Elzybears

Just got my package full of Elzybells stamps! They are just the cutest girls and totally my style. Since I was shopping internationally, I figured, I might as well make it worth it and get all the ones I wanted. I really liked these bears on the see saw stamp. Akemi talks about see saws, but there are none in Hilo that I'm aware of. Anyway, I knew I could make them "see saw" on the card too... Did you notice that they moved???

hee hee hee. I just love interactive cards!

Supplies used:

Bear stamp- Elzybells

Markers- Copics

DP- Doodlebug

Brad

Ribbon

Dew Drops- The Robin's nest

Ugh- is it really only Tuesday?

Cards for Hospice

Designed by Karen Inouye Hi Everyone! I sure had a busy weekend! First, I had a dreaded dentist appointment, then headed to teach my class, then prepped more kits for today's card making workshop, then went to today's Hoaloha meeting and made a lot of cards! Phew- where did the weekend go? Anyway, here are the cards we ended up making today to donate to Hospice. Our club does several service projects a year, and since Keiki Cards closed down, we started asking around to see if other organizations needed donated cards. My friend Karen I. had volunteered to coordinate this project, so I told her I'd help her out and come up with 2 cards. She came up with three by herself. Sorry, not sure where she got all her materials from, but I can list the supplies used for my cards. Anyway, they asked for cards for Thinking of You and Sympathy cards, so here's what we came up with. Designed by Karen Inouye Designed by Karen Inouye Supplies used: Leaf stamp- Stampin Up Thinking of You stamp- Hero Arts Dew Drops Ribbon Swiss dots embossing folder- Cuttlebug Cardstock- Bazzil Markers- Copics Supplies used: Butterfly stamp- Hero Arts Cherry blossom die- Sizzix With Sympathy sentiment- Custom Laser cut by Island Scrapbooking Markers- Copics Stickles Have a great week!

Hello Kitty Mobile

I made this Hello Kitty mobile for Michele at Island Scrapbooking. Now I think my daughter wants one too. Got the idea from my Auntie, who made one using the first set of HK dies to make a mobile for her grandaughter. In her mobile, she used the Hello Kitties dies that could "fly" like the bird die, HK as a ladybug and HK as a bee. It came out really cute.

So, being the copy cat that I am, I had to copy her idea of making a mobile. My friend Debi told me that she saw instructions on how to make one using an embroidery hoop that you just wrap ribbon around it. She saw the instructions on the Martha Stewart website. Well, I never did find those instructions, so I had to improvise again. The picture above is what I eventually came up with. I wanted to use the summer Hello Kitty dies, but couldn't figure out the color scheme. I decided to go with pink and black, cause don't you automatically think of those colors when you think of her? Well maybe not everyone, but I sure do!

Anyway, I wanted to dress it up a bit, so I ended up using beads and attaching black and white poka dot ribbons to it. The tricky part about this mobile was figuring out how to hang the kitty on the towel and the kitty on top. I had a hard time photographing the mobile cause it moves, so you can't see that there is one more kitty - the one with the snorkle. Oh welll.

Special thanks to Aunty Jan for another great idea!

Chinese Kids Thank You Card Set

Just posted this on the Island Scrapbooking blog, so I thought I'd also share it with you all. I bought these stamps by Hero Arts because they are so cute, but haven't used them till now. The great thing about sets is that they are meant to coordinate well, which takes the guess work out of making a set of cards. Here I used two of the sets of Chinese kids- one was a clear set and one a wood block set. Reminds me of Ni Hao Kai Lan- one of my daughter's favorite cartoons on Noggin.

Since I made a set of cards, I decided to go with a more simple approach. Each card was realtively quick to put together. I think the coloring took the longest for me since I'm still practicing my blending and shading techniques. I think my favorite out of these cards is the one at the top of this post!

Since this girl stamp was smaller, I decided to make three of them.

Here's the only boy of the set. Kept his card very simple.

I think I had the most difficult time with this one- couldn't think of how else to add to this card so I gave up.

After I was done with the cards, I made this cool A2 sized box. So easy and makes your cards look so much nicer!

