Announcement

Hey everyone - hope you're all enjoying your week so far. There is no easy way to say this, so here it goes: I've decided to give up the monthly OCS. If any of you players out there wanna keep it going, please feel free to do so. It was great seeing how much creativity you all have and I just want to thank you all for your support during the last six months. You are ALL fantastic crafters! Keep it up and until next time, take care.

Karber Challenge #13 - Animals!

Happy Monday! Can you believe there are only 17 more days until Thanksgiving?!? Wow, this year has really flown by ...

This week's theme for Karber Digital Images is ~ ANIMALS! I used "Chicky Millie" and you can pick her up here.

Doesn't Millie have the cutest expression? I sure think so!

Head on over to the Karber Weekly Challenges blog for all the details of the weekly challenges. Hope you all have a fantastic week and thanks for stopping by! Until next time, take care!

Karber Challenge #12 - Free Style!

Happy Monday all! Did you all survive Halloween? We bought 4 extra large bags of candy from Costco (150 snack size bars in each bag) and we gave them all away!!! Not sure how many kiddies this year ... maybe 400 or 450. Crazy, huh? Each year there are more and more kiddies who come. It was fun seeing the costumes, especially the homemade ones. The best one was "Jack" from Jack-In-The-Box. Anyhoo ...

It's the start of a new week AND new month, so for this week's Karber Weekly Challenge, the theme is "FREE STYLE"! This challenge was harder than it sounds, for me anyway. I like to have a little guidance when creating a card. I decided to use the latest sketch from the Mojo Monday blog and here's what I made ...

I used "Reader Jenny" from the Karber Shoppe and you can get her here. Isn't she the cutest?!?

I'll be posting my card for Karber's Monthly Challenge very soon. Check out the details on the monthly challenge here.

Also, if you're a player in the monthly OCS, be on the lookout for the partner e-mail. Have a wonderful week everyone, and until next time, take care.

Favors and a card

This past Saturday we attended my uncle's 75th birthday party. I was really stumped for a card so I decided to go with an easy asian theme. Here's what I came up with ...


Not too sure why the picture is so bright - the green cardstock wasn't that bright in real life. Anyhoo, this is the stamp I used for the inside ...

See those three cherry blossom flowers? If you guessed there must've been a mistake there, you would be absolutely correct! I hate it when I'm done with a card and all that's left is the sentiment inside and then I make a mistake! And NOW I see that the word "year" is smeared! Aarrgghh!!! At least the flowers covered up the other booboos. Thanks for the flowers Jenny (from Hilo)!

These are the favors we had at the party - delicious mochi filled with (1) red bean paste and (2) sweet potato. So ono! A friend of my aunty packaged all 50 containers with the mochi. All I did was add on the sentiment. *smile*

"Ippe Nihe Debiru" means Thank You in Okinawan. Thanks for stopping by today and I'll be sharing my Christmas tags in the next couple of posts. Until next time, take care!

Karber Challenge #11 - Love!

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you had a great weekend! This week's theme for the Karber Weekly Challenge is "LOVE"! That is a great theme, don't you think? There are so many things that I love ... it was really hard to pick just one. I decided to use this cutie patootie "BABY BOY" image - you can get him here at the Karber Shoppe. I love MY baby boy and although he's 19-years old, he'll always be my baby boy ...

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a chance to play along with this week's challenge! Head on over to the Karber Weekly Challenge blog for all the deets. Can't wait to see all your creations! Until next time, take care.

Last OCS sign up for 2010!

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's time to sign up for the November One Card Swap ("OCS")! Can you believe how fast this year has flown by?!? This month's theme is to make a HOLIDAY card. You choose which holiday and go for it! I'm gonna be taking a break for one month and will not be having a sign up for December, but will resume the OCS in January 2011!!!

If you're new to the OCS, and would like to play, leave a comment on this post, and e-mail me privately with your name, address, e-mail address, and blog (if you have one). The deadline to sign up for the November OCS is Friday, October 29, 2010. I hope to see some new players for November! The perpetual players are listed below:

Kyoko
Teri
Joy D.
Michelle U.
Joy U.
Joni
Janice M.
Sharon B.
Dori T.
Grace W.
Teresa M.
Jodi
Janis K.
Brenda B.
Jayne C.
Mary B.
Gail
Shani Kulani
Colleen K.
Jenny S.
McCine
North Shore Craft Girl
Denise N.
Claudia
Chris D.
Kim Y.
Liann M.
Leanne P.
Cindy A.

