More RAKS

Hello Everyone,

Glad its Wednesday... hopefully the end of the week will be here soon!

Just wanted to share a few RAKs. The first photo is a RAK I received today from my friend Debi. When I showed my husband, he was like, "yeah nice" but I know he was really eyeing the cookies. I decided to be nice and share my cookie with him... Bad Idea! I should have hidden them- they were really good. Need to find out where she got them from! I decided to hide the candy bar from him in case that was good too. hee hee hee.

Next is the RAK I gave to the girls I met at Teri's. I didn't have much time, so I printed up some Nancy Kubo digis and made them into tags. It was a perfect match to the paper I just picked up from Island Scrapbooking!!! I just love when things coordinate. Anyway, forgot to post this earlier since I was in a rush.

Supplies:

DP- Bo Bunny

Fry box die- Sizzix

Ribbon

Halloween digis- Nancy Kubo (Boo Crew)

Distressed

I've been interested in distressing techniques and finally decided to give it a shot. At the BF Paper Party, I saw a Sizzix sample that used the distressing technique on Hello Kitty. I found myself going back to that card over and over again, so I decided to try my hand at distressing.

Here's what I came up with... this was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I guess its good to take a risk once in awhile. To add some bling (who am I kidding, a lot of bling), I used the In Stitches flourish templates by Bazzil. Since I didn't have that many small clear crystals, I decided to use red since the flower I made was red.

Here's a close up look at Hello Kitty.

Hope you like it!

Supplies used:

Hello Kitty- Sizzix

Flourish and Flower- Sizzix

Crystals- Hero Arts

Cardstock- Bazzil

In Stitches flourish template- Bazzil

Lace border punch- Martha Stewart

Paper Party Make n Takes

Here's the make n takes we did at the Paper Party...

This is Cheryl's project. Its actually the Sizzix XL envelope die and she cut the windowpane on the front. Its the perfect size for a small treat. I gave away the candy that she gave us, so I put my own M&Ms inside so you can see how it works.

Here's a close up of Kitty.

Here's the card we made at Jean's station... She's so clever!

Surprise!!

Finally, at the BF station, we had a choice of cards. Most of us chose to do this card since it was very different. I had actually seen this card in a card maker magazine and wanted to try it, so this was the perfect opportunity! The gold you see that borders the DP is actually a gold leafing pen. It came out really nice... gotta remember to use that again.

Here's what it looks like when you start to open it. Its actually a gatefold card and you just attach the frames on the opposite flaps.

What a fun day! I sure learned a lot! Thanks Jean and Cheryl!

RAKs for Fellow Bloggers

Hi Everyone! Having a good weekend so far? I had fun today at the Hilo Ben Franklin's Paper Party! Not only did I get to do some fun make and takes, I got to see some fellow bloggers! Cheryl from Life is Sweet was representing Sizzix and Jean from Dandelion Designs were both there with Cheri from Sizzix doing make and takes. I'll post those projects later.

Although I've met Cheryl a few times whenever she comes to Hilo, I've never met Jean in person. She's very sweet and so patient with everyone who came to her table. I thought I'd make her something since this was her first visit to Hilo to do a make and take. Gotta be nice so she comes back again right? Nah, only kidding Jean!

I used the scallop envelope die which is exclusive to SU. I really like how it makes a cute box, just the right size for packing up some Big Island Candies Lemon Shortbread cookies (my favorite) and some macadamia toffee. I had given some to Jean as a thank you for winning one of her blog candy giveaways awhile back and she seemed to like it a lot, so I thought I'd surprise her with it again.

I used some of Jean's Dandelion stamps for the focal point. I just love these stamps from last year! I was hoping to pick up the new Halloween stamps from this year but not all of them were available... I did manage to get a bunch of Christmas ones though!

Supplies used:

Witch, ghost and kitty- Dandelion Designs

Circle and scallop circle- Spellbinders

Scallop envelope die- SU

Cardstock- Bazzli

Stickles

DP- Doodlebug and Bo Bunny

Markers- Copics

Ribbon

September OCS

Just wanted to share with you this cute card from my September OCS partner, Vina. Don't you just love the way she colored Anya? I think I have to study it so I can copy her shading. Thank you Vina!

Cool RAK!

Check out the cool RAK I got from my cousin Laura... I sent her some of my EZ mount so she could try mounting her SU stamps on it. Hope it works out for you Laura! I love that I can now use my SU stamps with my acrylic block... Less guess work out of where to place my stamp!