Supplies used:

Chinese kid stamps- Hero Arts

Thank You sentiments- Hero Arts

Flower, oval, scallop oval dies- Spellbinders

Cardstock- Bazzil

Washi- Hanko designs

Markers- Copics

Stickles

Crystals- Hero Arts

Ribbon

BTW- did anyone see the new winter Hero Arts sets coming out???? You won't want to miss out on some of the cute new Japanese girls!

Busy As A Bee

Happy Friday! Wow- only 2 days of work this week and I'm already burnt out! Glad its Friday and I have the weekend to do more crafting- yay! Still need to prep my cards for Hospice- did half of one card but gotta finish cutting the kits; finally designed the 2nd card, but haven't even started on the kits for that one! Good thing the meeting isn't until 1:00 on Sunday- I'll have Saturday night and Sunday morning to finish. K.I... don't worry- I'll get it done on time! Wanted to do another tri-shutter card since I didn't get the first one quite right. Here's the end result... I just love this bee!! It's from one of the Hello Kitty deco strips from Sizzix. I've been meaning to use it, but just haven't had any inspiration until now. I thought he'd match perfectly with this new DP I found at Island Scrapbooking. I replicated the flowers on the paper by cutting out similar shaped flowers using my Spellbinder dies. Since I don't have any of those clever "bee" type phrase stamps, I printed my own on the computer. Thank you for "bee"ing a great friend! Special thanks to Michele, Tracy and Kelli at Island Scrapbooking, who helped me put this card togehter. For some reason I had a hard time with this one. Kelli- see? I decided you were right and I did end up adding the additional layer. Sigh, so much for saving on paper! I decided that being that she is a bee, she should fly right? So I added some fishing line to her and had her dangle from one of the folds. When you open it up, she moves around randomly like a busy bee. Tried to take a photo up close here so you could see that she's dangling and not attached directly to the card. Supplies used: Bee- Sizzix Sentiment- Printed from my computer Leaf die- Sizzix Flower dies- Spellbinders circles- Marvy Uchida punches cardstock- Bazzil DP- TPC Studio (paper is double sided and I used both sides) Glitter paper- Doodlebug Designs fishing line Well, hope everyone has a fun weekend. My mini vacation is over and my baby is going to Kindergarten today! (tear)

Flower Pot Card

I know everyone has already done this card, but this was a first for me! My friend Debi showed me her version of this card earlier. The cool thing is instead of cutting her own template for it, she used the Sizzix Cupcake pocket XL die and just alter the bottom a bit so it looks like a pot. I used a Spellbinder flower set to make the flowers and brads as the center.

At first I was going to use this as one of the cards we are making for Hospice this Sunday at our club meeting, but changed my mind since we all need to make about 5 cards and this one might take too much time. Since this is now an extra card, I will probably give it to my friend to sell. She sells cards to benefit American Cancer Society for the annual Relay for Life event.

Supplies used:

Cardstock- Bazzil and Double Mates (2 sided colored paper)

DP- Doodlebug, Bazzil swiss dots, and Reminisce

Thinking of you sentiment stamp- Hero Arts

Flower die- Spellbinder

Flower Pot pocket (Cupcake die)- Sizzix

Leaves- Sizzix

Ribbon

Brads- Doodlebug

Thanks for stopping by! Now, off to Island Scrapbooking to prep for my class on Saturday!

Wild Things Note Card Gift Set

I bought the Wild Things stamp set from TGF and thought it would be cute to do a set of cards using these stamps. I had colored them last week, but then forgot about them because of all the other projects I was working on... I found them today and started working on them again. This was a fast and fun project that would be a great gift to give someone.

I used one animal for each card and decided to keep the card very simple.

After I made all the cards... I thought it would be nice to make a box that could hold the set nicely. This is the A2 box pattern that I followed from Splitcoast Stampers. Its really easy to put together. I even used my scallop border punch for the box cover. To keep the box closed, I made a band that goes around the box. The 12x12 paper I used was a little short to overlap, so I had to improvise and use my circle/scallop circle to attach to the two ends of the band. This bunny was a leftover image that was already colored, so I used it instead of coloring another Wild Thing stamp. Here's a side view of the box so you can see the scallop border.

