Hi There! This blog will no longer have any new post or activities. Please click here to go to my NEW blog, as I've depleted all the memory on this one. I hope to see you there! I will, however, continue to keep this blog up, as there are tons of ideas and tutorials that you may want to search through. When you are done searching here, please head on over to my new blog and visit me there. Aloha, Teri

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

August OCS

It feels like forever since I've blogged. I have been busier than busy taking care of sick family. My son ended up staying home the whole week, but thank goodness I was able to go to work for a couple of days last week and now Dad is under the weather. Being sick on the weekend is nerve wrecking for me because as a caregiver, you have to find alternatives. I took Dad to urgent care just to get him checked out and get some meds and I totally didn't think that taking a dose of cough medicine with codeine was going to throw Dad for a loop, but now I know...It was an experience in more ways than one. Dealing with the unexpected is so draining for me and all I can do after all the ordeal is to sit down and have a good cry. Anyway, enough drama about me!

Today, I wanted to share with you my card for the August one card swap. Linda, who is the organizer for this monthly card swap, has asked us to make our card using an Asian theme. I almost forgot! I got this fun image from Tiddly Inks and her name is Chi. I had so much fun coloring her and making this card and I hope my partner KaRen likes it!
Here's the inside of the card. The symbol on the front (happiness) and the sentiment inside of the card (thank you) is from a Hero Arts clear stamp set. Pearl embellishments is by SU. I also wanted to share the beautiful sunflowers my Dad grew in the front yard. They are so cheery and happy! Here's a really close up shot of the flower.
These flowers are not too large and guess where he got the seeds from? The wild bird seed mix...he picked out the sunflower seeds and stuck them in the ground.
Here's the patch.
I want to thank you all for your continued love and support and for still coming to my blog and leaving me comments. I'm working on finding my balance and will try to post as much as time will allow so I can share some creative ideas with you!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Tamiko's Thursday Teasers - 3D Thursday!

My dear friends...thank you SO MUCH for the extra love and support you are showing me with your kind and caring words of encouragement and concern. Brings me to tears reading all of these comments that mean so much to me. I will take all of your suggestions into consideration and we'll see where that leads me. You guys are the best!
Well, it's already Thursday and time for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers. This week, we are doing a 3D project, yay! 3D Thursday!! Here's what I came up with. I bought this cute Sizzix die which is made for cutting chipboard. These dies are called Score board dies and are so neat! All of the scoring is cut so perfect. Before you cut out the chipboard, you need to cover the chipboard with your choice of designer paper (Elmer's Craft Bond works best for me). The ribbon and paper I used for my project was purchased from Tamiko's online store. She's got some good prices going on there, so please go check it out! The image I used is from the Creepy Crew and is called Wednesday. Kind of funny...Wednesday for Thursday's post... Here's what the box looks like opened up. I used some self-adhesive velcro to close the box.
Please click on over to Tamiko's blog to check out the rest of the fabulous 3D projects that the Creative Team came up with. You will be totally delighted! Thanks for stopping by today!!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

August 2010 Class Projects - the rest of it!