If you are not a perpetual player and would like to be added to the list, please leave a comment on this post. Also, if you are a perpetual player and I've missed you, please let me know; and if you're unable to play in November, let me know that too. Thanks for playing everyone and hope you have a great week!

Karber Challenge #10 - Babies!

Good morning and Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I just can't believe how fast these days are going by ...

Well, it's another Monday, so it's time for the Karber Weekly Challenge! If you haven't played in the weekly challenges yet, check out the blog here for all the deets. This week's theme is BABIES! I used this sweet "BABY GIRL" digi for my card. You can get her here.

Isn't she just the cutest???


Thanks for stopping by and leaving such sweet and encouraging comments! I really appreciate that! Until next time, take care!

"The better friends you are, the straighter you can talk." Saint Francis Xavier

Tamiko's Thursday Teaser - Sketch & Alter Assignment

Happy Thursday everyone! This week the assignment for Tamiko's was to alter C.C. Designs images and use it on a sketch. We were so lucky to have gotten special permission from Christine of All That Scraps, to alter her images. This was a one-time only altering event, so I definitely wanted to make it extra special. We were able to alter the images by swapping heads and bodies only (which happens to be the only way I know how to alter), no wiping away/drawing in techniques were allowed. We used this sketch, from Taylored Expressions, as our inspiration:

Here's what I came up with ...


I used Halloween Birgitta's head and Rosalie's body. I'm very happy with the way she turned out!

I had to show a close up of the mice border - isn't it cute? My BFF and I saw this border at the Scrapper's Jam last month (thanks Sharon, for showing it to us!). Of course we just HAD to have it, so Kyoko went on the hunt, found it, and GAVE it to me! Thanks Kyoko, you da bomb!

That's it for today - hope you're all enjoying your week thus far ... the weekend is almost here! Please stop by Tamiko's blog for a very special announcement! Thanks for stopping by and until next time, take care!

"The essence of true friendship is to make allowances for another's little lapses." David Storey

Karber Challenge #9

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Well, since it's Monday, that can only mean one thing ... it's the start of another challenge week at Karber! If you're new to Karber's Weekly Challenge, check out the blog here for all the deets. This week's theme is Halloween! I don't usually make Halloween cards, but I am starting to like it! I made my card using "Mummy Costume Leslie" and you can get her here.

She's not a very scary mummy, huh? She's such a cutie! I'm entering this card in the "Card Patterns Sketch 85" challenge. You can check out the deets here.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you all have a fantastic week! Until next time, take care!

"Friendships aren't perfect, and yet they are very precious." Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Tamiko's Thursday Teaser - Think Pink!

Happy Thursday all! It's time for Tamiko's Thursday Teaser! This week's assignment for the CT was to create a card for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In case you didn't know, October is the official month for breast cancer awareness. The best way to beat this disease is early detection - it can save your life! For more information about breast cancer, here's a link to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

On to the assignment - here's my card ... I used Miss Anya Autumn and a whole lotta pink!


For the entire month of October, Tamiko's is having a Breast Cancer Awareness special. You will receive 10% off your entire order - just enter PINK10 during checkout.

Thanks for stopping by today and until next time, take care! "Where there is great love, there are always miracles." Willa Cather

Karber Challenge #8

Happy Monday everyone! Where did the weekend go?!? Had a super fun surprise baby shower for 1luvnmama on Saturday, dinner with my folks and sister Saturday night, and cleaned and rearranged my craft space all day and night on Sunday. Hmm, feels like I forgot to do something. Hello?!? I didn't create my card for the Karber Weekly Challenge! So here it is, Monday night, and I'm posting it. Better late than never, right? Right!

The theme for Challenge #8 ~ GO DIGITAL! Check out the Weekly Challenge Blog here for all the details of the challenge. For my card, I used the digi image called "Makeup", and you can get her here. I love this image as it's so versatile and can be used for many different themes/layouts. This card was also my very first easel card. My dear friend Cami taught me how to make this super simple easel card using just one piece of paper!

Did you notice the little pink ribbon in the upper left corner of the image? In case you didn't know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Let's all be proactive in taking care of ourselves and getting our annual check ups done on a regular basis. Early detection could save your life!

