"XOXO" from Keitaro

Did everyone survive Monday? Hey, long weekend coming up. YAY!!!

Here's Keitaro by Sister Stamps sending you hugs, kisses, and some love. I inked this cutie up with Copics and wrote in "xoxo's" in the string of hearts he's holding. The washi paper is another from Japan. When you don't have a stamp for the words you want it's great to print them off the computer as I did with "I love you."

Quickie post today as I have 2 huge loads of laundry waiting to be folded or ironed. Ugh. I'd rather be crafting. LOL
Other supplies: Circle, scallop, and heart dies by Spellbinder, corner accent by Sizzix, Distress Ink, Dew Drops, Ribbon (no name), and button (RAK).

Thanks for visiting.....I really appreciate it. Have a great day / evening and HAPPY CRAFTING.

Favors for Annual Installation Dinner

Happy Sunday Peeps! Hope you're all having a fab weekend and getting in a LOT of crafting time.

Yesterday was a great day as I went to the doc to get my cholesterol blood test result and was thrilled and surprised that it's down to 134. Woo-hoo, that's great news especially since it was up to about 249 a few years ago. Although I'm taking a low-dose med., I guess it also helps to try an eat healthy....no chicken skin, no egg yolks, read the nutrition labels, etc. My hubby thinks eating scrambled egg whites is "gross." LOL, ha-ha-ha. I still cheat a little once in a while though. :-)

The FCE (Family and Community Education) club that I recently left was so sweet and invited me to their annual Installation Dinner at Nihon Restaurant which was last night. Everyone brought a $10.00 grab bag and some prizes for some FUN games. And also shared some goodies / favors with each other.

There's a lot of pix to share from last night (plus I have a couple of Valentine's Day cards) so I decided to post them throughout the week. Otherwise, this post would be too L-O-N-G. Today, I'll share the favor I made using the Sizzix "Box Shaker" die.

Here are the leaves and flowers punched out. The leaf punch is by Punch Bunch and I distressed the edges of each leaf a bit. Can you see that???? The red flowers are from a Marvy punch and the yellow ones by EK. Hey, I thought I sold that punch for the yellow flowers so I bought another only to find my original punch hiding in the corner of my organizer. Oh well, now I have a back-up. LOL

I inked up Fairy Princess by TGF with Copics and gave their wings some sparkle with Stickles.

And here they are ready to affix to the box. If you enlarge the photo, you may be able to see that I lifted the petals of the yellow flowers to give it dimension. I also ran carpet thread in the button holes using carpet thread. These itty bitty buttons were purchased at Walmart.

This is the container of YUMMY individually-wrapped cookies from Costco.

Since 4 cookies in the individual plastic wrap wouldn't fit into the box, I removed them and put them in the 3" x 3" plastic "Ziploc" type bag and thank goodness it fit perfectly. You can't see it but there is a clear plastic taped to the back of the window opening which I cut using my Spellbinder die. Ohhh, I thought it was gonna crack my Hot Shot cutting pad as it's a bit thick. Eeee yikes. The Clear Plastic Sheets is by Paper Accents.

And WALA, here are the finished favors with the sheer-dotted ribbon (no brand name) to keep the flap closed. WHEW!!! When I first started making these, I didn't realize how much time it would take. Talk about craft-burnout...hee-hee, but I was HAPPY with the results.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend and thank you for popping in for a visit. Hugs!!!

Have a Purr-fect Day

Hey Peeps. Have you heard??? Kim posted a sketch on her blog so we can all enter our cards and play along. She may even throw in a prize or two. Woo-hoo. The deadline is 2/29 so ink up your images and join in the fun. Click here for the deets on her blog. A new sketch will be posted on the first of each month. Thanks Kim!!!!

Here's my entry that I eagerly made tonight. How fun!!!

Supplies: Image by Penny Black, DP by Dilly Dally, Doodlebug, and Bo Bunny, Spellbinder dies, Copic markers, punch by EK, "Adorable" rub-on by American Crafts, Button embellies by Sassafras, and Dew Drops.