OMG, my apologies for being so tardy in posting these projects for the ladies who have kits to go. The only excuse I can share is that I drove myself crazy getting ready for the big social gathering this past weekend as you probably saw on some of the creative team's blogs...those photos will come later as I need to share these photos first! And after all of that madness, my son got sick and we already made a couple trips to the doctor. He is on his way to recovery, thank goodness, but in the mean time, Mom here was drained even more. Only so much my tiny body can handle, know what I mean? I've kind of lost my mojo in the process, so after a couple of posts, I might be taking a short break to find my mojo and to catch up with some things like Thank you notes and birthday cards that I've been trying to do! If only I had more time in a day to do these things! Okay, enough blabbing and onto my class projects! This will be a long make up post, so go get a snack and a cup of coffee before you start reading (wink!)
I love this cute little purse that we made as our "bonus" project. The funny little story behind this one (short story) is that I bought this XL sizzix die when it first came out and had the hardest time putting it all together because the bottom was round. Then, when I went to my upline's house for a Hana Hou party, she had this cute little purse as one of our projects and I knew that I needed that die! Oh, I didn't tell you that I had sold the original die to my friend because I hated it back then...*sigh* Here's the front view. We used one of the extra flowers from the first project I showed you in my last post. Used taffeta ribbon - can you believe that this is the early expresso color? I imagined it was going to be darker. Here's the back
and a side view. The inside is a 5X7 piece of cardstock...I'll have to share that with you on another post...want a mini tutorial? Let me know here!
We made a cute matchbox and this time, embossed the outside of the box, so pretty! Love the new lace that SU is selling. The cute mini tag was not on my wish list, but when I saw this sample in the SU catty, I knew I had to have it!
A while ago, I bought the Sizzix Big Shot Pro (from J's) and I'm so glad that I did. Here, I cut out the tall bag with Concord Crush (new in color) and embossed it with one of SU's newest embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper, it's so elegant! Used pink taffeta ribbon to close the bag and the cute owl punch...I love this owl!
Side view of the bag
Sorry that this was such a long post...I owed it to you! Thanks so much for stopping in today. I'm also sorry that my mojo is lost somewhere and I can't find it, so if you see it, send it back to me!
There's alot going on in my little world here and I can't seem to find the right balance lately. I've even considered closing my blog because I can't keep up with the posting. And then I think about YOU, my friends, and faithful readers who have supported me through this wonderful three and a half year journey and don't want to disappoint you. I will let you know what I decide...I was told to not be hasty so I will think it over and let you all know! Thanks for all of your love and support!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Tamiko's Thursday Challenge - Sketch

Here we are creating for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers and this week, the team is following a sketch. I have to apologize for not remembering where I got this fun sketch from. I see the name Dominique in the watermark, but my poor eyesight won't let me read the rest. Anyway, if this is your sketch, please send me an email so you can get proper credit for this fun sketch and thank you in advance. Here is my take on the sketch. I decided to use Dylan from The Greeting Farm Roll Call stamp set. This set is an awesome set - you get 10 full sized images and sentiments too! Check it out at Tamiko's store HERE. Back to my card - I always seem to migrate to the cutsie girly images but this time, thought that I should challenge myself and do a boy. Dylan is so cute and I thought fit right in with this sketch...what do you think? Want more inspiration? Check out the rest of the Creative Team and their take on this fun, fun, fun sketch HERE.
Hope you are all having a great Thursday! Please come back tomorrow to see more of my August class projects! Thanks for dropping in today and thank you for always leaving me such nice comments!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

August 2010 Class Projects

It's been a hectic last couple of days here. I'm trying to finish up a bunch of projects and time just escaped from me! Started this post the other night but just couldn't get it done, so here we are, today is Wednesday *sigh*...
Well, here is the first of our class projects. We used a pre-made box and added a marina mist square to the top of the cover. Using the flower folds XL sizzix die, we cut out 2 each of the flowers (cherry cobbler cardstock) and embossed them with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder. The layers are held together using stamping dimensionals. White flower is from the pretties kit and finished off with an antique brad (new and so pretty!). We made three 3X3 cards (with envelopes), stamped the circle image from the stamp set called Just Believe in Marina Mist and mounted it on a cherry cobbler scallop circle. I was very pleased with this color combo and thought that the blue just popped out when paired with the red.
I'll be sharing more projects on Friday. Come back tomorrow to see what I created for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers. We created a card using a fun sketch!
Thanks for stopping by today!

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Nicest Things

Happy Monday! Wow! the weekend really went by super fast. I didn't feel like I had a weekend - can I have another two days off? LOL! I had two awesome classes this past weekend and I think everyone had a fun time making the projects - did you ladies?? I will be sharing the projects this week, starting tomorrow...just had enough time to do a short post for today.
Today, I am sharing a card I made using a sweet stamp set called The Nicest Things. The image is cute but what sold me on this one was the sentiment, which is what I put on the inside of this card (sorry, forgot to take a pic of it!). The inside sentiment says, "A friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be." by Douglas Pagels...All products used for this card by SU...pretty in pin, chocolate chip and pear pizazz cardstock, ribbon is retired, scallop trim border and pearls.
Hope you all have a great start of a new week and thanks for starting your week with me!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Shop Gossip!

