Wednesday Sketch Challenge Create a Cupcake

Since Wednesday was the date to draw for the fun Blog Candy, I decided to wait a day to post the Sketch Challenge card.

Wednesday was such a busy day after recovering from a day full of birthday stuff.  What a "me" day that was.  I LOVED every minute of it too!!!

My card is very simple.  The following is the materials list:

Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set

Cupcakes standard wheel

Markers (Daffodil Delight, Pirouette Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede and More Mustard blend. (I mixed the two colors together and washed them out with the Blender Pen to get the soft tan look)

Dimensionals

Love Impressions Designer Paper

Oval Punch

Card stock, Basic Black, Whisper White and a scrap piece

Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Daffodil Delight ink pad

Sponge

Black StazOn

First I cut half sheet of Basic Black card stock and folded it in half.  Then I ran a piece of Whisper White card stock through the Big Kick using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  I then trimmed it to 4-1/8" x 5-3/8" and taped it on top of the Basic Black card base. 

Next I cut a piece of the Love Impressions decorative paper to fit the #2 layer.  4-1/2" x 3-1/4".  Then I cut a piece of Basic Black card stock 4-5/8" x 3-3/8" and taped the two together.  And then I taped them on top of the Perfect Polka Dot piece.

Then I used the "Cupcake" wheel and black StazOn ink and rolled the little cupcakes on a piece of scrap Whisper White card stock.  I trimmed it to 1-1/4" x 4-1/8".  Then I cut a piece of Basic Black card stock 1-3/8" x 4-1/8" and taped the wheeled piece on top of that.  I did color it in before taping.  You can color after but I don't because I'm afraid I may make a mistake and then have to try to get the pieces separated without ruining them.  After coloring and taping the piece together I taped it in place on the card.  A little note here:  I always use black StazOn ink when I'm going to color my images in.  It doesn't smear.

And finally the cupcake.  I first took my large oval punch and punched a hole in a piece of scrap card stock.  I put a tiny piece of tape on my white card stock (cut 3" x 2-1/4") and set it on my work surface.  I set the cupcake on top and then lined up the oval over the candle area.  I removed the cupcake and sponged in the area with Daffodil Delight ink.  I stamped the cupcake out twice.  I cut one out all the way and the other I only cut out the frosting part and the candle.  I colored the top part and then set it in place using Dimensionals.  And that was it.  Pretty simple and actually it was rather quick to make too!  This was a very fun sketch to play with.  If you have time give it a try!  I will add this one to my collection.  I realized today that I have participated in 186 of these sketches!!  WOW, over 3 years of doing these.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  I have enjoyed doing them and will continue to!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Blog Candy Winner!

WOW, there were SO many great organizing ideas.  The one I saw come across a number of times is one that really hit one. It amounted to "put your stuff away when you are done."  I'm SO guilty of pushing the stuff to the side and starting a new project. And I am talking about pushing it so far to the side that it's on the edge of the table and one more little nudge and it greets the floor!! Oh and my next favorite thing to do is to move to the other worktable and fill that one!  I have lots of stuff that needs to be put way on the ledges.  I have things stuffed here and there and it's SO cluttered and messy looking in here.  I have new and probably some retired stamp sets on my ledge that were not cataloged because I didn't take the time to do it.  And perhaps it's because there is no room for them on the BIG 5 shelf book case.  I need to get some of the retired sets out of there to make room.  I know I can get rid of some of them but it just all takes time.  I need to make the time, even if it's just a little a day.  When our son moved out I started putting "stuff" in his room and especially on the bed.  It was just easier to set it there than to put it away.  After a while the piles of stuff seemd SO overwhelming that I didn't want to go in there anymore. But I had to go in there.  One of the cats is sort of confined to the room.  Mostly just at night though some mornings she doesn't get to get out right away because I need to vacuum and she's scared of it.  Plus the other cats like to go in there for sleep overs or girls night out!!! LOL  Anyway, back to that room and the point I was going to make.  I would go in that room and before I left I had to do one thing (just one) to improve the room and me leaving the room didn't count!! LOL  Even if it was just to pick up one slip of paper and deal with it.  After a while there was just this little box of a few things left and I just took it and dealt with it and now the room is neat and tidy.  Well, not today.  I've got some beading stuff on the bed but it's not going to be out away until all of the Christmas stuff is back in that closet.  I don't want to move things twice!!  SO now I need to give that a serious try in my workroom.  I have cubes and shelves and i do promise that once I get it organized and tidied up I will take pictures for you.  Maybe not any "before" ones because I'm too embarrassed at the condition of the room.  I don't know who made the mess in here (but let's just say it was Katie - testing to see if she reads this!!! LOL  My sister is coming over on Friday to help me with a little corner of the room.  Something to get me motivated, I hope.