Supplies used:

Cardstock- Bazzil, DCWV

DP- Bo Bunny, Doodlebug Designs, Reminisce

Embossing folders- Cuttlebug

Scallop border punch-Fiscars

Circle, scallop circle, square and scallop square dies- Spellbinders

All animal stamps- TGF

All seniment stamps- Hero Arts

Markers- Copics

Dew Drops- The Robin's Nest

Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Kreativ Blog Award!

Wow! Got two messages from fellow bloggers (that I admire) that they were awarding me this Kreative Blog Award! Thanks to Brenda from Sweet as a Gumdrop and Kelli B. from Wink and a Smile for giving me this award. So nice of them to think of me... I think most of you out there got this award already, so I'm just gonna give you the info... Hmmm... 7 things about myself? 1. I was actually born and raised on Oahu. Hilo was a bit of a culture shock for me, but I'm finally used to it (took only 10 years!). 2. In my professional life, not many people know I have a blog. 3. I love going to Disneyland- more than Vegas... My mom is holding her head down in shame right now. 4. I'd rather spend money on crafts than on jewelry or clothes. 5. I have a red daschund named Kiki. 6. I am afraid of clowns. 7. I hate horror movies... maybe because they often use clowns?? For those of you who didn't get this already- I'm giving this to you! Everyday I find more and more sources of inspiration through fellow bloggers. Thank you!

Prom.. At My Age?

Normally, we attend weddings as the hired help, so its rare that we are actually considered to be guests at a wedding. Last night, we attended a wedding for one of my DH's co-workers. My DH told me that it was a "semi-formal" event and added it was an "adult affair". I asked him what "semi-formal" meant and he told me.. "think of what you wore to Winterball and that's semi-formal." That would be a funny sight to see me in a strapless short party dress! Now, living in Hilo, there is at least one person who shows up in rubber slippers, a t-shirt, and baseball cap. Normal attire is an aloha shirt and shorts. So my DH was worried about what to wear, so was I. We finally decided on our outfits, and needless to say, we were both underdressed. Oh well.

When we got there, they quickly moved us to the "picture taking area" and had us take a picture together... The girl who escourted us there even told us... "Just like Prom". I had to laugh to myself because I was definitely not dressed for prom. Anyway, at the end of the night, we were supposed to pick up our photos from the sign in table, but we had to leave early and didn't get ours. Ha ha ha ha ha... bet you thought you were going to get to see our "prom shots"?? Nope. Sorry! hee hee hee.

The food was really good- heavy pupus. I think I like that better than buffet style... Maybe its because we have gone to soooo many weddings, its nice to have a change once in awhile.

Anyway, I had to throw this card together at the last minute. I had no idea what their colors were, so I just went with black, white and pink. You can't really see the DP in the back- its actually washi paper by Hanko. Not my best work, but OK for 15 minutes!

Here's a look at the inside.... If I had more time, I think I would've used a flourish stamp with my versamark ink to give the inside a little more detail. Need to keep this in mind for next time.

Supplies used:Cake Topper stamps- The Greeting Farm

Cardstock- Bazzil

Washi paper- Hanko

Heart and scallop heart nestabilities- Spellbinders

Markers- Copics

Glitter paper- Doodlebug Designs

A Simple Sympathy

A dear friend's mother-in-law passed away recently. Although she told me "no koden" and the service is private, I wanted to give the family something. Here's my simple sympathy card that I made for them.

To be honest... Sympathy cards are my least favorite type of card to make, so I always struggle when coming up with my design. The "with sympathy" sentiment made it easier since the font by itself is nice. The sentiment is a custom laser cut and will soon be carried at Island Scrapbooking. I colored the words with my black Copic marker, they were originally white.

At first, I just had the washi rectangle behind the words and that's it. I knew it needed something else, but didn't want to go overboard since its a sympathy card. I decided on using my small sakura punch for some flower accents. It was just enough to balance the card.