I miss my shop gossip column that I used to have on my blog...well, you guys know that I love to share a good deal when I see one, right? Well, I ran into Fisher Hawaii the other day to pick up more of that 3M self adhesive craft paper to finish up a project I'm working on and to my surprise, the paper was on sale! Yippee! I swear it's like 1/2 off of the regular price! Because I was in a rush, I couldn't think of what colors I needed (more like wanted), so I'll have to get back there before it's all gone...Cooke Street store has a large selection. I went to the downtown store today and sadly, they have one box of mixed colors...hope I can get back there before all of the good colors are gone. Bummers that I won't be able to go back until next week.
Anyway, this is what I made using the paper. I used my cricut, so you already know what cartridge this cute lamb is from. I used my nestie to cut out the shape behind of the lamb and used some retired SU DP for the background. I added some blue pearls to the card and used my scallop oval punch and oval punch to frame the sentiment. Oh yeah, the ribbon is the new 1/8" taffeta ribbon, this color is Marina Mist. Here's my card with my baby gift. The gift is a baby onesie that I stamped using the craft pad. I rolled the onesie up and placed it in a clear tube, tied a ribbon on and it's ready to give. I am working on packaging two special baby gifts, finally got around to stamping this onesie!!
Thanks for your visit today. I'll be busy with 10 ladies today at my class. Can't wait to share the projects with you after Sunday! Have a great Saturday and stay cool...heard it will be a scorcher today!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Tamiko's Thursday Teasers

Today is the first day that Tamiko's Creative Team is working on a teaser to inspire you. Today's teaser for the team was to create a card using summer colors - turquoise, yellow and orange. Summer is just about over so I thought it was a good time to use these fun colors and say goodbye to summer. I used an old CC Design image called Surfer Emma...I used my deckle nesties to frame the image and backed it up with chocolate chip. Added some faux stitching and used my fiskars border punch to the side.The Creative Team will be posting Thursday Teasers every week, so please be sure to check it out over at Tamiko's blog HERE.
Want to know who's on the Creative Team? Check them out below:
Joy - A Place to be Me
Kyoko - Cards and Tags Mania
Jodi Ann - Inked Inspirations
Michelle - Mushi's Creative Inspirations
Mama - Luvn The Journey
Janis - Creative Expressions
Cami - Capture a Heart
Thanks for your visit today. Be sure to check back every Thursday to see the team's teasers for you!
More exciting things coming to Tamiko's online store starting in September - new products, specials on featured products and more! This is only the beginning! Looking forward to more fun challenges with the team to inspire and motivate you!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Beautiful Birthday Cards

Sharing more beautiful birthday cards from friends. This first card is from my GF Jodi Ann of Inked Inspirations...she is truly an inspiration to me. When I see her cards, it makes me want to try harder to create more beautiful cards just like her. Only thing is that I know it will never happen, some people just have the knack! The next card is from my GF Linda. What a cute card, love this manga image!
From Kyoko...this flower is so pretty and shiny too! Love this elegant card!
From my niece, Jodi. Although this is not a handmade card, I just love it! Hallmark did a pretty good job in giving the handmade look, don't you think? Thanks Jo-Jo for the pretty card and gifts too!
Thanks for peeking in today. And again, thanks all for the birthday wishes. Come back tomorrow for Tamiko's Thursday Teasers...we're featuring summer colors!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Spoiled by Rita

Holy Moly! Received this birthday package from my GF Rita. Talk about spoiling me...look at all of the goodies she sent to me. This basket was just too gorgeous! Love all of the details!
This was the flower on the top of the basket...a beautiful water lily...
I love my card too, Rita! Thank you so much for everything! I love being spoiled!
I have a few more BRAKS to share this week, so if you didn't see your card yet, it will be shared right here soon! Thank again for all of the birthday wishes and thanks for sharing a part of your day with me!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Ladybug Thank You

Happy Monday! Wow, the weekend zipped by so fast, I can't believe that it is over. Today, I am sharing another cute creation using a ladybug I cut using my cricut. Yes, I'm still stuck on the create-a-critter. Are you guys sick of seeing my little critters?? Made this thank you card for one of my co-workers who surprised me with a couple of cute charms for my birthday.All other products used is by SU. I just love this sentiment! I was planning on sharing more of my birthday cards today, but I'm still working on editing the photos of them so bear with me. I'm loving all of the projects for this month's class, just finished all of the samples and some of the cutting of cardstock. There is still some spots left in case you want to join us. We always have so much fun!
I'm exhaused though because there's so much going on these days, I'm having a difficult time keeping track. Time to do some re-thinking of what I can and cannot do anymore.
Have a great start of a new week and thanks for stopping by today!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

August Class Sneak Peek - Finally!