Ok, enough rambling.  Lets see who the winner is.  I used the Random Number generator found on the right sidebar of my blog and the lucky number is #15.   Sorry about the photo.  I didn't know how to get the little number square thing off that web site so I just took a photo of it with my phone.  You can see it if you squint!!!  SO, the number belongs to Sheila and here is her comment:

Shelia said...

Maybe I will learn something from all of the comments left for you. I just commented to another blogger, that I was thinking about taking every thing out of my hubby's monster of a gun safe that is in my hobby room. When I remove all of his non essential items, I will have lots of room for my important "stuff" I could always spray paint it white. And in case of a fire, I don't have to worry about my things getting damaged. *wink*

Sheila, please email me with your snail mail address and I will get the fun package out to you soon.

Thank you all for playing and for your wonderful, insightful and fun comments.

Wanda

Blog Candy!

Today is the day for the drawing of the blog candy.  I do apologize.  I am not going to be drawing the name today.  In fact I have pre-posted this because I knew I would not be home to do anything.  I have a full and fun day of birthday stuff planned. Not planned by me which will make it fun and yet a bit scary.  Just so I don't end up at a restaurant where they come to your table singing and clapping.  UGH!!! 

For my birthday celebration I had made myself a new bracelet.  That is what you are looking at on this post.  I was SO happy to get it finished and when I tried it on it was too big.  And the bummer of it all is you can't adjust the size.  SO I will be making myself another one (one that fits) in a week or two.  I need to write up the instructions on how to make this.  The shop I teach at is going to be selling my original patterns.  How cool is that???  And I will be putting the patterns in my beading web site too!

SO please stop back tomorrow to see who the luck winner is.  Oh and just because I'm off having fun doesn't mean I didn't add anything to the package today!!! 

Thank you SO much for visiting,

Wanda

Create a Cupcake Birthday Card

I bet you thought I was going to be making yet another baby card.  Nope, got a break from making those for now!!! 

This card was made using the new "Create a Cupcake" set that will be available on January 4th! 

Now that I look at this card I am thinking I should have used the Dotted Swiss dry embossing background folder.  It's a bit blah! 

It was an easy card to make though.  The main card part is a 1/4 piece of Basic Gray card stock.  On top of that is a folded piece of Whisper White card stock. I cut the card stock in half, then I folded it.  Once it was folded I cut it to fit.  I sometimes mess it up if I cut it first.  It's just easier to cut it after folding.  It's not like you are cutting of a lot on the edges, the pieces are so small that I can't imagine doing anything with them except recycling them!

I used a piece of decorative paper from the new "Love Impressions" package.  There's LOTS of pretty papers in that pack!

Originally I had stamped the hearts but had no luck lining them up. Not even with the Stamp-a-ma-jig!  So I got out the tiny heart punch and punched them out of Regal Rose card stock. 

The cupcakes were stamped on Whisper White card stock and then punched out with the new punch!  This was a fun card to make and I like it except for that white background.  Oh well!!

Be sure to enter in the drawing for the Blog Candy.  Click here for the link.  Good luck to you!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Tag Alongs Baby Card

Oh my, yet another baby card!!! The last for a while I hope! I love this little "Tag Alongs" set. It's also got a penguin, a cupcake and a wedding cake in it. I'm tempted to cut out the "to: and from:) in each one and avoid taping the wording off. I have yet to use them with the words. But I'll probably just keep them intact, they will sell better that way when I'm done with them and ready to give them up! I have a tote full of stamp sets I need to sell, I just don't have the time to sit down and get them posted. SO the tote just continues to get full!

Ok, lets talk about my card!! You do remember that this IS really all about me? LOL

I had a lot of fun with this card. It was very easy to make but yet had a lot of "things" going on. First I used the "Lattice" die. I set it in place with Dimensionals. I wanted it to be lifted off the card stock. When it sat flat against the card stock it looked very drab but once I popped it up it took on a whole new and better look.

