Surprise Birthday Blog Hop!

Today we are celebrating Leanne's birthday by throwing a fun birthday blog hop party!  We thought we'd gather a few of her friends and design team members to celebrate her special day.  If you came here from Danni’s blog you are in the right place.  If you didn’t you may want to start at the beginning at Yumi & Fumi's Handmade Crafts blog. 

I met Leanne through blogland- mainly because she is so nice and leaves comments on almost all my posts!  So sweet!  I was fortunate enough to meet her in person too!  I heard she was going to the Winter CHA and thought I'd try to meet up with her then.  I'm so glad we were able to meet in person.  Leanne has been a blessing to Sister Stamps too.  Not only was she one of our guest designers, but she frequently posts Sister Stamps cards for her Lilo's Fun Friday posts!  I can't thank her enough for all the publicity she's given Sister Stamps over the past year.  Thanks Leanne!  You are such a sweetie!  Hopefully we will cross paths again one day and have time to hang out.

Sooo Leanne...  Are you surprised that I participated?  Ha ha ha ha ha!  I know you are! OK enough talking... on to the card!

I gotta admit, this is my 2nd try.  I guess I'm out of practice!  I decided to use Mariko since she is holding a gift- perfect for birthdays...  Since I'm still into the shabby chic theme, I decided to try incorporate it but using brighter colors.  I turned to my new 6x6 American Crafts DP for the flag paper and drew my colors from that pallet.  

 I found a heart doily from my stash and decided to use that in my background.  Stamped "Surprise" from my new Penny Black birthday set (love that by the way).  Used a crystal flourish and a variety of flowers by I am Roses and Wild Orchid Crafts.  The smaller acrylic flowers are by Dress Me Up buttons.  Here's a better look at Mariko.

Just wanted to share my shabby style here... Inserted into the large white rose is actually a stick pin I made.  Can you even see it?  There's a bunch of beads under the rose.  Stick pins are my new favoritte embellishment.

Thanks to Eva for helping coordinate this surprise hop!  And Happy Birthday Leanne! Tanjyoobi Omedeto Gozaimasu!   Go have a good time girl!  Now you are off to see Kathy from Pixie Boutique!  Be sure to end at Leanne's personal blog to wish her a Happy Birthday!!

Thanks for coming!  

Nutshells Blog Hop Winner!

Did you enjoy the blog hop? It's time to annoucne the random winner that left a comment on my blog hop post! And the Winner is... Katie-Louise Oakley Congratulations Katie! Please go to the Nutcrafters blog for details on how to claim your prize! Thank you to all of you who left such sweet comments on my blog hop post! My term as the Guest DT member is coming to an end.. but I have one more project up my sleeve! Stay tuned on 3/24 for my last Nutshells Challenge as a Guest DT member.

Nutshell's Blog Hop and New Releases!

Introducing... Cutie Pie Stamps from Nutshells! These sweeties are appropriately named, don't'cha think? There are six new releases available at the Nutcrafter's website- Birthday Girl Aster, Rae Shopping, Luna Fairy Princess (I previewed earlier this week so scroll down for a peek at her if you missed it), and Ballerina Aster- who I'm featuring today! There are two more cutie pies that are being revealed today- Luna Cupcake and Thankful Rae.

I chose Ballerina Aster because my DD dances Ballet. I was never one to enjoy the ballet, but once I was at the YWCA picking up swimming schedules for my DD and saw a ballet class in session. They were all about 3-4 years old and so adorable! After that, I asked my daughter if she wanted to dance and she was very excited about it! She's been dancing for over a year now and loves it! So you can guess how excited I was when I saw this cute ballerina?

In the above photo, the card is closed... I must admit that I was very excited to try out this new card! Brenda (Punch Queen) featured it on her blog and I was DYING to find out how to make it. She recently posted the instructions.. Thank you Brenda! You can find the instructions here... Its very similar to a Tri shutter card but I think its called a Double Display card.

Here's a close up of Ballerina Aster... isn't she sweet?

Da da da daaaaaaaaaa! Here's what it looks like when you open it! Cool yah? My trademark when making these types of cards is to dangle something from one of the top sections. I chose the ballet slippers that come in the stamp set.