Thanks for stopping by today and until next time, take care! "Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly." George MacDonald

October OCS update

I can't believe it's October 1st. I still haven't done the pairing for the OCS. I have no excuse. The days have been slipping by me. I have a luncheon tomorrow and my family is coming over tomorrow night, so I'm cleaning tonight. I WILL have the pairings done this weekend. I PROMISE!

Thought I'd throw some eye candy in this post. From MOONLIGHT, to THREE RIVERS, to HAWAII FIVE-O, I'm so happy that Alex O'Loughlin is back! Are there any of his fans out there? Does Alex rank a spot on my side bar?

I think he does. I can just hear the names my BFF is calling me ... oh well, I'm just looking! Hmm, I wonder if I'll have an Alex sighting while they're filming? You'll be the first to know if I do! Thanks for stopping by for this crazy post! Check you guys later!

Karber Monthly Challenge #2

Happy Aloha Friday! My goodness, can you believe it's October?!? I can't believe we're heading into the holiday season ... and fast! I received some great news about my DT term with Karber Digital Images. My term has been extended indefinitely! I'm so happy and excited about this! Thank you, Karla and Berenice, for allowing me to remain on your DT! I am honored to do so!

Now for more KARBER news ... in case you didn't know, along with the weekly challenges, Karber also has monthly challenges! Check out the monthly challenge blog here for all the details and don't forget to become a follower while you're there!

This month's theme is FANTASY! Wow - there are so many different ways to interpret this theme. For me, I decided to go the TWILIGHT route. Is that a surprise to anyone? Heehee! Here's what I came up with:

I used the "Jacob and Bella" image from the Karber Shoppe. You can get it here.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by! I hope you're able to play along with the Karber Monthly Challenge! Until next time, take care!

"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives." Euripides

Tamiko's Thursday Teaser - Mixed Plate Assignment

Happy Thursday all! It's time for another Thursday Teaser for Tamiko's! This week the CT's assignment was to use buttons, brads, and bling! I could've gone overboard with these embellishments, but decided to keep it subtle instead. I used Coffee Kiki La Rue from C.C. Designs. For other C.C. Designs stamps, check out Tamiko's here.

Like my bling on my brad? Neat huh? I jacked this idea from my BFF, Kyoko! Thanks Buddy! Kiki's hair in the roller reminds me of a cinnamon roll.

I thought this sentiment was perfect for this card.

Tomorrow is Friday! Woohoo! Thanks for visiting and until next time, take care!

"Little kindnesses will broaden your heart." Zadik

Karber Challenge #7

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I did! I try to make the most of every minute of the weekend because it always manages to go by so quickly. Don't you agree? Well, on Saturday I spent the day with a very good friend to celebrate her birthday. Cami and I spent the day talking, shopping, eating, shopping, talking, laughing, etc. You get the idea. We had a grand time!

On Sunday, we finally got our fur baby! We adopted him from the shelter my son is volunteering at. He's a domestic short haired cat named Maui. He's so cute and I would have shared a picture of him, but he's very camera shy at the moment and is still getting acquainted with us and his new home. I'll definitely post pics when he's ready.

Enough about my weekend. It's time for Karber Challenge #7! This week's challenge: Hobbies and Leisure! Wowza! How perfect is this challenge for all of us crafters?!? I know you all can relate, so please hop on over to the Karber Shoppe, pick up a digi or two and enter this challenge!

My first card is made with "Shopping Stephanie". And what is she doing? Our favorite hobby - shopping!

I love this sentiment!

For my second card I used "Reader Leslie". She loves the TWILIGHT saga as much as I do! She's reading her favorite book of the series, ECLIPSE ...

And this sentiment reflects my feelings when I'm reading ECLIPSE! Heehee!

The reason I made two cards this week, is because I felt my first card wasn't my best work. The flowers were too big for the image I used, and kinda overpowered the image. I am much happier with my second card - it's more balanced than the first. Know what I mean?

Anyway, some great news from KARBER! Karla and Berenice are having a DT call! Click here for all the details, and good luck to you should you decide to apply!

Thanks for reading this long post and hope you all have a great week! Until next time, take care.

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." Mother Teresa

I have to laugh ...

every time I see this card ~

I don't know why, but I decided to look back at some of my old blog posts. Have you ever done that? Well, this card is the very first one I posted and I can't believe I did that! In case you don't know the story behind this card, here's a quick and dirty version: I wanted to make a really special card for my BFF, Kyoko. After days of searching magazines and websites for a layout, I had info overload and couldn't think. So I got this epoxy "FRIEND" sticker and stuck it on a plain card. Hahahahahah! I still remember the look on Kyoko's face when she opened the card and boy did we laugh! And like I said, I still laugh every time I see or think about this card.