Wow! I had a hard time figuring out my projects for August. Maybe I had a little too much extra on my plate? Well, I stayed up late last night and finally figured out most of the projects we will be making at class next week...sorry for the delay. I've received some emails from people asking me if they missed my post/email on the class as they know that my classes are always on the second Saturday and Sunday of each month. The classes will be be on Saturday, August 14 and Sunday, August 15 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at my home. Here's the sneak peek! We will be making alot of cute projects this month. We will be decorating an already made square box with a beautiful flower and also 3X3 cards to put inside of the box. We will also be making a tall bag, matchbox and a cute and fun bonus project. Lots of new products will be used and we will have lots of fun!
Class fee for attendees is still only $20 ($10 for demonstrators) and will include all materials and tools for you to create the projects. Kits to go are available for $30 and will include everything stamped and cut; all you do is assemble. Please RSVP via email and class spaces will be reserved on a first come, first served basis. I will be making 24 kits so reserve yours today!
Happy Saturday! I will be at Joy's garage sale today, so hope to see you there! I'll be sharing more BRAKS soon...thanks for stopping by today!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Sharing my Birthday Cards

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! Sharing some of the cards I received.
This first one is from my GF Joy. Love the Tiddlyinks image! From Joyce...I love cupcakes and it's pink too!
From my partner in crime, Wini...I love this sweet bouquet of flowers!
This card is from Julie Stieber from SCS. I had forgotten that long ago, I signed up for a birthday rak club...Thank you Julie!
From my friend Colleen. Thanks Colleen. Enjoyed meeting you and your family last week.
I have a few more cards that I need to catch a photo then I'll post. I have a couple birthday cards that I made that I will be sharing over the weekend and then next week, getting back to my SU posting...Happy Friday and Happy weekend!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Just Another Day

Today is my Friday at work. Another furlough day tomorrow which I really need. I'm still working on the class projects so it will be a welcome day off.
Well, I celebrated my birthday on Sunday, it was a nice, quiet day. This year, I didn't want any fussing. The last time I felt that way was when I turned 30. I'm not sure why because I was fine when I turned 40. Maybe it's every ten years? The Friday before, my GF Cheryl took me out to lunch at Tango's. It was a really nice lunch, even though the place was kind of noisy. Here's the bag that I got from Cheryl...I just love the Happy Birthday punch. You can get it at J's...if he has any left! Thanks Cheryl for the fun birthday lunch and gift! Our traditonal birthday photo...how coincidental that we both wore yellow.
I'll have more Braks to share tomorrow...Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Sweet Kitty Sending Get Well Wishes

The card that I'm sharing with you today was made for a special lady who is recovering from surgery. She LOVES cats, so thought that this kitty would cheer her up! This cutie was cut using my Cricut and you probably already know which cartridge I used. Of course, my Create-a-Critter cartridge! Did I already mention that it was my favorite? LOL! Anyway, I am pleased with the way this card turned out considering the short amount of time I had to make it.This week is extra busy as I'm trying to work on class projects. I should be able to get my act together starting tonight since I'm off from watching TV. For those who know me, know that I don't watch TV. Not that I don't like watching TV, but once I'm hooked, I never get anything done! I got caught up watching The Bachelorette but now that it is over, no more reality shows!! I'm glad it's over though because I was feeling guilty about not committing to working on my projects! Anyone else got caught up watching that show? The only good from that show for me was that it was good for conversation, LOL!
Thanks for stopping in today. I'm also trying to make time this week to see what you all have been up to. Come back tomorrow for some BRAKS that I'm gonna share.

Monday, August 2, 2010

A Ruby Kind of Birthday

Wow! a new week already! What a busy weekend I had. The garage sale was a huge success and we had lots of fun too! Thanks to all of the ladies who stopped by to visit with us and shop. I hope you all enjoyed your bargains. Today, I'm sharing a birthday card I made for one of my friends at the Hawaii State FCU...I had fun making this card...I've had Ruby for a while but never got to ink her up! The background was created using the new SU embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper. I really like the deep emboss of these folders. This card also featured 2 of the new SU colors - Concord Crush and Daffodil Delight.
Short post this morning...gotta run for the bus now. Thanks for peeking in today. This week, I'm working on the samples for my August class which will be held on Sat 8/14 and Sun 8/15. Formal announcement coming soon. Have a great start of the week!