Panda Love

Just got back from Honolulu and had a lot of fun shopping! Got to hang out with Aunty Jan- craft god, and went shopping at Cute Stuff, Pineapple Cove, and Photocraft. Yay! That was so much fun and got lots of cool stuff. Mostly paper this time- tried to find stuff I couldn't get here in Hilo. It was nice to finally meet a fellow blogger, I met Man Le at her store, Pineapple Cove. She was really nice and has a great selection of paper! Check out her blog here.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet up with Linda... shucks, I'm sure that would've been fun! Next time Linda!

Speaking of Linda, if you like Twilight, you gotta check out this blog...Its hilarious! I was totally bored on Saturday while waiting for the wedding, so I was looking at blogs and stumbled on this one. It totally entertained me for a good part of that wait. Even if you don't know anything about Twilight, you should check it out (honestly, I don't know anything about the story but its still fun!).

After visiting Man Le, I went to my Copics class at Photocraft. Learned some new techniques, but did a horrible job coloring. How embarassing! I guess I don't know how to color in the lines- sorry not showing that piece of junk. Need to practice more...

The "coolest" thing about shopping at Photocraft on weekends is the shave ice! I just love being able to shop and eat shave ice... excuse me..."ice shave".... I always forget that Hilo people say "ice shave" instead of shave ice. Thanks Aunty for the Ice Shave!

OK- now on to the card... The minute I saw this panda stamp at Island Scrapbooking, I had to have it! Its part of a new clear set of stamps from Inkadinkado. They remind me of musubis. I actually made this card before I left on my trip.

Here's a close up...

Supplies:

Panda stamp- Inkadinkado

Heart Die- Spellbinders

Glitter paper- Doodlebug

Dragonfly washi- Hanko

Love you sentiment- TPC

Have a good week!

Calendar Time!

Now that I've given calendars as gifts, I can't go back to just making them online or heaven forbid- buying them already made! I think there would be some serious backlash from my mom if I did that.

Anyway, Michele from Island Scrapbooking asked me to make a sample using one of the newer XL Sizzix Dies that are marketed for making mini scrapbooks. We all thought it would be an excellent template for my calendars.

Now that Sizzix makes Hello Kitty Sizzlits, it makes my life so much easier when making Hello Kitty themed calendars.

Here goes...

I know I could have busted out my cricut, but I was on a roll with my sizzix... I found an old witch hat/broom/shoe set that was the perfect size for Hello Kitty! I turned her into a witch for Halloween!

Here's the calendar put together...

Here's the 2nd half of 2010...

Supplies used:

All Hello Kitty dies- Sizzix

Witch hat and Santa hat- Sizzix

Flower dies- Spellbindes

Cardstock- Bazzil

DP- Doodlebug and Bo Bunny

Calendar titles- Sizzix

Calendar- Printed from computer

Ribbon

Stickles

Dew Drops

Scallop border punch- Fiskars

Crystals and pearls- Hero Arts

Flower Elzy Magic Card

Hi Everyone!

This magic card was made for my new friend Kyoko. She cracks me up! Anyway, I decided to send her this magic card made using my new Elzybells stamps since she asked about them. It was good practice for me since I had another Magic Card class and needed to practice. Hope she likes it!

Here's a close up of Elzy.

Supplies used:

Flower Elzy- Elzybells stamps

Markers- Copics

Acetate

Cardstock- Bazzil

DP- Doodlebug

Ribbon

Flower- Prima

Leaf die- Sizzix

Sugar coated brad- Doodelbug

People Really Win...

Hi Everyone! Hope you are having a good week so far. Yesterday I received my blog candy from Enjoli!!!! It totally made my day- Thank You Enjoli! She's so sweet to make all this cute stuff and give it away. I feel so fortunate.

Now for my story... whenever we have get togethers with our friends and family, everyone teases me about being on the blogs so often. I think its because everyone else talks about WOW (for you non-geeks it stands for World of Warcraft) except me. Since I don't play WOW, I don't understand the language they are speaking so I end up tuning them out and start looking at blogs again. I guess they wouldn't understand my crafting language, so we're even.

Anyway, I was showing them on my phone all the cool blog candy my fellow bloggers give away. They didn't believe me at first, but I showed them all the cool stuff that is so generously given by others. One of my friends asked me- so have you ever won before? I think he was teasing me because he thought I would probably never win. So I told him that I DID win before... (thank you to Jean from Dandelion Designs) which totally FACED him (hee hee hee - remember FACE?- picture me putting my hand in front of my face... if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about you are probably too young to remember.)