I've come a long way in my card making and crafting and that's thanks to my BFF and many other sweet ladies who have taken the time to comment on my blog and keep me inspired by their creations.

If you have a moment or two, go back to your first blog posts and check out YOUR creations and see how far you all have come. Maybe you'll laugh, or even scream, at your first creations you shared with all of us. Either way, I hope it'll bring you a little happiness. Take care everyone and much love to you all.

"Kind words are never wasted. Like scattered seeds, they spring up in unexpected places." E. M. Bounds

Tamiko's Thursday Teasers - Embellishment Challenge

Happy Thursday all! This week's challenge for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers was to use Spellbinders on your card. Here's what I came up with ~



I used several different Spellbinders dies - can you spot them all? I also used Rosalie from C. C. Designs Stamps. You can check out other C. C. Designs Stamps at Tamiko's here. Thanks for stopping by today and hope you're having a wonderful week!

Happy Mail!!!

Woohoo! We're half way through the week! Hope you all are having a good one so far ... as for me, I've been having "small kine" stress, so imagine how utterly thrilled I was to find this waiting for me at home after a very looong day! This beauty of a card is from my GF Jenny (from Hilo).


Look at the details and all that cutting!

Thank you so much Jenny ... and the goodies you sent are all mine! I hope we can craft together again so don't forget to let me know the next time you're in town.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, take care.

"Friends cherish each other's hopes. They are kind to each other's dreams." Henry David Thoreau

Karber Challenge #6

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I sure did! I went to the Happy Scrappers Jam with my BFF, Kyoko, and we had a day filled with fun and lots of laughter! I didn't take pictures (even though I took my camera), but the memories are in my head and my heart. I met up with some old friends, Brian, ManLe and Claudie, and also met some new ones, Sharon and Summer!!! Thank you for the great company ladies!

Now, as you know, every Monday there's a new challenge from Karber Digital Images and today is no exception. The theme this week was to make a card using food/beverages on it. Ok, I don't mean that you need to put actual food/beverages on your card unless you wanted to ... well, you know what I mean. Heehee! Anyhoo, here's what I came up with ~

I used "Cupcake Leslie" and you can get her here. Isn't she just the cutest?!? I stuck her on a Sizzix cupcake card.

Close up of sweet Leslie ...

Yum ... wish I had a cupcake right about now! Ok, head on over to the Karber Weekly Challenge Blog for all the deets and I hope you can play with us! Thanks so much for stopping by and until next time remember ~

"It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter." Marlene Dietrich

OCTOBER OCS SIGN UP!

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!

Happy Sunday everyone! It's time to sign up for the October One Card Swap ("OCS")! I can't believe how fast this year is going by. Can you?!? This month's challenge is to make a CUTE Halloween card. I know a couple of the gals in the OCS who absolutely LOVE Halloween, so I'm sure they'll be happy with this challenge! If you're new to the OCS, and would like to play, leave a comment on this post, and e-mail me privately with your name, address, e-mail address, and blog (if you have one). The deadline to sign up for the October OCS is Thursday, September 30, 2010. I hope to see some new players this month! The perpetual players are listed below:

Kyoko

Teri

Joy D.

Michelle U.

Joy U.

Joni

Janice M.

Sharon B.

Dori T.

Sherri M.

Grace W.

Teresa M.

Jodi

Janis K.

Brenda B.

Jayne C.

Mary B.

Gail

Shani Kulani

Colleen K.

Jenny S.

McCine

North Shore Craft Girl

Denise N.

Claudia

Chris D.

Kim Y.

Liann M.

Leanne P.

Cindy A.

If you are a perpetual player and I've missed you, please let me know. Also, if you're unable to play this month, let me know that too. Thanks for playing everyone and hope you have a great week!

"What brings joy to the heart is not so much the friend's gift as the friend's love." Saint Aelred

Tamiko's Thursday Teasers - 3D Challenge & A Prize!

Yay! It's Thursday - almost the end of the week! It's also time for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers! This week's challenge for the CT was to do an altered Greeting Farm image on a 3D project. The good news for all you followers is Tamiko's is bringing back her monthly challenge for YOU to participate in! Yahoo!!! The prize for this month's challenge winner will be "Sweet Anya" from The Greeting Farm! If you'd like to play along, but aren't too comfortable making a 3D project, please feel free to create a card. Just be sure to use an altered TGF image.