Then I added the buttons. Aren't these buttons adorable? They are from the new Occasions mini catalog and it is the "Sweet Buttons" embosslet. This embosslet is SO darn cute. It has 6 different buttons on it and in several sizes too. I used 3 of them on my card. I tied the centers with white floss. I was going to use the Stampin' Up! linen thread but it didn't look nice on the card. The buttons really needed white.

The bottle is from the "Tag Alongs" set. I taped over the words and the third time stamping it I remembered to remove the tape!!! Ever do that?? ("No, just you Wanda!!!") I do that more times than I care to admit! After I got a usable image I colored in the bottle part using the Bashful Blue marker. I colored in the nipple using a blend of Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink along with the blender pen.

And don't forget the "hello baby" words in the bottle. Those came from that fun "Teeny Tiny Wishes" set. And the accent color on the card is the beautiful Marina Mist. One of my most favorite colors!

Be sure to enter in for the New Year's Day Blog Candy. I will continue to add "stuff" to the mailing package until the time of the drawing!!! It's a fun surprise for the winner! Click here to be taken to the post to leave your organizing tip for me.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start! I'm already behind on stuff!!! A sign, right?? LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Happy New Year! Blog Candy

Well, since I forgot about my Blogoversary and Blog Candy for that I thought I would do something special for my annual New Year's Day Blog Candy. The Blog Candy is this brand new "Create a Cupcake" set for clear blocks. This set will be available for sale on January 4th (my birthday) which is another reason for the Blog Candy!! I will continue to add "stuff" to the mailing package until the 4th when I draw one lucky winner! I will use the random number generator to do this so please number your comments.

SO all you need to do to be entered in this fun Blog Candy is to give me some tips on how to keep my workroom organized. I'd LOVE to show you a picture of my workroom but only AFTER I get it organized!!! It's wall to wall stuff (I have a split entry home so the ledge down here is packed full of stuff, including that dreaded DUST!!! UHH!) I need help!

 

Only one entry per person
USA & Canadian residents only and good luck!

Wanda

Northern Flurry with an Elegant Thank You!

You can still use the Northern Frost embossing folder! As long as there is snow on the ground here in Minnesota, I'll be using it. Though the way it rained yesterday I wasn't sure there would be much snow left at all. But not to fret, new snow is on it's way with colder temps!!! Ahhh, Minnesota weather! LOL Though I do LOVE winter (except for the ice).

Anyway, onto my fun card. I love these types of embossing folders that leave you room to stamp on it too. I am in need of some thank you cards for Christmas gifts and I thought it would be fun to use the snowflakes. But what to use for the wording. The "Teeny Tiny Wishes" thank you was just too small. Then I remembered the "Elegant Thank You" stamp. It fit perfectly but I really should have done the words in Bashful Blue instead of black. I have more than one to make so I'll give the blue a try and see if it shows up dark enough. I do like this card but the black just pops out a bit too much. I will get them finished later in the day but they won't go out in the mail before the new year but that is ok. I'm close to getting them out so I'm happy with that!!!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the FUN Blog Candy! I will try to post earlier in the day so you can enter to win. Be sure to check back, I don't think FeedBlitz sends out the email until later in the evening/night.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Baby Bundle Baby Card (Another one!)

Is there a baby boom going on?? I know of so many gals who are either pregnant or have recently had a baby. Or maybe I it's just the group of people I know. SO then the question is, is it a good thing to know me or not!!! LOL Anyway, I am in need of another baby card. This time it's a boy. But I bet you figured that out by the color of the card!!!

Once again I used the "Baby Bundle" stamp set for this card. I was going to originally have the card set in landscape instead of portrait. And I had the circles at the top with the center one being higher than the two on the sides. But as I was playing with it I thought I'd like the circles to be on the long side. I had already put the scallop on which made the circles on that side a tight fit. I did manage to get them in there without them looking too crowded. Using Dimensionals behind them did help with that a lot!

This was a very easy card to make. I stamped the images with StazOn ink. Then I punched them out using the 1-1/4" circle punch. I punched the next layer out using Marina Mist card stock and the 1-3/8" circle punch. I then punched the scalloped circle out using Bashful Blue card stock. I taped them all together and then I played with them on the card front for a while to see what I liked.

Next I colored in the images with markers. But on the teddy bear I did use the Crumb Cake marker and a blender pen. The color was just too dark to use it directly from the marker.