Back to my story.... the very next day I saw that I had won Enjoli's blog candy!!! Yippee! That was sooooo awesome on so many levels! hee hee hee! They were tripping out that I had actually won! So thank you Enjoli- you made my day in so many ways! Just had to share that fun story...

Also- wanted to thank Karen for another great RAK. She borrowed the idea from Ben Franklin's Joy of Crafting show. I've seen this before on other blogs but have yet to make one myself. Thanks K.I.! Now I don't have to make a sample for myself!

Here's what happens when you pull the ribbon! So clever yah?

In case you are wondering, she didn't make this for her own birthday! LOL!!! We have another friend named Karen who's birthday we celebrated that day.

Oh Baby! Another Boy!

Yes, there seems to be an abundance of baby boys coming into this world recently. My nephew's girlfriend is having a baby boy (due next month), so my mom and his mom are throwing them a shower this weekend. Although I'll be going to Honolulu to visit, I can't make the shower because we have to work on Saturday. Since mom is going, I'm gonna send a gift with her to the shower. Here's the card I totally copied from Michele and Donna from Island Scrapbooking! They made these cute carriage cards (one for boy and one for girl) that came out so cute. I decided to add the baby boy from TGF Oh Baby set since he fit perfectly into the carriage!

Here's what the card looks like on the inside...

Supplies used:

Baby carriage die- Sizzix

Baby boy, rattle and teddy bear stamp- TGF

Oval, scallop oval and labels dies- Spellbinders

DP- Reminisce

Cardstock- Bazzil

Markers- Copics

Can't wait to hit the craft stores in Honolulu! :)

Your Next Stamp 1st Design Team Call!

Hi Everyone,

For those that regulary visit my blog, you are probably thinking, why the heck is she posting these projects again??? No, I didn't forget I posted them... I just found this new stamp company called Your Next Stamp... You seriously need to check them out because they are soo cute! Don't laugh, but I'm trying out for their Design Team, so that is the reason for this post.

Here we go!

The first card was picked by my husband... He liked the fact that I made the card interactive and he thought my coloring is much nicer than in past projects.

Here's a close up.

The second card was the Pop-Up Scrapbook made into a card. I like this card because it was fun to make and I like how it has the lanterns dangling down... As you can tell I'm into cards that move.

When you open up the card, here's the first "page".

"Page" 2...

"Page" 3..,.

Last "page"!

Anyway, wish me luck- even if I don't get called I can't wait to get my hands on some of these stamps! Check it out if you want to be considered too.. The deadline is Friday, August 28th, so hurry! Even if you don't apply to be on their design team, if you become a follower, you will be entered into one of their contests!

Anya Blog Award

Hi Everyone,

I'm so ditzy sometimes... I saw this cute blog award on Joni's blog and didn't even realize she was giving it to me!?? She's so sweet- she always leaves nice comments for me. Thank you Joni! It thrills me to think that I actually inspire her!?

There are just too many of you out there that I find inspiring... just look at my sidebar?! That's not even all of the blogs I visit regularly either. So this goes out to anyone who puts their work out there for us to see (and copy!). I just love getting new ideas and you crafty bloggers out there have inspired me to USE the stuff I buy! hee hee hee.

Have a nice 3-day weekend!

Elzy with Flowers and RAKs to Share

Hi Everyone! Back from hot hot hot Maui. Hilo is not much better, but at least the nights are cooler. I totally vegged out on Sunday after flying home (2 airplanes to get home!), so yesterday I was in the mood to start crafting again. I had just bought this purple Doodlebug paper and wanted to utilize it in my card somehow, so I colored my new Elzybell's stamp using purple.

Supplies used:

Flower Girl Elzy- Elzybells

DP and sugar coated brad- Doodlebug designs

Cardstock- Bazzil

Square and scallop square dies- Spellbinders

Markers- Copics

Flowers- Prima

Ribbon

Also wanted to share some RAKs that I've received recently from my crafting buddies at Island Scrapbooking...

Isn't this purse the cutest? Debi made this bag for each of us an filled them w/Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! Michele was very good and did not eat everyone's chocolate! hee hee.

The flower was cut from tissue paper!

This cool RAK was from Kelli awhile back but I haven't had time to take a photo of it till now. She made the coordinating box which had this cute card inside...

When you open it up, there are 2 pockets holding tea bags! Love it!

Thank you Kelli and Debi! You guys are the bestest! :) Thank goodness its almost Wednesday and Friday is a HOLIDAY!!! Woo Hoo! Even though I'm teaching a class, that is just play for me- not real work! Have a great week!