I created this cute bag for the challenge using a template I bought from Becky Roberts of Inking Idaho fame. Becky has awesome tutorials for sale here.


Side view ...

Close up of my GF altered image ... Can you guess which two stamps I used for my girl?

I used Geisha Anya and Jade from the Roll Call set! Be sure to check out Tamiko's on-line store for more TGF images. Okay, so if you wanna play in this month's challenge, here are the deets: (1) Use an altered Greeting Farm image on either a card or 3D project; (2) Be sure to link your entry on Tamiko's blog here; (3) The challenge ends on Thursday, September 30, 2010 and the winner will be announced on Tamiko's blog.

Hope you're able to come out and play and have some fun with us! I can't wait to see all your creations! Thanks for stopping by today!

"Two friends, two bodies with one soul inspired." Homer

Karber Challenge #5

Welcome friends and Happy Monday! It's time for another weekly challenge from Karber! This week's challenge is to make a girl card. Making girl cards, for me anyway, is a challenge in itself. Why, you ask? Well, to me, there are sooo many cute images, embellishments, papers, sentiments, etc. to choose from, when making a card for a girl. Know what I mean?

Some of these super cute images are from Karber, and you can get them here. For my girl card, I used "Music Sophie". She is one of the new Karber Girls in the Shoppe and she is just rockin' out! I wonder what she's listening to ...

Hope you're able to play along with this week's challenge! I can't wait to see all your wonderful creations! Have an awesome week everyone and thanks for stopping by!

"Hold a true friend with both hands." Nigerian proverb

Tamiko's Thursday Teasers - Sketch Challenge

Happy Thursday everyone! If it's Thursday, it must be time for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers! Our assignment this week was a sketch challenge and we were to use the sketch below designed by Cindy Haffner. Check out Tamiko's blog to see the rest of the Creative Team's designs!

This is my interpretation of the sketch ...

Closer look at Birgitta ...

Super cute crochet flower made by my GF's grandmother! As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect on this card! Thanks Grandma!

Please be sure to check out Tamiko's on-line store for more great CC Designs stamps and other awesome specials!

"One of the secrets of life is to keep your friends within hugging distance." Anonymous

Christmas tags from my partners and a special RAK

Well hello again! I wanted to share the tags I received from my Tag Swap partners, ManLe and Kyoko. Look at how cute they are!!!

I absolutely adore ManLe's tag! Check out the cute Hello Kitty image! More on this image below. Thank you so much ManLe, I love my tags!

Here's the tag from my BFF, Kyoko ...

How adorable is Rudolph on this tag?!? I actually thought she made it in the shape of a Christmas ornament, so I have one hanging at my work station. I have to laugh everytime I look at it because ...

Look how HUGE it is!!! I have a secret I'm gonna share with you all about my BFF. She loves everything BIG! And I mean EVERYTHING! (Keep it clean folks!) Me, I like small things ... you know, cute, little tiny things. Kyoko, on the other hand, can't stand small things! So when she told me she was gonna use this HUGE scallop circle for her tag, I told her, "WOW! That's gonna be a BIG tag!" Of course she disagreed ... BUT, after she finished it, even SHE had to admit that this tag was HUGE! Hahahahaha! We had such a good laugh about it when she gave them to me!!!

Now, on to the "special RAK". I pre-ordered these HK stamps from ManLe of Pineapple Cove and received them last week. Check out her blog and store here. My BFF and I are so in tune with each other, that we both pre-ordered, but didn't know what the other got until our sets came in. Can you believe that we both got the exact same sets?!? Weird, huh? Anyway, as soon as I knew I was going to order them, I also knew that I had to get some for a special friend who lives far, far, away. These are the stamp sets I'm sending to my friend who lives in Mexico ...

The "Play" set ...


The "Christmas" set ...

And finally, the "Summer" set ...

Berenice, if you're reading this, I put these in the mail today (along with some other goodies) so let me know when you get them!!! SURPRISE SISTER!!! Merry Christmas!!!

Thanks for stopping by and reading this looong post!

"A true friend prods you to personal growth, stretches you to your full potential, And most amazing of all, celebrates your successes as if they were his own." Richard Exley