too!

Here's the Medium Scallop Die….

Thank you, everyone, for another fabulous release week! I hope you've had fun and found some inspiration this week, and I hope you found some new stamps you want to ink up! Have a wonderful day!

One last link list for the week:
Charmaine Ikach
Jen Shults
Jodi Collins
Karen Giron
Melissa Sauls
Melody Rupple
Michele Boyer – Guest Designer
Nancy McKinney – Illustrator
Regina Mangum
Sankari Wegman
Stephanie Kraft
Taylor VanBruggen
Wanda Guess

June 7, 2012

JUNE RELEASE AT A GLANCE:

We have sneak peeks to share Monday through Wednesday. All of the new products will be available for purchase on Thursday, June 7th at 8 am PST. You'll find it all in the Fresh out of the Oven Department at the Taylored Expressions Store.
Join us as a fan on Facebook for an early peek at the stamp sets, as well as a SPECIAL Facebook
GIVEAWAY, on Wednesday night beginning at approximately 6 pm PST.

We are introducing and featuring lots of patriotic stamps and supplies for all of your 4th of July projects! Today's cards are all about the red, white and blue! I love the two stamp sets that I'm featuring so much. The Project Pantry for June is amazing!! I've used the 4th of July Project Pantry papers and ribbons for my cards today.

From the *te* by Taylor VanBruggen collection, we have some 4th of July Word A la cartes – There is a new one this year and it joins our ever-growing series of Word A la Carte stamps which are perfect for cards, invitations, scrapbook pages, party decor and so much more. We are also bringing back 3 previously released A la Carte stamps: Happy 4th, Celebrate Freedom, and God Bless America. These stamps will be available for purchase and will also be part of the Release promo – choose one free for every $50 spent (before shipping and tax.) Details will be on the Specials Page.

I used the Project Pantry papers for this one…and that red is so rich and beautiful! I borrowed the little stars stamp from the Yankee Doodle Homestead stamp set (featured below) and stamped it all around in Versamark ink to make my own background paper!

I colored the stamp using the new Distress Markers from Tim Holtz! Taylor has them ALL in the store now! These are fantastic…and these two colors are the perfect Americana colors, don't you think?

Here is the Border Die featured above in kraft paper…

The next set I'm featuring today is called Yankee Doodle Homestead! It's from the Apple Doodle Ink by Doug Applegate Collection. This is Doug's Adorable Abodes #6 -concepted by Jami Sibley – Celebrate our country's freedom in style! Who wouldn't want to come to a party here? This set is for everyone who loves Americana! It's perfect for July calendar pages too!

It was super fun to create this little 4th of July scene to share with you! Again, all the papers and the ribbon are from the 4th of July Project Pantry for this month!

Here are my Copic choices for this project….

After I colored my home, I mounted it on some foam tape. I stamped some fireworks in gold on that beautiful dark blue paper…

I love the font on the sentiments for this set – seems sort of Colonial or something to me – it's great! It's the same font on the card at the top of this post so it all works really well together. Love that about Taylored Expressions!

There are more stamp sets for today too! Be sure to check out everyone else's projects (link list below). These sets would also be great for our "Cards for the Troops" projects, dontcha think?

The 4th of July Project Pantry 411:

Remember that our TE Sets come on a full color panel and store perfectly in our Mini Binder Boxes (4 sets to a box). Full size set panels are 5.75" x 8.5" and jam packed with images. Mini set panels are 4.75" square (CD size). Petite panels are 3" x 5" for $7.95. (6 Petite sets fit into a Petite Storage case). We offer more rubber images in a set than most companies at a comparable price, and TE stamps are RUBBER and are of amazing quality – not clear stamps!