Hello Kitty Composition Books

I'm off to Maui to visit my sis who is visiting from Italy. Woo hoo! Taking Akemi with me so she can visit her Aunty Denise and Uncle Guido. I think they probably want to see her more than me! As you are reading this, I'm probably already there! Hope I can find some good craft stores in Maui!

Anyway, wanted to post this before I forget. I almost didn't post this since I didn't do a great job on it. Note to self... don't use mod podge again for this project! Thank you to Michele who gave me some of her contact paper that salvaged these books. I wanted to make something to give to my nieces in California and my sister's nieces in Italy. They are all about Akemi's age and all like Hello Kitty, so thought they would like something that has Hello Kitty and is personalized for them.

I've been seeing so many people posting these cute composition books on their blogs that I just had to try it myself. You can't beat the price of these... I think they were less than a dollar at Walmart, so I bought a bunch- not only for Akemi's school, but also to give as gifts. I'm also giving them a box of crayons that I got for only 20 cents each at Office Max! Love back to school sales!

Don't laugh at my photos. I had a hard time since my craft table was just too messy to take pictures of these books and the contact paper was reflecting off of my flash!

Supplies used:

Hello Kitty die- Sizzix

Eyelet border punch- Martha Stewart

DP- Imaginisce, Doodlebug Designs,

Curlz alphabet dies- Sizzix

Swinging Elzy

Hi Everyone! Thought I'd "swing" on by to share with you this "swinging" card I made using my new Elzybell stamp. (I know... I'm lame) I just love the fact that you can make it interactive!!! She really swings on her swing. I know I couldn't capture a photo of her swinging, so I took these photos using my flash so you can see her shadow and know that she is free to move around the circle! Supplies used: Elzybell stamp- Elzybells Markers- Copics Hello stamp- Hero Arts Cirlce. scallop circle and flower dies- Spellbinders DP- Doodlebug Designs BTW- don't you just love this DP? Its by Doodlebug.. they also have the same strawberry pattern in pink! Have a great weekend!

Hi There!

I can't believe I forgot to post this card! I swear I took photos of this card already, but searched and searched my files and couldn't find it. So I took more photos tonight so I could finish my post...

I've seen this card done by Enjoli and Eunice and just couldn't figure it out! I finally asked Eunice if she could post a tutorial on this and she kindly referred me to a site where she retrieved the template: http://houseofstirfry.com/chia/templates/covslide.html Thank you Eunice!

Since I'd really rather just cut out my own template instead of having to feed it into the computer, I ended up taking the measurements for future reference.

I was just dying to use this template with my new Piggy stamp from the Fly Away set for this card. I cut the cloud out after embossing it with the swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder. To give the cloud a softer look, I used the Liquid Pearls to accent the swirls.

I really wanted to use the "Sending you sunshine and laughter" sentiment, but didn't have any sun stamps! So I made my own sun using Spellbinder dies. Don't you just love how they are so versatile?

Supplies used:

Fly Away stamp set (Pig, balloons)- The Greeting Farm

Sending you sunshine and Hi there sentiments- Hero Arts

Circle and Dhalia dies- Spellbinders

Swirls embossing folder- Cuttlebug

Cardstock- Bazzil

Markers- Copics

Stickles

Liquid Pearls

Smell My Feet!

I think I'm overstimulated... can't decide which new stamps to play with first! After waiting for almost a month, I finally got my Stamping Bella stamps. I also got my Elzybells and new Greeting Farm Stamps all within 48 hours! So you already saw my Elzybells bear stamp... here's one of my new Greeting Farm stamps! I couldn't wait for Island Scrapbooking to get their shipment in of these cute little monsters. The only one not featured here is the mummy since I used him on another card.

To give you a little background info on this card... after my class on Saturday, Tracy and I were discussing what other stamps/dies would look cute hanging from the tri-shutter card. We identified several cool ideas- which I know I'll get to some day, but for now... this is the one I thought was the coolest! Isn't it so cool that Dracula is suspended in mid air?

At first I tried to use the sentiments that came with the set but after I stamped and mounted them on cardstock, it hit me that I NEEDED to use the Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet chant that kids still use till this day. Aaahhh, takes me back to those days in elementary school when Halloween was all about trick or treating. So I decided to print out the words from my computer and incorporate them into my card.

My daughter sure got a kick out of the words and started happily chanting them herself.

Supplies used:

Cardstock- Bazzil

Embossing folders- Cuttlebug

Spooktacular stamp set- The Greeting Farm

Markers- Copics

Stickles