More Teacher Desks

OK I lied... I told you I was going dark, but I forgot about posting these!  I showed you the prototype I made earlier right?  Well, I finally got around to finishing up the other ones I had to make.   You would think that an elementary school student would only have one teacher right?  WRONG!  My daughter has 4 teachers!  So in addition to the first one I shared with you.. had to make 3 more.

Since I always get bored, I had to make them look a little different by choosing different papers.

Look what's inside the drawers!

More goodies.  Got all of these "supplies" from Target.

And more goodies!

OK that's it for now.. now I'm really going dark for a bit.  Ta ta for now!

More Graduations!

One of my crafty friends graduated from UH this month.  I didn't get a chance to go to her graduation, but I did make her a card.   Since I don't get to use my graduation stamps too often, I dug this one out of storage and dusted it off.  I'm glad I bought this stamp many moons ago.  I think this stamp company went out of business, but I later heard that you can get them again, but can't remember what the name of the new company is.

Decided to use Kiyomi this time and didn't realize it till afterwards that the recipient's daughter is named Kiyomi too!  Neat-o.  Maybe I should pretend that I planned it that way?  ha ha ha.  Actually I was happy to find a partially colored Kiyomi in my stash.  Yay!  Less coloring for me!

I wanted to make it look like Kiyomi threw her cap in the air, like many graduates do after they walk the line.  I was looking for some dotted lines in my collection of stamps and surprisingly, the only one I could find was part of this new clear set that I got by Lawn Fawn. It was part of a bee set.  Love how the dotted lines form a heart!

UH's colors are red and white (I think!), so I went with those colors on the card.  Here's a better look at Kiyomi....

Oki doki. I'm thinking I'm going dark on this blog for a bit.  Need to do some posting for Sister Stamps Release #14 and have some family stuff to attend to, so bye for now!!

Happy Graduation!

Remember the days when graduation took place in June?  Aaaaahhhh, am I showing my age?  Yup, nowadays everyone graduates in May along with UH.  I wish that was me back in the day!

So this year I actually knew some graduates!  It's been awhile since I've had to make graduation cards, so I had to think about what to do... For this particular card, I cheated.  My friend's twin boys were graduating from high school this year and I knew she was very excited about it.  When we released this buddies stamp last year, I totally thought of them since they look like twins too.  Her boys have reddish/brown hair, so I tried to lighten their hair up a bit from my normal black hair.

Then I colored them up in a black gown but needed a graduation cap.  Island Scrapbooking sells pre-cut graduation caps but they were a bit large for the boys.  I had to trim them down a bit, but I finally got them to the size I needed.  They also sell Happy Graduation sentiments, so I bought a pack of that too to add to the card.  Here's how it came out....

And here's a better look at the boys. I'm sure this is how their mom will always remember them, even though they are old now.

Anyway, hope everyone survived graduation this year.  I'm trying to get through ballet. teacher gifts, the end of school, and a new Sister Stamps release this week!  Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommy's out there!  Hope your family treats you good today.

I guess I'm a junk daughter... I made this card and put it in our mail box on Friday and thought it would be enough time to get it to my mom by today... but I see that it's still in my mail box!!!  I don't think I missed the mailman... I think he forgot to get it from my box.  I got other packages and mail in my garage, so I know he came.  Anyway, sorry mom!!  I did make you a card but I guess you are not getting it in time. :(  boooooo....

Decided to use Kiyomi on her card since it was named after my sister.  I think its so weird but fun that now that our images are associated with actual people, that I think of them as that person!  Anyway, I was dying to use some of this pretty paper I got at the last Rubber Stamp Expo. It's the new Vintage Bliss line and I'm totally in love with it!  Can't wait to get my hands on more of this paper... for now I'm hoarding the rest.

There's really not much to this card as I decided to keep it simple.  I made something else for mom, but can't post it until I give it to her.  That won't be till I see her again at the end of the month.

On another note, I have to share this personal story with you... I guess it still bugs me a little... My daughter is going to be in a performance soon and we decided to place an ad in her program.  My DH decided to tell her- not sure why- and ask her if it was ok to put from "Mommy and Daddy" or if she was too old for that... WHAT THE HECK?  Then the answer... "Yes, I'm too old for Mommy and Daddy".  What???  I guess she's not my baby anymore.

Lesson:  They really do grow up too fast! Take time to enjoy all the little moments.

Teacher Gifts

Decided to try to get a head start on the end of the school year festivities.  This time of year is CRAZY for me, so I thought I'd try to start earlier this year.  One of the things I always do is make something for Akemi's teachers.  I remember seeing a desk a few years back, but never figured out how to make it.  Then one day I saw one and thought I could use my SU matchbox die to make the drawers.  It totally worked!

Decided to add some details to the desk... Made a stack of books using foam tape and cardstock.  Also next to the books is mini post its to look like a desk calendar that many keep on their desks.