I wanted to add a Bashful Blue 5/8" ribbon on top of the card and looking through the catalog I found that there is not one piece of Bashful Blue ribbon in there! SO I had to dye the white ribbon using the Bashful Blue inker. This is the part that took the longest on the card. It doesn't take long to dye the ribbon, it's the drying of the ribbon that takes the longest. SO if you want a certain ribbon on your card make sure you take care of that first so you don't have to wait so long to finish your card. I suppose I could have ironed the ribbon to speed up the drying but I didn't want to take the chance of burning it. And the same with the heat embossing tool, I was afraid I'd burn or melt the ribbon. SO I hung it to dry and waited it out. Not that I didn't have a million other things to do in the meantime! Anyone care to come over and help organize my workroom? It's such a disaster.

Anyway, here you have it. A sweet little boy baby card. Now I'm off to finish a fun bracelet I started yesterday. I would have finished it last night but this cold I'm fighting made me extremely tired so it was off to bed for me! I'll show you the bracelet when I get it done. I have a piece on it that needs a little thought and design work to it but I should be able to finish it up sometime today.

Be sure to stop in on New Year's Day to see the fun Blog Candy I will be putting up. And as usual I will have a question for you to answer too!!! Nothing is really free, is it? LOL

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Greeting Card Kids Sketch Challenge

I couldn't believe it! I almost missed this weeks Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers. I'm usually on the computer on Tuesday night when the challenge is posted and last night I was on the couch trying to get warmed up! I'm fighting a not so fun cold and I have the chills. SO needless to say, being on the computer was not on my mind at all last night. Though the laptop might have helped warm my legs!!!

This is the card I made for this weeks Sketch Challenge. I LOVE this layout and I can see myself using it on other cards in the upcoming year. I think I'm going to have to purchase a new album to keep these sketches in! When I first started doing the sketches I printed them out and put them in a small photo album. I had gotten extra pages for it just in case it filled up. Well, I have been filling the empty pages and I really don't think I can refill the album. I really don't want to buy a new one but I guess I'll have to if I want to keep collecting the sketches. They are SO handy to have around. I need to make a card and I don't know where to go with it, I just pull out the album and see what layout fits the image I want to work with and off I go! It sure takes the guesswork out of the layout! Sometimes I alter them a bit to fit what I'm doing or whatever embellishment I want to add to it. They are SO flexible to work with too!

SO onto today's Sketch Challenge. I used the Decorative paper from the "Love Impressions" paper pack. These little hearts came from a thick page that also has the tiny dots at the top and on the other side of these hearts it reads "All You Need Is Love." I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that piece of the paper yet but I'm sure I will come up with something!

I used Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose and Pirouette Pink for my card stock colors. The little girl is from the "Greeting Card Kids" set and she was stamped using Black StazOn ink and Whisper White card stock. I cut her out and set her on the circle using Dimensionals. I also used Dimensionals on the punched scalloped circle layers.

The words are from the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" set. A set I find myself using a lot lately!

I colored in the girl using markers. For the heart she is holding, I wanted it very dark so I just colored it in with Regal Rose and I colored over it about 3 times. I wanted it red but there was no other red in the card to tie it in so I had to keep things in the pink!

This was a fun sketch and if you have time give it a try!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Baby Bundle Baby Card

One of my fellow demonstrators had a baby girl earlier this month and I had not gotten a card out to her and her hubby. It was just such a busy month with Christmas decorating, Christmas cards, shopping, wrapping gifts, baking and a birthday the day after Christmas to deal with too! I had every intention of getting a card out with the Christmas cards but it just didn't happen. I did get the envelope addressed in hopes of whipping up a card. I don't like to "whip up" a card. I do like to take a little time and put some thought or research into it. For this one it was the research. I searched SplitCoastStampers and found a card very similar to this one, it was done by jillastamps. I liked what I saw and modified it just a little bit. You can see the original one here. I just thought this card had a clean look to it and a bit of simplicity to it too! It was easy enough to make but not "simple." You can't call a card simple when you use 4 different punches on it, right??? It was easy to do. I just love that little teddy bear in the circle.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Greeting Card Kids Notebook