Anyway, she thanked me with this cute card and ADORABLE mini composition book. I love it! I FINALLY found some at our Office Max and almost fell over when I saw how much they cost. Really? That much for a mini composition book? Heck, I paid way less than $1 for the regular sized ones, so it was a bit itai to buy the mini ones at more than double the price.

OK enough complaining about the prices... I do love the fact that they are mini and can easily be taken with you to take notes or make shopping lists! Thanks Laura!

Mike Sakamoto Memorial Scholarship Fishing Tournament

For those of you who know me, you probably know that Mike Sakamoto was my father in law.

This past Sunday was the first annual Mike Sakamoto Memorial Scholarship Fishing Tournament. It was nice to see so many people come out to show their support. I am not a great photographer, so if you want to see more photos from the event, go to my friend's blog, Leslie's Pics for candids. Thanks Les for keeping me company that day!

Here's Akemi with her Gyotaku t-shirt. Cute yah?

Paul's sister Stef did a great job helping to coordinate this event and representing the family. Thanks to the committee who worked really hard putting everything together! Best of all, it was nice to see all of our friends and family again from Honolulu! Miss you guys!

Teri's Make and Take

As promised, here's the make and take I did at Teri's. She's actually teaching a gift card class next month, which will include this project. I really really really want to go! She gave us a sneak peek at the other gift card holders that are included in the class and they are awesome! I give a lot of gift cards, so these will be very useful for me.

For the front of the holder, we used the new CC's design Halloween Stamps. I nicknamed her "pumpkin head". Guess I was just feeling silly.

Here's the magic part... when you open up the cover, the gift card pops up! Awesome yah?

Before I rushed off to pick up my husband at the airport (yes, he waited over an hour for me to pick him up... but he was busy watching the Thunderbirds anyway!), Teri told me to do the "bonus" project. I was puzzled when she gave me the already cut kit to make these cute gift cards.... She replied... "I always do a bonus project at my classes". Yippee! She's so awesome!

Here's the inside of the card (we made 5 of these).

In addition to these two projects, Teri also showed us how to use the Martha Stewart spiderweb punches (border and corner) so that it connects perfectly. She said she learned how to do this from Cheryl...I'm so glad she shared this with us. I bought these punches, but haven't tried to use them together yet... now I know how to do it! Yay!

Wow! I didn't actually expect to go home with projects! Thanks again Teri for a fun filled day!

Later I'll post the other stuff we did this weekend (the real reason we went to Honolulu!).

Party Crasher

Wow! What a busy busy weekend! On Saturday I "crashed" Teri's 50 tags class, along with Linda, Janis and Denise. It was so much fun to finally meet fellow Hawaii Craft Bloggers! Linda invited me to "crash" the class with her, but I didn't want to just barge in on a class! Teri was so nice to personally invite me to join in the fun so I could meet the rest of the girls. Joy and Claudette were the actual "students" there, so I got to meet them too.

Since I had asked Teri to do a tutorial on the gift card holder she posted earlier, she did a make and take for all of us! She's so awesome... if you have the chance, you should take her classes, its totally worth it! I'm checking airfares as we speak to see if I can get to her next class! I'll post the gift card holder I made a little later... for now, just wanted to share all the raks I got from everyone. They were all so sweet to give me such a warm welcome.... I feel so loved!

Here's all the goodies I got... they are so pretty, I didn't want to touch them.. but my husband had no problem going straight for the candy and cookies! Claudette- there is no more macadamia roca for me.... He said it was sooo yummy! I hid my cookies from Denise, so I still have some left to munch on! hee hee hee.

Check out these cute bags! The pink and brown one is from Claudette (filled with the yummy cookies and macadamia roca) and the Halloween CC's girl is from Teri. She made the pumpkin using 3 ovals. How clever yah?

Here's the unreal cookies from Denise.. I gotta find out where she got them from! I had to hide these from my husband. The paper, pad, pen and dew drops were from Joy (Tamiko's) and the other goodies is from Janis. Yay- more snacks for my craft table!

Finally, the stickers and stamp shown here were also from Denise and those cute Hello Kitty notecards were from Linda. Linda also gave my daughter some goodies that I think I might just steal from her! Nah only kidding.

Here's the group photo to document this fun filled (and hot) day! Yes, I'm missing from the photo... Just wanted to take a picture of my new friends...

Thank you so much to Linda who coordinated the "crash"! And to the rest of the girls I met that day- It was so nice to meet all of you! A special thanks to Teri, who graciously allowed us to crash her class. Sorry Teri! Hope your leg is better!