Thanks for stopping by and have a happy crafty day/evening.

"Valentine's Send a Hug" Card Drive

Helloooooo Peeps. Happy Monday! I'm sharing a card I made over the weekend to send to Jen as she and her ministry have a handmade card drive to brighten the day of "locked up youths" for Valentine's Day. Hop over to her blog here for the deets and join in on this great cause.

This image is by Penny Black, one of my fave stamps. I just love this fuzzy cat. And I couldn't resist using the leave die cuts and flower I recently received from Dora. She's so sweet.

Other supplies: DP by Making Memories, "With Love" stamp by Stampin' Up, Copics, Spellbinderdies, Distress Ink, Heart punch by Martha Stewart, ribbon (no name), heart sticker by Sticko, and Ric Rak.

Thanks for visiting and have a relaxing and crafty day / evening.

Baby Shower Invitations

Hello Peeps! Hope you're enjoying the weekend. Is anyone watching the Super Bowl today? Just 30 minutes from kickoff so I'll try to get this posted quick then get the grinds out before our son and his girlfriend arrive to for big game. He gets off work in a couple of minutes and I bet he's been looking at his wristwatch a million times throughout his shift. LOL.

Just want to share the inspiration I experienced when I attended our cousin's wife's funeral yesterday. In January 1999, at the age of 38, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and fought with an unbelievable positive outlook on life and tremendous perseverance through adversity. She did not allow cancer to run her life and touched the lives of many, including those facing the same challenges as she. We all face various challenges throughout our lives and I was so touched by her strength and courage. A scholarship was also set up in her name. What a wonderful tribute to her. So please get your mammogram ladies and take care of yourselves.

On with the invitations. Using my Sizzix "Card, A2 flap" die, I made some invitations for a baby shower. Keeping it "neutral" since it wasn't definite if the mother-to-be would have a girl or boy, I used a few different CS from my K & Company stack. The bear image is an oldie but goodie from my stash which I thought was perfect in size and just the fact the the bear was holding an umbrella fits the baby "shower" event.

Here's a yellow one with green dots....

...and one with multi-colored dots....

....and stripes...

...and larger dots....

Here's a peek inside....

and here's all 12 of them.

Other supplies: Spellbinder dies, Copic Markers, Distress Ink, and punch by EK.

Oh, it's almost time for kick off. I better get out the grinds. Which team are you football fans cheering for? We have Giant fans in our household.

Have a happy Super Bowl Sunday and thanks for popping in for a visit.

January Anything Goes Swap from Jo

Happy Saturday Peeps. Hope you all have fun and a lot of crafting time.

Here's another happy mail I received. This one is from Jo who was my January Card Swap partner. Isn't this pretty and cheerful? I love the scalloped edges 2-tone color combo. Thanks Jo.

I'll post the card I made for her after she receives it. I'm just crossing my fingers that it didn't get lost in the mail as I sent it the first week in January. I guess going to England takes a while.

Jo also sent me some cool die cuts and embellies. Perfect for Valentine's Day. In fact, I already used one of the buttons. Check out Jo's awesome blog here for some inspiration.

If you'd like to join in this fun swap, click here for the deets on Shirl's blog. Thanks for coordinating Shirl.

Thanks for stopping by and have a sunshiny weekend.

Happy Mail from Dora

Hi there Peeps. Hope your week is going well.

I want to share another happy mail I received the other day. This is from Dora. Have you seen her blog? OMG, she is amazingly talented. I really admire her creativity and asked her about some leaves she used on one of her posts (not the one below) as I haven't seen them here in Hawaii. She so kindly cut some for me from her die PLUS added some extras from her other dies. I was so thrilled when I received them in the mail. It sure put a BIG smile on my face. Woo-hoo.

Below is the sweet card she enclosed with the die cuts. Isn't it precious?

Here's a pix of the die cuts. Those in the foreground are the ones I asked her about. I think they're ALL so awesome.

Check out Dora's blog here and you will surely BE INSPIRED!!! THANKS A MILLION DORA.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a crafty day / evening. Toodle-loo.