This sentiment also comes with the stamp set- I know.. the slippers are blocking the words...

Here's a better view so you can see what the words say...

These new releases will be available on the Nutcrafter's Website on Monday 2/22/10. As a Guest DT member, I was so excited to be a part of Nutshell's first blog hop! Please check out the other DT member's blogs for more sneek peeks and an opportunity at EVERY stop to win prizes! One random hopper who visits ALL the blogs on the hop (and leaves comments on each blog) will win the entire collection of new Cutie Pie releases! How Awesome is that??? So don't forget to post on everyone's blog!

If you didn't start at beginning- hop on back to Cathy's blog so you can start from the beginning. If you are already in the middle of the hop- your next stop is Jacquie! Give Jacquie and the rest of the DT some love! Now get hoppin!

Nutshell's New Release Sneak Peek and Blog Hop Info

Did you notice my sidebar? Yes! The first Nutshell's blog hop is coming your way this Sunday, February 21st and I am so excited to be a part of it! Here's a sneak preview of one of their new stamps that will be available.. her name is Luna Fairy Princess. These new stamps are clear and stamp really good. I was very impressed with the image from these clear stamps because sometimes you don't get good images with other companies.

Just got this new DP and thought it matched perfectly with this princess! Here's a close up of Luna...

Be sure to join in the fun on February 21st! You can grab the button on my sidebar and add it to your blog to let others know about the hop too. The DT has previews all week to show you, so please check out their blogs to see some of the other releases. We have some surprises for you during the hop, including two super secret images to share with you! There will be prizes at each blog stop to be won, so make sure you visit every blog on the list. A random winner will be selected that posted comments on each stop on the hop to win the entire collection of new releases! For more information on the blog hop, check out the Nutshells blog here... Hope to see you at the hop!

Oopsie!

You must excuse me since I'm still sick and can't think clearly... For those of you on the YNS Blog Hop, here's a bit of clarification... On my original post, I stated you should go to the YNS Challenge blog to enter for the Grand Prize Giveaway... That was WRONG! Please go to Simonne's blog where you will see a Mr. Linky. Add your name and you're done! You can enter again if you posted something on your blog about your favorite Vacation Destination or Rock Band. See Simonne's blog for more details on how to enter. AND.... I also neglected to include that YNS is having a huge sale! You can selected stamps for 25-55% off! What a great deal! Head on over now for best selection as quantities are limited. If you haven't done so already, please check out the YNS blog hop starting at Karen's blog! You won't be sorry- the DT has come up with some really cute samples to share with you. Hope I got it right this time! OK- I'm going back to bed now... please click here for my YNS Blog Hop post!

YNS New Releases and Blog Hop!

Aloha Everyone! Mahalo nui loa (thank you) for joining me in the YNS New Release Blog Hop! This is very exciting for me as I have not participated in any blog hop before! You are probably coming from Lana's blog, but in case you are not starting from the beginning, you should probably go check out Karen's blog first! I was thrilled to find out that 1) I was selected to be a Guest Starlet for YNS, AND 2) YNS came up with a Hawaiian Fhiona and Fhinn (Aloha Fhiona and Surfer Fhinn to be exact). Since I'm from Hawaii, these are definitely one of my favorite designs! I really wanted to make a card using both Aloha Fhiona and Surfer Fhinn, so I decided to try my first Diorama card. This was pretty fun to make and very simple. The hardest part was figuring out where to put everything- not the actual construction of the card... Here's what I came up with... See! Aloha Fhiona is doing the hula while Surfer Fhinn is riding the waves! This project was so fun to put together! I just love how the card gives you so much dimension with the different layers. Here's a close up.... For my next card, I decided to do a traditional card using Aloha Fhiona. It was so awesome to be able to use some of the Hawaiian themed scrapbooking products found locally for this project! Do you like the little gecko? He's one of my favorites! Here's a closer look at Aloha Fhiona... So since I live in Hawaii, many of you might assume that my favorite place to vacation is Hawaii... well, maybe its because I live here and can see it every day, I actually enjoy traveling to non-tropical places. Weird yah? I know... I totally take Hawaii for granted, but whenever I return from a trip, I always appreciate what I have a lot more! So, now that you know that Hawaii is not my favorite vacation destination, you are probably wondering what is? I actually have 2 right now. I LOVE DISNEYLAND! Always have, always will. Now that I have a daughter, this is our favorite destination.. can't wait for my next trip to the Magic Kingdom! My next favorite- only because I can't afford to go again anytime soon, is Italy! My sister lives there and we went for her wedding. It was so beautiful! I can't wait to go and visit there again. Now, if I had a chance to go anywhere in the world, I'd have to go with Japan... I'd be first in line at Tokyo Disneyland! I would also need to check out Puroland (Hello Kitty theme park). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find my Italy pictures in time for this post, so I leave you with my favorite Disneyland picture of Akemi... Thank you so much for stopping by on this blog hop! Your next destination is Angela's blog... so hop on over now to see what she has for you! Don't forget... There are prizes to be won on this blog hop! Here's the prize info:

• Grand Prize: The entire new release (4 stamp sets) will go to one lucky winner!
• How to enter: Go to the YNS Challenges blog and add your name to Mr. Linky.
• If you publish a post on your blog about the blog hop and include a picture and blurb about your favorite vacation destination or rock band, you will be eligible for a 2nd entry into the grand prize!
• Blog Hop will run from 1/21/10 to 1/25/10.

Isn't that awesome! Hope you had fun visiting my blog... don't forget to check out the other YNS Starlet's blogs for other cool creations!

The Greeting Farm Blog Hop

Hi Everyone...

Ready for the weekend?? I am... I have 3 days off in addition to my weekend.. Woo Hoo! Actually I was forced to take off because of my daughter's kindergarten school schedule. Oh well- maybe I'll have some time for crafting?

I've been a little MIA recently. Got busy getting the Island Scrapbooking blog ready for The Greeting Farm Blog Hop! If you haven't checked it out yet, go to the Club Anya or Splendid Stamping with the Greetings Farm blogs for more details. They will be publishing a list of blogs that are participating so you can "hop" and check out everyone's creations. Its a great way to get new ideas. Don't forget to check out the Island Scrapbooking blog to see what we all came up with!

Here's my contribution to the blog hop... I had something totally different in mind when I started working on my card, but it didn't work out (don't even ask- its that bad), that I had to come up with a new card... and fast! Yes, I procrastinated because I got side tracked and worked on a non-Greeting Farm project that I will post soon. So to make a long story short, I stayed up till 2am last night and worked on the finishing touches till now....

As I stared at all of my TGF stamps, I was drawing a blank... sometimes the images you have just don't fit your idea.... so scrap the idea right? I decided to use the Rock the Farm set because TGF uses the farmer girl as their logo and they are the Greeting "Farm" right? So I incorporated the farm animals into the design as well.

The other theme I wanted to incorporate was the "small world" concept. My sister lives in Italy, born and raised in Hawaii, and we are Japanese, so she's very into the international theme. Now that TGF has come out with some international Anya and Ian designs, I thought this was the way to go- reminds me of her. Luckily, Kelli was nice enough to stamp a Scottie Ian and Navajo Anya for me, otherwise my concept might not have worked. Thank you Kelli! I really wanted to incorporate the world/globe in my card, so I printed a clip art from the internet.

Now for the funny part... I decided to make this a pop up card.... see how the world and all the Anyas/Ians pop up off the card? Well, when you close the card, the Hula Anya's head popped out from the side of the card! I had to perform surgery and attach the red border strip onto the card so it extended it. Yikes!

This actually gave me more room for my title, but the card ended up huge! It reminds me of a small portfolio. Oh well. Need to keep that in mind next time I work on a pop up card!

Overall, this project turned out to be very stressful but I like the results. I think I would like it more if the card were smaller.

So my daughter, who loves Anya stamps by the way, decided she wanted to participate in the blog hop too! Here's her contribution. Daddy had built this house for her favorite stuffed bunny (aka "Daba") which we painted/decorated together. That's balloons and a rainbow on the roof, Wubzy carpeting on the top floor and a Daba carpet with "I Love You" painted on the bottom floor. When I came home from work today, she had the house decorated with all her Anyas. Guess she's gonna be a crafter just like Mommy!