Do you like the apple for the teacher?  It's two apples glued together. I ran out, so I need to pick up more on my next trip home.    I also made the vase by rolling some cardstock around the flower spray and then adhering it to the desk.

And just wanted to show you that the desk was functional. I think I'm going to put paper clips and other stuff inside the drawers.

Now just gotta make 3 more!

Lunch with Friends

I already told you that I met my friends for lunch in my last post right?  Well, wanted to share some goodies we exchanged at the luncheon.

I decided to practice making more book stacks, so I gave them to the girls... Here's one of them...

And the front view of the drawers...

Top view of the books.

 And here's the 2nd one I made.

A closer look at the top...

Finally got to use a bird cage embellishment I've been hoarding!

And here's the view of the drawers...

And the back...

And here's my friends with their loot...

And wanted to share what we got from Mrs. Lum!!!! OMG!  I was speechless when I saw this!  Absolutely love them.. So much so I picked up the die before I left Oahu!

Here's a close up of Linda's shoes.  One can never have too many pairs of shoes.

Thanks Cami!  Had so much fun that day!  Gotta take photos of the loot from Linda...

Shabby Gumball Machine

It was awhile since I saw my crafty Oahu besties, so I was really really excited for my last trip home.  We had planned to meet up at our usual meeting place- Royal Garden for some yum yum dim sum!  Love it there since the food is ono and they don't kick us out!  Everytime we go, we shut that place down!  Before I share my project, I just have to share this story of a different time we went to RG... 

One of my besties who shall remain nameless, tells us that she made reservations at RG. So when we get there, she goes up to the host and tells them that we have a reservation under "Lum".  I had to pause for a bit before it hit me that her name is not LUM!  What the heck?  So I look at my other friend and ask her... is her last name Lum?  No right?  Then we both start bus' laughing!!!   So after we sat down, I asked her why she gave them her name as "Lum".  She told us that she always gives a fake Chinese name when going to a Chinese restaurant. She said that most of them always get her name wrong, so it's easier if you give them a Chinese name.. So then why "Lum"?  Because Lum doesn't sound like other Chinese names.  Funny yah?  OMG.. I couldn't stop laughing. Hope I didn't share that story before... Oh well if I did, it's worth repeating cause that's damn funny!

Apparently, she is not the only one that gives out fake names.  Found out my SIL also does that. She said at Starbucks, she always gives them fake names because they always get her name wrong. I don't have the nerve to do that.  I think I would forget what name I gave and forget to pick up my order!  This totally reminds me of Friends- do you know who Regina Falangy or Ken Adams is?  If you do, then you are a true Friends fan!

Ok.. so since I was meeting up with my friends, I figured I would bring Linda's birthday present.  Yes, I know I bought her a crap load of Rilakkuma stuff, but I also had to make her something right?   So I know all the rage now is to alter vintage bubble gum machines.  I couldn't find any, so I decided to make my own. I've seen them at Ben Franklin, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Here's what I came up with...

 It wasn't hard at all, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to glue down the bowl or not.  I asked my friend from work who was headed to Oahu, specifically Flora Dec, if she could bring me back a bag of pearls.  Thanks Marla!!  I really wanted the pearls so that it would look like bubble gum inside the machine.  I decided not to glue down the bowl so that Linda could still use the pearls if she needed them.  This then caused issues with transporting the machine....

So I decided to wrap the machine using tissue paper to hold the bowl on top of the clay pot.  Because it was glass, I didn't want to put it in the suitcase for fear of it cracking, so I hand carried it through security and got stopped by TSA.  The TSA guy asked me if he could look at my bag, which I found weird because I had no liquids, paste or anything in there that I should be stopped for.  So I asked him why he was stopping me and he said its because they couldn't figure out if it was a snow globe or not.  What?  Isn't it an xray machine?

So he then had to unwrap the tissue. I was freaking out because I knew if he unwrapped it the wrong way, pearls would be everywhere!!!  So I was trying to explain to him and to his credit, he did try to be careful.  Then he had to re-run it through the machine again.. not sure why since he now had it unwrapped and could see there was no water in it... by then I was irritated.  He then returns and asks me if I wanted to put it back in the bag. I was so annoyed, that I told him to just put it in.  After I walked away, I thought that I should've taken his offer because he also had a large roll of TSA tape!  OMG that would've been soooooo funny if I gave Linda her bubble gum machine covered in TSA tape!!!!

Anyway, back to the machine... first I painted the clay pots lavender since purple is her favorite color.  Then I added some lace trim to the base and glued on the cover.  To decorate the bowl, I used a Prima pearl butterfly sticker shown here.

I added a large pearl to the lid as the "handle" and then added more flowers by I am roses and Wild Orchid Crafts.

To the base, I added more flowers and prima bling.

On the other side of the lid I added a large Prima butterfly.

Here's another view.

So I guess all that TSA trauma was worth it cause Linda seemed to like it.  Everytime I think about it I crack up!  Of course, if he broke my project I would've had to yell at him.  Don't mess with my craft stuff man!  Happy belated birthday Linda!