This last one is for Linda and Janis... I finally got to meet the pocket Edwards in person! LOL!

Have a great week!

My First One Card Swap!

Hi Everyone! Well, I did it! I finally got enough nerve to participate in Teri's One Card Swap! I've seen many fellow bloggers talk about how fun it is, but I've always been insecure about my work and didn't think my stuff was as nice as theirs. I'm glad I finally got up enough nerve to participate this month and am glad I finally took the plunge! This is the card I made for my partner, Vina... I hope she likes it. I know, I used this same design already, but I really like it! I think Yippee Fhiona is the perfect stamp for a penny spinner card, so I couldn't resist and made another one. You can't really tell from the photos, but I added crystals to a lot of the flowers and dots on the DP. So don't be shy like me, Teri will be opening up the one card swap sign ups again soon, so visit her blog to sign up for October! Who knows... maybe you'll be partners with me! :) Supplies: Fhiona Stamp- Your Next Stamp Markers- Copics Cardstock- Bazzil DP- Bo Bunny Crystals- Hero Arts Yippee sentiment- cut from The Blocky Bunch die- Sizzix.

Snow Dolls Ornaments

Hi Everyone! I'm soooooo glad its Friday! What a week, I can't wait for the weekend.

I'm so happy to finally be using my new Snow Dolls stamps from Hero Arts. When I saw these stamps, I just had to have them... and I don't even make Christmas cards!!!! Who knows, one day when I'm old and gray, I will probably be making Christmas cards... I don't want to be thinking to myself, now why didn't I buy those cute Snow Dolls stamps when I had the chance? hee hee.

So, since I don't really make Christmas cards, I decided to use them to make ornaments. When I first started searching the blogs, I was happy to find the Dandelion Designs Blog. Jean has such great ideas and is so nice to share them with the crafting community. (Did I tell you that I credit her with getting me back into stamping?) Anyway, I found a cute ornament she posted on her blog. Instead of stamping on the ornament itself with Staz On, I decided to just decorate the acetate that the image is mounted on. To give it some texture, I ran the acetate circle through my cuttlebug folders. I love how it came out! On the one with just snowflakes, I used stickles for some bling.

Here's the other doll I made...

These were really fun to make. As soon as I saw the snap ornaments at BF, I knew what I was going to do with them. I hear you can also roll up the acetate and slip it into a regular glass ornament and adjust it with your tweezers, but I haven't tried it that way yet.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Supplies used:

Snow Dolls stamps- Hero Arts

Markers- Copics

Stickles

Acetate

Snowflakes and Snow Dots embossing folders- Cuttlebug

Ribbon

Gold string

Trick Or Treat!

Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Here's another card I created yesterday with my new stamp set from Your Next Stamp. The set actually comes with a pumpkin, bats and a candy stamp too! This little pumpkin is all ready to go trick or treating- I just love Fhiona!

Supplies used:

Fhiona and trick or treat stamp- Your Next Stamp

Oval and scallop oval dies- spellbinders

Flowers- Prima

Stickles

DP- SU and Doodlebug

Markers- Copics

Arch border punch- Martha Stewart

Relax!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend! I was pretty exhausted after yesterday's huge sale at Island Scrapbooking, so I spent most of today just relaxing and crafting... I wanted to play with my new Your Next Stamps that came in on Friday!!! Did I mention that I love these stamps?

So, since this was a relaxing day for me, I decided to use the Bubbly Fun Fhiona, since she knows how to relax! Ok, so I didn't have a bubble bath... you wouldn't either if you knew that there was a very large cockroach on the ceiling in your bathroom watching you take a shower! I swear he was watching me... they always seem to wait till I'm naked and vulnerable. Need to send out a big thank you to my husband, the cockroach killer, who saved me. In case you haven't realized it by now, I'm DEATHLY afraid of roaches, especially flying ones!

Sorry, went totally off the subject there, but had to vent. Back to Fhiona... I just love the bubbles in her bath, so I wanted them to look like real bubbles. I decided to use my pearly dew drops for the larger bubbles and my liquid pearls for the smaller ones. I actually added more pearls on the tub. I also tried out the technique used in the Copics class I took at Photocraft on the tub. Used a very light blue to give it some dimension, it came out better than I thought it was going to.

This Fhiona set comes with a rubber ducky, champagne glass, more bubbles and a few sentiments, including the "relax". Maybe it should have included a can of Raid! LOL!