I am SO sorry that I forgot to post something yesterday. That is a first in all of these years of blogging. Our Christmas is always so busy and crazy. I try to post a couple of days in advance (secret is out now!!!) so I can tend to the holiday things and not have the blogging on my mind or my long list of things to do. We have a busy Christmas eve with going to extended family stuff. Then we have Christmas day here with the gifts and dinner which always follows dishes and messes! And then the 26th is hubby's birthday so there is more celebrating too. So today is my day to recoup, regroup and supposedly relaxing. My plans for the day (which began at 4:30 am because I could not sleep! - great way to start the day!!!) are to pick up the living room for starters. It's such a mess with bits of wrapping paper, boxes and gifts all over the place. A load of laundry must be done or I'll get behind on that. But remember I LOVE to do laundry because that means I get to be in my workroom until it's done!!! Nothing like being sent to your room to escape and have fun while doing the laundry! Then there's dishes and cooking (UGH!). I need to clean up my workroom. Someone sure made a mess in here! I'm such a messy stamper! I REALLY want to finish a bracelet I started and I'll share that with you when it's done, it's SO cool!!! And the last thing I would like to accomplish today is a graduation card. My niece graduated from college on the 23rd and I had to take a card from my stash. On a normal occasion that wouldn't be such a big deal but it was the only graduation card I had on hand!! SO I do need to make some new samples and put them in the samples drawer. Wish me luck on completing all of those tasks. Oh and the Christmas celebrating isn't over yet. We still have one more Christmas party/get together to attend. Then maybe we can relax and enjoy the remainder of the holiday season! I do LOVE seeing the Christmas tree in the living room and all of the decorations and wonderful red and green colors. The living room always looks so drab once we put all of the Christmas stuff away! And the living room sure looks a lot bigger too!!!

But for now I want to show you a fun notebook I created using my Zutter punch binding machine, the "Greeting Card Kids" set and the new "Love Impressions" decorative papers. I LOVE notebooks and I LOVE to alter notebooks too. It was actually fun to create the notebook from the ground up! I am going to be selling my Zutter punch machine. I have only used it twice so if you are interested in the details please email me.

I started out with some really firm cardboard. I think it came on the back of my watercolor paper tablet. It's very thick and firm. I cut it 6" x 6". Don't ask why, I have no idea why I wanted to work with a square. I'm not a big fan of squares as it is!!!

On the front piece of cardboard I glued a piece of Real Red card stock. While that was drying I cut some copier paper to fit the notebook.

Next I decorated the front of the notebook by adding a layer of Basic Gray card stock. Then I added the soft pink dotted decorative paper from the "Love Impressions" pack. On top of that I added the heart border strip and another piece of decorative paper from the pack. After I got those pieces in place I stamped and colored the little girl and worked the layers to fit.

The words came from a custom made rubber stamp. I punched it out with the oval stamp, added a larger oval layer behind it and then the scalloped oval layer. Then I punched the cover and back. I added the paper and then the wire binder.

This was a very fun notebook to create and personally, I think I like creating them from the ground up as opposed to altering an already made one.

Don't forget the annual New Year's Day Blog Candy!!! It will be extra special this year because I am celebrating a belated Blogoversary, the New Year and my birthday!! We won't discuss how many candles but I'll give you a clue - the fire extinguisher is a good thing to have on hand with that many candles!!!! LOL

Thank you for visiting today,

Wanda

Holiday Hoopla!

Yup, it was a busy holiday! I missed a posting but I do have one I will be putting on a bit later so please stop back!

Hope your Christmas was a special one!
Wanda

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick post here and a wonderful photo to share with you.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! I took this photo one night last week when we were driving around looking at the lights on people's homes. I loved the vibrant lights on this cute little tree and begged hubby to stop so I could take a picture. Because it was night the shutter speed was very slow and I didn't get a real crisp photo. I'd have to take the tripod out and set it up to get a nice picture. I don't think the home owner's would care for that. So this photo will have to do. It has a wonderful stillness to it, a peacefulness to it and a very Christmas look to it! I hope you can see the beauty in this much as I did. I think you maybe able to click on it to get a closer view. I hope so, it's SO pretty.

Merry Christmas to you all!
Wanda

Christmas Cards

Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas day? It sure came quickly. I just got my gifts wrapped yesterday and some baking done. I didn’t bake as much as I usually do mostly due to lack of time. But that’s ok too, we don’t need all of that stuff around here anyway.

Today I have a few cards to share with you. They are all made by my friend and fellow demonstrator Denise W! She's an excellent stamper. I love the clean look of all of her cards. It is kind of funny, after you do a few swaps you can begin to tell who made what card by the style. We all have our own style and after a while you can tell who made what card! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the cards!

Have a Merry Christmas,

Wanda