Supplies used:

Fhiona stamp set- Your Next Stamp

Markers- Copics

DP- Reminisce

Cardstock- Bazzil

Dew Drops- The Robin's Nest

Flowers- Prima

Lace border punch- Martha Stewart

HUGE SALE at Island Scrapbooking Tomorrow!

Hi All! In case you are in Hilo tomorrow, just thought I'd let everyone know that there is going to be a HUGE sale at Island Scrapbooking! The Fall Cleaning Sale Event is a chance for local crafters to clean out their craft rooms and sell off old items they no longer use (or ever used at all!!). Its a chance for customers to get great deals on used craft supplies. Its not limited to just paper crafting either... I had a sneak peek today and saw a lot of stuff... rubber stamps, dies, paper, punches, embellishments, storage containers, beads, bags, paper trimmers and even a printer!! Its first come first served, so better to get their early for best selection. On top of that, they are having a lot of in-store specials:

• Dew Drops are buy one, get one 1/2 off
• Assorted solid cardstock will be 2/$1
• Washi paper will be $1.99 each (reg. $2.49/sheet)
• 1/2 off of red tag prices on clearance items! There are killer deals to be had in this section! I even saw some Greeting Farm stamps and Sizzix dies there!

I really shouldn't be telling you about all the good deals since I plan on going shopping myself! But I just couldn't let all of you in Hilo pass up this great opportunity! I'll be there helping Michele and Tracy wherever I can, so stop in and say hello!

Happy, Happy, Birthday Fhiona Spinner

Greetings Everyone! I'm so happy its Thursday... that means only one more day of work! Even though this was a short week, it sure is dragging...

Anyway, just wanted to share my first spinner card with you! I can't believe I have never made this before! This is so much fun to make.... now I gotta go penny hunting so I can make more.

I had to come up with a card for this weekend. My daughter got invited to a birthday party for her BFF's older sis who is about 12... I really don't know what tweens are into now days, so I'm hoping she likes this card. Forget about guessing about a gift, we are giving money!

Anyway, isn't this Fhiona the perfect image for a spinner? I feel like she was made to do cartwheels!

YIPPEE!!!

Here's the inside...

And here's a close up of Fhiona- I love creating with her... she makes me happy.

Supplies used:

Fhiona stamp- Your Next Stamp DP- Bo Bunny Cardstock- Bazzil Markers- Copics Stickles Pennies Pop Dots Happy Birthday sentiment- Sizzix

Fhiona Mermaid

Did I mention that I love Your Next Stamp? Here's the other stamp set I picked up. I can't wait for my next order to arrive! This was the stamp set that forced me to place my order. There's something about this cute girl when she smiles with her eyes closed! I also love that the set came with her friends the crab and starfish. I made this card to send to my cousin Laura, who wanted to try out EZ mount. Since I was sending her the EZ mount, I decided to throw in this card. Hope she likes it! Supplies used: Fhiona Mermaid- Your Next Stamp Starfish and Crab stamps- Your Next Stamp Markers- Copics Crystals- Hero Arts DP- DCWV Border punch- Martha Stewart

Wild About You!

Here's another tri-shutter card that I made recently... I really wanted to suspend the birdie from the Greeting Farm Wild Things set, like I did with the bee and vampire from my previous cards. Since most of the animals were brown (I guess if used my imagination more I could've colored them other colors) I decided to color the bird red so that it would stand out a bit. This prompted me to make the words red and choose red dew drops to match the bird.

See the birdie flying?

Supplies used:

Wild Things stamps- TGF

Markers- Copics

Wild About You (Curlz alphabet dies)- Sizzix

Cardstock- Bazzil

DP- K and Co.

Dew Drops- The Robin's Nest

Hope you have a great week! I'm off today due to waiver day at Akemi's school. Geez, how many waiver days are there anyway?

Yippee!

My new favorite stamp company has got to be Your Next Stamp! These little Fihona stamps are just my style! As soon as I got the stamps in the mail, I had to mount them and try them out. The other great thing about them is that they are a good size and great for using my Copics! Yippee!

I had wanted to thank Enjoli for sending me that unreal blog candy! So although this card says "Yippee", its actually a thank you card. Hope she likes it!

Supplies used:

Fhiona stamp- Your Next Stamp

Yippee stamp- Your Next Stamp

Markers- Copics

DP (cut out design)- Doodlebug

Crystals- Hero Arts

Cardstock- Bazzil